AUkmcitttr Farming, Saturday, December 7,1985 NOW IS THE TIME To Obtain Fanner’s Tax Guide We don’t like to talk about taxes but it’s a way of life. The Farmer’s Tax Guide, for use in preparing your 1985 returns, are now available at the Extension Office. The Guide is extremely valuable when preparing your return. I realize that many farmers rely on an accountant or tax prac titioner to file their return, so be sure to pick up a copy and give it to them. There are a number of changes in the tax regulations. It would be well to study them, so your records are accurate when you review your accounts with your practitioner. A few important tax dates for farmers. You may elect to pay your 1985 estimated income tax with Form 1040-ES by Jan. 15,1986. You can then file your 1985 federal income tax return, Form 1040, by April 15. If you do not pay with Form 1049-ES at this time, your 1985 return will be due March 3, 1986. To Be Patient With People Farming in the best of times is a very stressful occupation. Then add to that the low returns over the House ag leader terms situation critical COLLEGE PARK, MD - With a national political figure on the program, the twentieth annual Maryland Agricultural Leaders Forum at College Park attracted some 225 persons-a larger-than usual attendance. The featured speaker, U.S. Congressman E. (Kika) de la Garza (D-Tex), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, was well received. And his par ticipation in a panel discussion brought out some differences of opinion on “Influencing the Future of Agriculture Through the Political Process.” Congressman de la Garza started off the panel discussion by pointing out that the U.S. agricultural Situation is very critical because farm incomes and land values have both declined significantly. “We hope for no further erosion beyond this point,” he declared, inferring that stopgap legislation is his immediate concern. In response to a question from the audience, de la Garza said that he doesn’t anticipate another blanket Payment-in-Kind (PIK) program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But there may be a modified PIK program. He noted that for every farmer who goes out of business, there is a ripple effect on Wall Street and the whole U.S. economy. During his speech which preceded the panel discussion, de la Garza defended previous Congressional farm legislation and o f snnats ons> \ Q o; ( DOING BACK ) vJ * a V thbreT / ° ° J -I llik. _ By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agriculture Agent Phone 717-394-6851 last several years due to high expenses and lower returns for our milk, eggs and meat. I point this out so that people workirig with our farmers un derstand the needs and cares of others. We all need to be patient and understanding and look at the many good things we have to be thankful for... our families, freedom and the ability to come back after being down. Take time to talk with your friends and neighbors and share the many good times you’ve had together. Let’s enjoy the holiday season and be thankful for all the good things in life. To Arrange To Attend No-Till Conference The 12th Annual Mid-Atlantic No-Till Conference will be held on Dec. 18, at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, Timonium, Md. “No- Tillage: A Best Management Practice,” is the program theme this year. Speakers in the morning, starting at 9, will emphasize managing farm manures, evaluating ground water quality, controlling hard-to-control weeds m com and soybeans, using in secticides and marketing grain. lambasted the concept of a free market for farm products. “We haven’t had a free market for agriculture since the turn of the century,” he declared. “If we took the U.S. government out of agriculture now, we’d be the only nation in the world to do so. We need managed demand and sup ply. "The government must continue to provide an economic safety net for farmers. We need to set target prices and let the loan rate fluc tuate. “Our farm program systems of farmers ease out of agriculture, the past were really not an- “Keeping farm prices at current liquated. Our basic assumptions levels will not save many far just didn’t work. We could not fore mers,” he emphasized. “Middle see the economic strength of the size farmers seem to be done for.” dollar, increases in energy prices, Other members of the Maryland and worldwide recession.” Ag Forum panel were James C. Looking ahead to the future, the Barr, chief executive officer of the Congressman commented that National Milk Producers "maybe we need to relent on the Federation, headquartered at monetary system and the way that Arlington, Va., and Carol Tucker banks lend money (to farmers).” Foreman, president of Foreman Challenging some of and Company, a Washington, D.C.- Congressman de la Garza’s based public policy and consulting philosophy were two former senior firm. staff economists for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Robert L. Thompson, now assistant secretary for economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, delcared that “we can’t maintain a major export role for farm products if loan rates make it more profitable to sell to the U.S. government.” Dr. Thompson noted that farm program costs have been the Visiting the man} commercial exhibits and questioning the speakers will be in the afternoon. Lunch tickets, available only in advance, can be purchased from your County Extension Office, reminds, Arnold G. Lueck, County Agenty in Agronomy, Lancaster. To Be Aware of Fertilizer Value of Manure The 1985-86 Agronomy Guide lists, on page 15, the real fertilizer value in our livestock and poultry manure. As fertilizer costs in crease, we need to make every effort to use and preserve these manure fertilizer elements. On the basis of the fertilizer content at current fertilizer prices, cattle manure has $3.80 worth of fer tilizer elements per ton, swine manure contains about $5 worth and poultry manure contains about $l3 worth of fertilizer elements. This will vary depending on the moisture and bedding content. In addition, all types of manure add organic matter to the soil. For best results manure should be either incorporated into the topsoil or stored in a water-tight pit until it can be spread and mixed with the soil. fastest growing segment of the entire national budget, per centage, outstripping even defense spending. Bruce L. Gardner, now professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of Maryland, echoed much of Thompson’s philosophy. Dr. Gardner declared that "continued high target prices for farm producers will only prolong the problem of overproduction now facing this nation. What we need is targeted assistance to help some Barr agreed somewhat with Dr. Gardner, cautioning that "We need to help some farmers get out of farming without going bankrupt”. “Farmers deserve to be above the poverty line,” he noted. “But we need to send a clear signal to dairy farmers to cut production.” Mrs. Foreman commented that "small towns everywhere are wounded when farmers go out of business. If we’re going to save IBETHE'S WRITING FOR THE ATULK CHECK $ O O A MANGER FAITH Decembers, 1985 Background Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-9; Micah 5:2; Mat thew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7 Devotional Reading: Isaiah 11:1-9 If it is true, as we indicated last week, that God specializes in things we think impossible, it is also true that he also specializes in doing what he does in ways that absolutely mystify us. That he should act to fulfill his longstanding promises to Israel, that we can understand. But that he should do it in such a strange manner still puzzles us and the world. If you were writing the script, how would you write it 7 Wouldn’t you choose some powerful, noble figure to be the one annointed to represent God in his world? Wouldn’t this person be a wielder of power, a souce of wisdom and a person of charisma 7 And, if you had to choose a locale, wouldn’t you choose one of' the world’s greatest cities, or a towering mountamtop? NO VACANCY! So look how God does it; no might, no power, no prestige, no Farm Calendar Saturday, December 7 York 4-H Swine/Sheep banquet, 4- H Center, 7 p.m. Wednesday, December 11 Western Pa. Vegetable Growers Seminar, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Quality Inn, Butler. Contact Butler Extension for more information. Maryland/Delaware Forage Meeting, Hartly Fire hall, Hartly, Del., 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, December 12 York commercial dairy day, 4-H Center, 9 a.m. farmers, we need a tax increase.” As a former assistant secretary for food and consumer services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she remarked: "I can’t understand why America’s farmers don’t lead the parade for increased government food assistance to low-income people.” During a noon luncheon at the ag forum, John S. Toll, president of the University of Maryland, presented the university’s Cer tificate of Merit Award in Agriculture to four veteran leaders on the Maryland agricultural scene. o O noble lineage, and no mountaintop. Instead God chooses to express himself in the birth of a baby-a baby born to an unwed peasant girl betrothed to a simple tradesman. And, instead of a reception fit for a Son of God, the incarnation is an obscure event of which the world is virtually unmindful. Not only is Jesus the Messiah not born in a great palace, but his mother and father cannot even manage a place in the inn. The Saviour of the world is laid “in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). And it wasn’t even a Jerusalem manger but a Bethlehem one. God does things like this, not because he wants to surprise us and mystify us, but because he needs to remind us as often and as loudly as he can that his ways are not our ways. What we think is important may not be important at all, as he sees things in this world. What we regard as power, he may regard as weakness. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT That’s one of the reasons that God’s promises may seem so ‘ impossible.” We judge them on the basis of our very limited human perspective. But what he’s trying to help us understand is that there is usually more than any human being can see and un derstand. Yes, Mary and Joseph were unimportant nobodies in the eyes of the world, and yes, the birth of Jesus in a stable manger would not have made the 6 o’clock news. But God’s Holy Spirit can take even the most humble circumstances and means to fulfill his promises and our hopes. And that is the faith that turns a manger into a throne. Friday, December 13 Central Maryland Forage Con ference, Urbana Fire Hall; contact the Extension Service for more information. Tuesday, December 17 Swine Marketing Meeting, Berks Ag Center, 9:30 a.m., Leesport. Wednesday, December 18 Mid-Atlantic No-Till Conference, Timomum, Md., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Swine Marketing Meeting, Lan caster Farm and Home Center, 9:30 a.m. Thursday, December 19 York County Crops Day, 4-H Center, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The annual award has now been bestowed on 254 men and women during its 70-year existence. This year’s recipients included two from the western side of the Chesapeake Bay. They are Chesapeake Bay. They are William I. Guy of Salisbury (Wicomico County); Wallace D. Miller of Chestertown (Kent County); Carville M. Akehurst of Perry Hall (Baltimore County), and Albin O. Kuhn of Woodbine (Carroll County). Akehurst’s father, Carville G. Akehurst, also of Perry Hall, received the same honor in 1970. Guy, too, was a second-generation recipient. o * o BREAKING MILK RECORDS! Lancaster Farming Carries DHIA Reports Each Month)
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