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Dairy
Business
t Newton Bair
Why is a Dairy Farmer?
I’ve titled this column “Why is a
dairy Farmer?”. The title does not
make sense, gramatically. Any
other objective pronoun like who,
or where or when, would be
gramatically correct, but of little
interest. I’d like to know, “Why is a
farmer in the Dairy Business?”
If you are in any way typical, you
started out young, full of the vim
and vinegar of youth, just married,
and wanted to follow in Pop’s
footsteps. He probably started the
same way, knowing full well that
he could do even better than the old
man did. So did you, and so will
your son.
The real answer to “Why?” is
often pretty vague, except for the
imprecise reason that you were
bom to it. It’s in your blood, or you
like the fresh, country air. Or, if
you can’t do anything else, you can
always milk cows.
Of course you have much more
valid reasons for being a dairy
farmer, but if one of them is not TO
MAKE MONEY, they are all
wrong. At least one reason for
milking cows MUST be to make
money. That one must be high on
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the list, unless it is superseded by
the urge to spend someone else’s
money.
Sure, you’ve got to love cows,
love the soil, and don’t mind the
host of drudgery that goes along
with it. But if you can’t make any
money at it, all the other good
reasons are worthless. It’s just
another round-about way of saying
that farming is a business, and if it
is not run in a businesslike man
ner, it can’t last very long.
So, the why? question is making
more sense in the asking. If far
ming is a business, why don’t we
push the idea of making money a
little higher on our list of reasons?
Why is farming in general and
dairying in particular hovering on
the knife edge of poverty and bank
ruptcy? Could it be because we just
like cows, love tractors and
machines, thrive on hard work and
lots of worry?
We have not integrated the idea
of FINANCIAL PROFIT into our
basic reasons for farming.
Every dairy farmer must ask
two fundamental questions. First,
what is it that pays the bills? The
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LANCASTER FORD TRACTOR
1655 Rohrerstown Road, Lancaster, PA 17601
Phone (717) 569-7063
For The Relkblet
answer is simple milk sales. The
second question is, what is needed
to produce the milk to sell? The
answer to that one is a lot more
complex, and there lies the
problem. We are so bound by
tradition that we overlook some of
the obvious economies of
production.
We traditionally need lots of
land, lots of machinery, lots of
housing, big silos, and of course we
need cows.
The cost of producing the milk
soon outgrows the value of sales,
especially when we need to borrow
the MONEY to enable us to own all
that stuff. None of it is free, or even
cheap. It all costs lots of MONEY.
In our traditional mode of
WASHINGTON - Secretary of
Agriculture Richard E. Lyng has
announced that signup for the 1987
Conservation Reserve Program
will take place Aug. 4 to 15 at
Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service county of
fices.
According to Lyng, farmers may
volunteer highly erodible cropland
for entry into the Conservation
Reserve Program, under a
provision of the Food Security Act
of 1985.
“We are pleased with the
response from farmers during the
1986 signup,’’ said Lyng. “Now that
producers are aware of the other
provisions of the Act, such as
sodbuster and conservation
compliance, we expect even more
interest by producers in the
Conservation Reserve Program
this year.”
Producers wishing to put land
into the program are eligible for
OR
dairying, nothing is simple and
nothing is free. MONEY is the
name of the game.
We have even seen inherited
property succumb to liquidation,
because someone thought that they
could farm for fun, with no
business background or the
necessity to learn good business
principles. Not because someone
did not work hard, or tend the
store, or abide by the traditions set
by their neighbors and family. The
failed simply because they did not
use sound business sense. In it’s
simplest form, that means getting
a return for every dollar invested.
Developing good business skills
is probably more important in
modem farming than any other
Signup
for 6 87 Conservation
Reserve Scheduled
cost-share payments of up to 50
percent of the eligible costs to
establish a cover crop. The annual
rental payments are for 10 years.
The total amount of rental
payments for any fiscal year may
not exceed $50,000, or its
equivalent if in-kind payments are
made.
SOLO AT
DEALER
COST
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 19,1986-A33
Sour cream should be
stored in the refrigerator at
40°F or below. Dairy sour
cream will remain fresh
for several days after
purchase, and total
keeping tune is about four
weeks.
Truck and Tractor Pull
Admission $6.00 Senior Citizens $4.00
7-12 Years Old $4.00
6 And Under With Guardian Free
SANDBLASTING
AND SPRAY
PAINTING
Equipment
Farm Buildings \ ~ ,
Feed Mills v \
Commercial- v
Industrial ... \a
Repointing
Interior/Exterior
HENRY K. FISHER INC.
667 Hartman Station Rd.
Lancaster, PA
393-6530
qualification.
We put too much emphasis on
learning how to choose a good cow,
owning our own land, and im
pressing the banker with our high
cost chattels. When and where do
we learn the principles of good
business, which includes
managing our MONEY. Money
only becomes a bad word when
there isn’t enough of it to pay the
bills. Only when there is a surplus
in the bank account can we afford
to be generous.
Good management of the
MONEY end of fanning should be
one of the highest reasons for being
in the business. Make it the
number one priority before en
couraging your son to tackle the
job.
Lyng said producers will be
allowed to harvest their 1986 crop
before the contract becomes ef
fective, if necessary.
Land that is designated may not
be grazed after the Commodity
Credit Corporation approves the
contract.
Milk is one of mankind’s
oldest foods. Records show
that cows were milked in
9000 B.C. The word “milk”
comes from the Sanskrit
“mrjati,” which described
the action of milking.
Carroll County 4-H and
FaIrMMMMM
Augusta, 1986
Time 10:30 A.M.
Rain Date - Aug. 10,1986
Place; Westminster Ag Center
Westminster, MO