Agriculture’s Adjustment (Continued from Page E3B) diizers, has fallen significantly, ind the growth in the volume of crops produced per acre of U.S. cropland has fallen. Investment in machinery and structures has been below replacement levels since 1981 and should also act to After Dropping Sharply, Returns to Investment in Farming Have Moved Nearer to Historical Levels Return to equity from income (%) 1960 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 1965 preliminary W-L Alfalfas lead the field In Pennsylvania Growers Competition. curtail productivity growth. Finally, the demand for new loans, which has already declined about 20 percent, should continue to slow as farmers adopt less intensive production processes and other cost-cutting strategies. • Demand for farm sector output should gradually improve as a result of continuing world economic growth and the decline in the exchange value of the U.S. dollar that began about a year ago. Lower commodity loan rates should also begin to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. crops. “IV-L is definitely a high quality seed. The varieties are depend able, the crop is more persis tent, and I think the bay quality is better. Last year I took four cuttings, and the fourth looked just like the first" Carl Kteider, Quarrynlle Grand Champion Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 16,1986-E43 Export demand growth may reacn inability of many fanners to three percent per year by the service debt load from current decade’s end-still far below the earnings. These repayment eight-percent annual growth of the problems have been made critical 1970’5. Domestic demand will grow by a fundamental readjustment of slowly. asset values, resulting in an • Farm sector income, returns, overall loss in owners’ equity of and liquidity should begin to im- around $270 billion since 1960. prove as many of the above Because of this loss (primarily in developments occur. However, land), their equity can no longer significant gains are not expected shield many farmers from their in the near term. Net farm income debt repayment problems, is likely to be in the $26-|3O billion Cumulative losses in equity have range in 1986 and 1987 while net put some farmers into technical cash income is expected to remain insolvency, as land values have near last year’s record high, dropped below outstanding loan reflecting large government farm balances.” payments. At least two years of For farmers already in this demand growth will be required to situation-and 96 percent are not draw down existing commodity the future doesn’t hold much stocks to normal levels. Land promise of relief, he says. But the values appear to be bottoming out adjustments now occurring do hold in some parts of the country, and promise for those who are not current rates of return to farmland overburdened by debt, for those have climbed back to levels con- who manage to get their debts sidered near-normal by historical under control, and for those standards. 1 younger people who may decide to “Farm financial stress,” enter farming. Meekhof adds, “reflects an (Eric Van Chantfort, Info. Spec., USDA) Forwood Elected SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Earl R. Forwood, president of Eastern Milk Producers Cooperative, has been elected to the executive committee of the National Milk Producers Federation. The election took place during the federation’s recent summer meeting near Arlington, Va., where the group is based. Forwood, a dairy farmer from Hop Bottom, Pa., also serves on the federation’s dairy stabilization committee. He noted that the federation’s member cooperatives represent more than 60 percent of the nation’s milk supply. Forwood also takes an active role in other dairy organizations, including the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board, the Regional Cooperative Marketing Agency, the Dairy Cooperative Coordinating Com mittee of the Northeast, the Northeast Dairy Conference, and the Pennsylvania Farmers Association. Before his election to the Eastern board in 1980, Forwood was treasurer and alternate delegate of the Hop Bottom Local. In 1981 and 1982 >he served as secretary of Eastern’s board of directors, and in 1983 he was elected to his first term as president. CONTACT US For SUPER GROUND DRIVE TANK - SPREADERS PIT - ELEVATORS COMPACT ROTO BEATERS WISCONSIN & ALLIS CHALMER POWER UNITS HAND-O-MATIC BUNK FEEDERS COMBINATION MOWER AND CRIMPER UNITS 455 AND 456 MOWERS NEW IDEA CRUSHERS NOW AVAILABLE Crimping Rolls To Fit Your New Idea Crusher Speeds drying time approx. Vz day. SMUCKER WELDING & MANUFACTURING 2110 Rockvaleßoad Lane., PA 17602
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers