AlQ4mcastcr Fannins, Saturday, Dactmbar 6,1956
OPINION
Not AU Pessimism
With all the pessimism in
Washington that comes out of a
world wide outlook at agriculture,
we found at least one speaker this
week that was willing to look at a
positive aspect of agriculture.
James Donald, chairperson for
the World Agricultural Outlook
Board, reported that livestock and
poultry farmers were experiencing
the second highest recorded yearly
cash receipts. And with feed costs
to remain at lower levels in 1987,
these segments of agriculture can
also be expected to have a good
return for their products in 1987.
Even for crop farmers, low in
flation and steady to low
production costs along with
government payments will help to
bolster net farm income in the
coming year. In fact a five to 10
percent increase in cash income
can be expected. That’s good news.
Editor’s Note: Leaders of three
Pennsylvania farm organizations
joined with the state Secretary of
Agriculture today to voice their
support for the Regional
Cooperative Marketing Agency,
Inc., in the following letter.
Dear Editor:
For more than two years,
dairymen have been saying “We
need less government involvement
and more money in our milk
checks.” Since June, Penn
sylvania’s three general farm
organizations have been talking
about how to do just that.
Over-order pricing is the best
way to put more money in
dairymen’s pockets. This is not a
new concept. It’s been going on in
markets to the west and south of us
for many years. But it won’t
happen just by our talking about it.
Over-order pricing will happen
only when enough dairymen join
together to make it happen. For
that, we need an organization
which is legal under the Capper-
Volstead Act, and allows farmers
to join together to bargain for a
price for our commodities.
RCMA, the Regional
Cooperative Marketing Agency,
Inc. can do that for dairymen.
RCMA is set up to work in all nine
northeastern states. It allows for
membership by groups of farmers
through their co-op memberships,
and by individual farmers through
individual memberships. All
dairymen are given equal
representation in decisions of
policy and operation.
RCMA presently has mem
bership representing more than 85
percent of all dairymen in the
Northeastern region. Over 40
cooperatives and many in
dependent producers have already
signed up for RCMA, from Penn
sylvania north through New
England. But before RCMA can
function and seek over-order
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Especially when consumers will
still see a good food supply at only
a small increase in cost.
“World consumption of food is
increasing, and we should see a
slight increase in the U.S. share of
the world market,” Donald said.
“Not too long ago we were also
able to report that consumption of
milk had increased to where the
excesses were being depleted.”
One farmer who asked not to be
identified dropped a little note in
his subscription renewal to Lan
caster Farming. “I know you get a
lot of negative information in
there,” he said. “But some of us
out here are still making money at
farming.”
Thank you. We appreciate that.
It’s good to hear some rebutal to all
the pessimism we heard in
Washington.
FARM FORUM
lUR READERS WRITE
prices, 90 to 95 percent of the milk
in the nine northeastern states
must be signed up in support of its
efforts. That means we have to
enlist the support and sign up most
of the independent producers in
Pennsylvania.
With 95 percent of the milk in the
northeast committed to over-order
premiums for class one milk,
RCMA can go to all milk handlers
and seek these prices for fluid milk
only. All handlers will be treated
equally and all participating
producers will share equally in any
over-order premium that is
collected.
RCMA is supported by all of the
major cooperatives in the nor
theast, all of the farm
organizations in the northeast, and
all the Departments of Agriculture
in the nine state area.
Over-order pricing is not a state
Department of Agriculture
program, nor a Federal Order
program. It is a farmer program,
and will only happen if farmers
make it happen.
The class one price for January
will be established by the
November M-W. This will be the
highest price we see for the next
six months. If we could retain that
even without over-order
premiums, dairymen would be
better off. But none of this will
happen without a united effort on
the part of independent producers.
Dairymen should remember our
market is a deficit market. Fifteen
percent of our commercial needs
are met by production from out
side our production area. But our
prices for class one milk are based
on a butter-powder-cheese market.
Why should we be willing to sit idly
by and let that kind of formula
determine the value of our class
one milk? Why shouldn’t the
demand in the market determine
the price of our fluid milk?
In 1985, there was a drop of $1.64
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By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Exercise
Breeding Animals
Many farm animals are kept in
close quarters during the winter
months. This is fine for animals
being fattened for market, but may
not be suitable for breeding
animals. A flock of breeding ewes
should have access to an exercise
lot daily; there will be less trouble
with paralysis in the ewe flock and
stronger lambs bom if ewes are
exercised daily.
When the ground becomes
frozen, or snow-covered, some
shepherds will feed hay on the
ground out in the exercise lot in
order to force the ewes to exercise.
Dairy cows need outside exercise
to maintain good feet and legs, and
Farm Calendar
Saturday, December 6
Southeast Regional 4-H Leaders
Forum, Montgomery County 4-
H Center.
Monday, December 8
Tax Week at Penn State, J.O.
Keller Conference Center, Penn
State University main campus;
continues through Dec. 11.
Chester County Cooperative Ex
tension annual meeting,
Southeast Farm Credit office,
Avondale, 7:15 p.m.
Dairy Farms of Distinction
meeting.
Fourth Annual Cooperative
Directors School, Pa.
Association of Farmer Co-ops,
per hundredweight in the class one
price while market demands
stayed relatively stable. If
dairymen hope to change this, they
will have to do it by controlling the
milk supply, just like dairymen in
35 other markets do today.
More information on RCMA is
available by calling the following
numbers: 717-278-1259, 717-833-
5776, 814-364-1349, 215-693-5601, 717-
739-4187, 717-524-7625, 814-3264308,
or any PDA regional office.
Keith Eckel,
President Pennsylvania Farmers
Association
Charles Wismer,
Master Pennsylvania State
Grange
David S. Stetler,
President Pennsylvania Farmers
Union
Richard E. Grubb,
Pennsylvania Secretary of
Agriculture
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to provide opportunity for heat
detection. Brood mares need the
same daily exercise if they are to
remain in the best of health.
To Obtain Farmer’s
Tax Guide
We don’t like to talk about taxes
but it’s a way of life. Copies of the
Farmer’s Tax Guide, for use in
preparing your 1986 returns, are
now available at the Extension
Office. The guide is extremeley
valuable when preparing your
return. I realize that many far
mers rely on an accountant or tax
practitioner 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 preparer.
A few important tax dates for
farmers. You may elect to pay
your 1986 estimated income tax
with Form 1040-ES by January 15,
1987. You can then file your 1986
federal income tax return, Form
1040, by April 15. If you do not pay
with Form 1040-ES at this time,
your return will be due March 2,
1987.
This is not a new idea but one
that bears repeating. With the
holiday season approaching, there
are many extra decorations and
events that can present fire
hazards. We urge every parent to
Penn State University; call 814-
863-0655.
Background Scripture; Acts 2; 4
32:35.
Devotional Reading: Acts 5:3342.
It might seem inappropriate to
you, but when I read the passages
from Acts 2 and 4 about the earliest
days of the Church, I found myself
remember a popular seasonal song
that Perry Como used to sing, “It’s
Beginning to Look a Lot Like
Christmas.”
I’ll admit that these passages
are rarely, if ever, associated with
Christmas. But, if you look at them
carefully, I think you’ll find that
there’s quite a bit of the Christmas
spirit reflected in them.
BEGINNING AGAIN
When Simon Peter completed his
Pentecost sermon, his listeners
were “cut to the heart” and
wanted to know “Brethren, what
shall we do?” Simon Peter’s reply
was no less direct than the
question: “Repent, and be bap
tized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sms...” (2:38a). His
listeners had realized, through
Peter’s preaching, that they
needed to, in effect, make a new
beginning in their lives, to be
“bom again” in the words of
John’s Gospel, and Peter was
telling them how to do it.
Sincerely,
IF YOORE LUCKY, A
BROKEN-DOWN
‘ U3EO
MOTOR SCOOTER.
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To Practice
Holiday Safety
(Turn to Page A3l)
discuss the need of safety
measures that will prevent serious
fires and possible human injury.
Too many people are careless
with evergreen decorations and
Christmas trees. Candles,
fireplaces and overloading our
electrical lines are all possible fire
hazards when not carefully han
dled. We urge everyone to make an
effort to be careful with holiday
decorations, and certainly don’t
take chances. If an item is a fire
hazard, you should remove it.
To Properly
Store Firewood
We are more energy conscious
then we’ve ever been...and that is
certainly a good trend. Many
homes are equipped with a
fireplace or wood stove. This
means the use of more firewood.
Proper storage is important.
When storing your firewood,
keep it outside since many insects
may hibernate in the wood piles. If
you keep it inside, they’ll think it’s
spring and wake up to become a
pest in your home. If this happens,
use an ant and roach aerosol for
control. It’s a lot easier just to keep
the firewood in a cold garage or
some outside shelter. The im
portant thing is to keep it as dry as
possible, even if it means covering
it with a plastic tarp. Keep in mind
that wet firewood takes a lot of
heat just to dry it out.
The Cooperative Extension Service is an at
firmative action equal opportunity educational
institution
Doesn’t that sound a lot like
Christmas, the feast of the In
carnation, when we celebrate, not
only the Word becoming Flesh in
the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, but
the Good News that our own lives
can be reborn through him?
Christmas is a time when, looking
at the mess we’ve made of our
lives and our world, we are
assured that we can really begin
again.
Peter also says to his
congregation, “...and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”
(2:38b). And that sounds a lot like
Christmas, too. On the first
Christmas, God gave his children
the best gift he could possibly give
us; His Son. And when Jesus
finished his ministry on earth, his
diciples found that God’s Christ
mas gift to the world was even
more valuable than they had
realized: Jesus was physically
gone from them, but now he would
be present in them in a way that
would prove even better.
Best of all, this gift was to be, not
just for the chosen few, but for
everyone who would receive it:
“For the promise is to you and to
your children and to all that are far
0ff...” (2:39). Christmas is a time
when many of us realize, all too
briefly, that our family circles are
not wide enough. Christmas has a
way of helping us expand our
vision from the confinements of
our own lives and homes in an
awareness that God’s children are
everywhere on this planet and
maybe beyond.
AS ANY HAD NEED
But the part that more than any
other sounds a lot like Christmas to
me is the description of what
happens afterwards: “And all who
believed were together and had all
things in common; and they sold
their possessions and goods and
distributed them to all, as any had
need...” (2:44,45). Once a year, for
a few brief hours or days, just
because it’s Christmas, we rise
above the levels that limit our
daily lives and do extraordinary
things; we contact forgotten
friends, we give gifts (even,
sometimes, to people from whom
we don’t expect to receive
something in return), we feed the
needy, we forgive and forget, and
reach out in good will far beyond
our parochial backyards. For a
brief moment, we act in ways that
prove that it is possible for us to be
the Church that God in Christ in
tended us to be.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Series and used
by permission Released by Community 4
Suburban Press I