OPINION
Join RCMA Now
We hear a lot about tight milk
supplies right now. And, of course,
that’s amazing when you consider
that only a short time ago all we
had to report was over-supply and
huge surpluses. At that time,
almost everyone would have had
us believe the dairy farmer would
never again see the light at the end
of the tunnel. Now milk plant
managers express concern about
possible milk shortages. What a
difference a few months can make.
The drought, the herd buyout
and milk promotion efforts are
given as reasons for the quick turn
around. In addition, let’s face it,
some dairymen who didn’t get in
the buyout went out of business
anyway. Nevertheless, every
reason that is given for the change
in milk supplies goes back to
hardships and/or sacrifices made
by dairymen. If the dairy farm
family didn’t give up their way of
life by going out of business, they
certainly sacrificed the dollars
that were removed from milk
checks for advertising and
promotion of dairy products. And
the disheartening fact remains
that with all these sacrifices, the
odds are still stacked against the
dairy farmer when he comes to
receive full benefit from the tur
ned-around market conditions.
First of all, the federal
marketing order prices are set by
the Butter/Powder Class II market
even though use of Class I
beverage milk is about constant all
year. In addition, the dairy plant’s
business is often weighted on the
side of Class n. The market for
manufactured dairy products has
been developed. The excess that
isn’t eaten by consumers in normal
market channels is purchased by
commodity credit. And the
manufacturing plants have
overhead and labor forces geared
up for this market. They need a
constant supply of milk to keep
their plants running even at the
expense of beverage milk.
So right now we see tight Class I
supplies of milk with the support
price scheduled to drop in
January. This ought not to be.
„ ■iu.m ■■■■■■■■
FARMTORUM
OUR READERS WRITE
Dear Editor;
The lame-duck session and
Thornburgh gave us farmers a few
“nice” gifts (if that’s what they
call “nice”). That’s the pesticide
bill to take away certain pesticides
and deprive agriculture and
Pennsylvanians of rights to use
them and singled out persons who
own dogs and cats to have rabies
shots given by only veterinarians
so that the vets could soak what
ALL OF U!
WANT" TO
WEALTH
AN PRO
iy, DfceniMr z/, 19TC
Historically, dairymen were not
organized to ask for a fair higher
price for Class I milk when market
conditions warranted that increase
over the federal order support
price. Now they are. The Regional
Cooperative Marketing Agency
(RCMA) has already won the
support of 45 to 50 milk marketing
cooperatives. These groups have
pledged all of their members to
RCMA. Many of the independent
producers in eastern milk
producing states north of Penn
sylvania have joined the
cooperative. Pennsylvania’s in
dependent dairymen are now being
signed up so that every milk dealer
in the northeast will be asked to
pay a price above the federal order
for Class I milk as asked for by
RCMA.
Some people think with the
operation of RCMA, dairymen
may at times add up to a dollar or
more per hundredweight to their
milk checks. Others think that if
dairymen can just keep the price
up where it is now, the cooperative
is worth joining. While the possible
added income is fantastic, we think
it’s just as important for dairymen
to get in a position to say what
price he wants for his milk, rather
than accept what someone else
says he may have.
We know some of us farmers are
not comfortable when we must put
a price on what we want to sell. We
have so long been required by the
nature of our business to pay retail
prices for our inputs and to receive
wholesale prices for our produc
tion. Psychologically it’s hard for
us to orient our thinking to a
competitive marketing situation
where costs determine the final
price to the end user. But when you
get right down to the bottom line,
it’s really not too much to ask for a
few extra dollars to be returned
from a favorable beverage milk
market that has been at least in
part created by the advertising
and promotion money taken out of
our milk checks in the first place.
So that’s why we think you
should join RCMA. And we think
you should join right now.
they want. The singling out of
persons who own dogs and subject
them to special dog laws is a
deliberate violation of the 14th
Amendment of the U.S. Con
stitution, which says that “no state
shall make or inforce laws to deny
any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.”
The governor and the law makers
were informed of that but they
(Turn to Page Al 3)
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Review
Your Will
With the provisions of the
Economic Recovery Tax Act back
in 1981, major new benefits are
available in the estate planning
area. The new laws prompt three
major actions. First, you should
thoroughly review your wills;
second, examine how you own
property; and third, check for
application of the new tax laws to
determine savings.
Everyone should have their will
thoroughly reviewed if it hasn’t
been done since September 1981.
One major point of the review
should be Hpforminp ways of
f=& iHi
Farm
Calendar
Thursday, January 1
Annual Family Style Pork and
Sauerkraut Dinner, Leola War
Memorial Building, noon to 6
p.m.
Friday, January 2
Lebanon County Livestock
Roundup, Lebanon
Fairgrounds; Show, 10 a.m.,
Sale, 6 p.m.
Monday, January 5
Hunterdon County Sheep
Breeders’ Association monthly
meeting, Extension Center, 8
p.m.
Tuesday, January 6
Ephrata Area Young Farmer’s
Officers Banquet Meeting,
Ephrata Jr. High School
Conference Room, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 7
Hunterdon County Board of Ag
monthly meeting, Extension
Center, 8 p.m.
Bucks County Federal Income Tax
Meeting, Meyers Restaurant,
Route 309 Quakertown, 9 a.m. to
4 p.m.
Thursday, January 8
Christmas Tree Pest Management
Short Course, Buckhout Lab,
Penn State University; con
tinues tomorrow.
York County Commercial Dairy
Day, 4-H Center, 10 a.m. to 2:30
p.m.
Income Tax Meeting, Lancaster
Farm and Home Center, 9:30
a.m. to 4 p.m.
Farrowing Short Course, Penn
State University, 9 a.m. to 5
p.m.
Regional Tomato Growers
mi
applying the new unlimited federal
estate tax marital deduction.
Any amount of property can now
be transferred tax-free to a spouse
at death. However, this option
should be considered carefully.
Medium and large estates may pay
more tax if the entire estate is
passed to the surviving spouse.
Consult your attorney about
making necessary changes.
To Prepare For
Slippery Conditions
Slippery roads, walks and steps
will be a common hazard in the
next few months. Many people use
salt too freely in cutting the ice; it
may get the job done but also may
injure nearby turf or shrubbery.
I’d suggest the use of sand or
sawdust. These materials will
make the surface safe without
possible injury to vegetation.
In areas without any vegetation,
salt will give good results. Along
our main highways there is some
evidence that the constant use of
salt is inflicting injury to nearby
trees and shrubs. Don’t let this
happen to your favorite tree, shrub
or the turf lining your walk.
To Take
Inventory
An area of our operation that is
very important at this time of year
is inventory. With the close of the
year most of our farmers close out
their records for the year. This
INVISIBLE
CROSSES
December 28,1986
Background Scripture: Mark
8:27-38.
Devotional Reading: John 12:20-
26.
Most people like and feel com
fortable with approximately 50%
of the Gospel. The Christmas part -
- at least as they think they un
derstand it - is wonderful, of
course. And they are also happy to
acknowledge Jesus as the Christ.
But the other 50% of the gospel
introduces some ideas that they
find most unattractive. This really
shouldn’t surprise us at all that
much because Jesus’s own
disciples had pretty much the
same problem. At Caesarea
Philippi they must have been
elated when, in answer to Jesus’s
probing, “But who do you say that
I am?” Peter, their unofficial
spokesman, declared “You are the
Christ” (Mark 8:29). If only Mark
had tacked on a nice ending and let
it go at that!
Mark, however, did not finish
there because Jesus did not finish
there. Jesus went on to “teach
them that the Son of man must
Meeting, Thomson’s Dairy Bar
(Lackawanna County). Phone;
963-6842 for information.
Friday, January 9
Southcentral Area Income Tax
meeting, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Chambersburg Holiday Inn on
Wayne Ave., Chambersburg.
means that if you are going to have
a Farm Analysis made, you should
take inventory of all your supplies.
You’ll need this to do any kind of
farm analysis, because the amount
of grains, hay and other supplies
that are in storage will vary from
year to year, and unless this is
taken into consideration, you
cannot have an accurate analysis
of your year’s operation. So, as
accurately as possible, record the
amount of hay, grains, feed, seeds,
and fertilizer that are on hand.
This is the first step in an accurate
farm analysis.
To Know Tax
Reporting Timetables
Farmers planning to estimate
what their tax is going to be for
1986 should file from 1040 ES by
Jan. 15. If you file your Estimated
Return by Jan. 15, you have until
April 15 to file a complete tax
return on Form 1040 and pay any
tax still due or request a refund if
they overpaid in making the tax
estimate. However, farmers who
do not file and pay an estimated
tax must file the completed 1040
form by March 2 and pay in full
whatever tax is due at that time.
Non-farmers have until April 15 to
complete their 1040 and pay any
tax due. Farmer’s Tax Guides are
available at the Extension Office to
assist in filing your reports.
suffer many things,” (8:31) in
cluding that he would be killed and
rise again. And the same disciple,
Peter, who had just made his
ringing confession, “You are the
Christ,” now turned “and began to
rebuke him.” Peter- and probably
the rest of the disciples- loved the
part about their Master being the
Christ, but he did not love the
second part, the part about suf
fering.
IF ANY MAN...
Simon Peter was not the last
person to be tumed-off by the
suffering servant role which Jesus
forecast. People like the pictures
of Christ enthroned in glory, but
not those of him on a cross. There
is a nagging sense of shame which
some people feel when they look at
a picture or statue of Jesus on the
cross. Jesus anticipated this
reaction and he said to Peter and
the rest of the disciples, “For
whoever is ashamed of me and of
my words in this adulterous
generation, of him will the Son of
man also be ashamed, when he
comes in the glory of his Father
with the holy angels” (8:38).
To be the Christ, Jesus is saying,
means bearing a cross. That’s the
first stumbling block for many.
OBSOLETE?
But, there’s another one too. Not
only does he have to suffer, says
Jesus, but so do any or all of us who
want to be his disciples. To be the
Christ means to bear a cross and to
be a follower of Christ means no
less that that either. “If any man
would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and
follow me” (Mk.8:34).
That statement is the biggest
blow of all, for many people
become Christians so that they
might escape the very thing Jesus
is offering: a cross. In fact, many
people believe it is their only in
surance against that type of suf
fering. Instead, Jesus virtually
promises it to them if they become
his disciples and follow him.
Surely, the cross requirement
has become so obsolete for
followers of Jesus? Not really! For
most of us in the USA and
elsewhere where there is freedom
of religion in effect, crosses have
simply become invisible. Instead
of the extreme agony of a
crucifixion, our crosses are unseen
but no less real. Instead of physical
pain, they may inflict only those
inner pains or embarrassment,
humiliation, or rejection. But there
are crosses in the lives of every one
of us - every day, if we will see
them. And they are no less real
crosses because they are invisible.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by the
Committee on the Uniform Senes and used by
permission Released by Community 4 Suburban
Pi ess)