Reconsidering
(Continued from Pag* A3B)
state’s I.SS million com acres
W ere insured, according to offi
cials. However, a second straight
year of drought across much of the
Mid-Atlantic region is focusing
renewed attention on the program.
Crop insurance has existed in
one form or another for years. It
began to take its present form in
the late 1970 s and early 1980 s,
when the government decided it
wanted out of the responsibility of
bailing farmers out after cata
strophic crop losses. The current
program was designed to replace
federal disaster payments and
loans, but participation rates in the
voluntary program have remained
low in many areas of the country.
Twice in the last three years, the
federal government has stepped
back in with special disaster relief
programs anyway.
Nevertheless, insurance propo
nents argue, farmers should not
continue to count on federal
largesse, especially in non-
election years. At the same time,
the Federal Crop Insurance Cor
poration, the government agency
that oversees a network of private
agents who actually sell the poli
cies, continues to adjust program
details in an effort to make insur
The New Holland Sales Stables, Inc.
Proudly Presents the List of Buyers of the 45th Annual Penna.
Southeast District 4-H Baby Beef Sale Held at the New Holland
Sales Stables, Inc. - Saturday, Nov. 12th, 1988
GRAND CHAMPION
COUNTRY TABLE
RESTAURANT
MT. JOY, PA.
AgrlJnc
Bphrata, Pa.
Downingtown National
Bank,
Ephrata, Pa.
Ephrata National Bank
Ephrata, Pa.
Farm Crest Feeds
Lttltz, Pa.
Farmersville Equipment
Ephrata, Pa.
Hamilton Bank
Lancaster, Pa.
Herr Foods, Inc.
Nottingham, Pa.
Hoober Feeds
Intercourse, Pa.
Klngsway Realty
Lancaster, Pa.
B.R. Krelder and Son, Inc.
Manhelm, Pa.
Lancaster Ford Tractor, Inc.
Lancaster, Pa.
Lancaster Level-Flo. Inc.
Mount Joy, Pa.
Carlos R. Leffler
Mt. Joy, Pa.
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc.
Elizabethtown, Pa.
Stephen Petersheim
Cochranville, Pa.
R&R Landscaping
Stevens, Pa.
We Salute These Buyers, Whom You Will Note Include Businesses and Industries
Related and Non-Related to Agriculture... They Have Generously Given Realistic
Support to America’s Outstanding Youth Farm Project...
THE 4-H CLUBS of CHESTER, DAUPHIN and LANCASTER COUNTIES
ance mote palatable to farmers.
It is now available on a wide
variety of crops, from barley to
broccoli, and in a number of
options com for silage, for
example, or forage seeding.
Typically, farmers can choose
from among three different
"coverage levels” and three “price
selections.” Growers could insure
their 1988 com crop, for instance,
at 50, 65 or 75 percent of their
average yields as computed by an
FCIC formula. They also could
opt to receive payments of $1.25,
$1.50 or $2 a bushel if their yields
fell below the coverage level they
selected.
(For example, consider a farmer
with a 100-bushel, average yield
who was insured at the 65 percent,
$2 level, the most common form
of coverage among com growers.
If drought dropped his yields
down to 40 bushels an acre, he
would collect benefits of $5O an
acre 25 bushels (65-40) times
$2.)
Premiums and average yields
are determined on an individual
basis and depend on the produc
tion history of the farm and the
level of coverage selected. In
Maryland’s Caroline County, for
instance, a farmer with a
B. Titus Rutt Agency, Inc.
Mt. Joy, Pa.
Robert Shellenberger
Blrd-in-Hand, Pa.
Henry Stoltzfus
Mt. Joy, Pa.
Stoltzfus Ins. Mgt.
Leola, Pa.
Stoltzfus Meats Inc.
Intercourse, Pa.
Earl Umble
Atglen, Pa.
Kurt Umble
Atglen. Pa.
Union National Bank
Mt. Joy. Pa.
White Oak Mills
Elizabethtown, Pa.
Willie The Butcher
Located in the Stauffer’s R&R Landscaping
of Kissel Hill Markets Stevens, Pa.
LANCASTER COUNTY
4-H SHOW LAMB BUYERS
Champion Lamb
Hess Mills
Paradise. Pa.
Reserve Chtunpion
Willie The Butcher
Walter M. Dunlap & Sons
Lancaster Stockyards
Lancaster, Pa.
Ephrata National Bank
Ephrata. Pa.
100-bushcl avenge yield for non
irrigated com would have paid
about $4 JO an acre for 65-bushel,
$2 coverage and $9.16 for
75-bushel, $2 coverage, according
to Dale Johnson, a University of
Maryland ag economist.
John Gartside, manager of the
FCIC' office in Harrisburg, Pa.,
that administers the program in an
11-state region, says dairymen
(who have participated at even
lower levels than farmers in gen
eral) ought to at least consider sev
eral aspects of the program.
The option used by Keller and a
handful of other dairymen across
the region was to insure all of their
com acres for grain even though
they always intended to harvest at
least some of them for silage. For
those who made claims, insurance
adjustors estimated the grain
yields before silage harvest or,
within a few days, from check
strips left standing, Gartside said.
The same procedure would have
applied no matter how the fields
were handled, he added.
This option worked well this
year in fields where the summer’s
heat and lack of rain stunted ear
development more than stalk
growth, Gartside noted. Farmers
could still harvest a silage crop
that was reduced only marginally
in tonnage and nutritional value
while collecting insurance bene-
RESERVE GRAND
CHAMPION
WEAVER MARTIN
LIVESTOCK TRUCKING
EAST EARL, PA.
Farmers First Bank
Lltitz, Pa.
Dr. Fetter
Elizabethtown, Pa.
Groff Meats
Elizabethtown, Pa.
Ezra Good
Denver, Pa.
Hamilton Bank
Lancaster, Pa.
Harrisburg Country Club
Harrisburg, Pa.
Hess Mills
Leo Kolb
Elizabethtown, Pa.
Nissley Electric
Middletown, Pa.
Barry Stoner
Manheim, Pa.
Kurt Umble
Atglen, Pa.
Donald Walter
Airville, Pa.
Willie The Butcher
Teagley Associates
Elizabethtown, Pa.
R.W. Zimmerman
Zook Molasses, Inc.
Honey Brook, Pa.
fits on low grain yields. Moreover,
the insurance program also Com
pensates for reduced value due to
quality considerations such as
aflatoxim contamination or
shriveled kernels.
Of course, farmers with losses
in excess of 35 percent also can
receive payments under the disas
ter assistance program. But, in
most cases, these payments are not
offset by insurance benefits; far
mers get both.
The same is not true, however,
of farmers who opt for the
emergency feed program adminis
tered by the Agricultural Stabili
zation and Conservation Service,
another drought aid program
available this year. Under its
guidelines, insurance benefits
reduce the amount of assistance
provided dollar for dollar.
Because the emergency feed
program generally has been
offered to drought stricken lives
tock farmers year after year (it’s
one of the few programs activated
by a federal designation of a coun
ty or region as a disaster area), far
mers may want to compare
expected benefits under it to those
available through insurance.
Despite the price tag attached to
insurance, it should be worthwhile
under a variety of circumstances.
IDEAL LEAF
TOBACCO CO.
Joe Irving is back in Lancaster to
buy 1988 crop of 609. Joe Irving will
buy tobacco at auction. He will also
buy tobacco direct if you wish to
sell that way.
Call
717-575-2525, 717-295-9346,
717-786-4888
H* MM Ml
l«mmu 2o| Hw*JiSr
Gartside said.
One of the problems with crop
insurance has been the Jack of
agents who handle it in certain
areas. However, Gartside thinks
the renewed interest in the prog
ram he’s seen from farmers and
agents this fall may alleviate this
problem.
Rates and details for next sea
son have been established for
most crops. Gartside said. Farmers
can sign up now. Those having
trouble finding an appropriate
agent should contact their local
ASCS offices, Gartside suggested.
Amish Benefit
Raises $57,000
YORK A benefit auction
held at the York County Livestock
Sales, New Park, on October 29
raised more than $57,000 for the
Joseph Esh family. The family was
traveling to church in a horse and
buggy when a car driven by an
intoxicated driver hit them. The
accident left Esh paralyzed from
the neck down and other family
members injured.
Stan Nagle of York County
Livestock Sales and the entire
Amish community who organized
the benefit thank all who contri
buted. Donations may still be mail
ed to the Joseph Esh Fund, c/o
York County Livestock Sales,
P.O. Box 243, Fawn Grove, PA
17321.
s
\
\
“We not only gite
you what we have;
but what you want,"
SPECIALIZING IN:
• Grain Drying
• Handling
• Storage
• Milling Equipment
At 608 E. Evergreen Rd.
Lebanon, PA 17042
(717) 274-5333