Cl2-lancMter Farming, Saturday, February 22, 1992
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) —Heralding a new free, estate
planning service, available
through John Deere deal ears, Vin
cent Siecinski, from John Deere
Insurance Company, provided
useful information to a group of
farmers and dealer representatives
from Landis Bros. Inc., Tuesday
evening. An out-take from the
insurance programs long available
to Deere dealers, the new service
that includes individualized sug
gestions on how to save taxes and
probate costs is now availble to
customers.
“Most estates are made up of
various fixed assets accumulated
over a lifetime,” Siecinski said.
“These accumulations include
livestock, crops, machinery and
real estate, but very little cash.
Upon death, the need for cash can
consume the assets and leave very
little to pass on to your heirs. A
good plan helps to reduce taxes
Hollywood:
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Livestock and poultry farmers and
ranchers along with feed, animal
health, and equipment companies
are mailing actress Candice
Beigen coffee mugs with industry
logos to hopefully replace a mug
from the People for Ethical Treat
ment of Animals (PETA) the
actress carries in her hit TV show
“Murphy Brown.”
The coffee cup mail-in is
dubbed “Mugs for Murphy” by the
Animal Industry Foundation (AJF)
Washington, D.C.
“We’ve gotten calls from sharp
eyed AIF supporters across the
country noting Ms. Bergen carried
a PETA mug in the last couple of
episodes of ‘Murphy Brown.’
While the mug itself is no big deal,
we’d like to think an actress of Ms.
Bergen’s standing lacks all the
facts about radical animal rights
groups or maybe she just needs
a new mug.” said AIF Executive
Director Steve Kopperud.
Fanners and ranchers arc proud
of the professional care they must
give their livestock and poultry,
and the quality food products—at
affordable prices they provide
to meet consumer demand. How
ever, farm families are increasing
ly frustrated by unfounded public
attacks on their livelihoods by
uninformed animal rights groups.
“Ms. Bergen has a right to her
personal philosophy. However, the
PETA mug is a very negative sym
bol to farmers, ranchers, and others
in the food industry.” Kopperud
said. “That mug being seen by mil
lions every Monday night strikes a
Weinberger
Horticulture
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Dr. John H. Weinberger, a
1928 Penn State graduate, has con
tributed $15,000 to Penn State’s
College of Agricultural Sciences
to establish the John H. Weinber
ger Scholarship in Horticulture.
The scholarship will provide
recognition and financial assis
tance to outstanding undergradu
ates enrolled or planning to enroll
in the Department of Horticulture.
Before h , retirement in 1973,
Weinberger worked for 41 years as
a research horticulturist for the
John Deere Offers
New Free Estate Planning Program
and settlement expenses.
Siecinski said an estate plan
seeks to reduce taxes and fees by
bypassing probate, removing
assets from the estate, and by con
trolling the valuation of assets.
This is done very legally through
joint accounts, contracts, buy/sell
agreements and by revocable
trusts. In addition, other strategies
include gifts made during lifetime,
irrevocable trusts, and forming the
second- estate.
Because of the unified tax cre
dit, there is no tax due on estates up
to $600,000. Estates over this
amount are federally taxed from 37
percent on up to .60 percent
depending on the size of the estate.
Siecinski said not only should
farmers have a will, they should
also be sure their wilt is updated to
match the present situation in the
family and on the farm. Wills
made when the children were
small or before the present level of
Get Animal Facts Straight
sensitive nerve with farmers and
ranchers.”
The public must realize PETA
and groups sharing its philosophy
seek to end all animal use for all
purposes. They use diet and envir
onmental propaganda and misin
formation, usually staged as publ
icity stunts, in order to promote
this agenda. Kopperud pointed to
last summer’s full-page ad in the
“Des Moines Register” bought
by PETA comparing meat eat
ing to serial murder in Milwaukee,
as an example of such a stunt
“Now, we want to get the atten
tion of the entertainment industry,
especially creative people who
increasingly inject a one-sided ani
mal rights philosophy into TV
programs and movies,” Kopperud
said.
“We want folks to do their
homework and learn facts, rather
than believing PETA pamphlets,”
Kopperud said, offering to meet
with the “Murphy Brown” star,
introduce her to real farmers, and
let them give her the truth of mod
em food production.
“Writers, producers, directors,
actors and others need to under
stand there are people at risk from
the animal rights philosophy.
There are 2.5 million farm families
in America, and millions of
employees of companies in food
production and distribution who
rely on those families. In addition,
those who rely on animal bypro
ducts for day-to-day health,
including heart patients, diabetics
and others, are concerned. These
people see animal rights as a threat
Establishes
Scholarship
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Agricultural Research Service.
Based principally in Georgia and
California, he developed and
released 37 fruit varieties, includ
ing Fantasia, the leading nectarine
variety in the United States; Friar,
the leading fresh plum variety; and
Flame Seedless, the second most
important table grape produced in
the country.
Weinberger is a member of the
Agricultural Research Service Sci
ence Hall of Fame and a fellow of
the American Society for Horticul
tural Science.
Vincent Sieclnski gives strategies to reduce estate taxes and fees.
assets were achieved may not be
representative of what you want
your will to do.
to their quality of life.
“And, if that doesn’t get their
attention, studios should at least
remember; Folks in agriculture
watch lots of TV, buy movie tick
ets, and shell out hard-earned dol
lars for sponsor products.”
Farmers and ranchers are being
joined in the “Mugs for Murphy”
effort by the U.S. biomedical
research community. The National
Association for Biomedical
Research is calling on its member
ship to mail Bergen coffee mugs
B MILK. IT DOES A BODY good:
MIDDLE ATLANTIC MILK MARKETING ASSOCIATION, INC.
To get started, you need to get
together with your consultant for a
confidential fact-finding scession.
with institutional logos.
AIF is a charitable education
foundation dedicated to educating
consumers about modem livestock
and poultry production and the
quality of life most Americans
enjoy because of the efforts of far
mers and ranchers.
Mugs are being sent to Bergen at
the following address: Candice
Bergen, The Murphy Brown
Show, c/o CBS Television, 524
West 57th Street, New York, NY
10019.
Then confirm your goals and
objectives, develop analysis,
review alternatives, make deci
sions and come up with an estate
plan that distributes assets as
desired, maximizes family finan
cial security and minimizes estate
taxes and costs.
Research studies show that tax
es and transferring your property at
death can take from 10 percent to
70 percent of your assets. A good
estate plan will help you reduce
this drain from the amount you
want your beneficiaries to receive.
For more information about this
free service from the John Deere
Company, call your local John
Deere dealer. Or contact Vincent
Siecinski at (412) 836-3768.