AIQ-Lincastw Farming, Saturday, May 16, 1992
OPINION
Get Things In Order
American agriculture is graying. According to the 1987
U.S. Department of Agriculture Census, between 1982 and
1987 the number of farmers under the age of 25 fell by 42.5
percent. Twenty-one percent were 65 or older, and nearly
half the nation’s farm assets were held by farmers who were
at least 55.
According to the spring issue of Farmland Update, the
newsletter of the American Farmland Trust’s northeastern
office, in 1969, retirement-age farmers accounted for only
12 percent of the farm population. By 1987 the digits had
reversed to 21 percent. Meanwhile, especially in the north
east, urban sprawl and development pressure drove property
values beyond the reach of commercial agriculture. Estate
and other taxes made it even more difficult for regional far
mers to stay in business.
Fanning takes a huge personal and financial investment.
This makes farm transfer a very difficult issue. A farmer
needs an estate plan to lay out a framework for a smooth
transition of ownership and management. A will alone does
not secure the future of a farm.
Inheritance taxes are one big reason why a will is not
enough. Although land values once may have been low
enough for typical farm earnings to cover taxes, this is rarely
true today. Since inheritance taxes are assessed at death and
based on the “highest and best use" of land, property values
are often appraised well above farm earnings. Estates worth
more than $600,000 are subject to federal taxes on top of
state and local taxes. With only a will, heirs to a 250-acre
dairy farm appraised at $2,500 per acre could be liable for
taxes beginning at 37 percent on the land value alone! Estate
plans can save unsuspecting families from having to sell
their farms to settle with the Internal Revenue Service. They
can offset the settlement problems that arise because land is
not a liquid asset, and provide for family members’ needs
even those who leave the farm. Good plans allow farmers to
retire, provide for unforeseen disability and even protect
their land forever. Professional advisors, from attorneys and
financial planners to conservation organizations, can help
create estate plans tailor-made for farmers’ special needs.
No one likes to think about death, but for farm families a
child is not enough to keep the farm in the family. You need
to get things in order now.
Farm Calendar
tor Company, East Troy, 9
a.m.-noon.
Bedford County second annual
Sheep and Wool Field Day,
Bedford Fairgrounds, Bedford,
10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Pa. Draft Horse and Mule Associa-
lion annual spring clinic, Man
Clearfield Co. Horse Show, Clear-
Lancaster Fanning
Established 19SS
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stmnrmn Entoprh*
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor
CapyHght IMI by Lancaster Farming
Solanco Young Farmers Bam
Meeting, Ed Hamish farm, 7:30
Hay Field Day, Joe Ferris Farm,
Wilmington Township, Mercer
Co., 2 p.m.
Rural Issues Forum, Mansfield
(Turn to Page A 37)
To Avoid
Soil Compaction
Soil compaction, whether on the
surface or in the subsoil, may
reduce yields and rob profits. With
compaction, plant growth may be
significantly reduced.
In one study at Purdue Universi
ty, plant height was reduced by 20
per cent with moderate soil com
paction. The increased size of Geld
equipment used on Gums, several
wet seasons, and the lack of cold
winters have contributed to soil
compaction.
Compaction will show up in
many ways, including reduced
drainage, increased runoff,
increases in denitrification,
increase in the power requirements
to work the soil, damage to a grow*
ing crop, and reduced yields.
Plants growing on compacted
soils will ha ve reduced root growth
often limited to horizontal growth,
uneven plant height, show signs of
herbicide injury when proper rates
are used, and nitrogen deficiency
when adequate nitrogen is present
in the soil.
Improving soils which have
been compacted takes time and
may involve spending money to
achieve deep tillage.
The most cost-effective way to
treat soil compaction is avoidance.
To reduce soil compaction, avoid
tillage and traffic on wet soils,
avoid deep tillage in the spring on
poorly drained and somewhat
Farm Forum
Editor:
I almost entered the June Dairy
Month Recipe Contest I changed
my mind when I looked at the pic
ture of the prizes on 84, May 9
issue and realized I wouldn’t know
what to do with a prize if I became
a winner.
Here at Raiaine Jerseys we don’t
have those black and white (gener
ic?) cows. Ours are the basically
brown kind that produce the high
percentage of protein that adds the
quality to milk and especially the
cheese and yogurt
Those who make country crafts
invariably use the black and white
cows for their focus. I understand
that the crafters are probably not
(Turn to Pag* ASS)
poorly drained soils, limit or con
trol traffic in fields, and avoid
unnecessary tillage which hastens
organic matter decomposition.
To Consider
Rotational Grazing
While pastures are not a major
source of feed for many local far
mers, they still have some beneGts.
Pastures provide some fresh
feed, a reprieve from concrete, and
an opportunity to get some sun
shine and exercise.
To help pastures become more
productive and something more
than a muddy exercise lot, divide
them into several paddocks. Then
graze the paddocks on a rotational
basis.
To avoid overgrazing, fence off
a small well drained area to be used
as a barnyard or as a sacriGce lot.
When the pastures are short or too
wet to graze, cattle may be con
fined to the smaller area in order to
protect the pasture sod.
LEARNING
TO MEND
May 5.1991
Background Scripture: 2 Cor
inthians 1:12-2:17.
Devotional Reading: Philip
pians 4:4-13.
Back in the 19th century, a
denomination (which shall remain
ngmeless) was tom asunder by a
conflict that was fought under the
banner of the theological disagree
ment on the doctrine of "entire
sanctification." Today church his
torians acknowledge that essen
tially this split was the result of a
personal conflict between two
bishops. Smith and Jones (not
their real names) who refused to
acknowledge their antipathy and
elevated the conflict to the level of
doctrinal dispute. Members
divided into "Smithites” or "Jone
sites" and a small denomination
became two even smaller ones. In
1962, when I became pastor of a
church in a small town in Pennsyl
vania, I found that that conflict
had split not only the community,
but also whole families. And some
of the wounds still had not healed.
LIVING SKIM MILK
Although church conflicts usu
ally appear as matters of principle,
all too often they are really clashes
of personalities and they have
done the cause of Christ a great
deal of harm over the centuries.
As someone had put it "we preach
whipped cream and live skim milk
. " Our professions of love and
reconciliation are often negated by
our examples of strife and aliena
tion, for people expect a higher
level of behavior from Christians.
The problem is not just that
churches are prone to the same
personal conflicts as other human
institutions after all, churches
are composed of acknowledged
sinners but that after almost
2,000 years they still are woefully
To Deworm
Pasture Cattle
Unfortunately, pastures may be
a place where cattle, especially
young stock, may pick up stomach
worms.
Heifers infested with worms are
unthrifty and do not grow well. For
this reason, heifers should be
dewortned about three weeks after
being turned out to pasture.
Just as important as the first
deworming is a second deworming
done three weeks after the first.
This second deworming will do a
lot to reduce worm buildups on
pastures.
Another good practice is not
graze heifers on pastures that have
been grazed by older cattle. If heif
ers and cows share the same pas
ture, it may be necessary to
deworm the entire herd.
Feather Profs Footnote: “A
true friend is someone who is there
for you when he'd rather be any
where else." ten Wein
deficient in healing their human
conflicts. Church people, I have
found, are much more likely to
"fight for their convictions" than
to "reconcile for the sake of
Christ."
Church disputes have been with
us since the beginning and 2 Cor
inthians give evidence of a serious
one between the Apostle Paul and
some, members of the church in
Corinth. Unfortunately— for the
sake of our curiosity, at least—
Paul doesn't tell us what was the
cause of that dispute. He knew
what it was about and he knew the
Corinthians knew, so we can only
infer some of the issues from his
letters. Apparently some of his cri
tics had accused him of vacillating
because he first planned to visit
Corinth and then later called it off.
Some of the Corinthians may have
interpreted this as a slight At any
rate, although we can only guess
at what happotjed, the conflict r#as
very serious. '
REAFFIRM LOVE
But, although one of Paul's pur
poses is to defend himself against
some of these charges, his greater
purpose is to effect reconciliation.
It appears that someone in the
Corinth church was punished in
some way as a result of this con
flict: "For such a one this punish
ment by the majority is enough; so
you should rather turn to forgive
and comfort him...So I beg you to
reaffirm your love for
him... Anyone whom you forgive I
also forgive” (2:6- 10).
I have rarely seen congregation
al conflicts end in reconciliation.
Expulsion or walk-out is the usual
result. Seldom, injhe midst of
these conflicts, have I even heard
the word "love," let alone seen it
in action. (I hope my experience is
the exception rather than the rule.)
It is understandable that in our
churches we should sometimes
disagree and even that sometimes
these disagreements might cause
personal and congregational dis
ruption. But in the midst of these
conflicts we need to hear Paul say
ing to us: "I beg you to reaffirm
your love for him” (her, them).
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total Praaa.)