j .yshiuin?! .pnima s ? isiewnaJ A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 9,199 S Lebanon (Continued from Pago AD about the day-to-day worlds of others within a farm-city commun ity, and most have said they enjoyed the experience and gained a new or heightened respect for others. This year was no different, except that (perhaps this year espe cially) the city participants seemed especially awed by the amount of business work and business atti tude with which their farmer partners operate their farms. In most years past, in describing their experiences, it seemed that city participants put more empha sis upon the long hours and intense physical labor and dedication that characterized the work of farming partners in the job-exchange program. This year the highlight of expressions of mutual respect between the farm and city particip ants seemed to be that they really face the same types of business workload challenges and demands financial awareness, paperwork, planning, searching for efficiencies, continuing educa tion, sharpening business skills and relationship skills, and being still being involved in their fami lies and communities. While the farm participants commented on the city workers hours or service to their busines ses, the city participants com mented on the fact that the entire farm family works in the family farm business, and that it is still a seven-day, 24-hour job to operate a farm. In his discussion of his experi ence, Phillips gave a humorous accounting. He said that as a youth and a member of the Boy Scouts, he had the opporotunity to go to a farm and milk a cow by hand. As an adult on the Dale Hostet ler and Sons Farm in Bellegrove, with a herd of about 100 registered Holsteins, Phillips said, “All the imagery I had, and the recollec tions I had, gave way to the reality. “The Hostetler family opened their bam door to me and gave me all the chores I guess they thought I could handle,” Phillips said. He shoveled manure. Phillips talked about the large meals provided him and the work that burned it off. He also commented on the deco rations in the Hostetler household, telling the audience about these pictures of cows hanging on the walls and all with an apparent “Greta Garbo” complex, on pro file, facing to the right. Phillips continued, talking. about the equipment, the ride he turkey white at Farm-City Program Catalyst For Mutual Respect got in the tractor while spreading manure, modem milking tech niques. the medical care and envir onmental attention that the cows receive, the attention to dietary and nutritional needs of the cattle for peak health and performance, the telephone calls, the paper and office work, the labor, the organi zation, family support, and the fact that work is everyday. “There is quite a different amount of commitment (on the farm) than folks in the city are used to working with,” he said. Both men seemed to easily find words of mutual respect and admi ration for each other. Hostetler told of his city-work experience with Bob and visiting Phillips’ insurance office, describ ing die many person-to-person relationships that are part of the job, the computerization, the paperwork, the efficiencies and efforts to provide a competitive service that attracts and keeps customers. Hostetter said it was also very obvious that Phillips truly cared about the people he served, recall ing that Phillips made a distinction between the difference of being an insurance “salesman” and an insurance “agent.” According to Hostetter, Phillips said he does not push people to buy anything they don’t want or need. Hostetter said Phillips described his role as one who is to talk with customers about what they want and to answer questions and facili tate their claims as quickly as possible. On the women’s side of the exchange program, Jan Boyer told of her visit with Bonnie Wenger. She said that Steve and Bonnie Wenger and Steve’s father Glen run their farm “much like anyone would run a business.” She said she was impressed with the efficiencies in feeding and car ing for the turkeys, the dairy cattle, the fact that they daily track feed costs and futures, their custom field work business, and that they diversified. Boyer talked about helping to “dump” (place by age groups into rearing areas) turkeys in the bam. She said that in less than two hours the work crew had placed 27,000 turkeys. She also mentioned visiting a neighboring farm where calves were being raised, and riding the farm’s combine and, tractor. Perhaps the most striking state ment was Boyer’s observation that many small businesses involve a husband and wife team effort and that most farms are that way. Boyer said the impression may im, From tho left, dairy farmar Alan Hoatattar and inauranoa agant Bob Phillips share thair axparlancaa working at aaeh othar'a Jobs for a day. yer,. ,ig consultant, and Bonnie Wenger, dairy and turkey farmer, stand together in front of more than 500 people to tell of their mutual respect and new understand! - wa« i>. . stage,, .iss . , ... uinette . -*rtz sings country songs to entertain attendees at the Lebanon County Farm-City Program. The items around the stage are some of the door prizes donated by businesses. be that farm women get to stay For her observations, Bonnie home instead of working, but that said she never realized how much she learned that farm women are work went into creating advcrtis very much, “working mothers," ing for newspapers, magazines and who probably have it tougher than television, working mothers outside of farm- And she said that she noticed the ing, because, “It’s tough to get a two actually shared some things in babysitter at live in the morning, or common when she arrived at Boy around midnight when calves are er’s house to report for work to being bom.” find a copy of Lancaster Farming Of Wenger, Boyer said, “I at the door, admire her ability to juggle all the Wenger said the phone calls, the responsibilities mid to do it well.” ideas, the homework needed id Boyer also commented on how knowing her clients’ businesses Steve and Bonnie went to Ger- and all the followup work made many for two weeks to share her realize, “All in all, we face the knowledge of Burning and effi- same challenges.” ciency. She said that it spoke of the The Lebanon Farm-City Prog- Wenger's devotion to their family nm has been recognized by the and business. state in previous years for Us tours On top of that, Boyer said, “Far- and mail events, in addition to a men doa lot of volunteering. Bon- j o b exchange program and nie is involved with the Pennsylva- banquet nia Fum Bureau. FFA and Ag in Under the leadership of the the Classroom." (mm a. ft* AiS) laar announoaa thaprfza. «HV*
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers