82-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, December 23, 1995 LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Farming Staff COATSVILLE (Chester Co.) When Paul Sands purchased a 280-acre farm in a secluded part of Chester County in 1953, he said that his mother-in-law almost dis owned him. She was dismayed that her daughter would live in the delapi dated farmhouse where chickens had once roosted. Several years later. Sands con sidered relocating. “And my wuihcr-in-law almost disowned me again. She couldn’t understand why I would sell such a nice place after all the work we put into it.” Sands recalls, “Those first years in farming, we really had to struggle. Things in (he house just had to wait because we needed things to make the farm run.” Little by little, the house was restored. Underneath the crumbling plas ter and layers of blackened soot, the Sands discovered beautiful sandstone and three fireplaces. Partitions were tom out, walls erected, new windows installed, and even the beams replaced. “We did everything first class when we did it even if it was slow in getting done,” Paul reported. The lovely stone house sits on top a hillside surrounded by fields and woodland. The secret to success in terming Is paying attention to detail. Business is very cruel and unforgiving If you don’t do it right,” said Sands who calls himself a calculator man. “The calculator doesn’t lie,” he said of his wariness to not take another person’s word for the profit that can be made on contract and bids. i iS<U V’H. * Change It’s What Sands Thrive On The end result confirms Paul’s philosophy concerning farming. “Buy a place for the land, not the buildings. You can always change the buildings, but you can’t change the land.” Change. That’s the word Sands thrives on. While he concedes that many of his age talk about the good old days, he said, “I don’t have much nostalgia in my bones. To me, the future is more exciting than the past” Especially fascinating to him is biotechnology and the changes it promises to bring to fanning. Sands doesn’t believe people should be frightened by change. In his travels to many different coun tries all over the world, he has found that the countries who stay ed the same and resisted change are the countries where people are starving and in poverty. The farmer’s number one down fall, he believes, is not change or increasing land costs, but govern ment interference. “At one time, Romania was the bread basket of the world. Now people wait in lines that are one block long to get a loaf of bread. Farmers are using hand scythes to mow 40 acres of hay. That’s what happens when you leave it to the government to tell you how to farm,” he said. Paul and Helen dubbed this evergreen on their property “Our Miracle Christmas Tree” after thieves chopped it down 20 years ago. To their amazement, another tree sprouted and grew In its stead. Since then, It has been chopped down several times, but it always grows up again. “Romania is the direction in which America is heading. One can’t understand the devastation of that country unless you go and see it,” he said. “Leave production and distribu tion in the hands of private indus try and you will have abundance. Put it in the hands of government and you’ll have poverty and want” Although Sands identifies gov ernment interference as a problem, he is at a loss to know how to stop it. Despite the trend toward gov ernment interference. Sands con tinues to believe that America is still the land of opportunity and that anyone who really wants to farm can make a living by it. “In America, anything is possi ble. If I can do it, anyone can do it,” he said. Sands was only 11 years old when he left home as a hired hand. The first four years of his adult life, he worked as a plumber but farm ing was in his heart even though it didn’t pay as well. Still, the versatility of learning different trades is treasured by Sands. “I’m glad for everything I’ve ever done. It’s like going to school everyday. Everything is qi Jts that she donates to charitable organi zations. Recently one of her quilts brough $l,OOO at a sale. exciting to learn.” His advice to would-be fanners is simple. “Make sure farming is really what you want to do because it will test you. There are days when for 10 cents, you’ll want to throw in everything. But keep banging away. “Change those things that need to be changed. Find your niche and learn to major in what you’re good at,” said Sands, who found his niche in raising crops. “That was one glorious, happy day when I found I could get groceries without a milk check,” said Sands of his decision to quit milking after 15 years and concen trate on crop production. “The secret to success in farm ing is paying attention to detail,” he said. “Business is very cruel and unforgiving if you don’t do it right.” Sands calls himself a calculator man. “The calculator doesn’t lie,” he said of his wariness to not take another person’s word for the pro fit that can be made on contract and Homestead notes bids. One time, after weeks of consid ering a farming contract. Sands turned it down. Later, his son talked to a person who had signed the contract When asked how he figured it would be profitable, the fanner said, “My neighbor’s doing it. I figured if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.” Sands cringes at words like those. He believes a farmer must learn to think independently. “You can’t go forward with your head in the sand.” Sands frowns on farmers work ing for large corporations, which he believes is the same as making the farmer a hired hand who does all the work but doesn’t share in the profits of the business to the degree they should be able to. Sands sold some of his acreage for industrial park development For those who are critical of him developing prime farmland, Sands replies, “It ,is disgusting to fill (Turn to Page B 3)
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