AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 20, 1996 tetimsi OPINION The First Signs Of Food Shortages If you think consumers were astonished by the sudden sharp increase in the retail price of butter, you should hear the farmers talk, especially when these consumers are being told that it is because the raw milk prices to dairy farmers have escalated dramatically. First of all, this suppossed raw milk price increase has not hit the farmer’s pockets yet. They are being told they will likely see increases in their milk checks starting in August. And that prices at the farm gate should be good throughout the rest of the year and maybe into next year. But in stores, butter has increased by over $l.OO per lb. and is selling for $2.50 in some stores. According to Arden Tewksbury, manager of Pro Ag, in Janu ary of 1996 the wholesale price for double AA butter on the Chi cago market was 80 cents per lb. In early July the price went to $1.50. This is 70 cents per lb. increase. Over the same period the cost of the raw product paid to dairy farmers to manufacture this butter increased 12 cents per lb. (See Farm Forum column start ing on this page for Tewksbury’s deductions.) The cost to eat in America will increase and so will the percen tage of disposable income spent for food. But if we arc going to have anything to eat, the food distribution industry must find a way to pass back to the fanner a sizable part of the food price increase or we will loose the farmers in bankruptcy and have no food supply at all. We may be seeing the first signs of this already. Annual Cattlemen’s Field Day, Low Hill Farm, Brownsville, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Frederick/Montgomcry Brown Swiss Field Day, Frederick Fairgrounds, 10 a.m. Frederick/Montgomery Jersey Field Day, Frederick Fair grounds, 10 a.m. Goat Field Day, Jacob Fisher's, Manheim, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. York County Beekeepers’ Assn, annual picnic, John Rudy Co. Workshop, University Park, thru July 26. Clarion County Fair, thru July 27 Shr sbr" Coi»’ Jefferson Township Fair, thru July 27. Kimberton Community Fair, thru July 27. Northwestern Dairy Show, Butler County Fairgrounds. 4-H Pet Care Camp, Fort Hunter Park Pavilion, thru July 26. Lehigh Valley Horse Council meeting and lecture, Alister B. Arabian, Germansville, 7:30 Vegetable Small Fruit and Tree Fruit Field Day, Horticulture Research Farm, Russell E. Lar son Research Center. Rockspring. Kent County, Md. Greenhouse Management Short Course, also July 24, 25, 30 and Aug. I and 6. Jacktown -Fair, thru July 27. Plainfield Farmers Fair, thru July 27. 1996 Penn State Agronomic Field Diagnostic Clinic, Russell E. Larson Ag Research Center, Rockspting, also July 25. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Promoting Tree Health: Diagnos ing Insects, Disease, and Hazards Workshop, Penn State Beaver Campus, Monaca, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Grazing Maze Pasture Walk, Gil Richard Papa Farm, Straus- Farm, Holtwood, 1 pm. Crops Field Day, Lebanon Valley (Turn to Pag* A3O) Editor, The American consumers and dairy farmers are astonished by the sudden sharp increase in the retail price of butter. In many stores butter has increased by over $l.OO per lb. and is selling for at least $2.50 in some stores. In many cases your local store owner is not at fault for the sharp increase. One store owner showed me his cost, which was $l.BO per lb. He was selling the butter for $1.79. Some store owners are now selling butter for $1.39 per lb., but in most cases the price to consum ers has shot up well over $2.00 per lb. Many consumers have been told that a butter shorage exists and the raw milk prices to dairy farmers have escalated dramati cally. Who is at fault? Let’s examine the facts. In To Grow Your Business Today most companies expect their management to increase sales each year by at least IS percent This is done by using a variety of techniques. These include increasing productivity, building more production capacity, buying other businesses, etc. In addition to increase sales, management is expected to increase profits every year. This is done by controlling costs, evaluat ing all segments of the business and reducing or closing out areas that do not meet sales and profit goals and reorganizing the business. When was the last time you sat down and set financial goals for your farm? Farming is no longer a way of life unless you are fanning as. a hobby. Farming is a business like any other business. As the manager/owner you need to set the same sales and profit goals that other businesses have. You need to develop a business plan that will outline how you will grow your farm’s sales and profits. Now is the time to sit down and set financial goals for your farm. To Participate in Public Policy With decreasing public funding for cooperative extension, agricul tural research, education, etc. it becomes very important for far mers and agribusiness people to participate in advisory committees and trade associations. (vice for double AA butter (grade A) on the Chicago market was 800 per lb. In early July the price went to $1.50. This is a 700 per lb. increase. In January of 1996 the price paid to dairy fanners for milk used for manufacturing was $12.76 per cwt The June price was $13.81. This is ony a $1.05 per cwt increase (90 per gallon). When a processor converts milk into butter the normal yield is 4V4 lbs of butter from each 100 lbs of milk (11.6 gallons). When you divide the 4.S lbs. of butter into the $1.05 per cwt increase to far mers since January, then the price increase of butter should only be 230 per lb. or a wholesale price of $1.03. The other 470 per lb. increase did not go to dairy fanners. The rest of the story. Actually, when processors (Turn to Pago A 319) With declining dollars, univer sities are examining ways to reduce expenses while better meet ing the needs of the clientele. This means there will be major changes taking place. To guide this change farmers and agribusiness people need to take an active role in these discussions to make sure their priorities ate expressed. They also need to communicate these priorities to public policy makers. This communication is very necessary if adequate funding is to be provided. Groups that are not actively communicating the importance of programs and institutions will see these programs and institutions eli minated. Thus, it is very important to participate in discussions and take an active role in maintaining the infrastructure you need to keep your businesses growing and profitable. To Be Safe Around Electricity Electrocutions rank among the GIVE HIM A TRY July 21, 1996 GIVE HIM A TRY July 21. 1996 Background Scripture: Psalms 34 Devotional Reading: Psalms 121:1-8 In Psalm IOS the Psalmist pro claims: “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name to gether” (34:3). What’s the reason for his song this time? In Psalm 104 he praised God when he con templated his creation. In Psalm 105 his praise was occasioned by his recounting of God’s mighty acts in the history of Israel. And now he finds another reason to praise the Lord: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me” (34:40). This is a personal testimony. “I sought the Lord, and he answered me. and delivered me from all my fears” (34:4). He has reflected upon his personal experience of God’s help in the midst of trouble. “The poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles” (34:6). He tells us simply that he needed help and the Lord responded. So he cannot help but resolve: “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall contin ually be in my mouth” (34:1). BLESSING, NOT BURDEN I cannot think of a more trans forming resolve than that: to “bless the Lord at all rimes” and for his praise to be “continually in my mouth.” As I said last week, it is not God who needs our Praise, but we do. When we praise God our lives are lifted up and re newed. Praise changes us. So, if I resolve to try to “bless the Lord at all times,” it is not a burden for me to assume, but a blessing. The Psalmist knows that this blessing is available to everyone who praises God: “... let the af flicted hear and be glad” (2b). This is good news and he wants to share with others this wonderful discovery. Note, that he does not say that the Lord keeps us from experiencing afflictions, but that he helps us in the midst of them. hazards that claim farm lives every year. The more obvious incidents include making repairs on electri cal equipment without disconnect ing die circuit But unexpected contact with power lines claims victims, too. Raised truck beds, grain augers and raised tractor loaders can con tact power lines with fatal results. Lightning is a hazard for anyone outdoors during threatening weather. Electrical safety tips on the farm include: 1. Keep all farm wiring in good condition. 2. Disconnect circuits before attempting repairs. 3. Do not attempt electrical work beyond your abilities; and 4. Avoid contacting power lines with equipment such as grain augers, raised truck beds, tractor loaders and silo blower pipe. Feather Prof.’s Footnote: “Let the vision of your goal lead you to success." “The Lord is near to the broken hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord deliv ers him out of them all” (34:18, 19). So, he invites us to join with him: “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name to gether! When we magnify God, we are magnified by his grace and he invites all of us to find it out for ourselves: “O taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!” (34:8). ASPIRIN OR THE ALMIGHTY? To “taste" is to learn by person al experience. The Psalmist first testifies to what he has found and then he invites us to find out for ourselves. If we are dubious or un sure about the Psalmist’s experi ence, why not try God ourselves? The next time you find yourself in trouble, faced with a predicament, crisis or experience of affliction, try trusting in God and not all those other things we turn to in stead of Him. This is not a suggestion to for sake your prescribed medicines or fail to seek whatever tangible help you can. It is just an observation that many of us trust more in as pirin than in the Almighty: in things more than in the Creator of all things. That’s why God is able to get through to us so much better when we are down and out* we’ve experienced that everything else has failed! We need to say a word about the Psalmist’s use of two terms, “fear” and “saints." “O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want” (34:9). “Come, O sons, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (34:11). “Saints,” as the Psalmist uses the term, means simply “be lievers” and “fear” is not fright, but reverence. If we are to try out the Lord, it must be in a spirit of belief and reverence, not manipu lation. But don’t take my word for it or even the Psalmist’s. “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building I E. Main St. Ephrata. PA 17522 -by- Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Steinman Enterprise Robert G. Campbell General Manager Everett R. Newewanger Managing Editor Copyright 1996 by Lancaster Farming
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