AKHancaster Farming, Saturday, February 22, 1997
OPINION
Early Priority
A recent new tax ruling by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
threatens to hit many fanners with unexpected tax bills. Under
the new position by the IRS, along with support by a Northern
lowa ruling in U.S. District Court, farmers are subject to the
Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
According to the national newspaper of Communicating for
Agricultdre, Inc., this means IRS has essentially challenged the
use of deferred payment contracts by farmers who sell their grain
or livestock commodities and opt to defer receiving payment
until later, typically in a new year when it would be taxable
income. Fanners also often transfer taxes from one year to
another by paying for inputs in advance to take credit for
expenses in the year of highest income.
Now some farmers could be hit with an unexpected AMT of at
least 20 percent. If it stands, the move effectively will stop far
mers from using deferred payment contract to adjust their tax lia
blilty into future years.
We believe farmers should be able to continue to use deferred
payment contracts and pay taxes on income in the years they actu
ally receive the income. Agriculture is such a risky business that
'inherently subjects farmers to volatile incomes.
With government getting out of the price support programs of
the past, future income to farmers will be even more volatile.
Therefore, fanners ought to have more tools to help them balance
their incomes from year-to-year for tax purposes, not fewer tools.
This needs to be an early priority for the new Congress.
Mushroom and Medicinals, West
ern Maryland Research and
Education Center, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Dehnarva Pork Seminar, 8 a.m.-5
p.m.
Maryland/Delaware Beekeepers’
Meeting, Chesapeake College,
Wye Mills, Maryland, 9 a.m.-5
Mushroom and Medicinals, West
em Maryland Research and
Education Center, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Delmarva Pork Seminar, 8 a.m.-5
111
Shoreham, Washington, D.C.,
through Feb. 25.
Southeast Pa. Grazing Conference,
Lancaster Host Expo Center,
Lancaster, noon. Also Feb. 25.
Cenex Dairy Day, Seven Valleys
Fire Hall, 9:30 a.m.
“Building on Your Success: A
Farm Transition and Estate
Planning Workshop, Farm and
Home Cento', Lancaster, 9:45
a.m.-Noon.
Bradford County 4-H Livestock
Leaders meeting, Extension
Meeting (Elk, Cameron, Clear-
field, Jefferson, Potter coun
ties) Dubois.
1997 Weed Management Schools,
Agriculture and Environmental
Educational Building, Milton
Hershey School, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Teen-age Tractor Safety, Lehigh
County Ag Center, Allentown,
7:30 p.m.
Lebanon County Dairy Day,
Myerstown Church of the Bre
thren, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Lancaster County Dairy Days,
Lancaster Farm and Home Cen-
ter. Also March 4.
Western Pa. Turf Show, Expo
mart, Monroeville, Feb. 25-27.
Pa. Equine State Trail Committee
Meeting, Zimin's Family
Restaurant, State College. 1
Farm Financial Management
Workshops, Wye Research and
Educational Center, Queen
stown, Md.
Lebanon County Crop Producers,
Lebanon County Ag Center, 9
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Lebanon County Dairy Day,
Myerstown Church of the Bre
thren, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Delmarva Dairy Day, Hardy Fire
Had, Hardy, Del.
Milking for Profit, Rutgers
Cooperative Extension of War
ren County Administration
Building, Belvedere, N.J.,
10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Also Feb. 27.
Understanding and Managing
Stray Voltage Issues, Harris
burg, 8:30 a.m. Also Feb. 27,8
a.m.
Bradford County FSA Borrower
Training, Extension Office,
Towanda, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Western Pa. Winter Fruit Meeting,
ing, Miller Plant Farm, York.
sth Annual York Garden and
Flower Show, York Fair
grounds, through March 2.
Penn Manor Agricultural Dept
presents John Yocum, 7 p.m.-9
p.m., Penn Manor High School.
Frederick Co. Milkers’ School,
Fredericktowne Baptist
Hershey Convention
To Consider
Crop Insurance
The 19% Farm Bill introduced a
new risk for farmers. The bill
ended the traditional federal disas
ter and deficiency programs for
crops.
When disasters occur such as
droughts or flooding, farmers will
not receive the disaster benefits
that they enjoyed under previous
farm bills.
Crop insurance is the only feder
ally sponsored risk management
program available to farmers. The
enrollment deadline for crop insur
ance is March IS for most spring
planted crops. Crop insurance pro
vides farmers with protection
against low yields. There are other
benefits such as replanting, late
planting, prevented planting, low
yield, and poor quality protection.
Take time to evaluate your
insurance and price protection
strategies to make sure you are
adequately protected in this new
risk environment.
To Determine
If You Need
Crop insurance
With the 1996 Farm Bill elimi
nating disaster and deficiency
through March 1.
Spring Holstein Show, Harrisburg.
Governor’s Conference on Dela
ware Agriculture, Sheraton Inn,
Dover.
Bucks County 81st Annual Meet
ing, Keller’s Church (St. Matth
ew’s Lutheran), 6:30 p.m.
Sire Power-West Bradford Annual
Meeting, East Canton Method
ist Church, 7:45 p.m.
Pesticide Testing Intermediate
Association Annual Meeting,
Meshoppen United Methodist
Church, Meshoppen, 7:45 p.m.
Philadelphia Flower Show, Phi
ladelphia Convention Center,
through March 9.
Working Together for an Organic
Garden State Annual Winter
Conference, Cook College,
Rutgers University, Brunswick,
N.J., 8:30 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Weston Pa. Gardening and Land
scaping Symposium, Pitts
burgh Civic Garden Center.
Pittsburgh.
Maryland Jersey Cattle Club
Annual meeting, Woodboro
Activities Building, Woodsbor
o, Md., 9:30 a.m.
Lancaster Poultry Association
serves food at Water Street
Rescue Mission, Noon.
“Identifying Trees in Winter,”
County Office Building, Con
ference Room, Montrose, 10
Maple Sugaring Festival, Hashaw
ha Environmental Center,
(Turn to Pago A 27)
tenter.
payments, now is the time to deter
mine if you need crop insurance.
Robert Anderson, extension
agronomy agent, offers the follow
ing four-step approach to deter
mine if you have adequate price
protection.
First, calculate the protection
that was available when a previous
disaster occurred. Then determine
the dollar lost that would be exper
ienced if the same event occurred
under the 1996 Farm Bill.
Second, determine how well
you need to be protected when a
disaster occurs. Third, contact a
crop insurance agent to receive
details and advice on yield, qual
ity, and price protection ideas.
Fourth, follow through and
implement a protection plan that
meets your needs.
A well thought-out protection
package can manage the increased
risk exposure of the farm bill. The
big question is: Can you afford to
be self insured in your crop pro
duction enterprises?
NO ONE LIKE HIM
February 23, 1997
NO ONE UKE HIM
February 23. 1997
Background Scripture:
Acts 16:1-5;
I Corinthians 4:14-17;
Philippians 1:19-24;
II Timothy 1:3-7, 3:14-15
Devotional Reading:
I Timothy 4:6-19
Some weeks ago, I woke up in
the middle of the night and, unable
to get back to sleep, began to
enumerate and thank God for all
the people who had touched my
life for Him since I first came into
this world. The parade of people
through my mind and heart was
absolutely staggering in number
and effect
There were people of whom I
hadn’t thought about for decades.
There were others whose benefi
cial effect upon me was only ap
parent after careful reflection.
There were even some who, I re
alized belatedly, had been influen
tial even though at the time I had
thought their intent was harmful,
rather than beneficial.
Timothy was a Christian leader
who was deeply influenced for
Christ by others. II Timothy says,
“I am reminded of your sincere
faith, a faith that dwelt first in
your grandmother Lois and your
mother Eunice and now, I am sure
dwells in you” (II Tim. 1:5). Like
Timothy, I received a rich spiritual
inheritance from my parents.
Have you ever given any thought
to the person or persons from
whom you received your first in
heritance of Christian faith?
VOTES OF CONFIDENCE
Among those people who were
influential in my own life are
some whose names I have long
ago forgotten. When I decided to
dedicate myself to the Christian
ministry, I had to preach a trial
sermon and those present signed a
petition of recommendation to
church authorities despite a
sermon which must have been a
trial for them as well as for me! So
I can appreciate how Timothy
must have felt when he found that
the people at Lystra had recom
mended him to Paul and the apos
tle decided to have him join his
missionary journey.
To Use Animal
Diagnostic Services
With the recent construction of a
new laboratory and animal diag
nostic facilities in Harrisburg, the
Bureau of Animal Industry is mak
ing renewed efforts to provide
diagnostic services to animal
agriculture.
The services are provided joint
ly by the Bureau of Animal Indus
try (BAI), The University of Pen
nsylvania (U of P), and Penn State
(PSU).
Diagnostic work is distributed
among the various institutions
according to each lab’s specialty.
All lab work may be accessed by
computer at any location. In addi
tion, veterinarians are available to
follow up on field cases.
For more information, contact
the lab closest to you; BAI at (717)
787-8808, U of P at (610)
444-5800 or PSU at (814)
863-0837.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote: "Do
more than talk. Say something!"
We know from various New
Testament epistles and Acts that
Timothy became Paul’s travelling
companion and one of his closest
associates. In I Corinthians 4, Paul
says, “Therefore I sent to you
Timothy, my beloved and faithful
child in die Lord to remind you of
my ways in Christ ..(v. 17).
But it is in his letter to the church
at Philippi that Paul reveals his
deepest estimate of Timothy: “I
hope in the Lord Jesus to send to
you soon ... I have no one like
him who will be genuinely anxi
ous for your welfare. They all look
after their own interests ... but
Timothy’s worth you know, how
as a son with a father he has
served me in the gospel”
(2:19-22). Is there anyone who
can say of you, ‘I have no one like
him. None like her?’
What a gift it is to work with
someone in whom you can trust
completely, knowing that they
will do and give their best. Paul
sent Timothy to Corinth because
he couldn’t get away to go him
self. But he knew that if anyone
could represent him in that
troubled church, it was Timothy.
REKINDLING THE GIFT
Like Timothy, I have also richly
profited from several “fathers in
the ministry,” pastors during my
youth, seminary professors, and
colleagues in the ministry. And
there have been many lay people
who probably didn’t realize they
were teaching me anything, in
cluding my wife. If I was a slow
learner, it wasn’t their fault.
Along the way, then, we gain
some of our faith through inheri
tance and some of it through asso
ciation. But, what is passed on to
us will not sustain us forever, n
Timothy says, “Hence I remind
you to rekindle the gift of God that
is within you through the laying
on of my hands” (II Tim. 1:4-6).
What is handed down to us and
rubs off on us along the way is a
good start and foundation, but
Faith in God must constantly be
rekindled. None of us were behind
the door when the gift was handed
out. But the real question is. what
will we do with the gift we have
received?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Bphrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Bphrata. PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Robert G. Campboll General Manager
Evaratt R. Newawanger Managing Editor
Copyright 1996 by Lancaster Farming