Ai >jjinc*ster 'Farming, Saturday, December it, 1&7
OPINION
Hope For The New Year
The Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders moved forward earlier
this month. We think this forward motion took longer than it
should have, but we believe it’s a case of better late than never.
Actually, the idea started about five years ago when a few offi
cials of different organizations, companies, and academia with an
interest'd! saving the dairy industry in Pennsylvania met to dis
cuss a more unified voice for the industry. Over the years, the idea
stayed alive, but progress in unification was slow.
At the 1997 Dairy Futures Conference held in State College
several weeks ago, not only did a powerful group of dairy leaders
get together to hear about die state of the industry, they approved
a set of by-laws and elected directors and officers. That’s a good
start, but only a start.
With dairy prices to farmers not even covering the costs of
$250 a ton hay and various other inflated input costs, the whole
industry in the Northeast is on course to become like the South
east where large gaps ate found between consumption and pro
duction. In addition, teal estate taxes and environmental strangle
holds are sucking the life out of the dairy industry as we know it.
No one can say the dairy industry is dead. The commercial dis
appatence of dairy products has increased in the last five or six
years. Many other industries would love to have this kind of
record. People will get their milk, cheese, and other dairy pro
ducts from somewhere.
In. the Northeast we have not only close markets, we have the
pipeline in place to ship product to the Southeast. With the citrus
tankers bringing orange juce concentrate up to our plants, the
same plants that handle our milk, we ate in position to sell even
mote milk than we do now.
The problem is supply. And the supply problem is down-on
the-farm economics. If the supply cannot be produced by our far
mers, the citrus tankers will just keep on going north into Canada
to get their return cargo.
Now that we have the Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders, Inc.,
we hope to see mote action than a yearly conference where all the
articulate and powerful dairy leaders get together to discuss what
is right or wrong with the dairy industry. Every official who
attended the futures conference depends on some farmer getting
up at 4 am each morning to milk the cows. And until we make
sure the farmer can make a decent living, rather than just having a
way of life, every one of our businesses and jobs is in jeopardy.
We need economic action. We need political action. We need
taxation action. We need environmental action. Our national
strength has its roots in American agriculture in general and the
dairy industry in particular. We need to take a stand against all
forces that would weaken our food supply.
As we begin the new year, we look with anticipation for the
activities by The Pennsylvania Stakeholders that are specifically
designed to save Northeast dairy farms.
S;iturd;i>. Diitiiilht 27
Smula>. IH'CTinlH'r 2S
Monday IKct'inlur 29
Lebanon County 4-H Winter
Roundup and Sale, Lebanon
Area Fairgrounds, 8:30
tore meeting, Fogelsville Holi
day Inn.
Sill in d.i\, .l.iiin.m 3
Sund.ix, ,I.liman -*
Retirement Reception for William
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
A. Reagan, Franklin County
Senior Extension Agent, St
John’s United Church of Christ,
iphm
Family Time Restaurant. 6:45
p.m.
Franklin County Dairy Day,
Kauffman’s Community Cen
ter, 9:35 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Bucks/Montgomery County Dairy
Day, Family Heritage Restaur
ant, Franconia, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
i anraster County Tobacco Show,
Farm and Home Center, judg
ing 1 pjn.
Meeting on the Deregulation of
Electrical Energy. Clarion
County Extension Office, 7:30
To Be A Successful
Dairy Business
At a recent dairy meeting, Dr.
David Gallon of Cornell Univer
sity was optimistic about dairying
in the Northeast. A number of
things are working in our favor.
These include: Our farms are
smaller but more secure with
greater profit margins per cow.
We can grow low cost, high qual
ity forage.
We have an available supply of
low cost water. We can sustain
higher production levels with less
environmental stress on cows. We
are within easy reach of about half
of the U.S. consumer market. We
are the furthermost distance from
the lowest cost milk producing
regions. We have a lot of highly
competitive, efficient farms. We
have a good infrastructure to sup
port a viable dairy industry. Our
producers are more willing to
share ideas, practices and data for
the benefit of all.
To Know Factors Af-
fecting Profitability
Dr. David Gallon, Cornell
University, has identified the fol
lowing as main factors affecting
farm profitability. Productivity
including per cow, per acre and per
worker. Herd size will determine
overhead cost and efficiency of the
operation. Cost control of both
overhead and operating costs. Debt
service including total debt, debt
servicing cost and investment
strategies. Milk price including
quality premiums and negotiating
prices.
Management characteristics of
profitable dairy farms includes:
pjn.
Keystone Faim Show, York Fair
grounds, thru Jan. 7.
Eastern Pa. Turf Conference and
Trade Show, Valley Forge Con
vention Center, King of Ptussi-
ajn.-3:30 p.m.
Berks County Dairy Day, Berks
County Ag Center, Leesport
Reproductive meeting, Adams
County extension office, 9:30
a.m.-noon.
Options Workshop, Lebanon Val-
NYS Ag Society Annual Meeting,
Four Points Sheraton/ITT,
Liverpool.
Lcola Produce Auction meeting,
Bareville Fire Hall, 12:30
pjn.-3 p.m.
Ovion County Dairy Manage
ment Meeting, extension office,
1 p.m.-3 p.m.
Kutztown Produce Auction Edu
cational Event, Getting The
(Turn to Pago AM)
They have excellent control of
fixed and variable costs. They
work with low debt or no debt.
They keep capital investments to
a minimum. Cows generate in
come. Buildings,, machinery and
equipment do not generate in
come. They keep cows healthy
and productive and improve labor
efficiency. But they are an expense
item and need to be keep at a
minimum. They have high levels
of production. They start early to
plan for retirement and for the
transfer of the business.
To Look At Business Pa-
rameters
Dr. David Gallon, Cornell
University, offers the following
business parameters. These figures
are debatable and vary with size
WE SHALL OVERCOME!
December 28,1997
Background Scripture:
1 John 5: 1-12
Devotional Reading:
Romans 8:31-39
Green Bay Packers Coach
Vince Lombardi has often been
quoted as saying, "Winning isn't
the best thing; it's the only
thing."
On reflection, I think he was
quite wrong about football and
all other sports. It is certainly
not the only thing.' I played sev
eral sports and if winning was
all there was to my effort, I
would have felt cheated.
When it comes to life, howev
er I think Coach Lombardi's
words are right on target—even
though he apparently meant
only sports —winning is the only
thing that counts.
Now, before my readers rise
up in indignation at that state
ment, let me hasten to say that
it all depends upon what you
mean by "winning." In Football,
unless there's an unbroken tie
score, one team wins and the
other loses. I'm not talking
about that kind of winning.
Nor am I thinking about that
series of contests throughout life
in which we struggle to be victo
rious; school, career, marriage,
parenthood, avocations, and so
forth. One can be victorious
without being first. I certainly
wasn't first in my class at col
lege or seminary, but I did feel
victorious in earning my two
degrees.
Being victorious in life is not
less than being number-one, but
more. When Admiral Nelson
sent home to England his dis
patches following the battle of
the Nile, he wrote: "Victory is
not a name strong enough for
such a science as this." I feel the
same way about life: victory is
not a name strong enough to
describe what we all seek to
achieve.
OVERCOMING THE
WORLD
1 John uses the work "over
come." "For whatever is born of
God," he writes, "overcomes the
world; and this is the victory
that overcomes the world, our
faith" (5:4). When he says that
this victory "overcomes the
world," he means not that the
Christian has conquered the
world as Tamerlane, Napoleon
and Hilter attempted to do.
Rather, it means not letting the
world take away our faith in
and kind of farm. They are good
benchmark figures to compare
your numbers with and for devel
oping your own goals. Cows per
worker: 30 to 50. Milk shipped
per cow: 19,000 pounds. Add an
other 1,500 to 2,000 pounds for
three times a day milking. Milk
sold per worker: 600,000 to
1.000. Cost per hundred
weight of milk: $lO to 11. Profit
margin per cow: over $6OO. Capi
tal investment per cow: $4,000 to
6.000. Keep to a minimum. Debt
per cow: less than $2,000. $3,000
temporarily during expansion.
Debt service per cow: less than
$3OO to 500.
Feather Prof.’s Footnote: "In
life what appears to be the end is
really a new beginning."
God through Jesus Christ.
In Pilgrim's Progress, John
Bunyan writes, "A Christian can
never be overcome, unless he
shall yield of himself." We lose
our faith when we believe in
something else more strongly
than in our God. If we believe
more strongly in defeat, fate, our
own weakness or unworthiness,
yes we will be overcome by the
world.
Overcoming the world is real
ly a matter of faith. When one
nears the last stages of earthly
life, we begin to realize the tro
phies we have won—recognition
by the world—are not really
comforting at all. Then it is that
we begin to yearn for something
else, something that assures us
we will not die in vain or in
defeat.
A FAITH MATTER
As important as I have been to
myself throughout life—that is
human ego—l have presided
over enough funerals to know
that that sense of importance
will die with me. People will
remember me for a while. Some
of the things I did will have last
for a time. But 100 years from
now my name, like yours, will
probably amount to no more in
this world than at best an elec
tronic blip on someone's data
bank. Relatively few ever beat
those odds.
So, ultimately, all I have to
cling to is my faith that I will be
in God's loving, redeeming
hands. "Who is it that overcomes
the world but he who believers
that Jesus is the Son of God?"
(5:5).
"When he was about to cross
the Adriatic to fight the Romans,
the Greek hero Pyrrhus was
asked by an old philosopher,
"What will you do after you have
conquered Rome?" "Next, I'll
take Sicily" was the reply. "And
then?" "Next Greece!" Pyrrhus
replied. "After all this," coun
tered the philosopher, "You
won't have anything left to con
quer, so what will you do then?"
Pyrrus though for a moment and
then replied: "We'll go home and
have a grand banquet with
wreaths and flowers on our
heads." "Ah," said the philoso
pher, "but you could do that
now!"
The victory is still out of
sight, but we can start celebrat
ing it now!
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
IE. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Fanning, Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Robert Q. Campbell Qanaral Manager
Evaiatt A Naeawangir Managing Bfltn
Oppfcfc miij Umrmur Farming