AIQ-Lanc—ter Furarfng. Saturday, January 1, 2000
You would have to say this was a dramatic year for farmers
in this part of the country. Drought in many areas left farmers
wondering where they would get feed for the cattle this
winter. But not all farmers fared alike. For example in
Montour County, farmers closer to the river had more rain,
and the more distance between your farm and the river the
rainfall became proportionally less. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture declared an emergency in all of Pennsylvania's
Counties, and the state legislature sent a drought relief bill to
Gov. Ridge who signed it. The Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture estimated crop losses at $5OO million with the
percentage of loss on individual farms ranging from 30 to 100
percent.
The drought ended in September when the outreaches of
Hurricane Floyd poured water on the region. This was good
for the streams, wells, water table, meadows, and late hay
crops. But the relief for the corn and soybean crops was nil.
With the drought came heat, and dairy production was
reduced up to 30 percent per cow ovei the hot months. And
late-year milk prices plummeted to a 20-year low of below
$lO per hundredweight. The saving grace for dairy farmers
was the $l6 milk in January 1999.
Fruit growers had mixed news. Apple production was up 24
percent over 1998 and grape production was good. But the
new plum pox virus showed up in for Adams County
orchards, the first appearance in North America. This virus
kills peach, plum, nectarine and other fruit trees. The jury is
still out on how much this new disease will cost the fruit
industry as we watch the new growth next Spring.
Of course, livestock prices were at all-time lows in some
months this year, as well. The independent hog producers
were really hurt. And a lot of tobacco farmers still have
several crops still in the sheds.
On the other hand, we talk to farmers who need to buy
inputs before the end of the year for next year. If they don't,
they will have a huge tax bill because of the good profits in
1999.
Our hope for you in the new year, and the new century is
that you can weather the storms that presented themselves in
the past, and stay in a position to continue the wonderful
traditions of farming into the new years ahead.
Best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year!
Editor:
As dairy farmers in the U.S. we
currently sit and wait for milk re
frain from our government. Well I
have news for each dairy farmer.
No matter what milk reform is
passed it will not solve the real
problem. The price of milk is low
and will continue to go lower. It’s
simple economics, the supply of
s >imfl;i\. .lamiar\ 2
Moncl;i\, .lanuarv 3
Lancaster County Tobacco Show,
Farm and Home Center, Lan
caster, judging noon.
Octorara Young Fanner meeting,
Octorara High School, 7:30
OPINION
Happy New Year
will continue to drop.
The solution to this problem is
in our hands. We can continue on
the current path and hope by some
miracle that the population starts
using more dairy products, or we
can unite and reduce the supply
forcing the price of milk higher.
This may sound drastic to some.
Just think for a minute if we were
Solanco Young Fanner Program,
Money Management In The Ag
Sol High
For You!, Lebanon County
don Annual Meeting, York
Now Is
The Time
By John Schwartz
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Understand Financial
Failure
At a recent workshop for 25
lenders from lowa. South
Carolina and Oklahoma, Dr.
Gregory Hanson, Penn State
Agricultural Economist, asked
them to list up to 10 farms that
had failed financially and then to
list the two most important factors
related to the failure. Financial
failuie was defined as having
reduced farm size, sold assets,
restructured debt or quit farming
due to serious financial problems.
General categories such as
poor financial planning were not
included. Instead more visible
factors such as poor production
and human factors such as death,
divorce, disability and substance
abuse were elicited from the
lenders. The patterns of financial
failure the lenders identified
closely parallels patterns of
failure Dr. Hanson have observed
in agriculture. The seven most
identified areas were poor
production timing, too much debt,
human factors, bad weather, "new
paint disease" (the addiction to
buy machinery with shiny red,
green or blue paint that the farmer
cannot afford), family transitional
problems and too small
equipment.
To Look at Causes of
Financial Failures
In a survey of agricultural
lenders conducted by Dr. Gregory
Hanson, Penn State Agricultural
Economist, poor production
timing was identified as the
leading factor for causing
financial failure. Not getting work
done on time was the cause of
financial failures on 51 percent of
the farms in the survey. Too much
debt was the second most
common factor representing 46
percent of the farms. Next was
human factors ranging from
sickness to serving jail time for a
DUI. Bad weather was associated
with one in five farm failures.
Bad weather will happen sooner
or later and can have calamitous
financial repercussions as well as
result in poor yields. As a matter
of course, farmers need to prepare
options such as crop insurance to
counter the impacts of drought,
hail or too much rain. "New paint
Springs Fire Hall, York
Springs, 7 pjn.
Bucks-Mootgomcry Dairy Day,
Family Heritage Restaurant,
9:30 ajn.-2;45 p.m.
Vegetable Growers’ Study Circle,
Kutztown Produce Auction, 7
Crop Insurance: Making It Work
For You!, York County 4-H
Center, 9 a.m.
Franklin County Dairy Day,
Kauffman’s Community Cen-
trum to Page ASS)
disease", buying too much new
equipment too fast led to financial
failure on 20 percent of the farms.
With family transition problems
as a factor in 20 percent of the
farm failures, parents and their
children need to insist on
developing a plan that clarifies
the how, when and who questions
relating to production processes,
management and business
ownership.
To Look at Reasons For
Success
A key summary point from Dr.
Gregory Hanson's financial
failure survey is that there is no
substitute for good production
practices. Timely field work and
animal production practices,
fixing management problems
FOLLOW ME
January 2, 2000
Background Scripture:
Matthew 4:18-22; 9:9-12;
10:5-15
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 10:5-15
There is some confusion in the
gospels and Acts when the tends
“disciples” and “apostles” are
used. Is die writer referring, to
“The Twelve” or to a larger group
of people following Jesus?
Talmidim, the Hebrew word we
translate into English as “disci
ples” appears only once in the Old
Testament (Isaiah 8:16). When the
prophet Isaiah realized' that Ids'
prophecy was rejected by the peo
ple of Israel, he decided to entrust
it to a small group of disciples
who would continue to preserve
and proclaim his message. In
Jesus’ times, die pupils of the rab
bis, students and teachers of the
law, were also called talmidim.'
So, originally, in the minisliy of
Jesus his closest followers, die
ones who left their homes to fol
low him, live in close fellowship
with him and Icam from him. were
called talmidim, disciples, a teim
appearing more than 2SO times in
the Gospels and Acts. Those disci
ples closest to Jesuf were also
sometimes called ‘The Twelve,”
an obvious parallel with the
twelve tribes of Israel.
More Confusion
There is more confusion be
cause, while Matthew and Luke
agree on the same twelve men
Simon Peter, Andrew James.
John, Philip, Bartholomew, Tho
mas, Matthew, James-son of
Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the
Cananaean and Judas Iscariot
Luke and Acts name a Jude or
Judas-son of James instead of
Thaddaeus. Luke-Acts also calls
Simon “the Zealot” instead of “the
Cananaean.” The writer of the
Gospel of John speaks of “The
Jwlevc," but mentions by name
only Simon Peter, Andrew, Philip
and Bartholomew, while inserting
a new name, Nathaniel. Some of
these men, perhaps all of them
(except for Judas Iscariot), were
later recognized as “apostles."
This was a Greek term, apostolos,
that denoted one sent forth to rep
resent and bear a message.
All Who Follow
Yet, although the term disciple
might have originally referred
only to those who journeyed with
Jesus, it is also obvious that it also
immediately will always be
essential to remaining successful
in agriculture. However, farmers
cannot overlook the impact that
financial and people problems
have on long term success.
Avoiding failure also means
managing well the people
problems that eventually occur in
any business. Bad weather is not
the primary cause of financial
failure on farms. The survey
indicates that good management
of machinery applications and
livestock and limiting people
problems and financial error are
far more important to success
than drought or hail storms.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote: "If
there is a better solution - find it!"
Thomas Edison
was used of the much larger body
of people who accepted him as
their teacher and leader. In fact,
the majority of times the term is
used in the Gospels and Acts it re
fers to all those who believe and
follow Jesus. So discipleship is a
concept that came to applied, not
only to Jesus’ intimate circle of
followers, but to all who accepted
and still accept his call to “Follow
me” (Mt. 4:19; 9:9).
When we read the various pas
sages about the disciples of Jesus
in the Gospels and Acts, we are
not simply reading about what it'
meant for them to follow Jesus,
but what it means for us today. He
gives us the same challenge, “Fol
low me.” That challenge is no less
-world shaking for us than it was
for them. You can’t follow Jesus
without your life being shaken-up 1
and refocused in some way. For
them, it meant giving up their
trade as fishermen. At the same
time, it was really a' focusing of
their trade, for Jesus promised
them that now “I will make you
fishers of men” (4:19). More im
portaht, however, how might the'
call of Christ refocus your life?
A Different View
Following Jesus Christ also
meant for his disciples that they
would have to look at life through
his eyes, not the eyes of their so
ciety. In Jesus’ day a tax collector
was regarded as a traitor to his
own people. Apart from paying
taxes, no respectable Jew was to
have anything to do with a tax col
lector. He would not sit down at a
table with “tax collectors and sin
ners.” So, when the Pharisees saw
Jesus doing this, “they said to the
disciples, ‘Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and sin
ners?’” (9:11).
Jesus’s reply makes it apparent
that anyone who follows him will
have to look at life differently:
"Those who are well have no need
of a physician, but those who are
sick. Go and learn what this
means, T desire mercy, and not
sacrifice.’ For I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners”
(9:13,14). The purpose of Chris
tian discipleship is not to form a
club of the righteous, but a move
ment made up of sinners who have
chosen to follow Christ and ex
perience his grace.
Jesus still calls each of us, “Fol
low me!” What does it mean to
you?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A jtemman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming