A36-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 29, 2000
Open Communications Key To Passing Down Farm
(Continued from Page A 1)
tunity to farm that they could.
“You have to think back to
when you were young and con
sider how you felt then,” said
Jim.
“A lot of parents aren’t will
ing to let go of the farm,” said
Billy. “But if you want your
children to continue farming,
you have to give them the re
sponsibility and the chance to
make it.”
The Hills purchased Little
Hill farm in 1987 when they sold
the existing dairy farm in New
Jersey where Jim farmed with
his father. The name “Little
Hill” comes from the combina
tion of Jim’s father’s last name
and his mother’s maiden name,
which was Little.
“We knew the year we lost
three of the six farms we were
renting that it was time to give
into land development pressures
and move elsewhere,” said Jim.
“Now we get a queasy feeling
when we go over the Delaware
river. It seems like we were dis
placed for the first part of our
life we belong in Pennsylva
nia.”
Currently Kevin, Terry, and
Rich arc milking 65 Holsteins
and Brown Swiss on the 114-
acre farm. The Holstein herd av
erage is 28,700 pounds of milk,
while the Brown Swiss average
24,500 pounds of milk.
Rich handles the fieldwork
and feeding, while Kevin han
dles the breeding and herd
health work. Terry keeps track
of the books and handles the
marketing for the herd. They
take turns milking. Kevin takes
the morning milking, while
Terry milks the afternoon shift
and Rich milks in the evening.
“People always say the reason
we get along so well is because
we each specialize in different
areas,” said Terry. “If we were
all trying to do the same thing, it
wouldn’t work.”
Jim still helps out on the farm
when he can, but he likes not
being tied down to the farm.
“You can sell the farm,’’ said
Jim. “But you can’t take the
farm away from the farmer.”
The children enjoy having
their father around to help on
the farm, and he has given full
decision-making responsibilities
to his kids. “A nice thing about
Dad is that he works on the
Kevin and Terry are grateful to be able to work together
on the farm with their children. While Kevin handles the
breeding and herd health work, Terry handles bookkeep
ing and marketing for their registered Holstein and Brown
Swissherd.
farm, but he doesn’t need paid,”
said Rich.
Instead of turning the entire
farm over to the children all at
once, the Hills took it in stages.
“We purchased the 35-acre
farm where we live now in 1991
for manure management, but we
jokingly said it would be our re
tirement home,” said Jim.
“That came quicker than we
thought.”
When the Hills purchased a
local country store in 1995, they
found that they couldn’t keep
up with both farming and run
ning the store. “The store
seemed like it demanded more
hours than farming did,” said
Billy.
So they sold the Little Hill
herd to their children, and
Kevin and Terry moved into the
farm house with Rich. “We do
have one door that separates us
from Rich’s living area,” said
Terry. “But we share the
kitchen.”
Jim and Billy ran the country
store for two years and then
moved onto the 35-acre farm in
Berks County where they now
live. The children rent those 35
acres from their parents, along
with another 35 acres from
Kevin’s parents in Jonestown.
Although Rich, Kevin, and
Terry own the home property
and the cows, they still lease the
equipment from Jim and Billy.
“The regulations that the gov
ernment places on passing down
things from one generation to
the next are a lot more rigid than
you would expect,” said Billy.
“You really have to check into it
when you’re going through the
process.”
“One year we purchased a
tractor from Jim and Billy, but
then we found out that we
couldn’t claim it as a full deduc
tion because it was an in-family
transfer even though we paid for
it,” said Kevin.
While most people hold off on
passing down the farm because
they’re reluctant to pay taxes, it
was actually one reason that Jim
and Billy decided to sell the
farm to their children earlier
than they had planned. Because
they didn’t have any debt and
couldn’t claim rent or anything
from the farm, Kevin, Terry,
and Rich were paying in a lot for
taxes.
“ Our lawyer always told us
that our children were lucky
that we so willingly passed down
the farm, and that we were
lucky because they wanted to
take it over,” said Jim. “But we
didn’t want to wait until they
were too old to want to take on
the debt.”
“It was nice that we were able
to do it in steps,” said Terry. “I
wouldn’t have wanted to pur
chase everything at the same
time.”
“We decided early on we
weren’t going to keep any se
crets from our children,” said
Billy. “We wanted them to
know what was available here,
and we had to trust each other
and keep open communica
tions.”
Even though the Hills no
longer live on the home farm,
they still come to visit often.
Kevin and Terry’s children,
Kyle and Allison, enjoy playing
with Grandpa and Grandma on
the farm.
Along with helping out on the
farm, Jim has worked as a seed
salesperson for Hoffman Seeds
for the last 31 years. Billy works
part-time coordinating activities
at Manor Care Retirement.
While working full-time on
the farm, Kevin still finds time
to work fours hours a day for his
father as a carpenter and electri
cian. Rich does custom work
with his round baler for area
farmers.
“We all do part-time work
whenever we can get it,” said
Rich.
The Hills and Shueys are also
active in various community
groups, including the Young
Farmers, Farm Women, Jones
town United Methodist Church,
dairy promotion committee, and
the church volleyball league.
“If you don’t give your chil
dren a chance to grow into farm-
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. This
will be the site for the premier
American Gelbvieh Junior Asso
ciation (AGJA) event of the year
the AGJA Hillbilly Classic.
This national event draws
AGJA members and their fami
lies from across the nation. Last
year’s event in Nebraska at
tracted nearly 150 junior mem
bers. The Hillbilly Classic will be
at the Ozark Empire Fair
grounds in Springfield on July
11-15.
A new feature to this year’s
Judging Contest at the AGJA
Hillbilly Classic is the chance for
non-AGJA members to compete
for cash prizes and Gelbvieh
heifers. The Judging Contest is
set for Wednesday, July 12, at
10 a.m. The Judging Contest is
open to all teams from 4-H,
FFA, collegiate, and AGJA.
Each team is comprised of
four members and each mem
ber’s score counts. The team will
judge six classes consisting of
breeding females, bulls, and
market steers. Performance data
may be provided to assist con
testants in placing some of the
classes.
Oral reasons will be given on
two classes by individuals in the
intermediate (12 to 15 years of
age) and senior (16 to 21 years of
age) divisions. All juniors (8 to
11 years of age) will give oral
reasons on one class.
For the first time donated
Gelbvieh heifers will be awarded
to the high individual in each
AGJA division and 4-H, FFA,
and collegiate divisions. Teams
and individuals will also be com
peting for cash awards.
Rich Hill never left the farm and now enjoys working side
by side with his sister and brother-in-law. Rich is respon
sible for the feeding and field work on the farm, while all
three handle the milkings.
ing, they’re not going to want to
take it over when they’re older,”
said Jim.
“Besides,” Billy said, “the
Gelbvieh Junior Classic
Set For Missouri
The Hillbilly Classic will also
feature an advertising contest,
poster contest, photo contest,
team fitting, Gelbvieh Quiz
Bowl, impromptu speaking, and
a showmanship contest. During
the week, AGJA members will
compete for the junior and
senior ambassador titles, as well
as campaign for the AGJA
board of directors.
The cattle show is set for Sat
urday, July 15. It begins at 8
a.m. with the Gelbvieh Steer
Show, followed by the breeding
female and bred and owned
female show. It concludes with
the bred and owned bull show.
The week is topped off by the
AGJA awards banquet at the
Holiday Inn North 1-44 begin
ning at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Fair Brochure Available
GRATZ (Dauphin Co.)
The Pennsylvania State Associa
tion of County Fairs (PSACF)
has announced that a listing of
all the agricultural fairs within
the state is available in a colorful
brochure. Information available
includes fair name, location,
contact phone number, and the
dates of the 2000 event. For
easier reference, the state is di
vided into four regions.
County fairs, the showplace of
Pennsylvania agriculture, at
tract approximately seven mil
lion visitors during the April
through October season. Nearly
every county in Pennsylvania
has at least one agricultural fair
and many have more than one.
A total of 114 events are held
yearly.
Amish have a neat way of saying
it - you never retire, you just
slow down a little.”
“To participate in the Hill
billy Classic (with exception of
the judging contest), youth must
be between the ages of 8 and 21,
as of January 1, 2000, and a
member of the American
Gelbvieh Junior Association.
Contact the AGA office for a
complete registration and rules
packet at (303) 465-2333 or e
mail your request to
bobw@gelbvieh.org.
The American Gelbvieh
Junior Association serves 1,100
members ages 5 to 21 with a
comprehensive youth education
and leadership development
program. For more information
on the AGA or the AGJA, call
(303) 465-2333 or visit the
Gelbvieh website at
www.gelbvieh.org.
Agribusiness and agriculture
is Pennsylvania’s number one
industry. Farming and related
agribusiness employ more than
one million Pennsylvanians each
year, and contribute more than
$3O billion in economic activity
to Pennsylvania. The agricul
ture fairs are the showplaces of
this monumental industry.
If you want a free copy of this
brochure entitled “Have We Got
A Fair For You,” visit your local
chamber of commerce, tourist
promotion agency, AAA, legisla
tive district office, PennDOT
“Welcome Center,” other loca
tions providing the material, or
write to PSACF, P.O. Box 546,
Gratz, PA 7030-0546 (provide a
self-addressed stamped enve
lope with your request).