812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 3,2001
(Continued from Page B 2)
vents farm couples from sharing
stress and personal feelings.
“Knowing that you do not face
these problems alone can begin
the healing process of a stressful
situation. Everyone needs to
know that someone else cares
about them.”
Worry is like a rocking horse,
because it gives you something to
do but gets you nowhere. It is im
portant to identify the source of
worry and than take into consid
eration a research study that re
vealed the following:
• 44 percent of the things that
people worried about had al
ready happened and nothing
could be done to change what
had happened in the past.
• 26 percent of the things peo
ple worried about would never
happen to begin with.
• 22 percent of the things that
people worried about cannot be
changed. If it happens, it hap
pens and nothing can be done to
change it.
• 8 percent of the things that
people worried about could actu
ally be changed by some control
the person has to do something
about the situation.
Sense of Humor
Keep a sense of humor in a
stressful situation. Hanson said
Kohl Outlines Ways To Navigate In Changing Global Marketplace
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
World trade ushers in both
hope and fear for farmers.
Hope that they can export sur
pluses and command higher
prices for products for which
they labor so intensely, but fear
of other countries producing food
cheaper and forcing the U.S. out
of world trade markets.
Dr. David Kohl, economist
and professor of agriculture fi
nance at Virginia Tech, allayed
some of these fears during last
week’s First Union agri-educa
tional seminar at the Farm and
Home Center.
“North America is a strong,
dominant player in the world ag
ricultural marketplace, and
should continue to be so in the
future,” Kohl said.
Although South America
Trade Embargoes, Sanctions
Hurt Farmers, Children
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
“Whether we like it or not, we
are a global marketplace,” said
Orion Samuelson.
In his 50 years as broadcaster
for the U.S. Farm Report, Samu
elson said globalization is the
biggest change in agriculture. No
longer are farmers only con
cerned about local weather, but
they realize that “world weather”
will affect grain industry prices.
Samuelson believes that em
bargoes and sanctions placed on
other countries hurts U.S. farm
ers and the children in that coun
try more than the government
that is being disciplined.
Cuba, he said, is an example.
It’s been 50 years since the U.S.
cut off diplomatic relationships
with Cuba in hopes of deterring
Castro’s control.
“It didn’t work. Castro is still
there. He isn’t going away,”
Samuelson said.
Instead, Cuba is buying grain
and other commodities else
where, .although they .would pre-
Like ‘Fence Posts Talking To Bach Other *
y 'muj'jMl „> +s o *» *' *L/~*iU' > *'' *'~*
*** s -- •• .«**.,* j^ : - -* • • •
■•- •-. v ■-••<■ ~ N ~~ ! - • - -.-•- - ~ -- - .
Unfortunately, many family members interact similar to fence posts when it comes
to communication they neither talk nor listen.
Understanding each other is often as confusing as this statement: “I
know you think that you heard what 1 said, but what you heard is not
what I said.”
that his wife has three television
programs that she likes to watch
and does not want to be inter
rupted while watching them.
Whenever Hanson attempts to
ask a question during these epi
sodes, she waves him aside or
nods yes.
Her response is often incon
venient for Hanson, and he jokes
that sometime he is going to tell
his wife he is leaving her to
marry the neighbor woman, and
his wife will nod OK.
Making a joke of the situation
shows enormous potential for
food imports and has the benefit
of fertile soil, a long growing sea
son, low labor costs, and close
proximity to many markets, the
country is at potential risk.
“Both political and financial
stability threatens South Ameri
ca,” Kohl said. “The jury is still
out,” Kohl said on South Ameri
ca’s impact on world trade.
Ag terrorism is rampant and
will continue to be so.
In a recent visit to South Afri
ca, Kohl noticed machine guns
mounted on tractors as standard
equipment.
“If a neighbor decides he
wants to take over the farm, he
does,” Kohl said of the daily
peril farm owners face from po
litical instability that enables
rampant crime.
South Africa and many other
third world countries face an ad
fer to buy from the U.S. to save
transport costs.
Cuban children are suffering
medically because embargoes
prevent shipment of medicine.
“People get hurt. American
producers lose,” Samuelson said
of trade embargoes.
“We need to open and expand
markets,” Samuelson of his belief
in a global marketplace.
Samuelson also addressed bio
technology concerns. “Science
must be the benchmark, not
emotion,” he said of dissidents to
biotechnology advances.
“It’s impossible to put on any
one’s dinner plate without dis
turbing someone’s environment,”
he said. “With all the technology,
we lose sight of common sense.”
In his address at First Union’s
20th annual agri-educational
seminar Feb. 22 at the Farm and
Home Center, Samuelson also
predicted that change will con
tinue to impact agriculture.
“One half of our young people
will end up in jobs not even in
■* w,<
<*•**
relieves the frustration Hanson
feels.
While couples often believe
that settling an argument solves
the problem Hanson advises
more steps to take.
• Achieve a personal balance
between farm work and a time to
relax with family members.
• Express appreciation for
your spouse and other family
members. Too often, individuals
involved in a farming operation
have a definite feeling of being
ditional crisis. They have low
labor costs, but the labor force is
not trained and doesn’t want to
be, according to Kohl.
The slowing economy in the
U.S., Kohl believes, cannot be
salvaged by lowering interest
rates. He attributes the sluggish
economy to gearing up for a Y2K
that never came and U.S. tech
nology leveling out. With no rev
olutionary technical advances in
the last two years, technical mar
kets have caused NASDAQ,
Dow, and the S&P to fall.
Kohl also believes that a slid
ing economy is a result of con
sumers already utilizing home
equity loans and credit cards and
no longer having any options to
continue buying.
A slowing economy has a
bright side for farmers, according
to Kohl. “People will eat before
they buy gadgets,” he said of the
reason that farmers will experi
Orion Samuelson is
the voice behind the U.S.
Farm Report heard on 370
radio and 190 television
stations.
**V;
Follow Through
taken for granted. It is not al
ways the words spoken, but the
words left unspoken that can
cause a rift in relationships.
Learn to say, “I love you. I ap
preciate you. I need you.”
Hanson said, “Those words
are often left unsaid until it is too
late to salvage a relationship.”
A farm wife once told Hanson,
“If my husband just told me that
he loved me and cared about me
as much as his new tractor, I
would have stayed on the farm,
and found a way to save my
ence a softer landing during a re
cession.
A slowing economy may result
in declining land values because
urban dwellers will be less likely
to buy land for recreational and
investment purposes.
Kohl challenged farmers to
focus on things they can manage
and develop labor management
skills. “Think global, but act
local,” Kohl said of the increas
ing need for farmers to wrestle
with local zoning laws to protect
their right to farm.
Kohl foresees future wars over
water.
“No magic silver bullet exists,”
Kohl said of guaranteeing finan
cial success in farming. “It’s
doing thousands of little things,”
he said, of the need for farmers
to be good marketers and adopt
technology selectively in order to
adapt to a changing market
place.
Also at the seminar, Barry Flinchbaugh, left, Kansas
State University professor, and H. Louis Moore, Penn
State economist, conducted a spirited debate on the
state of the economy for 2001. Both economists do not
foresee a recession but a low growth rate, "if we keep
talking recession, we will talk ourselves into it,” Flinch
baugh said of the media’s doom and gloom reporting.
A New Global
Agricultural Economy
marriage.”
Another wife told Hanson,
“The only thing that my husband
and I share together is our mail
ing address, and now I am going
to change that.”
It is extremely easy to get so
wrapped up in the working de
mands of the farming operation
itself that we often forget or even
ignore the needs and personal
feelings of those we love the most
in our lives.
Hanson jokes that the best
way to test the strength of a farm
marriage is to let a husband and
wife sort livestock together on a
hot summer day. Or watch the
reaction of a spouse when his
wife brings home the wrong com
bine repair part.
Too many family members as
sume that they’ll have more time
to spend and share together next
year. Or they intend to share
their personal feelings for their
spouse later, but never find the
time.
Determine to take positive
steps now to share your feelings
and build closer family ties.
“Family strengths are impor
tant to everyMfe,” Hanson said.
“The family is a personal refuge
and caretaker of its members.
Families sustain us in difficult
times, share our dreams, and be
come a part of our pleasures and
memories throughout life.”
“People will eat before
they buy gadgets,” said Dr.
David Kohl, Virginia Tech.