A24-I_ancaster Farming,'Saturday, "December 13, 2003
EARN MORE IN 2004
It’s the holidays again. And
talk of food its great availabili
ty, staggering variety, and low
cost is front and center at the
American dinner table.
"One of our greatest blessings
as Americans is the abundant, af
fordable and safe food supply we
enjoy. As we sit down together ...
with family and friends, it is ap
propriate to remember that it all
starts with our farmers and
ranchers,” Bob Stallman, presi
dent of the American Farm Bu
reau Federation (AFBF), said in
a press release Nov. 20.
Exclusive to
Lancaster Farmifvg
John Deere To Offer
‘Variation’ At Farm Show
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
John Deere dealers from
across Pennsylvania will again be
on hand at the Farm Show in
Harrisburg this coming January.
Ken Dietz, owner and general
manager at Landis Bros., Inc.,
Lancaster, is coordinating the ef
fort to bring together a number of
the state’s Deere dealers for the
event.
This year, John Deere’s dis
play and demonstrations “will be
geared not just to the larger
farmer, but to the weekend farm
er and the larger property
owner,” Dietz said.
The exhibit will offer “varia
tion and a little bit of something
for ever>body,” he said.
On display will be a model
7920 tractor, one of a new series
introduced this year by John
Deere. The 170-horsepower,
4-wheel-drive machine has been
C) Three dimes? (Wrong
again. Farmers haven’t seen
three dimes out of the food dollar
since 1990.)
You’re getting warmer,
though. The answer, according to
the USDA, is 19 cents: One dime,
one nickel, and four pennies.
Except for a few upward blips,
mainly in the late 1960 s and early
19705, the farm share of the food
dollar has been falling steadily
for more than half a century now.
No argument there. We are reports USDA’s Economic Re
truly blessed in this country. sea^, c ervice
n . ~ . _ , It farmers today receive only
But there is more to the story. . „ . c .. c \
r\ ~ , , 19 cents of the food dollar, what
One thing that isn t talked about . , ~ . . .
. . becomes of the remaining 81
very often these days is how , ~ 6
much or how little of the cei ? s ' ,
food dollar actually goes to the / t 0 P a 7
American farmer. calls the marketing bill. That is
What is the farmer’s share of | he cos ‘ , of labor ’ Packa^nB
- food dollar? transportation energy, profits,
_ . ... advertising, and other expenses
Take a wild guess: invo , ved in . foo d from
A) Four dimes, one nickel, and j arm t 0 ta y e
two pennies? (Nope Hasn’t been , The estimated bill for market
that much since 1952.) jng domestic farm foods whkh
B) One quarter, one dime, and does not i nc [ uc i e imported foods
two pennies? (Not since 1980.) _ was $498 biUion in 1999 » re .
ports USDA’s Agriculture Fact
Book, 2001-2002. “These rising
costs have been the principal fac-
Farm Show
2004
Exhibitor
Spotlight
“totally redesigned” according to
Dietz.
John Deere hay tools, includ
ing a self-propelled windrower,
will be featured as well, Deitz
said.
New products from John
Deere this year also include a line
of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs),
and new additions to the Gator
line. These utility vehicles will be
performing live demonstrations
during the three Farmer Days.
“(The Farm Show) serves a
need for customers to look at
what alter
natives and
solutions
are avail
able for
them in
their own
operations,”
Deitz said.
Production Forum & Annual Meeting
8:30 am - 9 am
9 am - 10:00 am
10:00 am - 10:45 am
10:45 am - 11:45 am
11:45 am - 12 noon
12 noon - 1 pm
1 pm - 2 pm
A lesson
well learned...
Lancaster
Farming’s
classified ads
get results!
LanChester Pork Council
Dec. 16th 8:30 am - 2 pm
Yoder’s Restaurant, New Holland, PA
Registration
Boehringer Ingelheim
* Water Delivery Vaccines and Enterisol Ileitis
SWAP Overview
Intervet:
* Improve Breeding Herd Efficiency with Matrix
National Pork Board Spokesman
Lunch and Annual Meeting
PQA Level 111 Recertification
RSVP to Kurt Good at
717-445-5776 by Dec. 10th
Intervet
Pennsylvania Pork Producers
Figure 2-2
} tlr'M V • nt pi tP Imrfl Mltf JP / r M>i
tor affecting the rise in consumer
food expenditures. From 1990 to
2000, consumer expenditures for
farm foods rose $2ll billion.
Roughly 92 percent of this in
crease resulted from an increase
in the marketing bill.”
To clearly illustrate the point,
USDA graphic designers in
Washington took a one dollar bill
and sliced it up like a loaf of
SPONSORS
Hatfield Quality Meats
Leidys
Mid Atlantic Farm Credi
bread. The 19-cent “farm value"
looks like about enough to make
a couple of sandwiches, while the
marketing share looks big enough
to feed a family, a big family.
The previous edition of the Ag
ricultural Fact Book (1997) also
included a graph that shows both
the farm and marketing shares of
food expenditures from 1970 to
(Turn to Page A4O)