84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 13, 2003
On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other hazards) 1
Joyce Bupp
What we need is a good, long,
snowy winter.
No, wait. Before you start call
ing me nasty names, please read
on.
Consider the economic kick-in
the-pants lent by a good, old
fashioned snowfall. Snow gives a
dynamite boost to our national
spending. With a foot plus of the
white stuff already under our
belts for the season, combined
with the shopping frenzy season,
the resulting generation of dollars
spent should send the financial
markets skyrocketing.
Signs of recovery from our
stagnant economy have been
stirring around for awhile. A
long, snowy winter would stoke
up the fuels of spending fire to
build a head of steam under the
creeping economy and send it
down the tiack a'smokm'.
If you doubt foi a minute the
economic effectiveness of snow,
consider this single commodity.
Salt. The Farmer was in a
hardware/building supplies store
a day prior to last week’s dump
ing of white stuff. He came home
commenting on how the shelves
were totally barren of that simple
basic material.
Gone were the bags of side
walk melting salt. Gone were the
bags of anything faintly related
to a salt product. Check out your
local supermarket during a
stretch of winter weather stuff,
and the pickling salt, the kosher
salt, the ice-cream making salt
will all be gone. We assume that
gritty cat litter proba-
bly also saw a sales
spike.
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Remember the salt shortage
that struck the East Coast during
a particularly intense stretch of
weeks of cold, ice, and snow a
couple of years ago? Even the
shelf spots that are always
stocked full of those standard
one-pound cylinders of table salt
we buy at the supermarket held
nothing but empty space.
The Farmer notes that a skid
of feed-ingredient salt was or
dered shortly before the onset of
Arctic-imitation weather, more as
it turns out than we will likely
need for some time. I can smell a
marketing opportunity here.
Consider other spending spikes
spurred by impending snow
storms. There’s the inevitable
rush for milk (buy extra gallons!),
bread, potato chips, and toilet
paper (we don’t want to run out
of that, do we?), and rentals of
videos.
E\en ice cream sales zip up
when snow is imminent. That
was always a puzzle to me. But,
hey it’s dairy, so treat yourself to
an extra big dishful when you
come in from shoveling and sled
ding.
Snow tire sales get a major
boost when the first flakes start
to float. So do ice scrapers, shov
els, snow blowers, and no doubt,
snow-moving equipment for use
with lawn/garden machines. And
cabs to put over them, so the op
erator can stay dry and snug.
My dad spent most of his
working career in the shipping
department of a local chain man-
utacturer. Blizzards, both local
and distant, generated lots of
overtime for him as the firm
packaged and shipped tire chains
24/7. Tire chains have faltered se
riuosly as a snow cconom\ boost
in this era of front-wheel drives
and SI I Vs, at least in part of the
country
An entire tourist industiy
would fall apart we’re talking
billions of bucks without snow,
natural and manmade. To say
nothing of ski and snowboard
gear, lift-equipment mainte
nance, slope grooming, hotels
and lodges, food establishments,
medical centers, ambulance serv
ices, crutch rentals ... well,
enough of that one.
What about the body-shop in
dustry, which sees backups of
weeks for repair work after
major, lengthy, white-weather
“events”? Windshield repair
folks also get a boost from crack
ed glass resulting from connect
ing with ice flying off vehicles on
the highway and gravel tossed up
from icy-road applications.
While not measurable on a fin
ancial chart, snow has always
been viewed as a beneficial boost
to farmland. It blankets and shel
ters the soil, mulches vauable
plantings like alfalfa and fall
seeded grain crops, and carries
moisture into the subsoil. And
that benefits everyone who uses
water and like to eat regularly.
Goodness gracious, with all
these positive benefits of snow,
shouldn’t we all have “bli/zard”
at the top of our Christmas lists?
Santa would be especially appre
ciative.
And, look what he does
for the economy.
Room Additions, Sun Rooms,
Decks, Garages, Etc.
NOTICE: FARM
OWNERS
Goodville Mutual is
One of the Top 5 Farm
Insurance Companies
in Pennsylvania
WANT TO KNOW
WHY?
Liz Martin
Martin Insurance
Agency
459 C N George St
Millersville, PA 17551
(717) 872-7756
Toll Free
1-877-791-5235
www marlininsurance com
Affordable insurance for
farm, home,vehicle,
and small business
Extension Offers Courses
BEDFORD (Bedford Co.)
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion in Bedford, Fulton, and
York counties will be offering
three Extension Home Study
Courses this winter, beginning
Feb. 4. The purpose of the
courses is to teach producers
about production principles for
beef, sheep, or meat goats.
All three courses are available
through the postal service and
the sheep and meat goat courses
are available through e-mail/
internet. Each course has six les
sons that are to be completed
weekly. The lesson topics include
basic production information, nu
trition, health, reproduction,
marketing, and financial issues.
Each lesson has information
about the topic and a worksheet
for producers to complete and
mail or e-mail back to the exten
sion office for comments. Produc
ers can also submit any questions
that they would like answered.
New Jersey Sponsors Farm Show Bus
HUNTERDON, N.J. The
Hunterdon County Board of Ag
riculture will be hosting a bus trip
to the Farm Show in Harrisburg
on Tuesday. Jan. 13.
The ticket cost is $2O per per
son payable in advance. There
will be three pick-up locations; 7
a.m. at the Extension Center on
Route 31, Flemington, 7:20 a.m.
at the Clinton Library, and 7:40
a.m. at the former Laneco park
ing lot on Rt. 22, behind the Clar
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Melanie arkley, Bedford
< "aunty excision agent, said
’ bach course is a great way foi
producers to learn new informa
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their schedule to accommodate a
meeting. Producers can study the
lessons at their leisure in theii
own home.” The worksheet ques
tions are designed to ask produc
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For more information you can
contact the Penn State Coopera
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County at (814) 623-4800 or in
Fulton County at (717) 485-4111.
Cost for the course is $l5 if tak
ing over e-mail/internet (sheep ad
meat goat courses only) and $25
if taking through the postal serv
ice. Deadline for registration is
Jan. 29.
ion Inn near Phillipsburg.
The group will be staying to
see the Horse Pulling Contest in
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To register, send your payment
to Hunterdon County Board of
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mington, NJ 08822 or stop at the
Extension Office on Route 31,
Flemington.
If you have any questions, call
(908) 788-1339.
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