The Rural Voice, 1981-02, Page 31GISELE IRELAND
Back to
the books
Farmers have done it again this year, they have come up with
a 31 percent drop in their income. Many are considering this
occupation a hobby and are supplementing their losses by taking
jobs off the farm.
A lot of the bookkeeping is done by the lady of the house. This
eliminates stress on the husband and lets him live a few years
longer. Getting a note called at the bank rates higher on the
stress scale for men than does a spouse walking out on them.
By this time, the bookkeeper's pencil has been worn to a
nubbin and the calculator has expired batteries. Toting up your
losses or income makes you wonder if it would be worthwhile to
hire someone to do the worrying for you. If you can receive
overdraft notices without a change of expression and the final
notice slips from overdue creditors without missing a meal
you've truly qualified in the business of farming.
You can even have your own loto draw every month. You place
all the overdue bills in a drum and pick how many your
commodity cheque will cover. It gives you kind of a sense of
power to be able to determine who you will be paying 24 per cent
interest to. Just think, the lucky winners all get paid eventually.
You might discover that this year you have done so well that
someone else will be qualified to pay your health insurance
premium, and all your child allowance will be payable to you so
that it can go on the feed or fertilizer bill. You forget registered
retirement savings and figure out whether you can afford a trip
as far south as Chatham in the coming year.
Most farmers are used to all these little bonuses that our
occupation brings but one thing that will never fail to amuse me
is the "projection" the bank requires from you when reviewing
your finances. In most cases, you would have better luck
analyzing the training habits of a two week old puppy. The
coming year always looks good on paper in January but
somewhere between now and next December something always
comes along to make a comedy script of your efforts.
If you can accurately project the rise in energy, if you can
pinpoint what protein will cost, if. . . . if . . . . and the list goes
on and on. Mainly this test comes every year to test our faith in
our abilities and put grit into our efforts in the coming year.
There is always that hope for next year.
Financing the farmer makes bankers a little queasy too. 1
haven't got any snow on my roof yet, but a lot of the bankers do. 1
wonder why? You have to have compassion for the grey haired,
overworked money lenders who make it possible for us to run
another year. You also have to feel the same way for us when
we're paying interest at the present rate just to supply food for
the hungry nation.
The first thing visitors to the farm always comment on is the
rising cost of food. They must think we live on nuts and berries
and catch squirrels in the winter time. I'll bet my typewriter that
most farm women put three times as many meals on the tables as
anyone else, and not Tuna Surprise either.
Well, now that this exercise is over with, we can go back to
getting to the mailbox first so that we can get those overdraft
notices and overdue account slips before he does. We want him
in good shape to start the spring cropping and make that "maybe
next year" dream a reality.
Era
siewari
Your Stewart Seed dealers:
OD Brussels
Agromart
Ltd.
Agromart
"Helping Things Grow" 887-6016
Auburn Hardware
& ,Farm Supply
James Schneider
357-127,,
Agrico Canada Ltd.
Brucefield
Mervyn Erb
Agrk0.r 482-3948
, good Remo tO v... b
Ryan Drying Ltd.
Gerald & Nelson Ryan
Walton
Brussels Seaforth
887-9261 527-0527
THE RURAL vuteEfFEBRUAHr 1981 PG. 29