STEWART

you haven't done enough without Steward

When

you're startingout raisimj li\estock,

one

of thellrst things

you

learn isttiaiit takesalotofhard work.

I'roblemis,

no

one'sgoingto see theeffort

you

put into\our animals ifthe\'renot

groomed

properK'. .\nd thiscanreallyhurt

you

inacompetiti\esituation.

I believeStewart' b\-Ostercan gi\e

you

a

head

start in learning lo

groom

animals. Stewart's

been making

clippers

and

shearing

machines

foralmosta centur\'.

.\nd the\'re

committed

to helping

\ou

learnto get the best out ofyour

equipment

With an eas\-to-follo\\

booklet,videotapes

and

a posterthai teaches

you

shearingstroke b\-stroke.

Justsendin (his

coupon

today.

-CtiarlieSwaim.

SheepShearerand Farmer

SteveDavis'OklahomaCitylawofficeIsalongdrivefromthe family milk operation In Guthrie, buthe's remained activeusing his pro- fessional^skills.

(Continuedfrom Page 48)

Agricultureteacher

Tom

^Coryfarms by delegatingresponsibilityand effectivetimemanagement.

caused ashiftinjobpatterns aswell. In the last ten years, vo-ag students have found fewer opportunities to farm full time.

Tom

Cory, himself a farmer

and

vo-ag instructor at North Polk High School in Alleman, Iowa, says he's noticed a

new

pattern.

"The trend in agriculture is changing towards dualjobs,"hesays. "I think it's

happeningall overthe country."

Cory thinks

more

vo-ag students are discovering that full-time farming

may

not be a realistic goal. "But they're finding it is still possible to keep your

hand

infarmingona smallerscale."

Time Management

How do

they

do

if?

One

secret isthat they

manage

theirtimewisely.

Cory

has taught high school agriculture

and

operated his 300-acrelivestockfarmfor 16 years. Yet,

Cory

handles both jobs andhisfamilyresponsibilitiesadmirably.

He

delegates responsibility to willing

FFA members

andalumni,and

manages

hisschedulecarefully.

Cory's

FFA

chapterconsistentlywins atcontests,andtheNorth Polk

Alumni

chapter was

named

outstanding state

FFA Alumni

Affiliate two years ago.

LastyearthechapterhadVice President Bushspeak attheir

FFA

banquet.

The

seasonal nature offarming

means

timeisshortduringcertain pointsinthe year. For Steve Davis, planting and harvesttimeis

when

he'sneededmoston the farm. His family annually plants about 1,300 acres ofwheat,alfalfa,silage

and

some

pasture.

"Fortunately,

we

eachhaveourroles,"

says Steve."Itwouldnever

work

without team effort."

Daviscreditshis

FFA

backgroundfor helpinghimlearn to

manage

histimeand

priorities. In high school he was in charge of a supervisedfarmproject,and

was active in speech contest, livestock judgingand parliamentary procedure.

"I think the competition and leader- ship trainingin

FFA

wasa

good

basefor learning

how

to

do

alotofthingsatone time,"Davis says.

Pick

a

Job,

Any Job

As USDA

economist

Tom

Carlin says,"Part-time farmingisahard thing tomeasure." But he goesontosaythata recentcensus ofagriculturerevealed that 45 percent of the nation's 2.2 million farmers reported their primary occupa- tionwas somethingotherthan farming.

And

there is little

rhyme

or reason what profession people choose to go along with their

farm

activities.

A

random

samplerevealsabroad spectrum offull-timejobsthat

young

adults

work

in:ruralmailcarriers,bankers,insurance salesmen, farm chemical or feed sales-

men,to

name

a few.

For example, Stan Blacker, a White Heath, Illinois,part-timefarmer, plainly states hisfirstpriorityishisfull-timejob;

selling insurance. "If 1 had the oppor- tunity tofarmfulltimenow, Iwouldn't,"

Blackersays.

"Agriculture is just too depressed. I

couldn't afford to

dump my

^insurance

careerat thispoint."

But Blacker also

knows

that if the weather and other conditions areright, thecrops on his lOO-acre farm must be tended to also. His insurance job is flexible

enough

thathecan

make

those adjustments without too

much

trouble.

"With a sales career, you really have control of your schedule," he says. "It

would be difficult with a 40-hour per weekfactory job."

Another advantage to a small, part- time farm setup is that costs are lower.

Blackerdoesn't have

much money

tied

up in farming

—

about $12,000 in

ma-

chinery, heestimates.

He

relies on two 30-year-old

John

Deeres for field

work

and herents acombine.

BothBlackerand Davissayfarmingis

a

good

escapefromtheiroffice-oriented jobs."Therearetimes

when

youthinkit

would

be great to get

away

from the clamor of the city and get

some

fresh air," says Davis.

More

than once the

Oklahoma

native has been tempted to return to thefarmpermanently."Butour arrangementhas

worked

outreallywell."

Traditionally,

many

former agricul- ture students grudgingly took jobs off the farm only long

enough

to save

enough money

to

jump

head first into farmingfulltime. Despitethetrend

away

fromfull-timefarming, off-farm jobsstill

help would-befarmersgetestablished.

Brian Henry,

Champaign,

Illinois, is

oneof those

who

wouldratherbefarming

allthe time.

He now

farms 120acresand holds

down

afull-timejobasforemanof ICI Americas' midwest research farm.

He knows

therearefewerrisksinvolved in steadywork.

"Every

Monday

there is a paycheck waiting,"hesays."That'snotalwaystrue inproductionagriculture. Italldepends on yourwillingness totake risks."

Henry

sayshandlingtwojobsrequires

more

than

good

timemanagement. "The

firstthingyou need isanunderstanding spouse,"saysHenry."Giventheseasonal nature of farming during planting and harvest,therearetimes

when

yourspouse doesn't seeyou much."

Unlike

some young

farmers, Henry was not handed a farm

upon

leaving high school or college.

He

neither marriednorinheritedanyfarmland."It's difficultto

do

^itthisway," he admits.But byholding

down

anotherjob,heandhis wifeKathy,

who

alsoworksfulltime,are able to progresstoward farming.

Still,

many

dual-job

young

peopleare content withtheirarrangement.

"Farminga couplehundredacresand workinganotherjobfull-timeisnot such a badlife,"concludes Stan Blacker."In fact,^itjustmightbebetterthanfarming

full time." •••

50 TheNationalFl TtRE

FARMER

"Implant safety? The fact Synovex is natural

is no small advantage."

JohnBasabe,

Tbm

Basabe.andJ.R.Simplot SimplotLivestock, Granclview.Idaho

Eighty-

five

percent of

all

feedyards over 10,000 head implant Synovex. And not just because Synovex* implants help their cattle gain

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Synovex implants are made from the same natural growth compounds that are produced every day by humans and other animals.

It's

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natural implant. In

fact,

Synovex

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safe, it

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Implant

safety.

Another reason why people

who know

cattle,

use Synovex implants. Ask your Syntex representative about

^it.

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