The Lawton Constitution (Lawton, Okla.), Vol. 75, No. 268, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 17, 1977 Page: 2 of 28
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Wheat Farmers In Financial Bind, Survey Shows
Instapoll
fishet area farmers has not yet ar-
the grain's importance even before this proaching
Pg. 17
does not come in
white On |>t 19
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co.
$
Work On 38th Oue
Cut the Cost of: „-*
NEAT COLD FADE CLARE SHATTER SNOOP
423
N
Stop swelterng We can
i
357-2158
353-2225
I
, (
OKLAHOMA *
RKIFFLE CTO
-—
© Southwestern Bell
lewten, Okia. 73505
d
61h8D
FADE
SMIEID
KINGFISHER — During late spring,
vast fields of ripening wheat proclaim
DISTRIBUTORS
SHIELD
Unjoy a call across the country
and you could say all this for just $2.57
Correction
Notice
Bounce
the Window woes
RE
ETMAATES
1
I
I
MW
BGY
The United States has more than
88,000 miles of shoreline and more than
12,000 miles of coastline
with
Reflecto-
Shielde
in addition to the 3.200 simply unable
to raise enough money for loan repay-
ment. the survey showed another 9,700
Oklahoma farmers who must either re-
finance their loans or start disposing of
land or other assets to survive
SUM noam » ahurn
The Sunday. Aug. 14th Au-
tomotive Ad that has the
1%-Ton Floor Jack should
have read: 1%-Ton Hand
Jack at $8 88
"TM OB0GINAI SUN CONTOl HU"
Tremaperemt Window Imwulation
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1
2 THE LAWTON CONSTITUTION, Wednesday, August 17, 1977
aluminum cookware on
windowproof your home against
as much as 78% of the sun's heat,
glare and fading rays Reflecto-Shield,
the wood's leading energy control film
turns your windows into handsome reflectors
in your choice of architectural colors. In
daylight, your view is actually improved—as
though you were wearing sunglasses — yet outsiders
can t see in. And the Window Woes can t get in
Call us for a free estimate and a
demonstration of how Reflecto-Shield
Windowproofing can quickly pay for
itseif in reduced air conditioning
and heating costs alone
For Free Estimates Call
chinery or land. both of which are sub
stantial."
"There's just no way that bankers or
financial institutions can loan money to
people who are losing money. have lost
it for several years on the same crop
and have little promise of recouping
their losses in the foreseeable future "
Some older more established farm-
ers still have sufficient equity in their
land to borrow on he said, but that of
most younger farmers — those under
35 — are approaching exhaustion
IT IS A SCENARIO which, says the
U S Department of Agriculture. is mir-
rored elsewhere in the Great Plains
states — the nation’s breadbasket —
where a 9 state survey of bankers
shows one-third of all farmers facing
major problems with income and cred
it
Says Hasenratz
"The basic problem is that the cost
of producing a bushel of wheat is
around 93 46 a bushel while the going
price now is only around 12 a bushel
owar you?" "How are you?" is there an
mean, vnu think your fine?" "Well, itsakng story-
neghbo, Mr. Phillips, brought over his new deluxe vacuum
mtoX Thenheproeds to vaanm not only the hvingroom
Weil, you see, hi- only dd half at everything And
‘ -ee, hsvacuum deaner has a spedal air freShener
WORK is expected to begin this
V V week on 38th Street from Gore to
Lee and the route will be closed to
through traffic beginning Thursday
morning, according to the contractor
Frascon Inc announced late Tuesday
the widening and resurfacing project
will begin Thursday morning which
will force the two-lane road to be closed
to through traffic
The 9920 000 contract will see the
one-mile stretch four-laned and resur-
faced A 12-inch waterline will also be
installed along the route
"Hello?" "Hi. it's me- "Marge
echo in here? I called you fir
SUN
SHIELD),
is rapidly ap-
and financial crisis
in his office just off the main street
of this county seat town of 4,000, Wayne
Hasenfratz, president of Kingfisher
Bank & Trust, spells out the grim
details of this financial fix of the
county's farmers - a situation which is
by no means merely local
wvucati
national bunk
Member FDIC
Dial 353650c
u Wane--v already said that"
a —---1 ys Heck m I coudn't care less about this
Youknow, I have a neighbor like yours. Hrs an old guv
rdav ! u-c tolLine +. V_____1 9 J i a * . * '•
rived he said, but
"NORMALLY," SAVS Hasenfratz,
"what we hope to do is make a little
money on our wheat and a little on our
cattle and together make a living."
But because catlie prices have also
been weak, profit margins on cattle
have done little to alleviate the wheat
situation
"We made a little profit on cattle last
year and it helped, but it couldn't take
up the slack," Hasenfratz said
“I'll tell you if we had a guy out
there raising wheat alone, we wouldn’t
have 1 to 50 still in business."
Gerald Cupp former Kingfisher
County extension agent and now agri-
cultural loan officer for the rival Peo-
ples National Bank, says the most sta-
bilizing factor in the county's economy
has been oil and gas drilling in the ar-
ea
And that cost of-product ion figure drop from their grain — wheat and cat.
doesn't even include the cost of ma tle
Kear CORRECTION
sdi9 NOTICE
the 165R 13 wteel belted radial tire
•ale priced at $40 75 should have
read $39 88 The 185R-14 sale
price of $49.02 should have read
$19.62. The patio door headline
on pt 22 should have read "Save
$20! Sliding Storm Door For Patio
Doors On pt 17 the fluorescent
ceiling fixture should have read
24-inches Two 20-watt bulbs are
included."
Seara, Roebuck and Company
switch and the entire living room was immediately filled with this hi.I dirts i 1 1 4 ,X was, he had forgoten to emuty the tw So he hats the
the man haslsthismnd He says. This vacyum deanerchhanhanahrthingddidusnMgt mntimnthesmeilarerfumedarftehepeF'imeanTthink
thus, who should am vr but Jack. coming home for lunch! And what d c45 d i^d0tey 1ta,es o' e verythung in sight! Now m the mddde I all
begin a nrpanng features'"”! dont believe it” -Thenhechaewga M ph dogdegesintothedoetand puls ot our vacuumdeaner, andthetwodthem
other guysyacuum deaner- "Who won-- “Wei! let me put tnK M v P. ana toxewhocanvacuumupthe mess firs And wins gets the
-Jr11 is "Here s the culpnt now Jadk, do you want to takto Fred Hi rrn piF phas twouyanumdeaners n ne. "Ha Ha Ha: -13 no funny-
Marge tells me you gambled away the famly vacuum deaner - -yeh wtwnu X Hello Jadkar y • there? Jack' Yoo-hoo, Jadk 2?” "Yes, Im here”
the winner? "Our neighbor Heseventy-twoyearsold miitdv Fred iasdge,nrmchallenging the winner toa weight lifting contest /s
b> take out the garbage last night and it. id her I'd already taken ; ut tde gdnntgetan yirepedanymx. wwhere have 1 heard that " "Sune aked me
Funny Yeah 1 bought Jimmy a hat fo his birthday and the first day heparswtttlyetnw what she says "Well, then go out and keep an eye on it ■
Ahce to a pnivate xchpol now, you know “Yes. I know." "It s 5 aIf shPrxttnic 25180 \ mped at all Iu tell you we re sending
deaner and run out of old jokes, you tell m what s new wth ■ “Weii ont - lu jtis,Ha Ha Ha Well now J ve lost the tamiy vacuum
happen down at the plant ” Are you gi ang to tell m abx ut it is tis I giK 609 0 a 1 XiThen why ar we talking? "( me interesting thing did
sawdust home"Was hr going to open abaro what >- "So ilay sur. --awindg it?! Lastwekone the workers asked me 11 he onld take
zpuwant. 0r make sawdust pancakes " "Are you listening-- -Yeh rmisbenmehad ' xacuumdeaner he wanted to test * take all the sawdus
And ! fillet a formauthonzing him to remove the sawdust ina wheciban w "
Pthgcrmg, i nm w
" is - ngtMma"ye segu rn N 1 m , - EH bored £xat I have i edvtaas taingihm ama i ak him7^'em gt
said. They /rein the bedroom So we went into the bedroomand stiii mtees giotq wdmantokmeinside andlsid Okay, where are your bee‛‛Andhe
your bees in the doset ? I said And he said. Yeah. I keep them in " nr InarncpIpW 7 are the bees And he said, I keep them in the di cet Y u keep
Hevlokitodyouitwasonlyahobby Funny Thatspretty "funin -ne, wdenrBvtaixoxukeeptheminajar.theyuideAndbetmedtomeandud
I 0 re omung her next time Not until you get a new vacuum deaner •
yelling in my ear to get off the phone and let her talk to Marge
well never see you again" "Okay." "Bye” "Bye" “Marge "Ye:
managing to gowa strong and healthy batch of weeds" "Oh, go
thepredatom awwesdernnich’bugwsyour garden"hits f^ ' ust one entire cartonot fur. lady bugs-yesterday xouggguxvuuun
away other insedis: “I het"'% re^they Son buythemfrggen in carton, ofseveral thouand and you thaw them ' ut andlet temgy mdantP
ct "Oh yes, it's finished all nght -How does it lk9 -0h themg [ Plaino wth butter au Hey, did Fredhe ever finish bnilding us
Fred hates it He says he‛s going to pay to have it stolen night - •Hsaw qomeantheydidatemfic ioh,but itloks like a ho n “< h, no” “Oh,yes
anyone started it in the middle of the night, youd hear it a mle awv“ -Henioutditw „•ypoblem sFreddiedos everything hut sleep in that car andif
building a gyrocopter "A what-" “Gyrocopter Its a one man hdc“enen.ou,ETI but guess what the lates projed is?- -What?" -Thev -
with the bg tool shop "Righe "What do hsparents thinkP- "1 kShnk tsn) "thatdangent k" "pWhaican we my It belongs to th peighbon kd -1mevne
wait a minute.. “Marge, did you say Freddie is building a gynocopte"--yew"WhahuusuyhumnmJack.haveyouever heard of a gyrocopter He says
.. h, you re impossible: T’msenous fve al wavs wanted a gyAxdep Iwe lm sure Fn-d w wan one "veaways wanted one Wihelermendeinit
Heres Sune again” "Hi:' "Your husband is Cazy” i kn owBttPS2.msuresrredwouid bedelighted if you came ' xt here and got this one" - wj
Nevada of al plaxes "N“ Howdoscomnnteelabsutitet-measihinurFtsrsandnCoprnemvedawzyion? -*s hes gong t workinPwininginthe
qome backhereor move somewhere else" "Have you talked u. themsathey IeHPHsoa few yeanHe- be workingron anew projed, then I guess they 1
should have remembered who he’was, but didnt Andhes Ip,toma,theparty and he Was one of these guys .a scen before in the neghbrhstamnd.
you remember h,, "Yes -And | wavedand sad,‛Hi, My'Evwsgandcaneuptomsand qaidhello, and while he was holding myhandsamycametnd
should know you re holding hands with him"'“You know, I dd almst z shp tionehu band these days And she gave me this strange look andad’u
butweculdn ' use them because we were going out for dinner that night So tngone tm i Io udd 2 Fred and 1 were given wo tickets to a show
given two tickets for the show tonight, but we can't use them Eccaii "nn --nng1as, Phoned these people down the street and said We havel
Fine, wed love to go but we happen to be your unfortunate hnsts'” “You're ontungtedinnerngagement, woudyou like to have them? .And the gal says
please try to keep that husband of yours out of trouble" -Yo urf -A wI. him i 1 en Chats bad Well listen, kiddo, take care ot • "4 and
And! hope well see you guys sometime: -i hopeyoul totocnwemakeahmbuyyouanewbetter believe itYoutakecft and
dm, N you re invted here: Okay, take it easy we sure miss you”tm we came ou "Well youre invited any
in our August 17th "FALL 3 AL
I ES" newapaper supplement, the
815 N Sheriden Rd
rmemmmemeewe
Questions
The following questions have
been recorded on the lawton Pub
lishing Company's Instapoll survey
system
To answer the questions call the
newspaper office at 353 I* 20 from 6
pm to 9 p m today and ask for
Instapoll
— Do you think the Seaale
should approve the proposal la
give away the Panama Canal?
— De you think the peapie should
be allewed to vote ea sarh issues
as giving away the Panama Canal
or any ether l S territery?
If you have questions on local
governmental activities you would
like answered call 353-0620 from S
pm to 9 p m today and ask for
Hot Line
"OVER THE YEARS we got away
from the alternative crops we need, but
oil and gas have proved the best alter-
natives of all,” Cupp said "This is
what has kept our town's economy
going — the jobs the gas play has pro-
vided and the royalty checks that some
farmers get "
Cupp and Hasenfratz say new car
loans hair remained fairly good be-
cause of the oil and gas drilling, but
sales tv h pic /.u rucks and farm ma- many agricultural economists, whose than one fourth of all bank borrowers
I ' . . ens arply only hope for relief is unexpected fam- in the area, or about 59,000 farmers, to
e 1 n 1 or iscounts of from me in either China or Russia and large- be forced to refinance their loans or
irx-i'r or a giant $40 000 scale American exports (Eighty per dispose of some farm assets to meet
-aconione.impiement eale r said his cent of Oklahoma s wheat normally their debt payments," the 1 $DA said
246 onbothenew and used machinery goes for exports ) "Six per cent, or another 14,000, will
. 1 1,7 per cent this year com- not be able to repay their debt from
pared to those.in 1974, when wheat CUPP AND HASENFRATZ believe expected income They thus have the
rring ' 'n implement sales the only reasonable alternatives for prospect of selling out or facing further
w . . keeping farmers solvent in the mean action by lenders
w ri'-n. ) just getting by on time is a special government- In Nebraska bankers reported 2,200
airwoxandpartssales, said an- guaranteed low-interest rate program farmers wouldn't be able to repay
. . venu tractor sales with deferred interest And Cupp says loans, while in Kansas the figure was
. . such action must come soon if it is to 3,200
puPP.says.that even approval by forestall the impending crisis of King Hard hit Oklahoma also has 3,200
residentscarterof the pending $2 90 fisher County wheat farmers farmers who are unabie 10 pay back
larg ehpricepa ,i by. Congress will Elsewhere the severity of the prob- loans, as well as having the highest
Don 6 on " financial situa- km in the Great Plains reflects that of percentage of those in financial trouble.
Kingfisher f ounty farmers, according the survey showed
"THE YOUNGER GUY just can t af
ford to lose 91 46 a bushel and have his
living expenses on top of that He just
doesn't have the equity built up in his
land to carry him So, consequently,
he's either got to have one or two
things a father or father-in-law who'll
help carry him or a pretty glorified
outside job ”
The big crunch of the crisis for King-
-LongDistance,
What else is so nice
for the price?
mru HELP, “he says Not much the US Department odAhricupring by
but a ttie It s still way below the cost That survey, which polled 400 bank
' production m in nine states, showed income and
anfactpcuppsays,the target price is credit to be "major problems for one
such Band Aid that many farmers third of the farmers borrowing from
will probably opt 10 graze out their banks, or about 73,000 farmers in tne
wheat all the way through spring area "
rat hersthan harvest " next year The area affected (Oklahoma
if the price of cattle is right next Kansas, Nebraska Colorado Texas'
fall —and think " will be “ 1 believe Minnesota, and North and South
But oft he "t?' w ill be grazed out Dakota) has an estimated 685,000
But even with stronger cattle prices, farms, or a whopping one-fourth of the
the bankers say most farmers are still nation's total the USDA said
only 12 IS months away from the end of Hardest hit were rarmers
their financial rope, unless either Oklahoma Kansas and Nebraska
wheat, prices rise sharply or farmers whose situation was termed Mvery se!
are able to get special long-term, low vere by the USDA North Dakota
interest rates through a federal lending South Dakota and Colorado were m
acne: . severe condition, while the others
Neither however, sees much change were characterized at having
in wheat prices Both believe it will "moderate" problems
take two to three years to relieve the
oversupply of wheat which has "IE SUCH DEPRESSED prices con
depressed prices - a view shared by tinue, bankers surveyed expect more
many as 50 per cent of our farmers
eliminated in the next two years We
haven’t had any foreclosures yet, but if
things don't change we probably will
I ve already had to tell some that we
can’t extend them any more credit "
Hasenfratz, who has been in banking
for 25 years, calls the current wheat
crisis "the worst I've seen " and says
the impact is already spreading beyond
farmers to affect the whole community
When a farmer is not making
money and hasn’t got it to spend this
has a chain reaction you wouldn't be
lieve in a county like ours."
While wheat is the mainstay of the
economy, cattle have for years played
an important supplemental role for
Great Plains wheat farmers By
grazing their wheat through the winter
and then selling cattle off as feeders in
the spring, farmers realize a ’ dual"
sign does outside the city limits Already the banks loan-to-deposit
Kingfisher, buckle of the wheat ratio has jumped about 15 per cent over
belt normal because of farmers extending
Placed there several years ago in a their loans, and Hasenfratz says he ex-
burst of chic pride — at a time when peels the trend to continue
wheat prices were high and the The result, he says, is that "some,
county's economy was booming — the where down the line I'm not going to
sign is now a sour reminder of this have money to loan out if we don’t
north central Oklahoma community's have the deposits, then we don’t have
massive dependence on a one crop money to loan; it‛s that simple "
economy And farmers, many of them already
Appropriately, the sign is weather extended to the limits of their credit
beaten now, the brassiness of its will be the most affected he says
message tarnished by wheat prices
which have tumbled to severe money "I WOULD SAY that if things con
losing depths and dragged the area s tinue as they are — if prices stay below
farm economy to the edge of depression production costs — we may see as
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Bentley, Bill F. The Lawton Constitution (Lawton, Okla.), Vol. 75, No. 268, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 17, 1977, newspaper, August 17, 1977; Lawton, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2038785/m1/2/?q=War+of+the+Rebellion.: accessed June 27, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.