The Press-Dispatch
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C-8 Home Life Wednesday, Januar y 8, 2020 The Press-Dispatch JORDAN THOMAS TOMSON Jordan Thomas Tom- son, 36, of Greensburg, Pa., formerly of Wash- ington, died unexpected- ly and went home to be with his Lord and Savior Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020. He was born Aug. 3, 1983, in Vincennes, a son of Rev. Thomas E. and Brenda Mize Tomson, of Greensburg. He was a member of Lighthouse of Hope Church. He graduat- ed from Westmoreland Christian Academy and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from California Univer - sity of Pennsylvania. He was principal at Westmo- reland Christian Acade- my, where he also taught and coached basketball and cross country for 13 years. He was an avid run- ner, having completed a number of marathons and half-marathons. He enjoyed playing basket- ball and was an Indiana Hoosiers fan. He also ref- ereed WPIAL boys' and girls' basketball. His fa- vorite thing to do was to spend time with his sons, Blake and Kaleb. In addition to his par- ents, he is survived by his sons, Blake and Ka- leb; four brothers, Jus- tin (Bethany) Tomson, of Youngwood, Pa., Josh- ua (Ava) Tomson, of Jeannette, Pa., Jeremy Tomson, of Greensburg, Pa., and Jacob Tomson, of Greensburg, Pa.; his grandmothers, Juanita Tomson, of Greensburg, Pa., and Rosalee Mize, of Petersburg; a nephew; and a niece. He is predeceased by his grandfathers, Thomas E. Tomson, Sr. and John W. Mize. A funeral service was at 11 a.m. Monday, January 6, 2020, at Lighthouse of Hope Church in Greens- burg, Pa. Interment fol- lowed in St. Clair Ceme- tery, Greensburg. Visitation was from 2-6 p.m. Sunday at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Westmo- reland Christian Acade- my Scholarship Fund, 538 Rugh Street, Greensburg, PA 15601. For online con- dolences, visit Barnhart- FuneralHome. Obituaries Although reports have come out re- cently noting the amount of payments farmers are receiving from the fed- eral government, the breakdown of why and from what source farmers are receiving payments is worthy of note. Farmers have received federal government help in some way virtu- ally since this nation's formation. Fed- eral flow of funding dates back to, at least, The New Deal policies of Frank- lin D. Roosevelt. The root cause for the need for funds directly results from overproduction. American farm- ers are uniquely capable of producing some crops at higher yields than any- where else on Earth. This fact creates issues with land use in the supply and demand economic model. The globe has a finite amount of people to consume products. As such, use of soybeans, as an example, is fi- nite. When too much supply of soy- beans enters the global market, pric- es decline to pressure producers to consider alternative crops. However, when the most productive crop on a given area of land is, say, soybeans, little alternative is considered, leav- ing the switch to alternative crops on marginal, low-yielding ground. Soy- bean producers, likewise, have spe- cialized skills and equipment in the growing and harvesting of soybeans that do not convert well to production of hay or potatoes. Finally, soybeans are a food product for which the globe has a basic demand. Some number of soybeans must be produced. Wherein a product cannot have zero demand, pure capitalism has issues. Govern- ment intervention tends to result. The struggle in ag- ricultural government intervention is in regu- lation of supply and de- mand. Government in- tervention in the past has tended to be reac- tionary, with programs implemented as a result of observed trends. The Conservation Reserve Program is a good ex- ample. CRP was creat- ed as a conservation program to re- move acres from production that have high erosion potential. Some adminis- trations have used the program to re- duce total acreages of crops, reduc- ing the supply of those crops on the market. Direct payments to farmers were a practice from 1996 to 2014, in an assumption that crop prices tend to stay below production costs. Pay- ments were received based on the number of acres of a covered crop planted. The surge in crop prices at the end of the aughts ruined that no- tion, and farmers gladly accepted the end of the direct payment era, pre- ferring some form of safety net for risk. That security net was achieved through the Average Revenue Cover- age or Price Loss Coverage options in the 2014 Farm Bill. The years 2016 and 2017 in Indi- ana most directly show what no di- rect payments look like for total fed- eral payments. Most farmers elected the Average Revenue Coverage safe- ty net option. In 2016, that option was lucrative, with 86 per cent of that year's 624.7 million federal dollars entering In- diana going to payments on that program, accord- ing to the USDA Economic Research Service. In 2017, the percentage dropped to 77 per cent of 373.2 million dollars. Last year would have been another sub- stantial decrease in pay- ments, except tariffs. Tar- iffs with multiple countries amid a lack of trade agreements removed the floor from the agricultural commod- ity market. Faced with the potential liquidation of a lot of crop farms, in a similar situation to the dairy industry lately, federal administrators unrolled the Market Facilitation Program. The MFP offers direct payments to farm- ers based on the number of acres of covered crops. In 2018, 365.7 million dollars were paid to Indiana farmers from the MFP program. Total payments rose up to 516.2 million dollars. Numbers for 2019 will likely be even higher. The national numbers in the billions have the World Trade Organization looking very suspiciously at the U.S. Meanwhile, the program likely falls away in 2020, and safety net programs return to providing a majority of total funding flows. For more information, contact Hans at hschmitz@purdue. edu or 812-838 -1331. Down on the Farm By Hans Schmitz, Purdue Extension Educator Government payments to farms Social Security Matters By Rusty Gloor Should I claim Social Security at 63? Dear Rusty: I'm 63 years old. What are the benefits or negatives of retir- ing now? How do I begin the process? Signed: Tired of Working. Dear Tired: Your first question is quite open-ended, but I can give you the basics. Your Social Security ben- efit is based upon something called your "primary insurance amount" (PIA), which is the amount you would get if you claimed at your full retire- ment age (66 years and four months for you). Your PIA is based upon the high- est-earning 35 years in your lifetime working career (past earnings are ad- justed for inflation). If you claim benefits before you reach your full retirement age (FR A) your benefits will be cut by about 6.7 percent for each full year early, but the reduction is done according to the number of months before your FR A that you claim. If you claim at your cur- rent age, your benefit will be cut by about 22 percent. The reduction will be slightly less for each month that you continue to wait, up to your FR A when you'll get 100 percent of what you've earned from a lifetime of working. For reference, if you claim at age 64 the re- duction will be about 18 percent and if you wait until you're 65 the reduction will be about 9.7 percent. Conversely, if you wait beyond your full retirement age your benefit amount will grow by 8 percent for each full year you continue to delay, up to age 70 when your ben- efit amount would be 30.7 percent more than it would be at your FR A. But whenever you claim, that is the amount you'll get for the rest of your life (except for cost of living adjustments (CO- L A) which may be applied annually). The benefits or negatives to claim- ing now? Claiming now gives you mon- ey earlier, and if you need the money now, are in poor health and don't ex- pect at least average longevity, then that may be the right choice for you. But if you're okay financially, are in good health and expect to live to at least average longevity (about 84 for a man your age), then you'll get more in monthly and cumulative benefits by waiting until at least your full retire- ment age to claim benefits. By claim- ing now, the benefit reduction will be permanent. By waiting, the benefit in- crease will also be permanent. Claiming before your full retirement age will also subject you to Social Secu- rity's "earnings test" which limits the amount of money you can earn from working before they take back some of your benefits. The earn- ings test goes away when you reach your FR A. If you are married, wait- ing longer to claim will al- so benefit your surviving spouse should you pass away first. Your surviving spouse will get 100 percent of the benefit you were receiving at your death (if they have reached full retirement age) and the longer you wait to claim, the more that survivor benefit will be. Whenever you decide to claim, you can do so either by contacting So- cial Security directly (preferably by phone) or you can apply online at www. ssa.gov/retire. You will need to create your personal "My Social Security" on- line account first, but the online pro- cess is by far the easiest way to apply, considering that direct contact with SS often subjects you to long wait times (even on the phone). JEFFREY SCHULTE Jeffrey D. Schulte, 58, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, passed away Dec. 24, 2019, of nat- ural causes, with his family by his side. He was born on Jan. 13, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Lynn and Falyn Schulte. His mother was the former Falyn Chesser, of Petersburg. His love of baseball, the Baltimore Orioles and watching the Dallas Cow- boys with his son, Colby, ful- filled his soul. May he rest in peace. He is survived by his son, Colby Schulte; daugh- ter, Britni Rickaby; Colby's mother, Suzanne Schulte; his parents, Lynn and Falyn Schulte; brother, James Tim- othy ( Janet) Schulte; and sis- ters, Julie (Craig) Bruce and Dana (Robb) Loftsgard. Private services were held on December 30, 2019. Frederick; seven grandchil- dren; seven great-grandchil- dren; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; siblings, Cheryl Theriac, and Mal- vern, Ron, Eldon and Her- man Frederick; and a step- son, Jerry Pugh. Visitation was from 4- 8 p.m. Tuesday and will be from 9 -10 :30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 8, 2020, at Colvin Funeral Home in Princeton, followed by a procession to the Hazelton Community Cemetery for a graveside funeral service, with Chuck Longabaugh of- ficiating. For those who wish, me- morial contributions may be given to the Good Samari- tan Hospice, 601 S. 9th St., Vincennes, IN 47591. Enve- lopes will be available at the funeral home. Messages of encouragement or remem- brance can be made online at www.colvinfuneralhome. com. Colvin Funeral Home is honored to serve the Fred- erick family through this time. Continued from page 7 Serving Pike and Surrounding Counties 820 E. Poplar St., PO Box 68, Petersburg Phone: 812-354-8500 | Fax: 812-354-2014 The Pike County Soil and Water Conservation District's 73rd annual meeting and dinner will feature comedian Craig Tornquist. This year's newsletter features content furnished by the SWCD staff. Content ranging from grant opportunities and deadlines to a calendar of events and important area meeting dates will be in this edition. As a partner in the Agri-Business market, this is an opportunity to reach your target audience with your message about your business. Deadline Date: Jan. 15 Publication Date: Jan. 22 Meeting Date: Jan. 24 Size Price Full Page ����������������������� $570 3/4 Page ������������������������$425 2/3 Page ������������������������$380 1/2 Page ������������������������ $315 1/3 Page ������������������������ $210 1/4 Page ������������������������ $155 1/6 Page ������������������������ $125 1/12 Page ������������������������ $79 SPACE IS LIMITED, SCHEDULE NOW! 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