Lancaster Panning. Saturday. July 4.1070
4
Dairying in
On page 23 of this issue, we carry an
artic.e about a modern, automated milk
ing sWem being de\eloped by Michigan
State Uimcrsity.
The system is a far cry from the hand
milking that most dairymen today still re
member but no longer use. And the new
system, as described in the article, offers
an case ol handling dairy animals still far
removed even from those dairy farms
which are relatively efficient by today's
standards.
The new system raises many questions:
Is it really necessary to take ail the work
jut of dairying and to pamper cows so 7
Won’t the new system be too costly 7 Why
put the extra cost into the dairying opera
tion?
These are just a few of the questions
which might be asked In addition, anv
■'armeis who might be seriously interested
.n it will want to know how they can make
t fit into then own particular operation Or
ill it imoKe new construction'
Some ot these issues are not explored
.n the article and this makes it moie difti
cult for the 1 aimer to determine the pos
sible importance oi the new system
Contented Cows
But if we don't tiy to get into exact
dollars and cents figures, most of us can
probably answer the questions in a general
way
We know, for instance, that one firm
gained a wide reputation with it's ad\ ertise
ment of contented cows. Contented cows
paid that firm well, because the public
bought its products. But contented cows
also pay the individual farmer because they
produce more milk and do it more effi
ciently.
So if automation makes cows moie
contented by making it possible to treat the
animals better, we can beliexe it will pro
bably pay to pamper cows
Bigger Dairy Farms
From another angle, we know that most
authorities on dairying are telling us that
_n the future the most profitable dam
farms will likely be the larger ones, that the
smallest dairy operations will be squeezed
out of operation, that there will be only
half as many dairy hcids m the nation in
1980 as in 1970 some 200.000 heids in 1980.
compaied to 400,000 today
We also know that the iaboi situation is
not fa\orable ioi who would expand
:hen labor needs Cheap faim laboi is
rapidly becoming a thing ot the past and
:he tiend can be expected to acccleiate As
competition from industn foi Qualified
personnel seems to intensity each wear,
many tarmem die finding it haidoi to at
tract competent labor af any p'ice
The built-m dilemma is ob\iou= On the
one hand, dan 3 faimeis are told tne> mu<
expand to suivue, on the other nand. tney
can’t find the laboi which makes Urn ex
pansion possible
Only those farmeis who sohe this
dilemma in the years ahead can expect to
profit and survne
Fortunately, the Southeastern Pennsyl
vania farm community is more close-knit
than in most other parts of the country
Brothers often cooperate, and there are
many father-son operations. This type of
situation often makes it possible for the
small family farm for which this area is so
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P 0 Box 266 - Lititz, Pa 17543
Office 22 E Main St, Lititz, Pa. 17543
Phone. Lancastei 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2191
Robert G Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription pi ice $2 per year in Lancaster
County, S 3 elsewhere
Established November 4,1955
Published eveiy Satuiday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa.
17543
Member of Newspaper Faim Editors Assn
Pa. Newspaper Pubhsheis Association and
National Newspaper Association
the 1970’s
famous to sur\i\o and prosper when farm
ors in other areas are whipped In the labor
dilemma.
Labor Problem Grows
But as the number of farms continue to
shrink here and elsewhere, as operating
costs continue to climb, as greater efficien
cy is required, the labor problem will con
tmue to grow here, as elsewhere. One wav.
or another, the labor question will ha\e to
be solved by ever.v farmer.
Will this automation be too costly? For
those who don’t know how’ to use it effi
ciently. the answer will be yes. It's a diffi
cult and delicate series of management
decisions which must be made to greath
increase costs through automation while at
the same time maintaining or increasing
profits.
But the dairy farmer today who makes
a comfortable standard of In mg on a small
herd may make the same amount of monev
in the future but not Ine so comfortably on
it Inflation and higher h\ mg standards re
quire more monev
Expansion Necessary
As a result, some dairymen who uiiik
today that they don’t ha\e to expand may
be forced to expand or quit the business to
mon o\v
If thev elect to expand, they are faced
with the choice between more labor or moie
automation Those farmers who can't get
the additional labor lor whateier reason
will be left with tne choice ol increasing
efficiency through automation
So tne question of whethei automatic
wall be too costly will answer itself fo
many farmers When all the alternatne
are presented, the,> won’t haie any choice
But while increased automation woulc
appear to be ine\ liable under the present
and anticipated future market conditions in
dairying, the indnidual dairy farmer must
continue to proceed'with caution.
Greater Profits Is Goal
The goal is not expansion for expan
sion's sake, or automation tor automation's
sake
Rather, the goal is expansion for in
ci eased profits, and automation for in
creased piofits
What the daily industry forecasters are
ieall\ saving when they pi edict theie will
onl; be hall as raanj dan* tarmeis 10 years
irom now is that under the condition* v hicn
can be expected in 10 y ears theie won t be
enough prolits 01 rewards to satisfy e\ery
one who s now in the business In oidei m
satisfy exeryone thev aie sax mg. halt of
all dairy farmers are going to ha\e to cnop
out to make tie business ouie attractixe
loi those who remain
Bigger opsiations with moie renron*.-
bilmes aien't gong to appeal to tanners
Streanrlrned Daitw ing in 80’s
But more efficient operations with less
hard, physical labor and higher profits
will appeal Such streamlined operation*
will maintain the appeal ot danw farming
as a way of life in 1980 in spite of the
growing challenge of urban de\elopment
Because Southeastern Pennsylvania
farmers are located m good areas near
the major milk markets of the East, be
cause they are mostly competent and adapt
able farmers, because they have the will to
find out how to survive and prosper in a
changing world, we believe that the dairy -
men in Southeastern Pennsylvania will
emerge in a better position in the nation’s
dairy industry in 1980 than they are in to
day.
We believe that, as in the past. man>
dairymen will prosper primarily through
increased automation, but that some will
survive through efficient use of labor
But we do not believe that everyone
in dairying today will make it to 1980 Suc
cess is not automatically assured
Only those farmers who continue to
make the right decisions, based on the par
ticular,needs of their ow n living
farming operations, will celebrate the
mg of the Prosperous Seventies.
To Beware of Wood Ticks
The pu-H'nci of wood ticks
this summer seems to be moic
fitruant and all cili/cns me
LTjed to be on the aleil foi this
- .ck on themselves ns well ns
dome«tic pets Ticks me most
commonlv found in wooded areas
;ha. might be \ isitcd on picnics
O) on biush 01 tices near tec
leat onal a cas The aiea may be
spiaved weekly with Sevm,
Chlo.d.me. 01 Lindane Pels may
do dusted witn Sevm Some of
these ticks mav be caiiymg in
fection lesuitmg in fevci so all
Oi tnem should be consaieied
aan^erous
To Prepare for Vlfalfa Seeding
G.oweis planning foi an eaily
Aagast alfalfa seeding can be
ge ung then giound leady
fdlra equ.ies a film seedbed lies
of Aeeas Eaily plowing follow
cl d\ discing 01 hanowing sev-
Read Lancaster Farming
For Full Market Reports
REVOLUTIONARY?
Xesson for July 5,1370
Background Scripture* Genesis T T 4; John
1 1-13, Romans 1 16 21, Colossians 1 15 27;
Hebrews 113,
Devotional Reading: Psalms 104 1-13.
The Book of Genesis a revolu
tionary book?
It may hardly seem so to us
today, but to the ancient world
in which Genesis first appeared
it came as a startling, revolution
“ , Babylonians and
Egyptians, for ex
ample, believed
that the gods
were in nature it
self. This is why
hey worshipped
.he sun, the
moon, the stars,
he great rivers,
The poet of
Rev. Althouse Genesis, however,
trought forth the revolutionary
concept that God was not “in
nature,’ but above it. Before
tl ere was nature, he tells us,
toere was God and he created
nature. Thus we do not how in
adoiaucn to the works of nature,
but to him who created them.
A “beginning" to things
Another revolutionary aspect
cf Genesis is found in the asser
tion that there was a “beginning"
to things. The ancients believed
that history and time revolved
in an unending cycle that had
neither beginning or ending. But
the poet of Genesis says, “In the
beginning . . Before that be
ginning was God who gave both
time and history their stait. Only
God, therefore, is eternal; every
thing else has its beginning in
him.
The ancients sometimes be
lieved that their gods sometimes
“blundered” into acts of creation.
A God would cry and the tear
drops would fall into the sea and
become islands. A god would
threw a fireball at an enemy and
the fireball would become fixed
in the heavens, thus becoming
t*>e sun.
Wnat a different view we find
in Genets' Here we see God de
liberately choosing to create, not
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
oi nl times should cet this result.
Lime should be woikcd into the
soil according to a complete soil
test The band seeding method
has given excellent lesults both
in August and tally in the
spring.
To Plan for Corn Storage
The com ciop is off to a good
slait and we can expect another
good yield unless weather con
ditions change In lecent yeais
many faimcis ha\e been piessed
for a place to stoie then com.
Piles on the bain flooi or in
othei p.aces is no; too desirable.
Theietoie. we uige the planning
toi additional si.oiage either as
high moistme com for livestock
feeding, 01 a mdent-fiee cub for
sloung shel’cd 01 ear com. Sev
eial plans aie available for corn
ci ibs
"by chance or caprice, but by plan
and design. We see an orderly
universe unfold step by step ac
cording to the direction given it
by the Creator.
And God said, “Let there be
light”; and there mas light. And
God said, “Let there be a firma
ment , . And it was so. And God
said, “Let the water under the
heavens be gathered together into
one place . . . ‘ And it was so. And
God said, “Let the earth put forth
vegetation , . " And it was so , -
Here we see a Creator who
creates because he desires to
create. We see a Creator who
creates in an orderly fashion,
planning for times and seasons
(1:5), planning for an orderly
structure (17.78), planning by
means of an orderly unfolding
process (1.9,11,12).
And Ged saw that it was good
There is something else that
Genesis wants us to know.
"Whereas some of the ancients
regarded the material world as
evil, a cuise from which man
needs to escape, Genesis tells us
that the world God created is a
good world: “And God saw that
it was good," (1:10). The Cre
ator finds joy and satisfaction
in his work.
Genesis not only was a revolu
tionary hook when it first ap
peared, hut if we take it serious
ly today, it still has that
capacity to startle us. '
Too many people get hung-up
on the details of the Creation
story. Like the details of the
parables which Jesus told to com
municate important truth, the
reader of Genesis must go be
yond the details and press onto
the truth the story is intended to
convey. Instead of trying to make
history out of what was written
in a poetic literary style, we need
only consider the meaning be
hind the revolutionary idea with
which it begins: “In the begin
ning God created the heavens
and the earth" (1:1). Howhe did
it is of far less concern that the
fact that he did do it and that he
had a master plan in mind when
he began.
If that thought strikes you *»
commonplace, if it doesn’t excite
you and stir your mind, it is U
reflection upon you, not the Cre
ation story!
* * S'- ,fe
(lased on outlines copyrighted 1 by i?
Division of Christian Notidntal
Council of the Churches of Christ In >!s•
U. S A. Released by Community fnls
Service.) ' .