4 —Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 13,1971
Pollution Solutions Take Time
The environment and ecology move
ment is going to bring extensive changes in
the next 10 to 20 years.
Exactly what the changes will be is
still far from certain. But the potential
exists for very broad and basic changes that
will have a big impact on everyone.
Because the farmer works with and is
responsible for a large share of the en
vironment in the form of farmland, he is
necessarily in the forefront of the environ
ment movement.
This is necessarily leading to increased
interest in proper control of erosion and
animal waste and in proper use and control
of pesticides.
Intensive Farming
As farming becomes more intensive, as
farmers respond to rising costs by attempt
ing to increase output per acre, the environ
mental problems grow.
More intensive farming involves great
er use of herbicides, pesticides and fertiliz
ers, as the farmer moves toward maximum
control of the environment which deter
mines output of his land.
More intensive farming also means more
poultry, more cattle, more swine per farm
and per acre. The increased numbers of
poultry and livestock mean more animal
waste.
The environmental problems which re
sult from more intensive farming cannot be
ignored by the farmer. To ignore the prob
lems now and in the next few years is to in
vite serious and perhaps even insurmount
able problems in the future.
The evidence ot the past few years and
the present and foreseeable trends indicate,
we believe, that the environmental move
ment is serious and ongoing. To ignore it is
to invite future disaster.
More Corn
The farmer who moves away from strip
cropping in order to get more acres of corn
and continuous corn may be moving in the
direction of getting the maximum possible
return from his land. But the increased ero
sion of his land from all-corn may be seri
ously depleting the long-term value of his
land at the same time it is placing the farm
er on a collision course with the environ
ment movement.
To save his land and at the same time
continue an all-corn program is possible on
most farms. Conservation measures such as
terraces and sod waterways can reduce ero
sion to a minimum. According to recent
statements by Extension personnel, the
greatest boon of no-till corn may prove to
be* its ability to cut erosion. Or the farmer
may want to consider planting some of his
land in another crop, such as alfalfa.
Through these and other measures, the
farmer can practice intensive farming and
still do his share to protect the environment.
Animal Waste
One of the most serious environmental
problems resulting from the move to more
intensive farming involves the whole area
of animal waste. The odor problem plagues
some farmers who have urban neighbors,
but the most serious problem may be that of
water run-off.
Rain water through feedlots or inade
quate storage of poultry and animal waste
can result in pollution of streams. While
pollution from a few small farms may not
be serious, pollution from hundreds of
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. O. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office: 22 E. Main St., Lititz, Pa. 17543
Phone: Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2191
Robert 6. Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription price: $2 per year in Lancaster
County: $3 elsewhere
Established November 4, 1955 1
Published every Saturday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa.
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa.
17543.
Member of Farm Editors Assn
Pa. Newspaper Publishers Association, and
National Newspaper Association
farms which are continually moving toward
larger numbers of poultry and livestock can
result in very serious pollution unless
farmers practice pollution control.
Solutions Lag
Recognizing the problem, however, is
not the same thmg as solving it.
In recent years, particularly in the last
couple of years, big strides have been made
toward finding new and better ways of
maintaining high farm yields while preserv
ing the environment.
But the need for environmental control
still far outpaces the know-how and the
hardware with which to achieve it. This will
remain true for some time, possibly for
several years.
While some practices, such as terraces
and sod waterways, have been proven, lo
cal officials report difficulty in getting man
power and equipment to install present in
adequate levels of these measures.
No-till as a farm practice and a con
servation measure is still in its infancy and
should be considered experimental at this
point.
Environmentalists talk knowingly about
replacing chemicals with natural means of
pest control. But there are cost problems,
not enough is known, and in most instances'
this technique simply' can’t compete in
terms of cost and efficiency.
Recycling
Recycling is attracting much greater
attention recently than ever before. Poten
tially the best and most efficient means of
eliminating the animal waste and urban
and industrial waste, as well is simply to
use the material over and over, it is be
coming recognized.
But the know-how to recycle is still not
developed. When the know-how is available,
it will take large sums of money and much
time to put it into use.
This does not include possible problems
with public acceptance. It may be techni
cally and financially possible to solve the
waste problem, through recycling long be
fore it is socially acceptable.
When the farmer recognizes his pollu
tion problems, it'is only the beginning. It
will take time and money to solve these
problems.
In the rapidly changing farm scene,
farmers have gotten used to the necessity of
making financial investments in order to
remain competitive. They can be counted on
to make the necessary financial commit
ment to environmental control.
The multi-billion dollar farm program
has become increasingly unpopular largely
because of its high cost. But the cost of
unsound environmental policies in terms of
higher food costs could become many times
greater.
No Fast Solutions
But there are those who do not want to
give the farmer the time he needs to make
the adjustments.
There are those who forget that their
bread and milk and meat come from the
farm. They ignore the possible impact of
hasty and unwise environmental controls in
reducing the quantity and quality of their
food, while increasing its cost.
- Haste makes waste. The potential for
waste through hasty -and emotional solu
tions to our environmental problems is
great.
While recognising that we do have
problems and while moving toward imme
diate reductions of these problems, we must
all recognize that the environment and
ecology, movement springs from long-stand
, ing^abuses.
For the movement to be really success
ful, we must give our vast technical and
educational system time to work. We must
view a clean environment as a goal of the
next 10 to 20 years.
This pay seem like a long time for the
new generation. But, as youths will find and
as their elders already know, a decade or
two is all too short for those who are busy
meeting the challenges of their day.
To Put Leases In Writing clover. Soils that leach rapidl;
Many tenant farmers will he su .9b as sai *d’ fhale, or gravel
moving to new farms about will need the heavier apphca-
April 1. We hope that the tlons : broadcast the mmumum
majority of the agreements a “»ount on fields to.be seeded
have been put in writing and down to a legume.
all parties concerned got a copy. _ To Fertilize Pastures
We realize that a written lease nroducers' that have
may not make an honest man’ LlvestocK producers tnat have
out of one who wants to deal some permanentpasturewiU m
unfairly; however, -with the cre f e * he , grazing capacity by
agreement in writing there is applying fertilizer early in the
less chance of misunderstanding °, n Permanent bluegrass
and failure to perform as agreed over mixtures
Put it down in writing for best.P let f fertilizer such as 10-10-10
results would be suggested. On straight
, grass pastures such as, orchard-
To Topdress Winter Wheat . grass, or other grass mixtures.
Wheat' growers who are in- only nitrogen may he used to
terested in maximum yields of give quick growth. . Some pro
wheat and straw may want "to ducers will treat only a part
topdress with nitrogen this of the area with nitrogen during
spring as soon as vegetative late March -or early April so
growth, starts. The fate will that area will grow more rapid
vary from 25, to 60 pounds of ly and then the herd or flock
actual nitrogen per acre depend- can be turned- out earlier .in the
mg upon the fertility of the spring. A complete soil test will
soil and whether or not the area reveal the rea.l needs of .the
is seeded down to alfalfa or pasture area.
HAVE YOU/HAD iff?
Lesson for March 14,1971
~ '
- 11:21-35.
D«v«H*nal ItaHlint: 4*5-15,
_ “Karl,” said his mother softly,
“Alec is downstairs— he wants to
see you.”
In the same low voice Karl re
plied: “Just tell him I don’t want
to see.him, Mother.”'
“Oh, Karl. ' can’t send him
;ay like that.”
is mother’s voice
is both sympa
letic and persua
de. “I know he
ide you angry— Seventy times seven .. .and
id I can under
md how you beyond.
tt: it was a care- How surprised he must have
is thing to do been then when Jesus answered,
but be’s here to do not sa V to you seven times.
Rev. Althouse apoligize- he but seventy times seven” (Matt,
wants to tell you he’s sorry.” 18:22 )- Even if Peter was notable
“Sorry!” Karl exploded, “he’s ? ble to Quickly multiply these
always sorry afterwards. He was ? w ° numbers in his head, he real
sorry after he lost my homework lz ® d tbe ° £ “T*;
paper before Christmas and I got ?f rb m, ln Matthew Jesus ,had
an ‘F’ on that project. He was f id: “Blessed are the merciful,
sorry last week after he passed £ ° r * h T ey +v sh^ . obt «“ ”®2C
me a note in history class and I °«^ e ? jord *
got detention. But today he bor- he had said; “Forgive u«
rows my transistor radio and °P r deb * s as we have for
leaves it on the bus and now he’s Siven our debtors (6:14). In the
sorry again.” Karl’* voice now P3 r£ >hle he is saying the same
was loud but he didn’t care: “I’m * hl " g: . G 2 d ™ IU forglv «
sorry. Mother, but I’ve ‘had it’ but bis or Sivness is dependent
with his being sorryl” upon our own willingness to for
give the relatively smaller toms-
How many times? gressions against us by-others. A
There was silence for a few Christian ought never to have
moments until his mother said *' bad when it comes to £or
evenly: “Karl, how many times giveness!
have you said T’m sorry’ to your
father or to me? How many times
have you asked us to accept your
apologies? What did you say on
Saturday night when you got
home an hour late for supper?
And what words did you use two
weeks ago when you put that long
scratch in the fender? Are we
supposed to count your apologies
and call a halt when we reach a
certain number?”
NOW IS
THE TIME.. ,
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
He stared at her and she stared
back. There was no need for him'
to make the obvious answer. Nod-,
ding his head slightly, Karl gofr
.'up and started downstairs.
How many times are we sup
posed to forgive someone? Once
again, Jesus was being questioned
about the limits of love. How far
are we asked to go? Thecjrabbia
seemed agreed that three-'/ -33
was enough to raedt- GodL re
quirement. '' Tttrniiig. 'bas* to.
Amos, they had rioted tow the
prophet seemed to use a' ijertaia
recurrent formula:
Thus says the Lord: “For three
transgressions of Damascus, and
for four, J" will not revblce the
punishment; . . (Amos 1:3, 6,
The rabbis thus reasoned that
this 'meant God would forgive
three transgressions, but notfeur.
Thus they devised their rule: A
man shall be forgiven three
times. So when Peter offered to
forgive his brother seven times
v (better than'twice what the fab*
pis required), he evidently
thought he was making almost
generous offer. 1
' '(Based on outlines (ha
Division of Christian- Education, National
Council of the Churches of" Christ in (ha
USA. Released by Community fress
Service.)
ATTEND THE
CHURCH OF YOUR
CHOICE SUNDAY
1 '3=