—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 27,1971
4
New Ways Good But
The USDA recently released reports
showing a stepped up attack on insects and
plant pests through development of new
concepts of control
These include: selective chemicals
which will be effective against the harmful
insect without also killing off the harmful
insect’s natural enemies; development of
new crop varieties which are resistant to
both insect and disease attack.
From the farmer’s standpoint, these
approaches make sense. They represent an
effort to get at the heart of crop production
problems. They represent an attempt to
work with nature and to let nature do as
much of the job as possible.
If used sensibly, this type of approach
ultimately will benefit everyone, including
farmers, consumers and the growing num
bers of persons concerned about the quali
ty of the environment.
But we must recognize that these new
concepts represent radical changes all
along the line for the farmer who is
responsible for crop management; for dis
tributors and manufacturers responsible for
chemicals, seed and other products which
go into the farmer's crop management pro
gram, for educators and others who help in
fluence the type of farm management pro
gram the farmer will use.
The lag time between the point of dis
covery and widespread application of im
proved farm concepts is necessarily great.
For instance, it has been known for many
months that the best and only safe solution
to the Southern leaf blight is to use normal
(N) seed, but only some 22 per cent of corn
seed in 1971 will be N seed. This is true
despite a massive effort by corn seed pro
ducers to switch to N seed.
By 1972, most seed corn is expected to
be N seed. This means that the switchover
to N seed will have been made two years
after the Southern blight became a major
problem.
But most other important changes in
agriculture will take longer much long
er. The seed corn change is occurring so
fast only because it is a massive, crash
Keep Retail Margins Steady
In recent months, pork producers have
been justifiably upset by the failure of re
tail pork prices to reflect the extremely low
prices which pork producers have been re
ceiving.
By keeping retail pork prices high, the
retailers have in effect helped stop the
stepped-up consumer buying which usually
occurs when a product reaches over- supply.
And by keeping demand down, retailers
have helped prolong the period of pork over
supply and the period during which produc
ers receive low prices.
In short, the fat retail margins which
retailers have been taking during the pre
sent pork over-supply have come in large
part at the expense of the consumer. But
the retailer has also hurt the pork producer
with a prolonged market downturn.
Don Paarlberg, USDA’s Director of
Economics, recently released a statement
in which he urged the food trade to give
both farmers and consumers a “better
break by holding their marketing margins
more steady.”
Paarlberg said that meat packers and
grocery chains generally follow the prac-
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 G. Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription price- $2 per year in Lancaster
County: S 3 elsewhere
Established November 4,1955
Published every Satuiday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa.
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa.
17543
Member of Newspaper Fai m Editors Assn
Pa. Newspaper Publisher Association, and
National
program in response to a national emer
gency in the form of a threat to the all-im
portant national corn crop.
Few other problems which exist in
farming will receive the attention and ur
gent treatment that seed corn is receiving.
Most other problems will have far fewer
persons with much less resources at their
command with which to work.
This does not mean most of the other
problems will not be solved. It does mean
the solutions will take longer.
It also means that some problems won’t
be solved at all, or only at some point far
in the future, simply because no one yet
believes them important enough to give
them the manpower and resources they
need.
While the nation was committed to giv
ing virtually unlimited resources to sav
ing the multi-billion dollar corn crop from
blight, much smaller crops or lesser threats
inevitably receive less attention.
What does this mean for the farmer?
It means that new insect and pest con
trol concepts and procedures are in the
making.
It also means that their impact, with
some exceptions, will come gradually and
not make any dramatic differences for
many years.
Any effort to substantially speed up this
slow process of change should be viewed
critically by both farmers and non-farmers.
If the process of change is to be speed
ed up dramatically, it generally involves a
combination of more persons with more re
sources (i.e., more money) to find out how
to do the job, to see that those (m this casr
farmers) who actually do the - job kno'
how, and that the materials are availabl
with which to do the job. Attempts at shorn
cuts, such as through restrictive legislation
can be extremely costly.
If change is forced faster than thi
“system” can handle it, serious, disruption;
result. If, for instance, chemicals are bar
ned before the more natural means, of pe;
control are perfected, crops can be seriou:
ly damaged with resulting losses for farm
ers and higher costs to consumers.
tice of increasing their margins when prices
of live animals fall, and decreasing their
margins when live animal prices rise.
“This perverse pricing policy aggra
vates price gyrations at the farm level,'’ he
said. Results are undeserved losses for
farmers, such as the present situation with
pork producers; uneven rates of earnings in
the food industry; alternate cutback and
overstimulation of livestock production, and
uneven flow of food to the consumer.
Among the points that Paarlberg cites
is the alternate cutback and overstimulation
of livestock production.
When retail prices stay high while pro
ducer prices stay low, such as the cur
rent situation with pork, consumer demand
is artificially held back and low prices to
the producer prolonged. This can result in
an excessive cutback by producers in an
effort to bring back higher prices.
' On the other side of the scale, when re
tail prices fail to rise fast enough to ade
quately reflect a shortage of pork, con
sumer demand is arufically stimulated and
increased production is encouraged too
much for too long. This leads to overproduc
tion and a prolonged market downturn.
The result is that the retail pricing
practice, which Paarlberg describes as one
of “increasing their margins when prices
of live animals fall, and decreasing their
margins when live animal prices rise” is a
policy of great hsservice to both consumers
and farmers.
It’s a retail policy which encourages
prolonged boom and bust cycles tor the
farmer.
, By using a constant margin approach,
however, retail prices would react with pro
ducer prices. When a product such as pork
J ,d Without a properly functioning pricing
at the retail level, the farmer is
I'ftfjjj .everely hampered at the producer level
w'f.n keeping supply in tune with demand.
To Transfer Silage
Many livestock and dairy pro
ducers have been storing extra
silage in a bunker-type silo un
til the upright silo-was partly
emptied If the material is to be
transferred into the upright
silo in order to feed mechani
cally, we suggest that it be done
during cold weather rather than
later this spring. There will be
less danger of spoilage if done
early in the spring and done as
quickly as possible. There will
be some re-heating after trans
ferring, but this should not be
serious when other qualities
are desk able.
To Control Garlic
Some permanent pastures are
infested with wild garlic plants
If there are dairy cows on the
farm in milk production, the
cows should not be permitted
to graze the garlic-infested area
because of the strong onion
flavor in the milk. Farmers are
■eckgreund Scripture Matthew 25:14-30,
Devetienal Reading: Hebrew* 3:1-5.
Henry had been an employee
at the local store for ten years.
Then, one day he died. “Are you
going to hire someone to fill
Henry’s vacancy?” a customer
asked. The proprietor paused,
mry was a nice fel
' low, but he didn’t
leave a vacancy.”
This might be
an apt description
of many people
we know. They
are not greatly
missed, not be
cause they are
troublesome per
sonalties, but be-
Bev, Althouse cause they sel
dom do anything that is really
worthwhile or notable. It is easy
not to miss them because they
rarely made much of an impres
sion upon us.
The one-talent man
Some people might say in self
defense that they cannot help
their insignificant existance. They
feel that they were “behind the
door when the talents were passed
out,’’ that in contrast to others
they were greatly shortchanged
by their Creator. You can’t ex
pect much of people who were
given nothing, they protest.
This parable in Matthew 25
tolls us, however, that the ques
tion is not, how much have we
been given, but what do we do
with that which we have? It is
certainly true that we are not all
equal when it comes to talents
and potentialities. Some of us are
very gifted, while others of us
seem to have few and very small
talents. So in the parable of the
talents we find that one man is
given five talents, another two,
and a third, one. This is the way
we find it in life. (In the New
NOW IS
THE TIME..
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
urged to have the area sprayed
as soon as possible in order to
kill the garlic plants.-Dry cows
and young stock may be used
to graze the area after a 10-day
waiting period. Young garlic
plants will be killed much
easier than mature ones and
there will be less clover in the'
pasture mixture when sprayed
during March.
To Decide On No-Till Corn
This method of planting corn
is very controversial and may
not be best for every farm. We
hear various reports on the de
gree of success from those who
have experienced this new way
of growing corn. Soil type,
amount of mulch, and moisture
conditions have a lot to do with
success or failure. Special
equipment is needed. We urge
those planning to use this
method to secure a copy of a
recent Penn State release on
No-Till Corn Planting.
Testament "talent” is a measura
of weight, so that a talent in the
parable means so many pounds of
gold, silver, or some other metal
used as a medium of exchange.)
When the owner of the house*
hold returns, he does not judge
the servants on the number of
talents they present to him. He
does not expect that all will re*
turn to' him the same amounts
What he does expect is that each
one will have used what 'he was
given to make some Jdnd of
profit. He expects to receive what
he gave plus something more.
From the one talent man,-'there
fore, he expects, not ten talents
as the first servant gave him, but
at least one talent and something
additional.
So it will be with the judge*
merit of God that each of us face.
We will be judged, not on the
basis of what others have done
with their God-given gifts, but
what we have done with ours.
God has given some endowment
to each of us and he expects us
to do something worthwhile or
fruitful with what we have. ,
The wicked and slothful servant
The owner’s judgement on the
one-talent servant seems harsh
at first glance; “You wicked and
slothful servant! ... So take the
talent from him...” (25:26, 28).
Was not the man simply afraid?
No, the implication here is that
the servant tries to cover up his
laziness by turning the blame on
to the owner himself: “I knew
you to he a hard man ...” Jesus
implies that this is simply an ex
cuse, a dodging of responsibility.
In other words, he is saying, don’t
try that sniveling excuse when
you face God’s judgement; it
won’t stand up.
“For to every one who has will
more be given,” says Jesus, “ ..,
but from him who has not, even
what he has will be taken away’*
(25-29). Once again, the judge
ment seems harsh, but if we use
well the little we have, our good
stewardship will bring us the re
sponsibility for managing more.
The reverse, of course, is also
true.
Once again Jesus tells a par
able to describe the kingdom of
God: the coming of the kingdom
will mean a settling of accounts
with the Lord and there will be
no place for excuses.
(lased on outlines copyrighted by th#
Division of Christian Education, Notional
CounciJ of the Churches of Chrtsf in th*
USA. Released by Community frees
Service.)