10—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 1, 1972
It was very difficult this week to assess
farm damages and to find out, specifically,
what, if any, relief funds local farmers are
entitled to One problem was the sheer
quantity of damage Another was that
everyone was tremendously busy with
immediate problems
There seemed to be barely enough time
for reaction, much less action to add up the
figures and to see what's going to happen
in the months ahead.
There may be some relief available for
damaged crops. Damaged waterways,
terraces and other conservation practices
might be eligible for relief funds which
could pay up to 80 per cent of repair costs.
However, no farmer will get any relief
unless he asks for it. And it should be
It Could Have Been Worse
Most Lancaster County farmers can look
forward to a relatively normal harvest
season. Many farms were damaged, but
none appear to have been really crippled.
Everyone, naturally, feels badly about
the losses that were incurred But we can
all be thankful they weren’t much, much
worse
Farmers everywhere, but especially
hereabouts, have a tradition of helping
Some farms were virtually washed away
in the past few weeks. Floods quite often
weren't the problem. Ram was the ap
parent villain The real villains, though,
were their own unfortunate victims
farmers who haven’t instituted good
conservation practices.
Torrential rams ripped gullies into many
a cornfield last week and washed tons of
topsoil away The rams were so strong that
Meat Quotas Off - So What?
President Nixon this week lifted import
quotas on meat, and raised an instant
flurry of protest from packers, producers
and meat associations We feel there was
no better time to lift quotas.
The rhetoric of the meat groups was
based on gut reaction to .any real or
imagined price threat It certainly doesn't
appear to have any basis m logic.
Everyone is agreed that lifting the ban is
going to have very little impact on prices.
There’s a world wide shortage of meat. The
American Meat Institute said that at the
present time, only seven per cent of the
U S meat supply is imported
Countries which sell meat here are, like
us, faced with shortages at home They
simply can’t send us enough meat to ap
preciably affect prices
The administration says it's lifting the
Dear Sir
You are to be commended for your
editorial of June 10 entitled; “Milk, Eggs
and Propaganda". We wish other editors of
our nation's great news media would
recognize the situation as you have done so
well
The egg industry has been the victim of
the “selective truth”, as you have outlined.
But in our case, the “selectivity”, more
times than not, has been more opinionated
or based on one side of much conflicting
After The Flood
Conservation vs. Agnes
Letter to the Editor
pointed out that the act of asking is no
guarantee funds will be forthcoming.
Approval of requests will be based upon
individual cases and the nature of the
damage.
Farmers who wish to apply for relief from
crop or erosion damage should call the
Agricultural Stabilization and Con
servation Service at 397-6235, or the Soil
Conservation Service at 394-0681.
Emergency loan funds may be available.
The nature of the loans and the amounts
available were not available at press time.
We hope to have a fuller report on this
situation next week. In the meantime,
information can be had by calling the
Farmers Home Administration at 394-
0681.
each other in troubled times. We're sure
that there were many instances of people
helping neighbors who were hurt badly by
Agnes.
In some other areas of the state,
everyone was hit. Quite possibly they’ll
need help not from neighboring farms, but
from neighboring counties. We’re certain
that if the need exists, and if farmers in the
state’s number one farm county can help,
they'll do so!
even farms with fully implemented con
servation plans suffered some loss.
Conservation-minded farmers, though,
fared many times better. They’ll be able to
get their crops and lands into shape at a
minimum of expense and bother.
If you aren’t practicing conservation on
your farm, it's too late to do anything about
Agnes.
But have you thought about Beaulah,
Carlotta and Dorothy?
quotas because it hopes to reduce the
price Mrs Housewife pays at her super
market. That sounds a lot like election-year
rhetoric,
The real impulse behind the action could
be the further lowering of international
trade barriers Whether or not this was the
administration’s real intent, this is the real
effect
With rising standards of living in other
countries, this lowering of trade barriers
can only be beneficial to U.S. agriculture as
a whole. Chances are we won't lose
anything in meat sales or prices.
Chances are we stand a lot to gam in the
sale of other agricultural commodities.
Perhaps by lifting the ban, we’ve created a
small reservoir of good will for in
ternational trade.
Maybe it’ll become a big reservoir,
research information. But when used by
the highly reputable associations in fund
raising campaigns, is almost impossible for
an industry such as ours to rebut.
Thank you for giving your readers an
inside look at propaganda. We hope your
message gets to the Heart Association.
Sincerely,
James F. Fleming
Director of Public and
Governmental Relations
United Egg Producers
NOW IS
THE TIME . .
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
To Use Fungicides
The prolonged wet weather of
the past several weeks has been
very favorable for the
development of fungus diseases
on all kinds of plants and crops.
This has been especially true on
fruit trees, lawns, and or
namentals. Hot dry weather will
be one natural remedy for this
problem; however, to protect
these plants from the many kinds
of rots and fungus diseases it is
suggested that. several ap
plications of fungicides be made
at this time at weekly intervals.
The commercial fruit producers
have already been sent a special
letter stressing the importance of
regular spraying. Property
owners with spots in their lawns,
many of which may be caused by
fingus diseases, should spray
several times with a good turf
fungicide. Poor drying con
ditions in recent weeks favors the
development and spread of many
of the fungus infections.
To Inspect Pastures
Livestock producers who have
animals on pasture in woodlots,
or along fence rows with trees,
are urged to inspect their areas
at once for fallen wild cherry
trees The wilting or wilted wild
cherry leaves are usually
poisonous to livestock and should
be removed from the area.
Livestock will eat these leaves in
spite of having sufficient other
good forages to consume. Also,
pasture areas along streams that
TO SEE GOD
Lesson for July 3,1972
Background Scripture Job 23, 42 I*6,
Hebrews 12 5-1 , 1 Peter 5 6*ll
Devotional Reading Job 40 3-14
A few days ago a hospital pa
tient confessed to me that there
are times when he can’t help but
wonder where God is while he
suffers “Just sometimes,” he said,
“my hope seems to fade—l’m so
ashamed ”
I tried to help
this man under
stand that all of
us experience our
doubts about our
faith sometimes.
We believe, but
we can feel our
belief slipping
_. .... away and there
Rev. Althouse are £ ew 0 f us w jj o
cannot sympathize with Job’s an
guished cry: “Oh, that I knew
where I might find him”.
A mouth filled with arguments
When at first he was afflicted,
Job refused to abandon his faith
or question what was happening
to him His friends assumed that
his misfortune was the result of
sins that were unknown to them.
But Job knew better; there was
nothing m his life that deserved
the tragedy and hardship that
had come upon him. He knew he
was innocent, even if his friends
suspected he was not.
have been out over the
surrounding areas may have
deposited debris containing
poisons or chemicals. These
should be removed from the area
before the livestock are allowed
to graze. All tin cans, bottles, and
containers should be removed
even though they are empty.
To Establish Conservation
Practices
The record rainfall of the
recent storm was a real test for
the best conservation establish
ments. Needless to say, not many
of them were constructed to
handle 10 inches of rain in a 48-
hour period; therefore soil
erosion may be one of the major
losses in agriculture from this
storm. Now would be a good time
to evaluate the soil erosion losses
on the farm and to plan what
should be done to prevent similar
losses in the future; it may be a
long time before we get so much
rain at one time but there will be
times of heavy rains when
erosion will occur if practices are
not installed to prevent it.
Diversion terraces or ditches
around buildings or feedlots need
more attention; this will prevent
damage to the foundations of
buildings and prevent manure
pollution of streams. The use of
contour strips on slopes and
hillsides certainly is very much
in order. All farmers are urged to
evaluate their erosion control
practices and try to improve
them.
The attitude of his friends
should not surprise any of us to
day because we are still likely to
hear people ascribe the cause of
this calamity or that to some
wrong-doing on the part of the
victim
Because Job knew that he was
innocent, he wanted to argue
with God to prove that he was
right and that God had mis
judged him If he could find God,
Job says, “I would lay my case
before him and fill my mouth
with arguments” (23 4)
Many of us are like that. We
find ourselves in a situation and
we try to find the reason behind
the experience Often we can do
this, but there are also many
times when we cannot. We must
not make the mistake of think
ing, as Job did, that if we cannot
figure it out it is therefore ir
rational or unfair. Later in his
own experience, Job came to
realize how foolish he had been
to try to argue with God “There
fore I have uttered what I did
not understand, things too won
derful for me, which I did not
know” (42 3).
“I had heard . .
Job never did understand ex
actly why he suffered as he did,
but he came to the conclusion
that there was a reason behind
all this that was simply beyond
his understanding. He had been
brash in thinking that his reason
was on a par with that of God.
Instead of continuing to complain
about how unreasonable and un
fair his situation was, Job came
to realize that there are some
things which go beyond the in
tellect of man.
Job had discovered something
far better than reason, in the
depths of his suffering and dis
pair, he had discovered the God
whom previously he had known
only second-hand. Sometimes,
like Job, it is necessary for us to
see the “bottom of the pile” be
fore we can see God.
A
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