—Lancaster Farming. Saturday, March 10, 1973
10
Land use is a topic we're going to be
hearing more about in the years to come
Legislation and public opinion in the
general areas of land use will affect the way
we live, work, play and farm - in Lancaster
County
Hopefully, land will be used in ways that
benefit all the County's people, rather than
lust a few And preserving farm land is the
single most important element in
preserving the character of the county If
the county is allowed to change from an
agrarian to an urban area, its basic nature
will change A magnificent place to live, a
magnificent way of life, will be transformed
mto something less
Farmers are the one group who'll be
affected most by land use actions If they
care about farming as a way of life and as a
business they'll have to add a new item to
their already long list of things to do That
is keeping abreast of legislation and the
activities of such groups as Save Solanco’s
Fnvironment and LEAF (Lancaster En
vironmental Action Federation)
There are laws now on the books that
may take farmers by surprise The state of
Pennsylvania for example has declared
that all farms must have conservation
plans by June! 1977 and that these plans
must be implemented where necessary It
costs a lot of money to install diversion
terraces runoffs silt ponds and other
conservation practices
It’s true that the farmer is the mam
beneficiary of conservation practices on his
(arm Ho keeps his soil he keeps his crops,
he keeps his profits But in these days of
using costs it’s going to be difficult for
farmers to dig into their pockets for the
thousands of dollars that will be needed to
install the conservation practices the law
inquires Helping to pay for these practices
is a legitimate aim of such governmental
programs as the iccently terminated Rural
environmental Assistance Program
(RFAPt
Far mors hove always borne at least part
of lhe expense of conservation practices
installed under REAP And that is as it
should bo Rut the general public also
In the lone run control of inflation
depends upon contiol of federal budget
spendme and deficits In announcing the
abolition of foi mal wage and pi ice controls
nvei most of the economy the President
recognized this fact But Administration
efforts to control the federal budget have
wounded some of the sacred cows of
bureaucracy and one of them is the
Agriculture Departments two percent
Rural Electrification Administration loan
nr ogt am
RFA was set up in the 1930 s to speed
the extension of electric service into
spruselv settled rural areas where
igi icultural use of electricity was low
Today the picture is far different In many
rases REA co op service areas that were
rural in nature 30 years ago have
developed into suburban towns and
residential districts Agricultural use of
electricity has vastly increased Except for
extremely rare isolated instances the
oeople of the U S now have central station
electric service In the I ght of these
changed conditions the new policy an
nounced by the Department of
Land Use and
Farmer Action
Overhauling REA
benefits from improved conservation -And
it only makes sense that the general public
should help to pay for improved con
servation through government programs
Congress is now trying to reinstate
REAP That effort can be strengthened if
farmers raise their voices loudly enough,
and we urge farmers to do so
Another immediate concern for all
Pennsylvania farmers is the voter
referendum which will appear on the May
primary ballot This referendum will decide
whether or not the Pennsylvania con
stitution can be amended to permit the
taxation of land on the basis of its use
rather than its speculative value Farmers
must inform themselves on this issue, and
they must inform others as well On
Tuesday evening, there will be a meeting to
explain the referendum to anyone who’s
interested The meeting will be held in the
Farm and Home Center, beginning at 7 30
p m It could be one of the most important
meetings you'll ever attend
LEAF is one of the organizations sup
porting a change in farmland taxation
Fnvironmental groups and farmers have
had their differences in the past and will
continue to have differences in the future
Here in Lancaster County, though en
vironmentalists and farmers have
developed a measure of rapport A
deepening of that rapport can only
redound to the benefit of everyone in the
county and we hope farmers will become
more involved with groups working for
clean air clean water, and attractive land
uses
The care of this county's air, land and
water is a subject that’s going to last long
after the banner headlines on the pollution
crisis have crumpled to yellow newsprint
Constant vigilance will have to be
exercised merely to preserve the remnants
of Lancaster County’s rural atmosphere
Because farmers and farming are such an
important part of what this county has
been and is we hope that farmers will be
among the leaders in influencing land use
planning
Amt uculture will eliminate direct 2 percent
loans to electric and telephone
cooperatives However insured loans will
he availalbe at 5 percent interest to
clectr ic and telephone co ops and electric
ro ops will also be able to secure
miaianteed loans where private capital is
availalbe on advantageous terms
Rural elect!ic cooperative organizations
medict disaster for tural electrification if
the loan subsidy program is stopped But
surety if theie are any federal programs
which could be modified in accordance
with modern conditions the one providing
7 percent money for rural electric systems
should be among them especially con
sidering the fact that investor-owned
utilities pav as much as four times as much
oi more to borrow the money they need to
develop facilities to serve their customers
If there is to be any hope of establishing
federal fiscal tesponsibihty based on
control of spending and reduction of
deficits there must be public support
strong enough to overcome the opposition
of those who feel a diminishing flow of the
federal taxpayer dollars to which they have
become accustomed
| NOW IS
I THE TIME . . .
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
To Stretch Hay Supplies
Many livestock producers and
dairymen are short on hay this
spring Purchases need to be kept
(o a minimum because of high
prices Larger amounts of grain
and silage could be the answer on
some farms The early graying of
winter gram and the fertilizing of
a part of the permanent pasture
area could give earlier graying.
In many cases daily gam or milk
production will not be decreased
because of the feeding of less hay
To Control Parasites
Many animals are infested with
body lice and with ringworm.
Both of these reduce the vigor of
the animal and result in lower
gain or milk production. We urge
owners to inspect their animals
and treat at once if lice are found.
Ringworm is bad in some herds.
Captan fungicide is suggested as
a spray or dip to eliminate the
problem Production costs are
high enough without permitting
the animals to be weakened with
these parasites
To Improve Farm Planning
Each year the need for good
farm planning seems more
TRY A CLASSIFIED AD
PHONE 626-2191 or 394-3047
THE ACCOUNTING
Lesson for March 11, 1973
Background Scripture Genesis 1 27 30.
4 1 9, Matthew 25 31-46, Acts 17
30, 31, Romans 14 10 12
Devotional Reading Deuteronomy 1!
10 12 26 28
One day this past week I sat m
the cafeteria of a local high
school, talking with a young
teacher whoso class I had just
addressed She was depressed be
cause she felt that no matter
where she looked there was hu
man suffering and
misery. At last,
she gave voice to
that ancient ques
tion “Why does
God allow us to
make such a mess
of things’”
I tried to ex-
plain that evil is
Ret. Althousc often the price we
pay for our hu
man. God-given freedom God is
often like a paiont if a mother or
father see their child doing the
right thing. the\ get a greater
pleasure and satisfaction if the
child really had the opportunity
to choose to do so If the parent
realires that the son or daughter
did the right thing because there
was no opportunity to do some
thing else, thcie is little satisfac
tion
Free to choose
So it is with God he gi\es us
the freedom to choose good or
cul because it is in our right
choices that he is most gratified
as our Creator God wants us to
do the right thing, but he does
not compel us to do so I tried to
8
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important. As the farm products
increase in value, and all of the
inputs increase at a faster rate, it
is essentia] that all practices and
transactions be well planned. In
most cases the difference bet
ween success and failure largely
depends upon how well the job
was planned. The challenge is to
learn what should be done and
then buckle down and do it when
it should be done. The purchase of
seeds and other supplies should
be done months ahead of the time
of need Then pray that the
weather conditions will permit
the iob to be done as planned.
To Be Hard on
Stray Animals
With the various diseases of
livestock and poultry present in
this part of the country, it
becomes more difficult to accept
stray animals on the farm Wild
birds are also in the group Every
effort should be made to keep
them out of buildings, out of
feeders, and away from all
animals A sympathetic heart in
these instances could cost the
owner thousands of dollars.
communicate to the school teacher
that, although that freedom may
be frightening at times, it is also
part of the glory of being human
I am glad to be free to make my
choices, even though it puts far
more responsibility upon me.
The Christian understanding of
the nature of man has always
been founded upon the under
standing that man is free to
choose between good and evil We
are placed in this world with tre
mendous pnveleges - created “in
the image of God,” blessed by
God, intended to be fruitful and
multiply, to fill the world and
subdue it and have dominion over
the earth As God describes man’s
rich heritage in Genesis 1, the
vorld is man’s to enjoy as a
great blessing
Obligated to answer
Yet there is another side to
man’s situation not onlv is he
blessed, but he is to be a blessing
to others He is placed upon the
eaith, not onlj that he might en
jo> his dominion, but also that
he shall emphn that dominion as
a good steward for God To bo set
in dominion ever this earth is not
onl.\ a privilege, but also a re
sponsibility (That’s the waj it is
in God's cication for even pn\i
legc thcie seems to be a matching
responsibihU ) Much is given to
us, but much is also expected
from us
Thu 4 ' there will come a day
when a man will he examined bj
God to deteiminc how well he has
fulfilled his responsibilities This
lodgement will bo rendeicd to all
men As Paul puts it 'For we
shall all stand before the judge
ment scat of God” (Romans 14
101 Each of us shall ha\e to be
judged on the basis of what we
ha\e done with what we ha\c re
coiled It is an accounting no one
is spared
Koseci on ou‘nnes copyrighted by *n rt
Division of Christian Education, National
Council of the Churches of Chris* m the USA
Re'eased by Community Rre.»s Service
*