—Lancaster Farming. Saturday. Sept. 21, 1974 10 mmiiunmnHiHuroitHWuituiitiuiiiuiimiiuittiiiutmiiitiiiiHiiuiiiiiuniiiimiiuiiintiNiiiiiiutiKituiiiiiiiiuuiiimiuiiuiiiiiuiuiommiiiiDtiiiuiiimi Farm Commentary IlllUlllUllllUllUlllllllllllllPlUlllUllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllJllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllUllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Crop Report: Encouragement And Hog Imports Are Going A Warning Hog Wild! USDA’s September Crop Report Hog imports continue to zoom! At issued last week contained some 53,005 head during July, the were 6- encouragement - and a warning. The times that of a year earlier. Heading encouragement was in the form of f° r a new record? Forget it. The slight gams seen m the corn and record high for a full calendar year soybean prospects. The warning was was 89,032 head set in 1972. That that the season's first freezing was passed as of June, temperatures over the Labor Day Through July, U.S. hog imports weekend in the Dakotas, Minnesota, stand at 151,033 head. That's more Wisconsin, Nebraska and lowa than 3*times the Jan.-July total of a caused some damage, but that the year ago. All are from Canada, damage was NOT reflected in the Meanwhile, imports of both cattle repor t and sheep and lambs were up slightly CORN prospects now seen at 4.995 during July, but both are still running billion bu., up 29 billion bu. from the * well below 1973’s pace for the first 7 August forecast, but 11 pet. below a months. July cattle imports totaled year ago; SORGHUM GRAIN at 645 35,186 head, up from 33,488 head a million bu., up 4 pet. from a month year ealier. Imports of sheen and earlier, though 31 pet. below a year lamb totaled only 61 head, up from 46 earlier. And, FEED GRAIN (corn, head a year earlier. The Jan.-July sorghum, oats, barley) out put at 176 totals: Cattle imports 508,445 head, million tons, up 1 pet. from the Aug. down from 20 pet.; sheep and lamb forecast. on, y 221 head, was 3,949 a year SOYBEAN production forecast at 1.316 billion bu., up fractionally from a month ago, but 16 pet. below 1973’s total. WHEAT production now seen at 1.792 billion bu., down 3 pet (48 million bu.) from a month ago, but still record high (CROP PRODUC TION). Milk Production Up For Second Straight Month U.S. nulk production, at 9.6 billion lbs during August, up 12 pet. from a year ago. This marks f - second straight month output has been above that of a corresponding month a year earlier July's output, at 10.1 billion lbs., exceeded that of July 1973 by 2-10 of 1 pet Prior to that, production had been below that of a corresponding month a year earlier for 20 suc cessive months. Reason for the gam: Higher output per cow. Though cow numbers, at 11,135,000, were off 2 pet. from a year earlier in August, output per cow, at 860 lbs., was up 3 pet. from that of a year earlier. Another reason: Higher output in 4 key States that account for nearly 39 pet of the Nation's total. It was up 3 pet (to 1.5 billion lbs.) in Wisconsin; up 5 pet (to 956 million lbs.) in California; up 6 pet (to 788 million lbs.) in New York, up 5 pet. (to 566 million lbs.) in Pennsylvania Despite the July-August gams, output for the first 8 months, at 78 9 billion lbs, was still off 1.5 pet from a year earlier Enclosed please find a small story that would be of interest to some farmers in regards to conserving water around their springs, a very important item on any farm in Lancaster County. I farmed a place near Eden for eight years before I sold it to Ernest Miller of Lan caster in 1925. There was a spring on the farm which I had had tested, and found that it was 99 percent pure. Miller built a wall around the spring in 1925, and it cost him $2500 to do it , There is one bad fault about this spring. It is along the Conestoga River, and , when the river gets too high, fc‘«#«e»vei M rthe*9priny ’Mter^a Letters to the Editor day or two of flooding, the spring must be cleaned out. But that’s a small item for a farmer. We all Enjoy Lancaster Farming’ The pictures are fine, the special articles by M McSr earlier Wheat Bountiful in Argentina Wheat may be in short supply m most grain producing countries, but it’s straining Argentina’s storage facilities, according to USDA’s ' Foreign Agricultural Service. Though wheat acreage was cut 24 pet from a year ago, the harvest is now seen at 6 7 million tons, down only 3 pet. from last year. Moreover, bumper sorghum, corn and rice crops are in or coming in this year. Cattle On Feed Down Sharply From Year Ago There may be cattle being raised for slaughter out there, but fewer and fewer of them are on feed. Those on feed for slaughter market in the 7 major feeding States totaled only 6.855.000 head.on Sept. 1. That’s down 25 pet. from a year earlier, 21 pet. below the Sept. 1, 1972 total. Cutbacks ranged from 30 pet. below in lowa, to 18 pet. below in California In between they were down 29 pet. in Nebraska, 28 pet. in Arizona, 24 pet. in both Kansas and Texas, 23 pet. in Colorado. A further check shows August marketings totaled 1,140,000 head, down 22 pet. from a year earlier, while August placements, at 1.292.000 head, were down 8 pet. from a year earlier. interesting, the public sales coverage is easy to read. I turn first to mail box market and the classified ads to search for items I need. We would like to thank you for the ads you printed for us in mail box market. No other paper has been such a help to the country folks. Mrs. Siegrist. Sincerely, Chester Paes. Lesson for 1974 Background Scripture: Joshua 24 Devotional Reading: Deuteronomy 5:1-6. What, you may wonder, is the need for another covenant at Schechem (Joshua 24), when the people of Israel have already made several covenants with the Lord. First God made the covenant with Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob, then with Moses. Why should Joshua have to take the people through all this again? The answer is not that God did not keep his promise or that he had cancelled the covenant. In fact, at Schechem, a frequent gathering place for the Israelites in the period during and following the conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua, they were reminded of God’s faithfulness in performing his part of the agreement. He had fulfilled his promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Aaron. As he had promised, he brought them out of the wilderness of Sinai and Negev and brought them into the Promised Land. One by one God has kept his promises. “Now Therefore...” The reason for a new covenant or the re establishment of the old one was to be found, not in what God had done, but in what the people of Israel had done. They had not renounced their faith in him, they had not overtly refused to obey him. Yet, their failure, though more subtle, was no less damaging than if they had. The key to their failure is found in these key words by Joshua: serve him in sincerity and in faith fulness” (Joshua 24:14). They were still going through the motions of serving the Lord, but they were really quite insincere, for Joshua goes on to specify; . . put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord” (24:14). Their problem is that they are trying to serve God plus other deities. They have not discarded their religion, but they have watered it down. Make Your Choice Joshua knows that a people cannot serve God if, at the same time, they try to serve others. The ways of the Lord are constantly in conflict with the religious practices of other gods. A man trying to serve two gods at the same time is a divided man, just as a nation trying to serve several gods is a divided nation. If a man’s life is to be whole, he can serve only one God and if a nation is to be unified it must serve one God alone. Thus, ua challenges the people Israel to make their ;e: “... choose this day im you will serve” '5). »m man’s perspective, covenant is never igh, for, having made i, we drift away from promises, we water i our commitments, and i tune to time we need to ;e them anew. Though I NOW IS I THE TIME... Max Smith County Agr. Agent Telephone 394-6851 To Beware of Silo Gas Silo filling is going at full tilt now and many acres of corn will be made into silage in the next few weeks. We support the making of com into silage in order to get the maximum pounds of milk or pounds of weight gain from an acre of com. However, there is some danger in and around the silo at filling time. The formation of various kinds of gases can take place from one to 10 days after the silage is cut. Most of these gases are dangerous and all members of the family should be warned to stay away from the area. We urge more attention to this possible danger because we have had some injuries here in Lan caster County. To Graze Legume With Care A number of phone calls at our Extension Office reflects some interest in the practice of grazing alfalfa and clover fields this fall. This is a common practice and one good way to utilize the late growth on these fields. However, there is danger of bloating when animals are allowed to graze legumes when wet with dew, rain, or frost. The forage should always be dry when the animals are grazing and also, it is best to feed them some dry matter such as hay, straw, or silage before going to pasture. Dairymen should remove their milking cows at least four hours prior to the next milking time; this is to avoid off-flavored milk. Farm Calendar Monday, September 23 Pennsylvania All-American Dairy Show, Farm Show Building, Harrisburg. Through Sept. 27. Oley Valley Fair, Oley, Dauphin County. Through Sept. 28. Bloomsburg Fair, Bloom sburg, Columbia County. Through Sept. 28. Ephrata Fair, Ephrata, __ Lancaster County. Thought For Food Through Sept. 28. Tuesday, September 24 West Lampeter Fair, West Lampeter, Lancaster County. Through Sept. 28. Wednesday, September 25 National Dairy Shrine Club annual meeting and banquet, Harrisburg. Maryland Poultry Ser vicemen’s Conference, Interstate Inn, College Park, Md. Through Sept 26 Thursday, September 26 Eastern National Holstein Show, Farm Show Building, Harrisburg Mix 1/4 teas P°on powdered mus Thrmiah