19—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 17,1976
LIFE on the farm
< VI, X
I can remember hunting more-than
just Easter eggs during this time of
year, and in comparison, finding the
colored objects and chocolate bun
nies was a breeze. They were usually
just hidden-on the lawn, or if the
weather wasn’t favorable, then within
the perimeter of the house.
Cows don’t play games according to
such simple rules, especially when
the “hide-and-go-seek playground"
consists of more than 100 acres and
some of it is either woods, swamp, or
just a plain patch of briars and
bushes.
A cow was sometimes hard te find
as she stood or lay completely
motionless and camouflaged in a
thicket. Some were obviously trickier
at the game than others as they
matched wits with us for hours.
Sometimes we'd spot the animal -
often only to lose her again a time or
two because of obstructions. Also,
anyone who has ever been in a
thicket looking for a cow knows that
they glide through, under, over, and
around those growths like a weasel
crossed with a bulldozer. People,
Commentary
[Continued from Page 10J
“They’re not telling us anything we
don’t know,’’ was a common com
plaint.
I’d have to agree. Not much was
said which farmers haven't heard
before. But that wasn't the whole
purpose. Dairymen were to make the
trip to Washington to show "the
public” they care about what is going
on. The ears on which the information
was really-supposed to fall belonged
to newsmen and consumers. Whether
that happened or not is debatable.
Challenging farmers to take the
initiative in taking the farm story to
consumers, Kastenmeier addressed
himself primarily, to dairymen - not
consumers. It was a valid point, and
however, get slapped in the face by
branches, trip over vines, have a boot
stuck eight inches deep in mud, are
punctured by thorns, and get lost.
They have to climb, stoop, crawl, tip
toe, jump, and roll while cows just
stick their noses in the chosen
direction and wedge themselves
forward.
If finding a cow was a tough
assignment, an even more difficult
task was finding the calf of the sneaky
bovine who came into the barn trying
to make us believe she hadn't calved
yet while leaving the little one in
some neat nest somewhere. Cows
rarely pull that trick without leaving
instructions for the calf to be per
fectly still unless practically stepped
upon. In that event it’s supposed to
run like a jackrabbit.
I can remember combing square
yard after square yard of pasture in
search of a calf. Even though they
were black and white, it was amazing
how they could blend in with their
surroundings, and surprising how
long it would take us sometimes to
find them.
one I have made myself on this page
from time to time. I couldn’t agree
more. But that should not lessen the
responsibilities of such a task for
cooperatives, legislators, reporters,
columnists, and farm groups.
A number of reporters were
present at the symposium. It is not
known how many representatives
from consumer organizations might
have been present. Also unknown is
how effective the entire affair might
have been. It is not beyond doubt that
a more effective method might have
been arranged.
One Lancaster County dairyman
probably summed it up best when he
said: "I hope they print what they
heard, and 1 hope consumers will
read it and not forget it.”
© Dieter Krieg 1976
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