AlD—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 26,1980
Lancaster Farming says...
Any farmer who grows apples or
peaches for processing, mushrooms,
radishes, snap beans, tomatoes,
peppers, plums, beets and a host of
other crops should sit right down and
write a letter to his federal legislator
asking him to support HR 3535.
Hog men, sheep breeders and
other farmers, too, should be sup
portive of the measure. They may
need it some day.
The bill is the National Agricultural
Bargaining Act of 1979, a bill which
would give farmers some muscle in
the marketplace.
HR 3535 has a mob of co-sponsors,
about 35 in all, including Penn
sylvanians Austin Murphy, John
Murtha, and Donald Ritter.
A bargaining bill would give far
mers the leverage they need to get a
fair price plus some margin of profit
for what they produce.
When dozens of farmers are selling
to a single outlet there is little choice
WALKING IN
THE DARK
Lesson for April 27, 1980
Background Scripture:
1 John land 2,3:19
through 4:6
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 43
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TO GIVE CORN
PLANTERS A CHANCE
Too many com growers
are in a big hurry when it
comes time to plant com.
Com planting time is here
and many acres will be
planted in the next few
weeks. All planters that are
u good condition should do a
good job; that is, if the
farmer gives it a chance.
Too much speed is often the
cause of poor planting
distances. The operating
instructions should give the
RURAL ROUTE
We need a national bargaining law
The other day when Pwas
on the campus of Southern
Methodist University in
Dallas, I saw a man
preaching in front of the
student union building. A few
students had already
stopped to hear him and the
group was beginning to swell
with students on their way to
the next class. I joined the
crowd to hear what he was
saying.
I had to admire the man’s
courage and conviction: it
wasn’t an easy task he had
taken upon himself. But I
couldn’t admire what he was
saying, for although he had
never been on the campus
before and knew nothing
suggested speed for all
machines; we urge com
growers to respect these
instructions.
Why not make a trial run
on the lane, or some other
place, to be sure the planter
is dropping the com kernels
as desired. It pays to take
time to make the proper
adjustments, and to get the
correct planting distances.
Once the crop is in the
ground and up, it is difficult
to change the planting
for bargaining of any kind. The
farmer has to take what's offered or
grow some other crop. Often, that's
not a viable alternative.
On the other hand, most corn or
soybean growers have a choice of
mills where they can sell their gram.
While their choice may be somewhat
limited, there still is the opportunity
to hang up the phone if the price isn't
right and go elsewhere to sell.
HR 3535 would set up standards
by which associations of farmers
would be accredited for bargaining.
The bill will incorporate elements of
the Ag Fair Practices Act.
It would oblige prosessors to
recognize accredited associations,
meet with them, and negotiate in
good faith over price and other
fundamentals.
It’s easy to appreciate the need for
farmer bargaining power for
vegetable and fruit markets. But,
with the trend toward thinner
about these students he
attacked them viciously for
the sins be imagined they
committed. He assumed
they were addicted to drugs,
alcohol and illicit sex and he
condemned them without
knowing whether his
assumptions were just.
The Darkness Of Hate
Some of the students
scoffed and jeered at him,
but most listened quietly, a
few challenging his unfair
assumptions. One young
man was particularly upset
with the preacher’s
allegations. At last be broke
in and called to the
preacher: “I’ve heard only
distances—or too costly to
plant the field over again.
TO INCORPORATE
MANURE
By this time most bams
and manure storage
facilities are being emptied
on our fields. This livestock
or poultry waste is an im
portant source of fertilizer, if
properly stored and handled.
We urge farmers to mix the
manure with the topsoil soon
after application. This can
be disced into the soil,
plowed down, or injected in
the soil as it is spread on the
fields. The important thing is
to get the manure out of the
barns and into the topsoil.
. Some farmers may get
B
By Tom Armstrong
(EVERYTHIHC ON]
(the THE TABLE)
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marKets for lambs and hogs, the day
may not be too far down the road
when one or two outlets may control
all of purchases of a commodity.
The only way to meet a giant,
monolithic buyer is with a giant,
monolithic seller: the ag bargaining
association.
Most resistance to the law by
packers and processors revolves
around the Capper-Volstead Act of
1922. With that, opponents say,
there is no further need for farm
bargaining power.
But Capper-Volstead has one
major deficiency. While it allows
farmers to organize, and exempts
them from certain anti-trust
provisions, it does not force anybody
to recognize farmer bargaining
organizatios or to negotiate with
them.
The Ag Fair Practices Act of 1967,
while prohibiting discrimination
against farmers who join bargaining
judgment and condemnation
from you, not one word about
the love of God. You’re not
talking about the God 1
worship in Jesus Christ!”
Instead of replying, the
preacher began to thumb
through his Bible and, fin
ding a proof-text he read it
aloud, the purpose of it
obviously to “ignore the
student’s question. I,One girl
standing in front of me shook
her head and said to no one
in particular; “It’s people
like you who give
Christianity a ‘blackeye’,”
and she walked away.
As I joined the crowd that
began to drift away, I
couldn’t help but think of
into such a hurry to plant
com they do not take the
time to haul the manure out
of storage; this is a mistake
and does not go with good
manure management. In
addition, manure that is
spread on the fields will be
much less noticed in the
community, if mixed with
the topsoil immediately.
TO BE CAREFUL
WITH WEED KILLERS
How often have you heard
of a farmer, or gardener,
that applied a weed killer to
his crop instead of an in
secticide or fungicide? This
happens too many times
during the year. We urge all
folks to be sure they are
BY CURT HAULER, EDITOR
those words from 1 John:
“He who says he is in the
light and hates his brother is
in the darkness still” {2:9).
To judge and condemn
people you don’t know is
hardly an act of love. The
preacher had intended to
share the “light” of the
Gospel, but what he
presented to them was, not
light, but darkness.
The Light Of Love
The writer of John draws a
very sharp line: you cannot
despise your brother and
still walk in the light. As I
drove home that same af
ternoon, I asked myself:
“Am I walking in the light or
am I walking in darkness?
applying the correct
material. Weed killers
should be stored separately
from other spray materials.
I’m aware of a person that
had a fertilizer and a weed
killer stored together in the
same colored bag. In his
haste, he applied the weed
killer instead of the fer
tilizer. Needless to say, it is
hard on the desired plants.
The same thing could
happen with any type of
pesticide that is stored close
to feed or other supplies. Be
sure of the identification of
all materials. Keep
materials in their original
containers, or have them
well identified. These
mistakes are serious and
may be fatal to a person, to
animals, or to your crops.
TO USE LIME
WHENNEEDED
There are so many reasons
why the lime needs of a soil
should be satisfied that
it would take several pages
to list them. After a soil has
been tested the suggested
amount of lime should be
worked into the soil. This
will allow better use of the
commercial fertilizer, in the
first place, and give larger
yields. Another major
associations, does not compel
processors to recognize them.
The National Farmers Union,
Pennsylvania Farmers Association,
the Grange, and the National Council
of Farmer Cooperatives all support
such legislation.
With that endorsement, and the
legions of legislators behind it it
would seem HR 3535 would be a
shoe-in.
Not so.. Similar bills failed to
become law in 1967, 1972, and
1976. National Farmers Organization
thinks it can bargain without such a
law. Packers and processors are
fighting the bill tooth and nail. After
all, it’s tough on a bully when the
little kids grow up and get strong
themselves.
It’ll be better for producers of all
crops to have the legal means to
become price makers rather than
price takers.
Am I free of hate for all
brothers? In fact, can I
regard all people as my
brothers and sisters?”
And as I asked myself
these questions, I thought
about my belligerant
feelings toward some USA
based Iranian students about
whom I had read in our
morning paper. Like most
Americans, I was caught up
in the growing hostility over
the American hostages in
Iran. All of it perfectly un
derstandable and certainly
justified - yet, according to
John, I cannot continue to
feel that way and walk in the
light of Jesus Christ.
reason to use lime, is to get
the chemical weed killers to
do their job. Most of the
herbicides ydll not do a good
job of controlling weeds if
the soil is sour. Since many
crops are produced now
without band or mechanical
cultivation, the pH of the soil
is more important when it
comes to killing weeds with
chemicals. Weed killers used
on crops being grown on sour
soils will not give good
results. Attention to lime
needs should be given before
Jhe crop is planted.
Calendar^
Saturday, April 26
NTPA Grand National 4WD
and mini-tractor pull,
Farm Show Complex,
Harrisburg; through
Sunday.
Eastern Shore Spring Cattle
Show; 4-H Park, Cen
treville, MD.
MPPA Feeder Pig and
Feeder Lamb sale; 10:30
a.m. Swine and Lamb
Judgmg School; Carroll
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