Alo—Lancaster Fameint, Saturday, June 7,1980 Lancaster Farming says... it’s dairy month: with governors signing proclamations, dairy prin cesses transferring crowns, and ;cows parading through shopping centers. But behind all of the fluff, the dairy industry has its problems. If it weren't for the dairy farmer’s biggest enemy—government intervention al) would not be well in the dairy industry The case in point is the current milk price, up again. This is shocking news in view of several facts: dairy consumption is down, American cheese use is lower than last year and is losing ground to foreign im ports, butter use is barely even, and most economists are predicting a sizable cut in dairy product use because of the worsening economy. Meantime, milk production during the first four months of 1980, on a daily average, is three percent above 1979 Cow numbers are up from last ON IMITATING OUR ENEMIES Lesson for June 8, 1980 Background Scripture: 2Kmgs 21:1 through 23:30; 2 Chronicles 33 through 35. Devotional Reading: Psalms 16:1-8. r^, TO CHECK PASTURES The high winds that we’ve had over the past week broke a lot of tree branches off and left them m the pasture fields and exercise lots. If you have any wild cherry or choke cherry branches lying in your exercise lot or pasture, be sure to remove them before allowing any livestock m the area. When these leaves are damaged by broken limbs, they wilt down and a poisonous substance is formed within the leaves. A handful of these wilted RURAL ROUTE I 1 Looks Like the *> MEN ARE here T' WHITEWASH THtJ 6ARH /*=; Celebrate dairy month: As good as Hezekiah had been, that’s how bad his son, Manasseh, was as King of Judah. The writer of 2 Kings begins with four facts about Manasseh: (1) he was 12 years old when he began his reign; (2) he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem; (3) his mother was Hephzibah and (4) “...he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel” (21:1,2). It is for this fourth item of data about Manasseh that he is remembered. They Did Not Listen The writer of 2 Kings goes leaves can kill a cow or several sheep if they are eaten. Death occurs very quickly because the poison interferes with the oxygen carrying ability of the blood. Treatment is possible if discovered in tune. The only way to eliminate the danger of wild cherry poisoning is to eliminate the tree. TO PREPARE GRAIN BENS: We are approaching barley harvest season with wheat not too far behind, so I would like to remind our year And production is expected to continue to rise substantially through dairy month If dairy marketings were made in a free-market economy the dairyman’s milk check would be quite a bit thinner today than last year. He’d be joining his neighbors in the poultry and pork industries in the general farm price depression. Any farmer who removed his boots and walked a mile in a consumer’s street shoes might see why such proposals as the CNI milk order restructuring idea are coming out at this time. Why, the consumer asks, should a product's price increase when supply is up and demand is down? Why shouldn’t the very govern ment which is maintaining high support prices be called upon to reduce those prices? the consumer asks. And in Washington, where on to spell out exactly what these “abominable prac tices” were. Manasseh rebuilt “the high places,” the pagan worship places, which his father, Hazekiah, had destroyed. He caused to be built altars to Baal and encouraged the worship of a number of pagan gods. Worst of all, however, he allowed pagan priests to build altars to their gods in the Temple of Jerusalem itself. It was not that Manasseh tried to wipe out the worship of the God of Israel, but that he en couraged the worship of other gods as well. We can understand, then, why the grain producers that now is a good tune to clean-up your grain bins in preparation to harvest. First, clean out all the old gram. Sweep down all the sidewalls and floor making sure to remove old gram lodged in the cracks. Next, spray the floor and walls with a residual in secticide. Malathion or methoxychlor are still very effective - follow the label for directions. Finally, prevent birds and rodents from entering the bin. Repair holes with metal or other rat proof material. Clean-up all spilled gram around the bin to discourage the various pests from the area. (V' COULD 'An WAITED 'rill (I PUT THE COWS OUT r" r &t • i 71 > w' 7 9*o ChrHstinm —— politicians see consumers out numbering dairymen 100 to 1, who is going to get the attention 7 All of this is not to slap the dairy industry during its big month But it should point out that the dairy industry today is operating in an unnatural situation. Such a situation is certain to be changed sometime by someone The longer it continues, the harder the end will be and the greater the likelihood the pain will be ad ministered by an outsider’s snort, sharp shock rather than a gradual program controlled by dairy farmers themselves An individual dairy farmer may argue there’s little he can do on his small farm when reports show runaway milk output across the nation. But that’s a cop-out An individual farmer can both help himself and his industry as a whole in one simple move he can cut the writer of 2 Kings concludes: “...and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel” (21:9). Manasseh’s sin sounds, at first, like a very ancient one, something quite removed from our con temporary scene. But his sin is no less a danger to God’s people today than it was in his own day. For his sin was that, in order to be secure from the enemies of Judah, he seduced his nation into becoming like her enemies. Several weeks ago I was watching one of ihose television talk-shows and the TO CONDITION SPRAYERS: Field sprayers are an important piece of equip ment on many farms. It is important to inspect the sprayer before operating it. If you used wettable powder for the last spray, and did not thoroughly clean the nozzles, they may be clogged with residue. Also, rollers m the pump may need replacing or perhaps the whole pump is worn out. Be sure to calibrate your sprayer, it may show that the nozzle tips are worn to the extent that they should be replaced. Keep m mind that brass By Tom Armstrong BY CURT HARLER, EDITOR cull a cow guest for the day was a professor of foreign affairs from a large nudwestem university. He was discussing the relationships between the USA and the Soviet Union. His prescription for meeting the challenge of Communism throughout the world: beat the Soviets at their own game! Be just as ruthless and scheming as they are! Adopt their tactics and keep your finger on the detonating switch of the H-bomb. There were lots of people in the TV audience who en thusiastically applauded him tips wear rapidly when wettable powders are used. Replace with wear-resistant tips such as stainless steel or ceramic. Also, check the inside of the tank. Stainless steel, plastic and fiberglass do not deteriorate rapidly. However, a steel drum is used on many low volume sprayers, and since the plain steel corrodes easily, the inside may become flaked. TO CHECK DOGS FOR TICKS : Dogs that roam freely in uncultivated fields or woody areas should be checked regularly for wood ticks. PA sheep field day and performance tested ram sale; Tioga County Fair, Wellsboro. Delmarva Chicken Festival concludes Bradford County Dairy Princess parade. Maryland Dairy Goat Show; Carroll County Fairgrounds; West minster, MD; concludes June 8. Rabbit and Cavy expo; fl) bottom two or three cows out of his milking string. -Those tail-enders are likely to be the least profitable gram consumers in the barn, the most difficult to breed, the biggest time wasters at milking Since canner prices aren’t too bad, it would make good business sense to cull those cows now and increase milkhouse efficiency. Removing excess milk from the market would reduce the govern ment’s touchy role in dairying Equalizing supply-demand for milk would help the price situation and may get consumers off the farmer’s back. There should be more substance to dairy month than the city-oriented fluff of praising cool milk and making strawberry ice cream. It can be a great dairy month on the farm, too— if dairymen take steps to make it so Farm Calendar Saturday, June 7 i