Alo—Lancaster Famine, Saturday, August 2,1980
Lancaster Farming says...
There are a few surprising
statistics in the preliminary census of
agriculture released by the U S
Department of Commerce
The first is the sudden appearance
of an extra 25,776 acres of farmland
in Lancaster County.
The second is that dairying no
longer is the number one farm in
dustry m Lancaster County.
There are some other interesting
numbers in the report, too.
Before looking at each of the
developments it might be well to
point out that the data are
“preliminary,” from the 1978 census
of agriculture The Commerce
Department, which does the census,
takes a good bit of time to digest all
the data gathered and this is only the
first spewing out of numbers.
The Lancaster County report is
part of the general Pennsylvania ag
census which placed sales of all farm
products m Pennsylvania at $2.2
billion
LET GOD BE GOD!
Lesson for August 3, 1980
Background Scripture:
Isaiah 45 through 47
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 96
Here’s a text that has
TO COMMUNICATE
WITH LEGISLATORS
How long has it been since,
you, as a fanner, have been
in contact with your Senator,
Congressman, or Represen
tative?
I fear that too many of us
are reluctant to inform our
legislators how we feel on
certain issues Yet we expect
them to represent us and
RURAL ROUTE
pTWE YOLIEVBALL
CROWD OM THE
'-v SIDE VARDf"
A y ®
~ \ V>7\
— >«>. “
t- 2-
Census packs two big shockers
never found its way into
Sunday sermons:
“Thu* says the Lord to his
annotated, to Cyrus...”
The reason for its un
popularity is that word
“annointed,” which tnenas
Messiah! If Isaiah heard
God nghtly, the Lord is
saying that Cyrus, the King
of Persia, is his Messiah!
There must be some
mistake' Surely God would
not say something like that'
Are we to explain this away
as a senile lapse of divine
memory God, Don’t you
know that Cyrus can’t be
your Messiah? Don’t you
realize there is only one
Messiah and that Cyrus
support legislation to our
satisfaction
It often has been said that
fanners do not make enough
“noise” when it comes to
agncultural legislation. This
is no doubt true, but it should
not be that way
You have heard the
phrase, “The wheel that
squeaks gets the grease ” I
feel that too many times
those who sound off the
loudest do not represent the
majonty views of our far
mers.
Don’t hesitate to be on
good terms with your elected
legislators; they will ap
preciate your opinions and it
SAOMITfEN AND FKISSEE.J
our back . CRosuer f
AND CHOW LINE,PROMT J
Ward — —
—) (
~
r<- -•
Dairying remained tops state-wide,
with product sales of $762 7 million
from 16,026 cows. That seems ac
ceptable.
But none of the agricultural, tax, or
elected officials in Lancaster County
was able to pinpoint where the
additional 25,000 acres came
from ... if indeed they exist. In every
case, agricultural experts noted the
erosion of the farmland base in
Lancaster
Best guess from the Census is
improved methods of gathering data
resulted in the big jump in farmland
reported. Similar incidents have
been noted In the 1974 census
neighboring state West Virginia
showed an amazing increase m
acreage. The jump later dwindled to
almost nothing under close
rechecking.
The bottom line? Don’t count on
picking up any of that "extra” land if
never even acknowledged
you as Lord?
To Subdue Nations
Well, the fact is that, as it
was revealed to Isaiah (the
otherwise trustworthy
prophet of the Lord), God did
regard Cyrus of Persia as his
annointed, his Messiah. And,
even though Cyrus did not
know this God, the Lord was
able to use this man for his
divine purposes: “ .
Cyrus, whose right arm I
have grasped, to subdue
nations before him and
ungird the loins of kings, to
open doors before him that
gates may not be closed”
(45-1)
will help them with their
major decisions
TO CHECK
LIGHTNING RODS
This summer has been one
for a great number of severe
thunderstorms
Folks who have rods on
their buildings can feel
fortunate for this protection.
However, if the rods are not
properly installed and well
grounded, they may be of
little value
I’d like to suggest that certain spray material that
owners check their rod was applied to a certain
systems to be sure they are crop. ITus information is
free of debris and be sure often needed in the planning
they are grounded into moist of the future crops on a field,
soil Too many tunes they To my surprise, the far-
By Tom Armstrong
Once again, as we have
noted previously, God is able
to work in the affairs of men
and nations to accomplish
his purposes, to use un
willing and unwitting
people to fulfill his plan. But
we don’t particularly like
that idea, we’d like to
remind God that this is not
one of his better ideas, for
these people are not worthy
to be his instruments in the
■world, let alone to be
regarded as his “an
nointed.’’
Our perennial problem
here is that we tend to forget
that he is God and we are the
creatures, that his wisdom is
may not be grounded deeply
enough to absorb the charge
During hot, dry weather
the ground dries out and
may not get the job done
Frequent inspection of the
rod system during the
thunder-storm season is
very much in order.
TO KEEP GOOD
PESTICIDE RECORDS
Several tunes this summer
I have inquired about the
name and amount of a
'WHEN HE'S FINISHfP VOl
CAN BE SURE THERE'tI
|BE NO GRASS T'BOTHER
'BOlTf THE REST O'THE
SUMMER /" » 5vT~
LUKE LOVES T'
ORGANIZE
-THESE I
REUNIONS J
v - '
-r—l* *
'T' r
it i Chtmr, -
you're planning on expanding your
operation.
The second surprise to many
Lancaster farmers will be the fall of
the county dairy industry from first to
second place.
The poultry industry is reported as
number one in total value of products
sold.
The agriculture census shows
poultrymen outsold dairy farmers by
over $26 5 million Total poultry
reciepts were put at $130,580,000.
There are a couple of cautions
before poultry is crowned king of the
county. First is the uneasyness
raised by the question of the far
mland figures. If the product sales
numbers are as far off base as the
acreage figures, there may be a
major adjustment yet to come
The second is the Census shows
total sales of poultry products in the
county as nearly doubling in four
years The 1974 figures say the
poultry industry had just
r -:*)uL
BY CURT HARLER, EDITOR
what controls the world, not
ours. We need constantly to
be reminded to' let God be
God and stop trying to take
his place. If be wants to
annoint Cyrus or anyone else
to do his will, who are we to
second-guess him 9
Striving With Our Maker
Yet, that is what his
creatures have been doing
since day-one And that is
why through Isaiah God used
strong words to remind us:
“Woe to him who strives
with his Maker, an earthen
vessel with the potter! Does
the clay say to him who
fashions it, ‘what are you
making 9 ’ or ‘Your work has
no handles’’ Will you
mer did not recall what had
been applied and the amount
it was some material
recommended by another
person
Again, we say that it is
important to keep accurate
record of all pesticide ap
plications. In case a surplus
residue is found in the
product, these records could
mean the difference between
continued production, or the
loss of a market.
Record blanks are
available and we continue to
feel they should be used
Documentation is becoming
very important in many
phases of today’s farming
and living.
TO BEWARE OF
JOHNSONGRASS SEEDS
The control of John
songrass needs and is get
ting more attention
This fast-growing weed,
which resembles sorghum,
Farm Calendar
rhoe^ tU r day l Au ?Jf t2 u Maryland hog field day;
r County 4-H sheep University of Maryland
roundup; Goshen research farm,
m Clarksville, Maryland;
Schuylkill County 4-H dairy 9 30a.m.-3:15p.m
show, 11 a.m ; Carl
Snyder Farm, Pitman (Turn to Pa « e A 43)
$75,181,000 worth of product sold
And in recent months, poultry has
been depressed
Still, $26 million is a lot of money
for dairy to make up. It looks like
Lancaster has a new farm industry
leader, and congratulations are in
order
Pennsylvania farmers will be
pleased to know the census says they
are getting younger. Average age of
state farmers dropped from 50 6
years to 49 8 years
Welcome ladies—2BBl state farms
are operated by women. That's a full
five percent of the state's 59,973
farms
Other tidbits 91 percent of farms
are owner operated, of the 981 farm
corporations, 864, or 88 percent, are
family held, just seven percent of
state farms report sales of $lOO,OOO
or more, the largest single group,
38,822 had sales of less than
$20,000
question me about my
children, or command me
concerning the work of my
hands’”
Well, yes, Lord,
sometimes we do.
Sometimes we need for you
to remind us: “I made the
earth, and created man upon
if; it was my hands that
stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their
host” (4512). So if you want
to call Cyrus your Messiah
or anything else, Lord, go
right ahead! It’s your world 1
Actually, it is not a matter
of letting God by God, for he
will be anyway, but of
remembering who we are
and what he is.
spreads rapidly over a farm
and will soon make it dif
ficult to grow any crops.
When these plants get to
the point of developing seed
heads, extra care is needed
to keep from spreading the
seeds over a field. This often
happens with a corn picker,
or gram combine Small
grain fields that have
Johnsongrass stands should
be allowed to grow to the
early seed-head stage and
then be sprayed with
Roundup
Be careful about buvmg
straw or other materials
from a field containing any
Johnsongrass plants.
A plant that is permitted to
mature this summer will
mean hundreds of plants in
the same area next spring
Join the effort to eradicate
Johnsongrass from all
farms