Alo—Lancaster Famine, Satarday, August 30,15t0
Lancaster Farmingf says...
Act 442, the open spaces act
passed 12 years ago, is in need of
some revision
There is no quarrel with the basic
intent of the legislation which allows
any county in Pennsylvania ‘‘to
preserve, acquire and hold land for
open space use ”
But an updating of Act 442 is
needed in light of recent efforts to
provide incentive payments to
farmers under a Voluntary Deed
Restriction Program
Such action, although instigated in
Lancaster County, would have state
wide impact, as required by law
A meeting on the subject is
scheduled by the Lancaster County
Agricultural Preserve Board for
September 5 at 10 a m in the County
Commissioner's room on the fifth
floor of the new County Courthouse
A high-powered group will be on
hand to discuss to
Act 442 which would lay a firm legal
foundation for such a move Ex
pected to be in attendance are
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TESTING GOD
Lesson for August 31, 1980
Background Scripture
Malachi
Devotional Reading
Psalms 51; 1-12
The one thing none of
TO BECOME INVOLVED
More restrictions for
agriculture seem to be
developing by the dozen I
fear that too many of these
are the result of city folks
moving to the country m the
past decade or more These
folks want the opportunity of
living in the country but do
not realize the important of
food production I’d strongly
urge that all farmers take a
firm stand in these instances
RURAL ROUTE
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We need to update Act 442
wants to do these days is to
put God to the test. Even if
he invites us to do so, we are
not likely to accept the offer.
For one thing, we have
been led to believe that one
should not test God Didn’t
Jesus say to Satan, “You
shall not tempt the Lord your
God 9 ” Doesn’t it indicate a
lack of faith to call upon God
to prove himself 9 A test
seems so arrogant, so
irreverent
a
Yet we cannot escape the
fact that there are passages
in the Bible where God
clearly invites people to do
just that. This is what he is
saying, for example, m
and “fight for your rights”
Some of the recently
publicized regulations in
certain townships are
definitely against future
agriculture and food
production
I find it hard to believe
that good-thinking public
officials will continue to
support such restrictions I’d
urge all farmers to take an
active part in making these
restrictions, and at the
moment, be very forceful in
changing any regulations
that will hamper efficient
agriculture in the future.
TO FERTILIZE ALFALFA
The fall of the year, the
after the removal of the last
Agriculture Secretary Penrose
Hallowell, representatives of Penn
sylvania Farmers’ Association, state
Grange, Association of Township
Supervisors, the League of Women
Voters, and the state In
tergovernmental Council
It shouldn't seem unreasonable to
expect a good turnout of farmers,
too, for the Friday morning meeting
The proposed amendments would
cover several areas
First, the designation of ag
districts would become a primary
responsibility of the ag preserve
board, with the right to do so falling
to a county planning commission only
if no such board exists in that county
A second change would allow a
county the option to buy or not to buy
a parcel of land At present Act 442
says counties “shall be required to
acquire," a provision which could
cost a lot of money if not changed
Under current law a hearing would
have tn be held on every parcel
Malachi. “ ..thereby put me
to the test, says the Lord of
hosts” (3.10).
Robbing God
We need to get the picture:
through Malachi God has
accused his people of rob
bing him “But you say,
‘How are we robbing thee 7 ’”
and the answer: “In your
tithes and offerings,”
(3:3:8). The people have
been holding back in their
obligations to the temple
The reason is not just a
miserly attitude, but a fear
that, if they give too much,
they will not have enough for
their own needs
God knows this and he puts
cutting, is a good tune to top
dress existing alfalfa stands
The application of a
phosphorus-potash fertilizer
m the fall will strengthen the
alfalfa roots and result in
higher yields next summer
Nitrogen should not be
needed on establishment
alfalfa stands Some
growers will top-dress with
fertilizer in the fall and
again after the removal of
the first cutting in the
spring
This should result in
maximum yields with a
healthy stand When alfalfa
plants are well fed and
treated for msect injury,
they should be able to stand
(C, 98C.
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By Tom Armstrong
,
brought into an ag district Another
change would allow whole blocks of
land to be accepted at a single
hearing One immediate benefactor
from this change could be the
proposed Eplv-ata ag preserve with
5000 acres of land on many farms
Another change would sort out
multi-county jurisdiction in big ag
districts
But the meat of the proposal
comes in additions to Section 5 of Act
442 Under the proposed changes, a
county specifically is allowed to
acquire land and designate it for
agricultural use
A county ag preserve board would
be given broad powers to advise the
county which land should be
designated for farming, and would be
empowered to hire staff or con
sultants as necessary to implement
procedures adopted by the county
commissioners
The changes include a section
which guarantees ‘right to farm’
the challenge to them
clearly: “Bring the full
tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be food m my
house; and thereby put me
to the test, .if I will not open
the windows of heaven for
you and pour down tor you
an overflowing blessing”
(3:10).
Their problems, therefore,
is not one of greed, but of a
lack of faith and trust in God
If they trusted God to supply
their needs, they would not
hesitate to pay their tithes
for they would know that
God would not fail to provide
for them
Is that not still a factor m
management and weather
adversities Alfalfa plants
are heavy feeders or both
phosphorus and potash
Unless these elements are
replaced each year, the
plants will suffer and the
yield will be disappointing
TO BEWARE OFSILO GAS
This is not a new
suggestion but continues to
be very timely and very
important. Silage making
timely and very important
Silage making time is at
hand when many tons of corn
will go mto our silos This is
one of the best methods of
harvesting the com crop in
order to get the maximum
feed nutrients With our huge
I NOTICED
by curt harler, editor
financing God’s work’ We
are limited in our generosity
by our fear of not havmg
enough for ourselves and
that fear is the direct result
of failing to trust God and
accept his own promises that
he will provide for us Many
churchs today, in a tune call
for an expanded mission and
witness, rather than a
reduced one, are finding, not
only that they cannot expand
their urograms, but must
continue to cut back and
pare down their present
program. We ascribe this
situation to the predicted
“hard tunes” that are just
around the comer, but it is
tower silos the danger of
poisonous gases becomes
more important. All farmers
are urged to discuss this
hazard with their employees
and all members of the
family.ese gases can
develop from one day to 14
days after the silo is filled
Most of these gases have a
chlorine-laundry bleach odor
and irritate the eyes and
respiratory system Some
are yellow and some are
colorless Don’t take any
chances-warn all members
of the family of this danger
Never enter a partly filled
silo without running the
blower. These gases are
heavier than air and will
come down the silo chute and
into the bam. Don’t be
careless around recently
filled silos.
TO ADD INSULATION
The higher cost of fuel wil]
continue to be a problem for
many of us. I’m aware of
some folks changing from
one type to fuel to another
because of the lower current
costs, this might give some
relief for a tune but costs of
other fuels will no doubt go
up with greater demand
T his idea of liberal in
privileges for farmers within such an
ag district
In a section which will corral
groups like the state Highway
Department and Public Utilities
Commission, an amendment
requires “it shall be the policy of all
Commonwealth agencies to en
courage the maintenance of viable
farming in agricultural districts "
The revisions would also require
such bureaucracies to modifyw
procedures and regulations to en
sure continued farming in an ag
district
Such changes may be bad news for
land speculators, eminent domain
fans, and farmers planning to sell out
to developers
But the farmer who wants to till his
ground knowing his grandchildren
will have the same opportunity
should welcome the ideas proposed
for revising Act 442 The state
legislature should waste no time in
passing the needed amendments
not the tunes that are
deficient, but our faith.
Testing God
So, no matter how hard it
is for us to digest it, there are
tunes when God
us to test him not to
his love, but our faith! We go
through the motions of
asking, but he knows we
don’t really believe that he
will answer and provide for
us. Thus, his invitation to
test is a challenge to start
acting as if we believed and
trusted m him. Unless we put
ouryown faith to the test, the
windows of heaven will
remain closed.
sulation will reduce the need
of all types of fuel.
Now that we are here m
the peuod between hot
weather and cold weather,
might be a good tune ™
evaluate your insulation
needs In most cases extra
insulation will be cheaper
than continued high fuel
consumption. Many of our
buildings were constructed
before the energy crunch;
therefore, additional in
sulation is definitely needed.
Before cold weather arrives
it might be a good economy
move to check your in
sulation conditions in order
to reduce all types of fuel
consumption.
Farm
Calendar
Today, August 30
Second Pa Deer Assn
Meeting, 9 a.m., Keller
Conference Center, Penn
State
Juniata County Fair, con-
tinues through September
6, Port Royal ™
Southeast District Dairy
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