Alo—Lancaster Faming, Saturday, October 25,1910
Lancaster Far ming says...
The solution to feeding 220 million
Americans and almost as many
people overseas rt - ts on three
percent of the U.S. pop jlation.
Three percent: that s 6.6 million
farmers feeding the rest of us.
It was only a few years ago the
figure was six percent. And it was
well into double digits before the
second world war.
Secretaries of agriculture, co-op
leaders, and farm writers seem to
take some sort of perverse pride in
informing farmers that they are in
danger of becoming extinct.
It is looked upon as a point of pride
that farmers are being forced from
the land at an ever increasing rate. It
is supposed to be an honor that a
small group can work its tail off to
feed the rest of the country; and it’s
an advancement in society that fewer
acres of farmland await the plow
each spring.
A “MERE
PRESIDENT”
October 26,1980
Background Scripture:
Nehemiah 8 through 9.
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 21:33-43.
It will not be long after you
TO DO
FORAGE TESTING
The winter feeding period
is usually the most ex
pensive time of the year for
dairy and cattle feeders.
With feed grain prices on the
increase, every producer
should make an effort to get
maximum nutrients from
the roughages and not from
the grains. This means the
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chris, euervowe told m that h-h would
TEACH TIE (WNV SECRETS OF SUCCESSOR
BECOMING AN ADULT. U/Hftll THE FIRST?
The three percent solution
Often batted about is the figure
that Americans pay only 16 percent
of their salaries for food. It’s an old
and out-of-date figure, but a good
example of another one of those
statistics that was supposed to make
the three percent feel good about
working hard.
Today the cost of feeding a family is
higher. Even at that time, the figures
included only the relatively well-to
do. The poor then and now pay
upwards of 50 percent of their in
come for food.
Still, Americans as a whole eat
better and cheaper than people
anywhere else.
If you’re an ‘average’ farmer 52
years of age, the hungry world
population has doubled m your
lifetime.
It means more people to feed
especially mor<> nonnip for
read this column that this
nation will go to the polls to
elect a President and a
congress, as well as state
and local officials. In all
likelihood, emotions will be
running high and the in
tensity and desperation with
which the candidates will be
conducting their campaigns
is likely to deceive some
people into assuming that it
is the Messiah, not a mere
president that we will be
electing.
A “MERE PRESIDENT”
I am not demeaning the
office of our President one
bit in speaking of a “mere
President”. What I am doing
is trying to set this election
in perspective, for whether
operator should know agencies being stressed to
exactly how good, or how handle the quantity this fall,
poor, their forages are in the it might to a good time to cull
way of feed nutrients. Many out a few of the older, or the
producers can save money lower producers. Beef prices
by having their forages are rather favorable for
tested through the Penn dairy beef at this time. In
State Testing Services. With many cases a few less of the
high quality forages, less lower producers, and more
grains and proteins need to attention and feed to the
be purchased. We suggest higher producers in a herd,
that more producers get yvill result in the same total
their silage and hay tested income. Also, milk surpluses
and request a feeding can easily lead to lower
recommendation. prices per pound for all
TO CULL producers. As we face the
DAIRY COWS winter months, I’d suggest
With milk supplies that dairymen give this
mounting and the market culling idea some con-
(T rr>
we elect President Carter,
Governor Reagan or
Congressman Anderson,
what we will be setting in>
motion is another political
administration, not the
Kingdom of God!
It is an important election,
but the, fulfillment of our
hopes is not nding on it. It
will not solve our basic
problems. In all due respect
to these three men, not one of
them can turn this country
around. If there is to be a
national salvation, it will
have to come, not through
the political process, but
through the consciences of
millions of Americans. Only
then can the political process
take us anywhere.
sideration. To get “bigger”
does not always mean
getting “better”.
Tmr NONE OF THE SECRETS of
SUCCESS MORIS' UNLESS ftO 00 !
whom food is a major part of the
weekly budget.
The world’s supply of good farm
land is going fast. A quick review of
man’s history shows he does little
more than search for food and places
to produce it.
Mankind has identified and now
uses most of the productive land in
the world. Look at the United States:
land brought into row crop
production in the past decade lacks
the quality of traditional farm land,
has not yielded as well, is more prone
to soil erosion. Most will be returned
to grasslands.
So it is on a worldwide scale. What
saved American agriculture is the
vast amount of research in breeding,
mechanization, transportation,
preservation of produce, and labor
saving devices that have made it
possible for the nation to exist with
We have let the election
process become twisted and
distorted so that all of our
energy and interest are
invested m electing “the
right persons." When the
election is over - even before
the inauguration - we
assume we have done our bit
and quickly return to our
own interests (something we
never got very far from even
during the election). Saving
the country has now become
the job of the “Right Man”
whom we have elected. But
it doesn’t take very long until
“Mr. Right” becomes “Mr.
Wrong” and we respond by
beginning to look ahead to
1984 and the next circus.
TO UTILIZE
FARM RECORDS
The 1980 cropping season
is about over; soon it will be
time to summarize your
farm accounts and be
reporting to the Internal
Revenue Service. In addition
to the need of good farm
records for tax reporting
purposes, I’d like to suggest
these farm records be used
for future farm planning,
and in making major farm
decision. When time per
mits, as the outside work
gets completed this fall, it is
good management to spend
some time in your office and
do some “pencil pushing”
regarding the most
profitable parts to your
BY CURT HARLER, EDITOR
TELL US, NEHEMIAH!
This is what happened in
Israel. They had put their
hopes in kings, alliances,
armies, displomacy and
priests. They ignored the
warnings of the prophets to
“Repent!” If they had the
right king they didn’t need to
repent. But they never had
“the right king.”
So the people had a
terrible price: war, defeat,
captivity, the destruction of
all they had held precious.
Later, when a remnant
returned to the Holy City,
they were dishearted with
what they found. Sensing a
need to return to something
their fathers had forsaken,
farming business. Your
records of success or failure
of the various enterprises
are the best guide to future
expansion, or termination.
TO PROVIDE
SALT AND MINERALS
All types of livestock need
certain amounts of salt and
minerals for efficient
utilization and digestion of
feed nutrients. The amounts
of each will vary between the
animals. Therefore, it might
be the best practice to put a
minimum amount in the
grain ration, but also, have
Farm Calendar
Today, October 25
■ New Farmer’s Short Course,
University of Penn
sylvania’s New Bolton
Center, Kennett Square.
Sunday, October 26
American Dairy Goat
Association Annual
Convention; Sheraton
Inn; Frederick, Md.;
Continues through
November 2.
Monday, October, 27
PA State Grange annual
meeting; Holliday Inn;
Lewistown; Continues
through October 31.
Conrad Weiser Adult Young
only three percent of its labor force
working in the fields.
An array of packaging, processing,
and retailing people must be added
to the base of three percent who feed
the nation. All are supporting the
three percent core which does the
bulk of the work but gets only a
fraction of the pay.
There will come the time when
three percent solution to feeding the
country is not enough.
Three percent is a weak solution
indeed.
Three percent is a thin margin
against hunger and economic
disaster, investment today is needed
to protect the lot of that three
percent who feed us.
There can be little pride that a
nation places such a burden on so
few people and gives so little in
return. _
they asked Nehemiah to
read to them the forgotten
commandments of God. He
did and for the first tune in
generations, the people of
Israel heard what God was
saying and realized how far
they had strayed, how
grievously they had sinned.
Yet, through all thdij|)
hardship they saw that Goa
alone had remained iaithful
to them and kept his
covenant. And if they were to
rise up once again as God’s
people, this would be the
firs': requirement: to return
to the Lord and renew the
forgotten covenant.
Unless that comes first,
nothing else really matters.
free-choice salt and
minerals available. These
free-choice feeders should be
protected from the weather
and give every animal a
chance to consume whateft
they want. In the way of salt*'
it Is suggested producers use
loose salt rather than block
salt; with some animals and
block salt, the tongue will get
sore before the animal gets
sufficient salt. Animals with
ample salt and minerals will
usually drink larger
amounts of water and
therefore, be more efficient
milk or meat producers.
Farmers’ animal health
meeting; 7:30 p.m.; high
school ag. department.
Maryland Cooperative Milk
Producers District 8
meeting; Kauffman
Community Center;
Kauffman Station; 7 p.m.
Tuesday, October 28
First Chester County 4-H
Market Lamb Show; 3
p.m.; Farm of Bill and
Joan MacCauley,
Sale, 7 p.m. at Vintag*
Sales Stable
Bradford County Barn
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