AlD—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 21,1981
Lancaster Farming says...
Every now and then it’s a good idea
to re-think some of the old “tried and
true” ideas to be sure they still are
valid and haven’t become mindless
prejudices
For years we cursed the spring
stone-picking days and wondered
why the stones kept coming up
through the ground to cause us
aching backs Only later did it occur
that the stones weren’t coming up
but the soil level was dropping as
topsoil washed off the fields
Ever since the beginning of
plowing contests, the prize has gone
to the plowman who has plowed the
longest, straightest furrow Another
major consideration was turning
under all surface trash
Both practices now are recognized
as less than optimum for best
conservation farming
Then there's USDA the farmers’
ARE THESE
“THE LAST DAYS”?
March 22,1981
Background Scripture:
Matthew 23 through 24:35
Devotional Reading:
Joshua 23:14-16
Years ago there was a
humorous review on
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Max Smith,
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
Phone 717-394-6801
;Vv ?' -- V *'''■■■■ ■■' '■■
TO STEP ASIDE
Since I’ve been writing this
weekly column for nearly 25 years,
it seems a bit strange to be
working on the final edition.
However, due to the 44 years that I
have been with the Penn State
Extension Service in Lancaster
County, I feel that it is time to
make a change. We hope that you
have become a regular reader of
this column, and that it has been of
value to you. Due to the wide
circulation area, which I’m told
reaches into a number of states, it
is difficult to include current in
formation for everyone. The mam
objective has been to present
timely suggestions for farmers and
gardeners in this part of Penn
sylvania. To carry out this column,
one of my co-workers, Jay Irwin,
will continue to bring you helpful
suggestions. For the rest of today’s
column, I’d like to leave you with a
few parting thoughts
TO KEEP INFORMED
Today’s agriculture is a
challenge to all of us to keep
current with changing practices
and regulations. We urge all
Do we really need USD A?
voice in Washington
Consider there’s little that is done
by USDA today that couldn’t be done
just as well by one of the other
Cabinet positions
The lion’s share of USDA’s budget
goes to food stamp programs which
probably should be administered
through Health, Education and
Welfare
Rural assistance programs also
would be more at home with HEW’s
social orientation than with
Agriculture
Many of the financial and loan
programs could easily be ad
ministered through the Commerce
Department which is responsible for
the other small businesses in this
nation Export programs, similarly,
would not have to be duplicated by
USDA but rather could find a home in
an Agriculture Division under
Commorr-o
Broadway called. Beyond
The Fringe ” One of the
sketches in this show was
built around an anonymous
religious group that had
predicted that the End of
the World” was going to
occur on a specific date On
that day the group assem
bled on a mountain to await
the great cataclysm As in
chorus they counted down to
the precise minute when
their prophecy was to be
fulfilled, nothing happened.
For a few breathless
minutes, actors and
audience waited together in
silence for something to
happen When at last it was
apparent that nothing was
farmers to accept every op
portunity of becoming better in
formed in their special field of
endeavor. Many recommendations
change from year to year, even
month to month and in many cases
it takes special effort to keep up to
date Most land-grant universities
offer short courses, correspon
dence courses, and seminars for
the benefit of farmers. All County
Agents conduct meetings and
demonstrations that are very
practical; they use Extension
Specialists to provide the latest
information. The important thing
is that you farmers accept these
educational efforts as a source of
dependable information.
TO PARTICIPATE
Over the years too many far
mers have been reluctant to accept
local government responsibilities,
they felt they were too busy to go to
the meetings in their community. I
feel that it is very important that
local farmers take part in township
and county planning committees,
zoning boards, etc When this is
done we get good agricultural
input into the meeting and into
going to happen, the leader
of the cult announced to his
group, "Oh well, everybody
back tomorrow at the same
time!”
Not One Stone Upon Another
The humor in the sketch,
of course, lay in the tact that
the group was quite un
deterred by the failure of
their prophecy They had
their hearts set on the ‘ End
of the Worjd” and nothing
was going' to take that
glorious expectation away
from them There was also a
sense in which we in the
audience were laughing at
ourselves, for we too are
often infected with the same
kind of arrogant confidence
HAV haws
resulting regulations. When far- ■ ” 'A • "riTT
mere choose not to participate,
then other folks make the decisions
for agriculture. In recent years
many city and suburban families
have moved into the country and
these folks usually have a different
viewpoint regarding various
regulations. Some of > their
decisions may not represent
practical and profitable
agriculture. Don’t have an in
feriority complex - you can do it as
well, or better, than the others.
I’ve often heard folks say, “I’m
just a farmer”...and it came out in
an apologetic way. I surely hope
that not many present farmers feel
this way, because, in my opinion, it
is a negative attitude and one that
should not prevail. Farming is a
very good profession and one of the
most useful in the world. The
production of food is vital, not only
for our own people, but for needy
families m other countries. Far
ming is a business today, and one
requiring considerable expertise
and management. I’d like to en
courage all farmers to feel proud
they are farmers and to know that
the contribution of food and fiber is
one of the most important
professions in the world today Our
nation cannot get along without
these products Stand up for your
rights and be proud that you are a
farmer God bless all of you.
Herbicide, insecticide, and other
programs already are under the
Environmental Protection Agency
ERA is responsible for clean streams
and pollution control Why not have
the Soil Conservation Service and
similar groups administered by ERA,
too 7
As it is today, only about 15 per
cent of USDA’s budget goes for
farmer programs And a sizable
chunk of that could be administered
efficiently by other agencies
Budget cutters would be delighted
with decreasing the funds needed to
support phalanxes of high paid
secretaries and administrators
Rather than having an adversary
relationship, say between farmers
and ERA, members of ERA would be
arguing pro-farmer positions from
within the organization Such a move
effectively could co-opt bureaucrats
that assumes we have some
kind of ‘inside knowledge"
of God’s plan. History has
been full of Doomsday '
groups.
Yet, these repeated
failures of doomsday
prophecy do not seem to
have deterred today’s
prophets of doom and
destruction Books about the
•End of the World’ are very
popular in the religious and
general markets Religious
leaders today are still
confidently almost
gleefully telling us that we
are in "the last days” before
the world is utterly
destroyed. And when we look
at the symptoms all round,
TO BE PROUD
BY CURT HARLER, EDITOR
who can help but wonder at
times whether the sickness
we see is not fatal and the
clamor we hear is the death
rattle" of the world as we
know it ‘
Yet, it we seriously study
the symptoms— wars and
rumors ot war, nation
against nation, famines
and earthquakes,’ when has
there not been a period in the
world’s history when these
things were not so' When
has not the follower ot Christ
known hatred, the church
experienced a falling away
ot the fainthearted, and
"false prophets” who arose
and lead many astray '
Perhaps what we need to
r^i
Now that I’m using gasahol, I’ve got to quit idling
the tractor in the barn and other dosed areas.
heretofore hostile to farm projects
Does a group representing less
than four percent of the U S
population deserve a Cabinet post of
its own 7
Worthy farm programs that can’t
be handled on a state basis, like ag
research, can find homes in a
reorganized Department of the
Interior which would assume other
farm-related USDA roles and
perhaps a new name like Depart
ment of Farm and Natural
Resources
Is the need for USDA a cliche, or do
farmers really need a separate
department, along with its expensive
bureaucracy, in Washington 7
Political realities dictate solid
answers to the questions above must
be developed and proved or farmers
will find themselves without a USDA
in the relatively near future
concentrate upon in thebe
somewhat contusing words
ot Jesus are not the signs ot
the end, ’ but the counsel as
to what we are to do in the
meantime see that you are
not alarmed’ 1 24 b; and
remember that he who
endures to the end will be
saved (24 13; For Jesus,
despite all ot his prophecies
concerning the last days ,
did not commission his
followers to preach a
message ot impending
disaster, but the gospel ot
the kingdom, throughout
the whole world.
Let God watch his
calendar and determine the
timeot ‘the last days
&