Alt)—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 4,1981 Lancaster There's an undertone of glee, or at least of smug satisfaction, running through much of the farm community now that dairymen have lost their April price boost The atmosphere is similar to that of a bunch of children watching a spoiled rich kid fall off his shiny new bike into a mud puddle . the pompous have been brought back to earth Killing the semi-annual production cost increase was seen by politicians as urgent and important m the fight to control inflation President Reagan, in one of his first official actions upon recovering from surgery after the heinous at tempt on his life Monday, signed into law the bill eliminating the April price boost The 7 15am Tuesday timing of the action should show how CATHEDRALS AND BREAD April 5,1981 Background Scripture: Matthew 26 Devotional Isaiah 51 4-6 My college philosophy profesor, Dr Glenn Morrow, once told us of a Sunday I NOW IS S THE TIME By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agricultural Agent Phone 717-394-6851 ■ -t' To Look At Oil and Gas Leases We are getting calls from far mers that are being approached about oil and gas leases for their farms There are several things you need to be concerned with it you become involved The life of the lease should be spelled out so that at any time the lessee (company) tailed to pay, the lease would automatically be cancelled. You need to consider the water rights so that water could not be used without written ap proval Also, any waste water needs to be handled so as not to be a pollutant problem You own the land, so you need to spell out the responsibilities in case any action is brought against either party There could be damages; clarify these respon sibilities Most leases specify there shall be no drilling within certain distances from building and property lines. You may want to include a scenic area such as a pond or picnic site Remember that you are the landowner and no one can force There ’s strongly the Administration reels about the milk program Within dairy organizations, there seems to be some confusion over whether cutting semi-annual ad justments is a good thing Both Inter- State and Maryland Cooperative Milk Producers are on record favoring the move, noting the current surplus is creating an artificial price floor, building a surplus, and placing a burden on taxpayers On the other hand, as major and mfluencial a group as the giant Associated Milk Producers urged its members to push for ‘‘a sound price support program, including semi annual recognition of increases in production costs " Lancaster Farming agrees with the cut Dairymen have gotten too close to the edge and need to pull back, to get supply and price back in balance school class that was shown a picture ot a Homan am phitheatre in which Christians weie being devoured by lions. "What does this picture say to us as Christians' ’ the teacher* asked one little boy The little tellow pointed to the picture and exclaimed, Why here s a poor lion who doesn’t have a Christian' * The little boy s answei proves that even compassion can be misplaced In tact, there s hardly any virtue in lite that can’t be misplaced or misused Otten it s a matter ot getting the right idea at the wrong time That s what happened during the last week ot ,s'-' "or ■- > '-'x ;r you to sign a lease or condemn your property toi a gas or oil well And finally, be sure to counsel with your lawyer before you sign anything To Practice Safely We are rapidly approaching the very busy spring season when field activities are heavy Safety statistics indicate that accidents increase when people are rushing to complete a job With spring oats time here and preparing tor corn planting not tai behind, we need to take time to be sate Farming is not the safest oc cupation Kecoi ds nidi cate that the average farm workei can expect that once every tom- yeai s he 11 be injured so seveiely that medical attention is needed Farmeis have a work accident late that s two and a halt tunes giealei than the average toi all mdustues fhe problem is that unlike mdustiy, tanners work with miiiuiidl amount ol supei vision and they may not be propei ly named toi the job It is unpoi taut to lake a hi eaK in mtd-inorning and und-attei noon to relax, even it it is only tittcui Farming says... no joy in others 9 woe Jesus eailtily ministiy when, while lestmg in Bethany, he was annoinled by an anonymous woman as he sat at table with his disciples His disciples made the right response, but at the wrong time "Why This Waste?' How often Jesus had tried to unpress upon his disciples then need loi compassion tor the poor and helpless Not only in what he said, but also in what he did he em phasized this priority ot God s kingdom And how often it must have seemed to Jesus that his disciples wei e still not getting the message But that day when the woman pouied the costly minutes it could be the must unpoilanl pai l ot youi da> Always think and act with a positive and sale altitude '1 “As soon as I’m finished with this 1040, it looks as if we’re going to have to put the south 40 on the auction block.” Taxpayers, including dairymen and other farmers, will save about $2 billion dollars by September 30 of this year in CCC outlays as a result of the measure signed Tuesday Dairymen are working with a seven percent increase in milk prices, although cost rises of 10 percent will more than eat up the gams If not the best possible financial scene, dairy is in far better shape than the livestock industry in general Still, there is no cause to rejoice because the single most prosperous group in farming today is going to have to tighten its management and margins There is no benefit in having one segment of society benefit at the cost of another It is unfortunate that dairymen are going to be pinched, but we have seen no reliable prediction that there are going to be ointment on Jesus s head the disciples suddenly became concerned about the pour Why this waste' For this oinunent might have been sold toi a laige sum, and given to the pool The logic ot then in dignation was inescapable, wasn t it' Who could aigue with then leasoning' Certainly they weie voicing no muie than what must have been in the Maslei s own mind Vet, when he leahzed what they weie saying to the woman, his rebuke must have caught them by surpuse Why do you ti ouble the woman' toi she has done a beautiful thing to me Koi you always HAV HAWS r7v3?i %... . " v-. . \ BY CURT HAULER, EDITOR have the pool with you, but you will not always have me One cannot help but wondei it it icaliy was compassion toi the poor 01 jealousy that motivated the disciples that day Uoesn t then Why this waste' have just the slight tlavoi ot soui giapes' Was it the waste ot the cosily oil that bolheied them oi that this woman - this oulsidei - was the one who was doing it 9 They could not afford to make such a gesture themselves and pci haps they didn l want anyone else to do it eilhei Always I’he Poor It seems that the disciples f«» Lise Pesticides tdnneli> Wlii 0t; Ui >“'a dit ate|y teiuiil l>pes ol pesticides We need Ihe amval ot spring also means tu tne mipoilance lo lead Ihal we aie in the season when N \J I the wholesale problems m the milkhouse that have beset poultry farmers Hogs are struggling up from year ago prices of $29 Cattle markets are improving The gram operator is doing well, although without an embargo profits could be higher Rather than taking delight in the belt-tightening in the dairy industry, all of agriculture should band together to improve its common lot Sure, dairymen have been riding higher than the rest of the ag community even while singing the price blues on a false note New realities may sting But the next time, all farmers should work together to get pigs and poultry, cattle and corn prices up to dairy's profitable levels, not smirk while the situation turns the other way around had made a Kind ut law out ot Jesus pionuun cements on Hie u ealment ot the pool Bui olheis have dune the same thing witn Jesus leply - you always Have the pool wild you They have used U lo in leipiel Jesus as talalistic about poveily And so they have leasoned it poveily is always going lo be with us, lei s nol gel 100 concei ned wilh il, tot Jesus hiniselt accepted u The example which Jesus sel toi us is made maiutesl in a tailh which can both build calhedials and nnnislei lo those in need ll duesii I have lo be one 01 the othei ( iurn lo PageAl2) ’?SF -Juv , * I n?j T i)r~ N