Alo—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 25,1981
Lancaster Farming says...
There are a fistful of measures
floating around Washington, D.C
these days, all proposing to become
the Agriculture and Food Act of
1981
The Reagan Administration has its
version and several senators and
representatives are working on their
own bills, or at least amendments to
the Administration’s program.
The legislative drafting session on
the farm bill is scheduled to begin in
the Senate on Monday, April 27.
Sources on the Hill say they want to
have a farm bill to report out of the
Ag Committee by the middle of May.
Farmers, and their lobbying
organizations, being basically con
servative, can be expected to go
along with the broad brush of the
Administration’s ideas It’s in the
specifics that the sparks are flying
There are three strong areas of
resistance the southern agricultural
WHEN THEY SAW HIM
April 26,1981
Background Scripture:
Matthew 17:1-9; 28:11-20.
Devotional Reading:
1 Peter 1:13-25.
The Easter story does not
end with “And they all lived
I NOW IS
I THE TIME
*1
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
To be careful
with fertilizer
placement
Most of the crops we plant will
require additional plant food in the
form of nitrogen, phosphorus and
potash to obtain maximum yields.
However, we must realize the
potential danger of burning seeds
or roots when they come in direct
contact with either the nitrogen or
potash fertilizer. Either of these
elements will stunt or prevent
germination
Fertilizer should be placed to the
side or deeper than the plant roots
or seed. Most mechanical planters
are now designed to keep the seeds
and fertilizer at least two inches
apart. In the case of plants, the
fertilizer should be either worked
into the topsoil in advance of
planting or side-dressed along the
row after the plants have been
transplanted. Proper fertilizer
placement will return greater
benefits from the plant food.
No exceptions to the rules
lobby will raise the roof about peanut
supports; gram farmers will be
displeased with the loan programs;
and dairy producers are gathering
forces to increase the minimum of 70
percent of parity set for dairy prices
The only reason Reagan’s
economists won’t hear from cattle or
hog producers is because there is no
set cattle or hog program.
Farm policy is similar to so much in
the total Reagan economic
package the economic pains in th'
farm program will be accepted by
farmers as long as they hurt
somebody else
Like welfare recipients, like labor
unions, like big business, each farm
lobby has reasons why its pet
programs should stay while all others
get the axe
The National Peanut Growers say
their support price is 30 percent
..under cost of production They moan
happily forever.” It is not
just a “happy ending” story
but an open-ended story. The
last words that the
resurrection Christ speaks to
his disciples, according to
Matthew, begin with a
“therefore.” The
resurrection is not an event
that is now over, but
something that is to con
tinue. “Go therefore,” says
the Risen Christ, “and make
disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded
you.”
But Some Doubted
Matthew’s account of the
Resurrection of Christ helps
To manage
poultry house
equipment
General management of poultry
house equipment is important in
maintaining a comfortable en
vironment for chickens and
turkeys. Defective equipment
should be repaired or replaced
promptly, especially if it is in
volved with the delivery of feed or
water to the birds.
Rusty cages will allow some
birds to escape and may trap or
injure other birds. All sharp edges
in the poultry house must be
removed to avoid injuries. Rusty
and decaying feed bins allow
moisture to get to the feed,
resulting in mold growth and sick
birds.
Respect soils
and weather
Nice spring-like conditions
beckon us to the out-of-doors and
mto our gardens and fields, to till
the sod and to seed our crops and
us to realize that the ex
perience of the resurrected
Lord was not an irresistable
one. Heeding the in
structions of the two Marys
fresh from the tomb, the
disciples went to Galilee as
the angel instructed them
and there, on a mountain
familiar to them (probably
the Mount of Tran
sfiguration), they en
countered the Risen Lord.
“And when they saw him,”
Matthew tells us, “they
worshipped him; but some
doubted.”
Although they all had
pretty much the same ex
perience, some believed it
was the Risen Lord and
some did not. Whatever they
vegetables. Many of us enjoy
getting our crops and vegetables in
early to enjoy that early harvest
and to get the plants well
established prior to the onset of dry
weather. However, Glenn Shirk,
reminds us that seeds need warm,
moist, fertile soils for rapid ger
mination. Our aim ought to be for
seeds to germinate rapidly, before
they are damaged by insects and
disease organisms in the soil, and
for the young seedling to emerge
before a hard crust forms on the
soil surface. Study long range
forecasts carefully, and plant at
the beginning of a prolonged warm
spell. Stay off soils when they are
wet. To increase the tilth and
absorbancy of the soil, incorporate
organic materials such as
manures, compost, cover crops,
etc. Starter fertilizers, high in
phosphorus, used sparingly and
placed in close proximity to the
seed, but not in contact with it, will
aid germination and emergence,
especially if soils are cool and of
low fertility. If soils are dry at
planting time, it will also help to
press the soil into close contact
with the seed. Don’t seed too deep,
a good rule of thumb is seed to a
depth that is about four tunes the
diameter of the seed.
To think of
neighbors when
spreading manure
Livestock fanners who work
with animals everyday may not be
(Turn to Page Al 2)
that the government has given them
only an 8.3 percent support increase
on peanuts since 1977 to cope with
an increase in production costs of
over 40 percent m the same period
Corn loan rates may go to $2.40 a
bushel for the 1981 crop. But, cash
gram operators note, the higher loan
rate will have little impact on corn m
reserve as the call level already has
been reached.
For 1981 target prices, USDA still
isn’t sure whether to stick with the
1980 rate or go along with increases
proposed under the previous Ad
ministration. Reagan opposes the
target price concept, partly because
the government may end up paying
lots of cash in deficiency payments
Dairy producers, hardly satisfied
with USDA's denying the CNI milk
petition without even giving the
consumer group a hearing, are off on
another crusade
saw or heard or felt, it did
not evoke the same response
in them. God may do his best
to persuade us, but he does
not compel us to believe. He
gives us evidence for
commitment, but not proof,
for proof is something that
comes only from within us.
The final “proof” is nothing
more than faith.
I’m glad that Matthew
tells us that “some doub
ted”, for that helps me in
dealing with the resurrec
tion. Whatever it is, I know
that it will require more
from me than sheer ac
ceptance of accumulated
facts. I will go as far as I can
with my logical, questioning
mind, but then 1 mil come to
a place in the road where I
HAV HAWS
"TTI
□C
X,
Don't look now, Mike, but I think we may have a
problem. Some of the seed corn bags got mixed up
and I think you just planted about 10 acres of feed
pellets.
BY CURT HARLER, EDITOR
cannot step across and won’t
turn back. It is then I must
make a leap of faith.
Go, Therefore...
The resurrection gave
birth to a commission to
“make disciples of all
nations.” But lots of
Christians never get beyond
the Easter celebration. They
go home on Easter Sunday
with a comfortable feeling in
their hearts; “Christ is
risen 1 God overcomes the
sms of the world! What they
miss is the challenge to “Go
therefore and make
disciples...”
Why is it that Christians
today are so low key about
the Good News of the Risen
Christ I used to think that it
was probably indifference.
tochtroa
They want to see the minimum
support level on dairy prices in
creased from the Administration
proposed 70 percent to 75 percent
Dairy producers may have to settle
for a version of the recently defeated
measure to limit casein imports.
Each case from peanut sup
ports to post office grants, from
patrons of the arts to parity for dairy
producers is worthyof support
But each represents a special
interest. Near and dear to the hearts
of its small constituency, each adds a
few more flames of funding to the
fires which fuel inflation
One of the keystones of our nation
is that we sink or swim together, as a
union.
In the current program to whip
inflation, there is no room for a
privileged few to thrive while other
farmers tighten belts To be fair, it
should be all or none
preoccupation, cowardice,
or laziness. But I have come
to wonder whether the
reason is that we ourselves
have not experienced him
Our Easter experience is not
a direct experience, but
something handed down
from someone else. We are
not proclaiming him,
because we don’t really
know him.
And if we don’t know him,
it’s not because he does not
come to us, but that we have
not climbed some inner
mountain to find him. For if
we seek him, we will know
the Easter experience. And
when we have known the
Easter experience, we will
fulfill our Easter Com
mission.