Alo—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 2,1981
At a press conference held
in Harrisburg on the eve of the
announcement the Russian
grain embargo had at long last
come to an end, Secretary of
Agriculture John R. Block
commented, "It’s all behind us
now.” But, is it really?
Lifting the embargo created
a motley of emotions almost
as mixed as the closing prices
on the markets that day.
Although most farmers will
agree they are relieved to
have Uncle Sam’s thumb out
of the pie, there is still concern
about what will happen next
A spokesman for a national
farmers’ organization went on
record stating Uncle Sam has
learned a hard iesson gram
embargoes don't work.
The big question now is how
long will that lesson be
remembered? If the Soviets
show other acts of aggression,
be it in Afghanistan or
elsewhere, how long will it
take Uncle Sam to forget
about the 1980 embargo and
once again use agricultural
products as a punitive slap
across the knuckles 7
It has been estimated it will
take the American farmers
two to three years to recover
from the effects of this em
bargo. On the other hand, the
embargo has had little effect
on Soviet grain supplies. What
they lost in U.S. imports, they
made up through increased
trade with Argentina, Canada,
and Australia.
To help ‘cushion’ the em
bargo's impact on the
American farmer, Uncle Sam
called on the Commodity
Credit Corporation to step in
and pick up the canceled gram
and soybean contracts and
adjust the gram reserve
program to ease the pnceTall.
Other markets were found
for wheat and feed gram
exports intended for the
NOW IS THE TIME
To Control Johnsongrass
A weed that is showing its ugly
head the last several years is
Johnsongrass. One of the good
times to help eliminate John
songrass from a field is in the
spring before it is planted to corn.
However, the corn plantmg should
be delayed until after May 20 m
order to do much good. If you work
Eradicane mto the soil with
several discmgs, it will prevent
Johnsongrass from growing. If it is
done early in the spring, the
material will not be effective
because the Johnsongrass is not
far enough along. Fields m winter
gram can be treated after gram
harvest. Wait until the grass grows
Off the
Sotmd? mg
By Sheila Miller, Editor
Packing promises?
IfcMsWi
Soviets, offsetting the surplus
expected from the embargo.
But will those markets con
tinue to buy more grain from
U.S. farmers?
USDA has come out with
figures that reveal wheat and
grain supplies for this year as
being more than adequate for
both domestic needs and
export. Wheat stocks as of
June 1, they say, will exceed
900 million bushels a 5
month supply. An even
greater surprise is the 250
million bushels of feed grain
just recently ‘discovered’ in
stock.
Even as economists are
crying “gram shortage” and
livestock feeders have
nightmares about feeding
high-priced golden gram to
hogs and cattle, Uncle Sam
soothes their fears with a
lullaby of ample supplies. Has
he forgotten how quickly
Mother Nature can turn ample
into short?
One USDA prediction that
promises to "hold true is the
strengthening of short-run
gram prices. This promise will
bring cheers from gram
growers and groans from
livestock and dairy producers.
Just how strong that market
will get will depend on good
old supply and demand
that is, unless the Soviets
decide to invade Poland.
Uncle Sam has promised if
another embargo is invoked
on exports to Russia, it would
be across the commodity
board, not just agriculture.
But, let's be realistic.
Who makes the easiest
whipping boy for another
embargo lesson a unified
industry, like steel or coal, ora
diverse, dissected
agriculture? It’s an easy guess
who will find themselves m the
corner, waiting once again for
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
several feet high and then spray
with materials such as Roundup. If
you don’t stop Johnsongrass now,
it will take over a field in a few
years.
Planting the 1981 com crop is
just about ready to get underway.
There are many important
practices to planting a com crop,
but one that should not be
overlooked is the application of an
insecticide in the row at planting
time to control com rootworm.
Fields that have been in com for a
number of years are more likely to
carry the rootworm infestation.
It is very important to apply the
To Use Pest
Control on Cora
Board
tne teacher’s permission to
move.
April 24 will be a day long
remembered by the American
farmer as the day the Reagan
Administration lifted a heavy
millstone from around their
necks and allowed them to
once again take part in a free
enterprise system.
Hopefully, Uncle Sam will
have learned the painful
lesson that prn are
ineffective in curtailing
aggression in other nations
and won't subject the
American farmer to another
economic ploy in foreign
policy.
But, just in case, American
farmers need to join forces for
some real crop insurance by
supporting legislators like U.S
Senator Roger Jepsen (R
-lowa) who has promised to
propose an amendment in the
1981 Farm Bill that will make
embargoes more difficult for
future administrations to
impose
Reacting to the end of the
gram embargo, Jepsen stated,
"President Reagan has sent a
message to the world, one
which transcends all
language, social, and
economic differences, that this
administration will keep its
promises to the people and to
the world.
“All the American farmer
wants is a farm policy he can
count on, and I hope we can
have a success this growing
season to make up for the
burdens imposed on our
farmers by government last
season.
“We must make a pledge
that never again will we allow
one segment of our population
to bear the burden of foreign
policy."
That’s one promise we all
canapplaude.
right material at the proper tune.
Check the 1981 Agronomy Guide
for detailed information. K you do
not have a copy, give us a call or
drop us a card and we will send you
a copy. Be sure to follow the label
instructions for application rates.
To Think Ryelage
Many fanners plant rye as a
forage crop for their cattle. Our
dairy agent, Glenn Shirk, reminds
us that rye can provide a lot of
much needed high-quality forage -
if it is handled properly. For top
quality feed value, rye should be
cut around the boot stage of
maturity, and wilted before en
siling. After this stage, feed value
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A PICTURE OF GOD
May 3,1981
Background Scripture:
Hebrews 1:1 through
2.9.
Devotional Reading:
John 10:1-10.
A little girl was working in
dustriously on a drawing. “What
are you drawing?” asked her
mother. “A picture of God,”
replied the little girl without
looking up. “But nobody knows
what God looks like?” her mother
said. Still intent on her drawing,
the little girl snapped: “Well they
will when I’m finished!”
The little girl’s attitude makes us
chuckle, but when we encounter
that same attitude in an adult, it
comes through as ARROGANCE;
with a capital "A”. Lots of people
are sure that their picture of God is'
absolutely authentic. God is
essentially what they say He is.
Furthermore, they believe they
have a unique understanding of the
mind of God. And the bottom line is
this: if they think they have the
authentic understanding Of God,
you must have one that is inferior.
Many & Various Ways
The Letter to the Hebrews begins
with a reminder that “In many and
various ways God spoke of old to
our fathers by the prophets” (1:1).
“Many and various ways”...not
just one way. Because God spoke
Farm Calendar
Saturday, May 2
Penn State Dairy Exposition,
University Park.
Adams County Fruitgrowers’
Apple Blossom Festival, South
Mountain Fairgrounds,
Arendtsville. Continues
tomorrow.
Eastern Limousin Breeders show,
10 a.m., sale at 7 p.m., State
Fairgrounds, Columbus, Ohio.
Delaware Valley College of
Agriculture’s A-Day,
Doylestown. Concludes Mon
day.
Egg day, Lebanon Valley Mall,
noon to 4 p.m., Lebanon.
HAV HAWS
—TFERriLIZER PLANT r»
1 pgr
<55/
When I first started here about a year ago, everyone called me
Shorty. But then - and it’s probably just a coincidence - I started
to grow all of a sudden and added more than four inches since that
time
in many different ways through
many different pictures, we have a
varied picture and understanding
of who and what He is.
There is an old story about a
group of blind people who en
countered an elephant. One felt his
trunk and decided that an elephant
is long and thin. Another grasped
the elephant’s leg and decided the
elephant was thick and round. Still
another grasped the elephant’s ear
and his impression of the elephant
was quite different from the
others. And the elephant well, he
was like what each person thought,
but he was also much more!
That’s the way it is with God, too.
He has revealed himself in many
and various ways, all of which give
us some kind of picture of his
nature. But he is much more than
all of those pictures. He is much
more than all the names by which
people call him: the Adonai of
Judiasm, the Allah of Islam, the
Krishna and the Shiva of Hin
duism, the Sirvana and/or Nirvana
of Bhuddism, and the Father of
Jesus Christ. Even the word
“God” is but an inadequate
representation of the reality it
purports to designate.
Spoken By A Son .
The Christian claim is, not that
other religious traditions are in
error nor that their deity is
something less than ours, but that
in Jesus Christ we get the very best
picture of God that human nature
is able to perceive. As the writer of
Hebrews puts it, ''‘but in these last
days be has spoken to us by a Son”
who “reflects the glory of God and
bears' the very stamp of his
nature” (1:2,3). The human mind
can never embrace that all there is
to know about and experience of
the Divine Reality but as much as
we can absorb, that understanding
is revealed m Jesus Christ. For to
encounter him, is to come face to
face with a picture of God.
Sunday, May 3
PA International Trade Con
ference, Hershey, Continues
Tuesday.
Monday, May 4
PA Farm Equipment Mfgrs.
meeting, 5:30 p.m., Sunnyside
Rest., Carlisle.
Lancaster beekeeper twilight
meeting, 6:30 p.m., Kauffman’s
Orchard, Rt 340, two miles east
of Bird-in-Hand.
Tuesday, May 5
Franklin County Conservation
District meeting, 7:30 p.m..
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