Alo—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Jung 20,1981
Promotion, promotion,
promotion.
This word is getting a hard
work out these days among
farmers and farm businesses.
To some, the word
promotion seems to be a
‘dirty' word it shatters their
long-held belief that every one
in the world recognizes the
importance of agricultural
products ... there’s no need
to toot our own horn. But all
present day indicators point to
the fact that the general public
doesn't know much about
food, nutrition, and what to
eat.
Every commodity is looking
for a spokesperson
preferably a pretty one to
help sell their products. Dairy
princesses are crowned in
almost every county of the
state, along with other royal
representatives of the dif
ferent beef and dairy breeds,
fruits, vegetables, sheep,
swine, and poultry Just about
every facet of agriculture has
someone wearing a crown
who’ll tell their commodity’s
outstanding qualities story to
any consumer who’ll lend an
ear.
During the month of May,
we saw state and county of
ficials donning aprons and
chef’s hats to try their culinary
skills in cooking giant omelets.'
They were sometimes up
staged by a giant egg known
as ‘Eggatha’ whose appeal to
both the young and old sets
was instantaneous.
A dairy cow on the steps of
the Capitol, jingles on the
radio about the terrific
summertime drinks that can
be made with milk, beach
towels, tooth brushes, hot
chocolate mugs these are
NOW IS THE TIME
To Beware of Black
Cut Worms In Com
It seems like fanners are faced
with a new pest problem every
year. Well, this year is no ex
ception. The Black Cut Worm has
been found in eastern Lancaster
County and Chester County corn
fields.
They are a very destructive
insect, with a smooth skin like a
regular cut worm but are larger
and black in color. They cut the
com stalk off at ground level and
then consume it, much like an
army worm.
One field that I inspected, had
about 80% of the stalk consumed.
The com was about 14 mches in
height. Another farm replanted
over 100 acres due to Black Cut
Worm damage.
It will require a spray ap
plication to bring them under
conrol. If the com will be used for
Off the
Sounding
By Sheila Miller, Editor
advertising ploys designed to
catch up with our fast-paced,
health conscious consumers
and their kids who want 'fun’
things to drink.
But what’s this grumbling
we hear from the dairy people
about the amount of publicity
eggs are getting these days
through their ‘incredible’
campaigns, and vice versa.
Could it be there is some in
fighting among the farming
ranks jealousy?
Now really, does it matter
which commercial gets the
consumers to the dairy case 7
Nine chances out of ten, the
shopper will pick up a dozen
eggs and a quart of milk it’s
rarily an either or situation.
And what about those
bumper stickers we see
driving around the farming
community “Eat more pork,
run over a chicken"? Funny,
yes and no. Pork producers
and broiler producers have
been known to be in com
petition with each other for a
long time, so the joking is
understandable to a fellow
farmer. But, why should one
farmer publicly put down
another's commodity 7
The mam goal is to get
consumers to the meat freezer
where they’ll buy pork,
chicken, and beef based on
what their pocketbook will
allow That doesn't mean
they’ll buy all chicken, or all
pork, or all beef who eats all
one meat? Any home
economist will tell you a well
balanced diet requires a variety
of meats, fruits, vegetables,
dairy and poultry products.
Let’s face it, farmers don't
like to eat just one thing, and
neither do consumers.
- But what are the U.S.
farmers doing? They are each
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
gram - not silage - then Toxaphene
is most effective; for silage com
use Lorsban. Be sure to follow
label instructions for application
rate.
To Let Their
Lives Not Be in Vain
Recently, three young rescue
workers unselfishly gave up their
lives in an attempt to rescue a
young lad from a septic tank.
Other workers were also injured.
Let us not let the 'sacrifice these
three young men made be in vain.
Glenn Shirk, Extension Dairy
Agent, reminds us that the same
toxic gases that took the lives of
these rescue workers are the exact
same gases that exist in manure
pits! So, be alert when working in
and around manure pits.
In addition to being toxic, some
of these gases are explosive. Thus,
it is important to keep flames and
sparks away from manure pits.
Board
yeas and \nays 9
greedily going after their slice
of the pie by putting down
their competition. Instead of
working as a team to promote
agricultural products as a
whole, they are independently
struggling to tie down their
corner of the market.
This dissected effort in
agriculture isn’t confined to
marketing the same pattern
can be seen in legislative
lobbying, land use policies,
and even in cooperation at
county and state fairs.
Farmers taken as an en
tirety are quite a minority
about five percent. But if they
further subdivide themselves
into beef producers, dairy
producers, vegetable growers,
mushroom producers, broiler
producers, egg producers,
peaches, apples, grapes, and
on and on and on . . well, it
doesn’t take much to see what
a small segment of the
population that would be
What impact can each small
group hope to have oh the
enormous public especially
when facing the experience
and big bucks other industries
are playing with to grab what
spending dollars the U.S'
consumers have for vacations,
cars, homes, and other
luxuries.
Promotion, thaf s the key to
all the problems we're told.
Well, it’s probably not the
panacea for all our problems,
but a combined, consorted
effort to teach the public what
a bargain food is would be a
start.
Remove cattle from enclosed
barns before agitating the pit.
If it becomes necessary to enter
the pit be sure it has been well
ventilated. Never enter the pit
alone. Tie a rope around yourself
and have a strong person or two at
the other end. While in the pit,
carry on a conversation so they
know that all is well.
For more information- about
toxic gases and fumes on the farm,
contact the Extension offipe in
your county.
To Deal With
Volunteer Corn
There is a great deal of volunteer
corn growing in many fields. This
is corn that has been left m the
field since last fall and is really a
weed that will hurt our yields the
same as any other weed. The big
problem is how to get nd of it.
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WHAT YOUR EYES
HAVE SEEN
June 21,1981
Background Scripture:
Deuteronomy3:l2-4:14.
Devotional Reading:
Romans 4:13-25.
“Do it }ust because I'told you to
doit!”
Most of us have been on one end
or the other of those words.
Unquestioning obedience, although
not so prevalent today as in
previous eras, is still demanded in
some quarters today. Perhaps it is
assumed that our religious life is
one of them, yet the Bible tells us
that very often when God gave a
command to his people, be ap
pealed to their experience with
him as much as their obedience.
We see this demonstrated for us
m Deuteronomy 4 when God comes
to Israel through Moses, saying:
“And now, 0 Israel, give heed to
the statutes and the ordinances
which I teach you, and do them;
that you may live and go in and
take possession of the land which
the Lord of your fathers gives you”
(4:1).
, What The Lord Did
But, along with the command,
there is also an appeal: “Your eyes
have seen Lord did at
BaalpeorLyou who held fast to the
Lord your God are alive today”
(3,4). Those who previously obeyed
God know for themselves what
happens when they follow his
commandments. God’s requests
OUR READERS WRITE,
AND OTHER OPINIONS
A question of ‘tax cuts 9
With all the discussion about
“tax cuts”, it might be useful to cut
through the log and restate the
basic economic case for an im
mediate multi-year reduction in
income tax cuts.
It previously has been noted by
Farm Bureau that the size of the
federal government as measured
by the spending and regulatory
burden was the fundamental*
problem confronting the economy.
And, there is little wonder why
U.S. productivity continues to
HAV HAWS
Hello, Clair. 1 don't mind us celebrating Dairy
Month. But I think it’s a little too much when you
start inviting these unusual special guests to
dinner.
upon ns are always, given in the
light of his faithfulness which he
has already demonstrated to us.
Once again he appeals: “Only take
heed, and keep your soul
diligently, lest you forget the
things which your eyes have seen
and lest they depart from, your
heart all the days of your life”
(4:9).
God has not changed his manner
of appealing to us, for, along with
the commands he gives us, there is
always the challenge to remember
what he has already done for us.
Like the Hebrews, we are always
in danger that we will “forget the
things which your eyes have seen,”
that we will fail to find the faith for
the future in the providence God
has demonstrated in the past.
Make Them Known
How often do you give thought to
the ways in which God has
demonstrated his faithfulness in
your life? How often do you
remember those times when you
found God at your side in the time
of some great threat or challenge?
We can choose to focus our at
tention on our fears, or upon the
evidences which God has already
let us see with our own eyes. The
choice is up to each of us. ’
This is no less true in the impact
we make upon our children and the
coming generations. We can
communicate an ever-present
state of anxiety about the future, or
we can make a point of sharing the
goodness of God which we have
already experienced for ourselves.
Each of us has a responsibility for
interpreting the lessons of the past
so that we may witness to God’s
providence. We expect to see the
goodness of God in the days before
us because we have already seen
the goodness of God m the days
that are behind us.
When doubts and fears cloud the
future, remember what your eyes
have already seen of the goodness
of God.
decline as the public sector (the
unproductive sector) has grown in
relation to the private sector (the
productive sector). Further, there
is little ponder, why inflation
remains chronic as more and more
federal money and credit have
been created to pay for the ever
larger unproductive government
sector.
We also have observed that until
long-term economic policy
measures are taken, the economy
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