Alo—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 2,1982
Reflections and resolutions
vestigating ways to reduce waste and fraud
that this program has become notorious for.
Along with Senator Hatch, who chairs the
Senate Committee on Labor and Human
Resources, Helms outlined his plans to hold
hearings on legislation introduced by the two
Senators which would “revise the nation's
antiquated food safety laws.”
“The full Committee and the Subcommittee
on Foreign Agricultural Policy will continue
discussio'ns on the trade policies of the
European Economic Community," Helms
reported, adding hearings are planned for
early 1982. And the Subcommittee will con
tinue to look into expanded markets for
agricultural commodities.
One area that is sure to stir up a beehive of
activity is the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide
and Rodenticide Act reauthorization. This act
regulates the agricultural chemical industry
and the use of pesticides. Helms projected
hearings and mark-up sessions on the renewal
process will be one of the key topics in 1982.
Other areas that are sure to be watched
closely by the agriculture community include
Committee action on soil conservation,
Federal Crop Insurance and other disaster
programs, and new agricultural technology.
“The Committee will be taking a closer look
at the Administration’s proposed soil con
servation initiatives and programs,” said
Helms. "We'll be looking for the reactionsfrom
farmers.”
He noted the Committee will be studying the
effectiveness of the Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation and its interaction with other
federal programs. And it will be looking at no
till conservation practices, bio-mass energy
potentials, leaf proteins and their uses, and
biogenetic engineering advances.
"Throughout these hearings, our ultimate
goal will be to provide the most effective and
productive legislation for the nation’s
agricultural producers," concluded Helms. “1
am committed to seeing that those goals are
met by this Committee.”
Only time will tell if Helms’ resolutions
become reality. For our sake, let’s hope
Congress’ 1982 “committment to the nation’s
agricultural producers" sees us through
potential embargoes and price-support cuts,
and legislation that only ties the hands of the
farmers whose calluses are ‘medals of honor’
won in feeding this nation and helping it grow
strong.
The dawning of a new year is a time for
making resolutions, and reflecting on the
events of the past 365 days.
We all look forward to a brighter 1982 for
farmers, and fortunately we are not alone.
U. 5. Senator Jesse Helms, who sits at the
helm of the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry, has come up with his
New Year’s resolutions, too.
“We are shaping a legislative agenda which
will provide for a more productive and more
profitable agriculture now and in the future,"
Helms stated.
"Throughout most of this year, we dedicated
much of our efforts to the 1981 Farm Bill.
Completing this piece of agricultural
legislation was a monumental and worthwhile
task.
“The Committee was successful in com
pleting 8 additional bills. We held numerous
hearings on agricultural issues as well as a
number of hearings for executive ap
pointments by the President,” he said.
“In 1982, the same committment and
dedication to agriculture and feeding the
world will be instrumental in the major
legislative initiatives of the Committee.” ■
Outlining the tasks ahead, Helms noted that
in the forefront would be the arduous job of
trimming the budget for 1983. He pointed out
that the Committee would once again play a
major role in trimming an already gaunt
federal agricultural expenditure allotment.
Another area of important Committee action
will be beginning early in the Congressional
session, Helms predicted. He stated the
Senate Agriculture Subcommittee, bn
Agricultural Research and General Legislation
will begin hearings for the reauthorization of
the Commodity Exchange Act which prcjvides
the framework for the regulatory respon
sibilities of the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission. “The legislation is the basis for
regulation of the commodity futures trading
industry and its activities," Helms explained.
The already controversial food stamp
program will be on the Committees agenda for
close scrutiny in 1983, Helms added. “The
1981 Farm Bill extends the food stamp
program for one year. Therefore, it will be
necessary to renew the program.” He noted
that Committee will be holding hearings on
whether this support program
should be reauthorized, _ and_ will be m
■EE S”! 1 .Lj~ ”11
NOW IS THE TIME
To Know Tax
Report Timetables
Farmers planning to estimate
what their tax is going to be for
1981 should file Form 1040 ES by
January 18. If you file your
Estimated Return by January 18,
you have until April IS to tile a
complete tax return on Form 1040
and pay any tax still due or request
a refund if the tax was overpaid in
making the estimate. However,
farmers who do not file and pay an
estimated tax must file the com
pleted 1040 form by March 1 and
pay in full whatever tax is due at
that tune. Non-farmers have until
April 15 to complete their 1040 and
pay any tax due. Farmer Tax
Guides are available at the Ex
tension office to assist in filing!
your reports.
Off the
Somdimg
By Sheila Miller, Editor
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
To Recognize Our
Reliance Upon Agriculture
Agriculture promises to be one of
the most excitmg growth in
dustries in the next decade or two.
This was the prediction made by
Gilbert Porter, of Agway, Inc. as
he addressed the Annual Meeting
of the Red Rose DHIA. Several
things prompted this prediction.
World population is expected to
double in the next 40 years, and all
of these people will have to be fed
The key to this lies in the hands of
agriculture.
Extension Agent Glenn Shirk
emphasizes that few countries
have as much fertile land and a
climate as suitable tor agricultural
oroduction a.-> does the (' s < uuple
that with technology and useful
knowledge ui the hands ot free
Board
people, and you’ll quickly discover
that the productivity and
efficiency of American agri
cultural is unsurpased. Evidence
of this is the fact that most of
the grains - about 75% - ex
ported on the world markets
are grown on U.S. soils.
To continue to help supply the
world demand for food, the
development and adoption of
agncullur.il technology must be
even mere rapid than the record
breaking pace set the last
decade or two.
To Prepare For
Slippery Conditions
Slippery roads, walks, and steps
will be a common hazard in the
next few months. Many people use
salt too freely in cutting the ice; it
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DOING YOUR
“THING”
January 3,1982
Background Scripture:
John 20:26-29; 1
Corinthians 12:1-3;
Colossians 1; 16-20.
Devotional Beading:
1 Timothy 1:8-14.
We live in a "do your own thing
age.”
It was an idea whose time had
come. There was a need tor an
emphasis urging people to take
responsibility and control for their
own lives. There was a need to
break out of patterns that had
become meaningless, whose
purposes had long been forgotten.
But as with any new current ot
human thought, we have tended to
push a good thing to absurd ex
tremes. Many people have wrongly
assumed that "doing then* own
thing” somehow freed them from
responsibility and commitment to
other people. It also became a
justification tor blatant selfishness
and irresponsibility.
THE FREE CAPTIVE
What we need to realize is that
when we have taken both
responsibility and control tor our
own Jives it does not mean that we
therefore need to go it alone. For
one ot life’s paradoxes is that when
1 Jive only tor me, I am not tree at
all. 1 am a prisoner to my own dark
emotions, deep suspicions, hurts
and unrecognized motivations. No
one is more surely a prisoner ot
-him or herselt than the one who
tries to live m isolation.
OUR READERS WRITE,
AND OTHER OPINIONS
Turn the other cheek?
An advertising campaign of the
Humane Society of the United
States against veal consumption is
a slap in the face of the livestock
industry, which has attempted to
explore concerns of animal
weltansts about confinement
production of livestock and
respond to them.
This campaign, if successful,
would jeopardize the livelihood
and investment ot some 1,200 U.S.
family veal producers.
Producers and others in the
livestock industry, and par
ticularly the veal industry, have
been listening to the animal
weltansts in an attempt to un-
HAV HAWS
"1
‘‘We’ve managed to make both ends meet in 1981 what
worries me is this gap in the middle.”
At the same tune, if lam really a
free person—my own person, so to
speak—then 1 have the capacity to
commit myself to something
beyond myself without the loss o 9
my freedom or sovereignty. The
old hymn puts it clearly: _
Make me a
captive, Lord,
And then 1
shall be free;
If we would really be domg our
own thing, we need to give our
selves in commitment to Christ.
But that’s where many of us
have a problem; commitment. We
don’t want to commit ourselves.
Jealous at our sovereignty, we
don’t want to give ourselves to
anything or anyone. We want to
run our own lives, little realizing -
that, without Christ, we cannot
experience freedom.
SAVIOUR AND LORD
Many people want the benefits of
Christianity without making the
commitment those benefits
require. We are all happy to have
Christ as our Saviour, one who
frees us and heals us of the evil
that touches our lives. But Chris is
not offered to us as just a Saviour.
When the angels announced his
birth to the shepherds of
Bethlehem, they proclaimed: "f°A
‘unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Saviour who is Christ
the Lord” (Luke 2:11;. Jesus came
as both Saviour and Lord. And
when the Apostle John confesses
Christ in the upper room, he cries
“My Lord and my God” (John
20:26;.
So Jesus came, not only to save
us, but to rule our lives. It we want
to be his followers, we need not
only to allow him to save us from
our sin, but also to be Lord-ot our
lives. That means that we put our
lives into his hands, letting him
direct and guide them. When we
have allowed ourselves to do that,
then, and only then, will we be
doing our own thinn,.
derstand their concerns. The veal
industry has responded, with a
study of the system the animal
welfarists have proposed as an
alternative to the traditional calf
raising system. That study is just
now getting underway.
For HSUS to embark on what
amounts to encouragement of a
boycott of veal,
ignoring attempts by the
industry to respond and without
waiting for the results of that
study, makes me wonder about
their real goals.
Are they really interested in the
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