Alo—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 7,1982
Hit and runs take farm toll
Although there aren’t any statistics to prove
it, more farmers in Pennsylvania are the
victims of hit and run drivers today than ever
before.
By hit and run, I’m not referring to bodily
injury to the farmer by motor vehicle, although
I'm sure denims are not fool-proof armor
against such an accident. What I’m talking
about are the uninvited, unwelcomed ex
cursions taken by cars and trucks through
cropfields and meadows.
For instance, just after you get that white
board fence to accent your farm’s roadside
appearance, some unappreciative driver
decides to mow down every fence post as his
car fails to negotiate the curve. All too often,
however, you only learn of the fence's
relocation after an infuriated neighbor calls to
tell you your cows are munching contentedly
on her just-ripe sweet corn and other garden
goodies.
Since local police have a hard time tracking
white paint scratches on cars, chances of your
ever running down the culprit who thought the
road looked “greener on the other side of the
fence” are unlikely. In the meantime, the fence
has to be mended so the cows can get back on
pasture. So much for hard evidence.
Even tougher cases for the-local township
police detectives to solve are the ones that
involve tracing corn silks, a fruitless effort to
prove that quarter acre of crushed corn was
the result of a hit and run driver who also was
searching for a short cut home.
One driver I happened to pass this week
wasn’t quite so lucky. When his car dropped
off the road to explore the adjacent hay field,
there was no way for the driver to hop back
onto the highway and speed off undetected.
Instead, the driver had to trudge through the
wet grass to implore the kindness of the
farmer to pull his car back onto the road.
While the farmer went to “fetch” the
tractor, a state trooper happened to be
cruising the area and witnessed the mishap.
This time the farmer was in luck and won’t
have to report the damages incurred by his
ready-to-cut alfalfa stand as a loss, much to
the displeasure of the driver's insurance
company.
Not only are farmers at the mercy of careless
automobile drivers, but they also have to keep
their eyes turned heavenward. Rather than
watching for storm clouds, farmers must keep
a look-out posted for low-flying aircraft.
Small Favor
President Reagan’s move to
extend a restrictive grains trade
agreement with the Soviet Union
for another year does farmers
small favor.
With U.S. producers of com and
wheat sitting on vast carryover
stocks of 100 million metric tons,
an agreement to sell off some six to
eight million tons a year to the
Soviet Union is a little like spitting
in the ocean.
OTIS
YES, I WATCHED
IT LAST NIGHT
AND IT WAS
SCARY J
Off the
Sounding
By Sheila Miller, Editor
OUR READERS WRITE
Worse, with shortfalls in the
Soviet grain crop running as much
as 50 million tons below original
estimates, U.S. fanners have now
been denied a rare opportunity to
sell themselves out of overstocks
that government mismanagement
of farm programs has piled up in
the first place.
We have simply invited the
Soviet Union to shop elsewhere to
fill in its shortages.
So what we got from the
president was only an extension of
IT WAS
THE MOST
DISGUSTING
THING I'VE
EVER SEEN
ON T.V.
One area farmer mentioned to me that he
has to pull an airplane out of his rented corn
field about once every week. Miscalculations in
landing and takeoff at a small airport next door
leave surprised and shaken pilots facing an
unhappy farmer instead of friendly skies.
But, said the farmer, he has yet to charge
the airport or the pilots for his tractor towing
service. Accepting payment, he said, might be
misconstrued as approval for the trespassing
planes to continue to invade the corn field. So,
he bites his lip and keeps his hands in his
pockets, hoping someday the pilots might
learn the difference between landing strips
and field strips.
And what about the recent airing of a PM
Magazine television show about a hot air
balloonist that launches a hang-gliding
passenger while high in the sky. The story was
interesting and entertaining, but the con
clusion hit a raw nerve.
Nonchalantly, as if nothing could be more
right, the narrator reported that the hang
glider found safe landing in a pasture full of
sheep while the balloon came back to earth in
the middle of a farmer’s corn field. How nice.
Of course, they didn’t show us the rows of corn
swept over by the descending gondola or
covered by the balloon's canvas. Nor did their
cameras zoom in on the scurrying white sheep
as they fled from the “winged" intruder.
This entire scenario brings to mind a similar
episode that occurred Aug. 17, 1978 when
three Albuquerque, New Mexico men com
pleted the first successful transatlantic
balloon flight.
Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newman, and Maxie
Anderson were heroes as they navigated the
“Double Eagle II” across the Atlantic Ocean to
rand in the center of a French farmer’s grain
field. As camera crews and spectators swept
across the golden field, a happy "bonjour” was
probably the last greeting the Frenchman
wished to convey to the aviation record set
ters. What moments before was a ready-to
harvest bumper crop suddenly turned into a
disaster-wrecked field as the grain was
trampled under foot.
Whether from the road or the sky, farmers
and their cropfields seem to emit an aura of
“safe harbor” to errant navigators. Luckily, we
don’t have much trouble with ships but
wait, what about the Massachusetts cranberry
farmers.. .?
WHAT WERE THEY
WATCHING OTIS,
SOME NEW
MONSTER SHOW
ON TV?
YAH. I
WATCHED
IT AND
COULDN'T
SLEEP A
. WINK
Board
government authority to impose
arbitrary ceilings on U.S. farm
exports.
Farm Bureau has called for no
agreement at all on grain sales to
the Soviet Union, favoring instead
sales on a cash-and-carry, come
and-get-it basis with no credit
terms that might impact against
the economy in any way.
The record of grain sales to the
Soviet Union points to the wisdom
of such a position. In the years,
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NO,
JUST THE
MARKET
REPORTS
THE
FORGOTTEN MAN
Augusts, 1982
Background Scripture: Acts
4:32-37; 9:26-27; 11:19-26; 13:1-3;
15:36-40.
Devotional Reading: Acts 13:44-
52.
Somehow it doesn’t seem quite
fair. In my opinion, Barnabas is
one of the most admirable persons
in the New Testament, yet few
Christians even remember him. If
Barnabas were to come back
today, we might expect that he
would experience not a little hurt
that his contribution should have
been so largely overlooked and
forgotten.
Yet, although we might expect
such a reaction—a very human,
one to be sure—l think I’m quite
safe in judging that Barnabas
would not react in that manner. In
fact, that's one of the things that
makes him so admirable. He was
secure enough in his faith to be
magnanimous to others. For-
Barnabas, discipleship was not an
egotrip.
“Son of Encouragement”
Our first glimpse of this man
comes in Acts 4, where the writer
is telling us of the early church’s
policy of sharing their material
goods to alleviate the needs of the
whole group. Selling their valued
possession, they distributed the
proceeds from their sales to the
more needs members of the group.
Joseph Barnabas, originally of
Cyprus and a Greek-speaking,
Greek-cultured convert to Christ,
is mentioned by the writer of Acts
for his jjxamplarv generosity in
NOW IS THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Acrtculhire Agent
Phone 717-3944551
To Make Plans To Attend
Ag Progress Days
“The Growing Business” is the
theme for this year’s Ag Progress
Days, come see how Penn State is
helping discover better ways to
meet our needs for food. There is
something for everyone, including
educational displays, farm
machinery demonstrations,
specialists to answer your
questions about your home, garden
or farm, also blue grass music,
demonstrations in the theatre, and
a museum of agricultural im
plements.
Dates for the annual event are
Aug. 24-26. Ag Progress Days is
located just nine miles southwest
of Penn State’s main campus on
Route 45. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday and
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Parking and admission is free.'
Take a day out of your busy
summer (you’ve earned it) and
plan to attend Ag Progress Days.
To Observe Poultry Month
The Lancaster County Com
missioners have proclaimed
August as Poultry Month. So, this
is a real good time to reflect on the
impact this important industry has
on the economy of Lancaster
County. Poultry products in
Lancaster County provide
nourishment for over 6 million
people. The value of the poultry
products sold totals over $143
million. It is estimated that nearly
20,000 people are employed in the
sharing with the church the
proceeds of the sale of his real
estate.
Our next view of Barnabas
comes in Acts 9. Although the
church in Jerusalem is frightened
of having anything to do with Paul
who was claiming to'have been
converted to Christ, Barnabas
recognizes Paul’s great potential
and brings him together with the
disciples in Jerusalem. Because
Barnabas believed in him while all
others distrusted him, Barnabas
found for the church the great
apostle it needed. Ironically, up
until the arrival of Paul, Barnabas
was the most prominent Greek
speaking Christian in the
Jerusalem church. Soon, however,
this was a place that Paul would
quickly take over.
Barnabas Took Mark With Him
Instead of being bitter against
Paul for taking oyer the place he
had occupied, Barnabas developed
a close friendship with Paul and
left his established life and trade to
embark with him on the first
missionary journey. Barnabas
proved an invaluable travelling
companion and co-worker with
Paul.
Nevertheless, in Acts IS Paul
and Barnabas come to a parting of
the ways. In preparing for their
next missionary journey, Bar
nabas wants to take with them his
young cousin, John Mark. But Paul
strongly disagrees, remembering
that John Mark had deserted them
on a previous trip. So a
disagreement broke out between
these two men; Paul, who wanted
nothing to do with John Mark, and
Barnabas who still believed in his
cousin. Unable to agree over this
matter, Paul and Barnabas went
their seperate ways: Barnabas
and John Mark to Cyprus and Paul
to Asia Minor.
And that’s the last we hear about
this self-effacing man. Vet,
although his name hardly lives on,
his unselfish work does—and that’s
what Christian descipleship is
really all about! ■
many different areas of the poultry
industry in Lancaster County.
The industry is strong because of
the dedicated, well managed
poultry farms along with a highly
efficient and supportive allied
industry. Eggs and poultry meat
are two of the most nourishing
foods in your health diet. Let’s be
supportive of this important part of
our agricultural economy during
Poultry Month.
To Be Aware Of The
Stinging Insects
We are receiving a lot of
inquiries about the stinging insects
the wasps, hornets and yellow
jackets. The yellow jackets usually
build their nests in the ground
while the hornets nests are made of
paper materials and built in a tree.
Wasp nests are made of mud and
are usually found under the eves of
a porch or shed:
Bees are essential for pollination
and hornets feed on flies, but un
fortunately they sometimes
become aggressive and their sting
can be very painful. In fact, some
people are very sensitive to bee
stings and become seriously ill.
These people should consult a
doctor if stung.
To control the stinging insects
around the house, spray the nests
with an aerosol made for wasp
control or an ordinary ant and
roach spray. These insecticides
contain a “quick killer” for instant
effect. Spray toward evening when
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