Alo—Lancaster Fararing, Saturday, January 15,19t3
An unforgettable Farm Show
It's been quite a week. Farm Show crowds,
commotion and competition enough to last
until next year this time. And it will probably
take most of us that long to recover from the
67th Pennsylvania Farm Show and regenerate
the stamina needed for the next one.
But none of us can complain about the
proverbial Farm Show weather which failed to
blanket our southeastern Pennsylvania under
at least six inches of snow. Maybe the Farm
Show weatherman failed to “see his shadow"
on Saturday and, like the Punxsutawney
groundhog, stayed out to enjoy the mild
weather that made Farm Show week a
pleasure for anyone driving to Harrisburg.
While the weather may have been a
blessing, it also caused record crowds to flock
to the largest indoor agricultural event on the
East Coast. Negotiating at a snail’s pace on the
roads leading to Farm Show was a trial of
patience and perseverance for many Penn
sylvanians. At one point, traffic was backed
up, bumper to bumper, a distance of roughly
four miles as people waited in line to visit the
sights and smells of Farm Show.
Once inside the concrete complex, the traffic
situation wasn't much better. Shoulder to
shoulder masses of people inched their ways
past exits and entrances through the maze of
buildings that make Farm Show a nightmare
for folks unfamiliar with its layout. Strollers
with slumbering children and heavyweight
steers and bulls were about the only things
that could make the wall-to-wall crowds part
like the Red Sea and allow passage.
With all the people “reaching out to touch"
the miraculously well-behaved livestock (that
back home on the farm let feet fly at the
slightest poke), it’s amazing that few mishaps
occur at Farm Show. Although one older man
did suffer a broken leg at this year's show after
stumbling through a congested area in the
dairy barn, the number of accidents compared
to the staggering possibilities are gratefully
few.
For those of us who enjoy or endure the
Farm Show experience, there’s no doubt
about the fact that it is a farm-city family
reunion. People who have never seen farm
animals before cheer just as loudly as family
and friends when junior beef, sheep, and
market hog showmen receive the judges'
nods. There’s a pride in these successful,
hardworking young people that is contagious,
and strangers also can enjoy watching these
youths floating on "cloud nine" and realize
they are watching a small bit of Pennsylvania’s
history being written in the annals of Farm
Show champions.
The interest and enthusiasm which most
Farm Show visitors express as they stroll
through the barns is felt and overheard by the
hundreds of exhibitors who spend all week
talking about and explaining agriculture to the
crowds. Curiosity attributed to cats could have
been easily transferred to Farm Show visitors,
young and old, who stared wide-eyed at
mammoth machinery, danced and conversed
with a robot, and stuffed mouth-watering.
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By Sheila Miller, Editor
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diet-destroying food into eager mouths hungry
for deep-fried mushrooms, foamy milkshakes,
and piping hot potatoes dripping with butter.
The milking parlor was another focal-point of
fascination for Farm Show visitors beginning
at about four o’clock each afternoon that’s
when some people learned for the first time
that brown cows don't produce chocolate milk,
and that milk isn’t pumped out of a cow by
cranking her tail up and down.
All this interest in agriculture is a mixed
blessing, however, for some Farm Show
exhibitors who devote a week’s worth of
washing and grooming livestock, and con
sequently make their animals "too adorable
and tempting to touch.” Since all their
scrubbing, clipping and combing is supposed
to be appreciated primarily by the show judge,
the coiffures created by people patting and
petting meticulously groomed livestock with
hands that stilt harbor evidence of leaking ice
cream cones and cotton candy are tolerated
with grimaces and strained good will.
Each Farm Show brings its own special
memories, like champion ribbons and warm,
happy feelings. Or a taste of tanbark and
embarassment after a show animal tumbles its
exhibitor in a brief escape attempt.
One Farm Show exhibitor probably will
remember, for years to come, the stowaway
farm cat who hitched a ride in the cattle
trailer, but then decided to hightail it back
home after getting a taste of trampling hooves.
As the trailer came to a stop at the first traffic
light, the farmer heard a call come over his CB
radio fronvhis wife who was following the load
of show cattle. Amidst static and crackling, he
heard his wife say something came out the
back of the trailer.
The cat, called Precious, owes one of its nine
lives to the fact that one of the cow's name was
Princess. Thinking that one of his bovines was
busting out the backdoor, the farmer kept the
truck in park lucky thing for Precious who
had darted out of the trailer and sought refuge
on top of the pickup’s back wheel. In a matter
of minutes the cat was wisked safely into the
wife's pickup and back to the farm.
For me, this year’s Farm Show was a con
tinuation of my post-classroom education. But
I contend that learning the latest tricks of the
cattle showing trade is almost as difficult as
trying to teach an 80-year-old farmer to ski.
It’s hard to teach an “old cattle fitter new
tricks” but with the willpower in these “old
bones" and the volumes of help and advice
that were shared by other exhibitors, the show
road rudiments will be all downhill from here
at least until i meet up with another obtacle
and challenge.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture
has a challenge, too how to make the 68th
Farm Show even better. Many of last year's
problems were overcome thanks to con
structive criticisms and action by people who
acre about Farm Show and want to see the
perennial, crowd-pleasing agstravaganza go
on and on.
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DEADLINE:
TONIGHT!
January 16,1983
Background Scripture:
Luke 12:18-40
Devotional Reading:
Luke 6:46-49
The deadline is not in question:
tonight before a new day begins
some of ns will no longer be
numbered among the living. I have
no idea how many people will die
this evening, but the statistic, I’m
sure, will be staggering. The only
thing we do not know is which of us
will be numbered among that
statistic. As we awoke this mor
ning probably none of us en
tertained the thought that today
might be our very last, although
that is certainly not a remote
possibility. All of us arose and have
progressed through this day as if
we had a considerable amount of
time left in our lives.
DIVIDING THE
INHERITANCE
Consequently, tbe things that
have likely occupied our minds this
day have not been questions of
death, life eternal heaven, eter
nity, the Judgement of God, etc.
Much nvjre likely we have been
preoccupied with more pressing
matters. Like tbe one, for exam
ple, that was brought before Jesus
one day: “Teacher, bid my brother
divide the inheritance with me."
It was a reasonable request, was
it not? Isn’t that the way most ns
NOW IS THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Loneaotar County AfricuKur* Afoot
Ptiono 717-394-6851
To Separate
Farm Show Animate
The Pennsylvania Farm Show is
a big event in our state this week.
And, in spite of the winter month,
the show attracts a large number
of animals. Show regulations do a
pretty good job of protecting these
show animals and in building up
resistance to a number of in
fections. However, the animals in
the home -herd or flock may not
have the same treatment and
resistance.
Therefore, it is very important to
keep these two groups of animals
separate for at least 30 days after
the show. Segregation and
aanitatinn are still very important
practices in the livestock world.
We have known of Farm Show
animals that were returned to the
farm and remained in good health;
however, the rest of the animals in
the barn came down with shipping
fever or some other infection.
Don’t take chances by mixing the
home animals with Farm Show
animals, or with newly-purchased
animals. Give them a 30-day
period without this dangerous
exposure.
To Transfer Silage
Livestock and dairy producers
who have had silage stored in
temporary structures might be
planning to move this feed into
upright silos in the next month or
so. Many producers use the
temporary storage until some of
the material is fed out of the
upright silo. By transferring into
the upright silo, mechanical
feeders can be used. The objective
is to move the silage during cold
weather. The months of January
<JC
.have to apend our days, dividing,
acquiring and keeping the things of
this world that are neceaaary to
sustain daily life? Now that in
terest rates are lower again, where
shall I put my savings? Shall I
invest part of my salary in a tax
shelter? Is this the time for me to
buy a new car? Why should I ac
cept a cutback in salary when
other people are living off the fat of
the land?
sr
Jesus’ reply is no less
revolutionary now than it was
then: “Take heed, and beware of
all covetousness; for a man’s life
does not consist in the abundance
of his possessions.” We’ve
repeated these words so often that
perhaps there abrasiveness no
longer strikes us. But that they are
quite contrary to the principles by
which many of us live must be
quite evident if we think about
them. Our society yes, even
many of our churches—is founded
on an abundance of possessions.
Almost every Judgment we make,
almost every value we express is
based upon material possessions.
“FOOL!” ,
So once again Jesus told a
parable. The rich man in the story
is suddenly coofocnted with the
waning that “this night" not
some distant day in die future—
“your soul is required of you; and
the things you have prepared,
whose will they be?"
Many of those who listened* to
Jesus must have identified wth the
"rich man" in the story/lf their
soul’s deadline were to be
“tonight,” obviously they would
see life and their jwssessioas in a
different light: it is being “rich
toward God" and not laying up
“treasure," that is imperative
when we face that final deadline.
If you were to know that tonight
were your “deadline," what would
it do to your priorities this day?
and February normally provide
this condition. When transferring
during warm weather (above 50
degree F) there is danger of more
beating of the silage. No preser
vative should be needed. The
faster the material can be moved
into the upright silo, the bettor it
will settle and remove the air.
To Move Equipment Safely
Farm equipment is getting
bigger and taller, as seen at the
Farm Show. This creates a new
hazard. Cabs on larger tractors or
combines may approach heights
equal to ground clearance of high
voltage electrical lines. Accidental
contact between equipment and
the electrical line can be fatal for'
the operator. This is especially
hazardous where long spans cross
Helds creating considerable sag at
mid-span. CB antennas or other
additions to large equipment are
almost certain to create a potential
hazard if they come in contact with
electrical lines.
Wide equipment, such as
planters and tillage equipment,
folded up for transport can also
reach heights that are dangerous.
Aim be careful when moving
portable elevators. Instruct all
operators and other workers about
this hazard and how to avoid
danger.
To Use Sawdust on
Icy Walks
Freezing rain, sleet and hard
packed snow on walkways and
driveways is quite slippery and
dangerous. The next time you have
this condition, try using coarse
sawdust to reduce the hazard.
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