Alo—Lancaster Famine, Saturday, March 5,1983
An ag lullaby
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
Are we lulling ourselves into another false
sense of security?
Most of us watch the steadily falling prices at
the gasoline pump as avidly as the investor
eyes the Dow-Jones going the other way. This
is welcome news, particularly when it's close
to the time to start burning the gas or diesel to
plant another crop. Any drop in the cost of a
major ag input will help that bottom line.
But now what about all of that research and
some significant investment that went into
alternate farm fuels? Should all of this be put
on hold and allowed to gradually disappear like
the gasohol pump?
While this immediate fuel lullaby played to
the tune of some confused Arabs is important,
the problem of false security goes much
deeper in agriculture. The other day we
received a report on the basic ag research at
the Charles F. Kettering Research Lab in Ohio.
This ag think tank is primarily studying
nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis.
Scientists are trying to understand just how
NOW IS THE TIME
To Attend Poultry Progress Day
The Lancaster County Poultry
Association and our Penn State
Extension Service have developed
a new all-day event this year called
Poultry Progress Day. This event
replaces the three evening
meetings that were held the past
several years.
Poultry Progress Day will be
held on Thursday, March 10, in the
auditorium at the Farm and Home
Center. Registration will start at 9
a.m. and the program will end at
3:45 p.m. Lunch will be available.
An outstanding program has
been developed which brings State
Senator Noah Wenger in to give us
an update on “Our Right To
Farm” legislation. Secretary of
Agriculture Penrose Hallowell will
comment on the Outlook for
Pennsylvania Agriculture. Then
Clarence Collison, Extension
Entomologist, will review poultry
pests and their control followed by
Forest Muir and Robert Graves on
equipment and ventilation
management. Spangler Klopps
from 1.C.8. will review the
Marek’s problem and give us an
update on some new vaccines.
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By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
We’ll also hear from Barret Cowen
from the Wiley Lab at Penn State
who will review the increasing
Gumboro problem.
To Use Caution Near Manure Pits
No doubt many bams, liquid
manure pits and poultry houses
will be cleaned out in the near
future. I would caution you to be
very careful because of the
poisonous and inflammable gases
that develop in these pits. Some
cleaning methods require the
agitation of the liquid manure in
the pit before pumping starts.
Good ventilation is needed over the
pits at this time, otherwise animals
and people can be suffocated. Also,
smoking should be prohibited and
all flames kept away. In addition,
anyone going down into the
manure pit, after being emptied,
should wear a gas mask. Don’t
take chances on the presence of
toxic gases.
To Use Heat Lamps Safely
A portable heat lamp is a useful
item around the home and farm
during cold weather. The lamp's
infra-red rays can be used to keep
pigs from freezing, relax aching
muscles, or warm crankcases of
tractors and automobiles so they’ll
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crops like alfalfa and soybeans can put
nitrogen back into the soil and how plants use
sunlight to grow. Then, perhaps things can be
done to help these processes along or even
reproduce them -
But there was another project that caught
my eye. Essentially, it’s using excess electrical
power produced on the farm to manufacture
fertilizer. The only raw materials needed are
air, water, limestone-or rock phosphate and
the power to make calcium nitrate or soluble
phosphate fertilizer.
The process has been proven in small pilot
operations, but is a long way from large-scale
application. But it does point out what may be
possible in the future.
But things like this all begin with basic
research. It’s the kind that paves the way for
later commercial application to bring forth
better seeds, fertilizer, equipment or
whatever. It’s where young ag scientists cut
their eye teeth. It’s what our whole
agricultural network is based upon. And it’s
the type of publicly-funded research that has
all but disappeared.
Just ask pedple at Penn State or other land
grant institutions how much public funds are
going into basic ag research these days.
Beginning in the mid-60's the public research
fund flow was cut back until it's now little more
than a trickle.
Things like grain surpluses have lulled us
into yet another possible false sense of
security. Today, the government is more
concerned with PlKing away at these sur
pluses than about the long-range future.
- Basic ag research is a slow, gradual process.
One block of progress is laid upon another. It's
not like this year’s corn crop. You don’t plant a
research idea in spring and reap its benefits in
the fall. The growing season for basic
research, such as plant breeding, is a decade
or more.
It’s time to get these long-term research
planting intentions back in proper order.
start easier. The heat lamp can
also be used in brooders for small
pigs or lambs, or baby cbicks or at
your workbench to give you quick
heat.
But, I’d like to add a word of
caution. A heat lamp can be
dangerous because the lamp’s rays
can easily bum you, the same as a
sunburn.
Also, if you are using the lamp
continuously for a long period, use
a porcelain socket. Brass and most
plastic sockets will not be able to
stand the heat. Another thing... in a
brooding area, use a wire or chain
to support the lamp. Don’t hang it
by its cord; the cord was designed
to carry the current and not the
weight. Remember, a heat lamp
can come in handy around the
farm or home in cold weather. But
handle it with care, v
To Develop Good Pesticide
The arrival of March means the
beginning of a new growing season
and warmer weather. And, the use
of various spray materials and
chemicals will be a common
practice. They’re all intended for a
special purpose, if used correctly.
r TAKE IT WAT IHE
MILK CHECK Dir'-'
ARRIVE .HUH OTI’
Records
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Background Scripture: Exodus
33: 15,16; Luke 1:1-4; 24:36-53;
Actsl.
Devotional Reading: Exodus
17:1-7.
Jesus gave his disciples some
hard commands during his
ministry, but perhaps the hardest
command of all was the one he
gave during his resurrection ap
pearances: "...he charged them
not to depart from Jerusalem, but
to wait for the primise of the
Father" (Actsl:4).
The last thing the disciples must
have wanted to do was to “wait”!
Spiritually and emotionally they
were all “charged up.” The
horrible defeat at Calvary had
been turned to an overwhelming
victory. Jesus had been vin
dicated. The kingdom of God was
not lost, as they had feared. In
those circumstances, feeling as
they did, they probably wanted to
do something - something that was
appropriate to the wonderful thing
that had happened when Jesus rose
from his tomb.
Wait For
The Promise
Jesus’ instructions to “wait for
the promise of the Father” must
have troubled them, particularly
implusive Peter who never seemed
happy unless he was making
something happen. Not easily put
off, the disciples pressed Jesus for
something specific: “Lord, will
you at this time restore the
kingdom to Israel?" Waiting might
not be quite so hard for them if
they could pin Jesus down to a
specific date. His reply was hardly
what they had wanted:.“lt is not
for you to know times or seasons
which the Father has fixed by his
Farm Calendar
Saturday, March 5
Pa. Guernsey Breeders annual
meeting, begins at noon,
Holiday Inn, East, Lancaster
Elizabethtown Young Farmers
Annual Banquet, 6:45 p.n>..
Hostetler’s Dining Hall, Mt. Joy
Monday, March?
Potter, Cameron and McKean
Counties Coro and Forage Day,
Vo-Tech School, Port Allegany
Pa. Brown Swiss Breeders con-
vention committee meeting, 11
a.m.. Host Corral, Lancaster
Inter-State District 5 annual
meeting, noon. Willow Valley,
Willow Street '
Bradford Co. Milker’s School,
continues until Tuesday
Game Bird Conference, J.O. Keller
Bldg., Penn State, University
Park, continues through
Tuesday
North Central Regional Agronomy
Meeting, 7:30 p.m., Holiday
Inn, Dubois
Tuesday, MarchS
Adams Co. Soybean and Small
Grain meeting 10 a.m., Cross
Keys Diner, New Oxford
Dairy reproduction workshop,
through Wednesday, Blair,
Bedford and Huntingdon
Counties, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
Memorial Park, Martinsburg
Keys to Farm Financial Success
workshop, through Wednesday,
Farm and Home Center,
Lancaster,9:3oa.m. to3p.m. '
Maryland DHIA meeting, Sandy
Cove, Md. 10:30 a.m. to 2:30
p.m.
Cedar Crest FFA annual banquet.
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THE HARDEST
COMMAND
March 6,1983
own authority.” Yet, although he
would not give them dates, he did
leave them with an important
promise: "But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you; and you shall be
my witnesses on Jerusalem and in
all Judea and Samaria and to the
end of the earth.”
Acts 1 lifts up for us two of the
most difficult aspects of being a
follower of Jesus Christ: waiting
and living by God’s promise.
Waiting is difficult because we fail
to realize that our own concept of
time is different from that of God.
As we see things, we believe
and no later is the moment
we want something to happen.
The “Right” Time
I’ve been waiting for something
very specific to happen in a portion
of my life for the past 25 years.
That’s almost half my lifetime and
it seems a long, long time to wait
for God to answer my prayer. Yet,
1 realize that, in God’s sight, the
time may not be right. That is not a
rationalization to get God “off the
hook,” but an acceptance of the
limitations of my human time
space perspective. 1 have been
wrong many times in the past
about what was the “right time”
for God to do this or that.
So I am left with two alter
natives. One is to conclude that my
waiting has been in vain and that
the longed-for blessing from God
will never come. The other is to
live by the promise of Ids grace-<
hard as that may be - until the.
promise is fulfilled. 1 have found'
time and again in the past that
must learn to live on the promisejjPS
of God and not let go of the corn
viction that in his time they will be
fulfilled.
7 p.m. Middle School cafeteria,
Lebanon '
Florin Feeds, annual poultry
meeting, 6:30 p.m., Harvest
Drive Restaurant, Smokelown
American Dairy Assoc, annual
meeting, 10 a m., Holiday Inn,
SyiaCuse, N.Y.
Wednesday, March 9
Potato Growers meeting, 10 a.m.
Centre Presbyterian Church,
New Park A
Farm Estate Planning Clinic lu* r
-. a.m. to 3 p.m., Penn State
Schuylkill Campus, Schuylkill
Haven
Poultry Federation Council
meeting, Host Farm, Lancaster
Potter and McKean Farmers
Assoc, directors meeting, B
p.m., Bonanza Restaurant,
Shippensburg
Thursday, March 10
Penn Manor FFA annual banquet.
High school cafeteria, 6 p.m.,
Millersville
Lancaster Poultry Progress Day,
9:45 a.m., Farm and Home
Center
Pa. World Relief Heifer Sale,
Guernsey Barn
Farm Transfer meeting, 7:30 p.m.,
Farm and Home Center,
Lancaster
Adams Co. Poultry Banquet, New
Oxford Fire Hall, 6:30 p.m.
Maryland Mastitis meeting, 9:30
a.m., Walkersville Fire Hall,
Frederick Co.
Wayne Co. Sheep and WooJjfe
Producers meeting, 7:45 pm."
Pleasant Valley Grange
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