Alo—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 14,1983 Save the farmer; preserve the land BY DICK ANGLESTEiN Farmland preservation efforts in Lancaster County took a significant step forward this week. The first full-time director of the Preservation Board was named by the County Commissioners. He will begin work later this month. The rest of rural Pennsylvania will be keeping a close eye on the Garden Spot to monitor further progress in its continuing effort to save the land from which all agriculture springs. With a full-time director, the Preservation Board can get down to the nitty-gritty of getting its shoes muddy and its fingernails dirty in its farmland preservation program. At the top of its list in this effort must be a communications program aimed at two audiences -- farmers and the non-farm public. The cooperation of both is vital to the success of any preservation effort and both have an equal stake in its outcome. Farmers must make the ultimate decision to save their land and the non-farm public must help foot any bill. And any such communication effort must include a down-to-earth, dollars-and-cents approach of telling why the farmers must first be saved before their land can ever hope to be preserved. Eliminating misunderstandings the non-farm public has about modern-day agriculture and its practices can go a long way toward creating a better atmosphere for the continued existence of farmers, farming and their land. The one basic thing that’s going to help preserve farmland more than anything else is to get all segments of agriculture back on a secure and profitable footing. Just a few days ago, the Lancaster New Era carried a graphic account of twin calves being born on a local dairy farm. The heifer was retained as a replacement, but her brother was soon shipped off as a vealer. A sub sequent letter to the editor criticized this “sacrifice of a baby animal for food." m m II ■■ ■■ !!!■—= Farm Calendar Q&7 Saturday, May 14 York County Sheep & Wool Field Day, 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., York Fairgrounds. Monday, May 16 Fayette County DHIA directors, 8 p.m., Extension Office. Adams County beekeepers, 7:30 p.m., Penn State Fruit Research Lab, Biglerville. Sulbra Crop Management om . .. --j I boy/ otis, you can sues f tub sun /& shim no-. \ ) TELL WAT SPP/A/& IS , I 7?V£ 77?££S /V?£ BUDDING-. ) =- \ OOZ/NO-. 7 SINGING-/ "Do you mean that this is the way that some humans actually live?” This is just one misunderstanding of modern agriculture and its economics. The need for strict economic decisions in order to survive in farming through such measures as culling bull calves escapes the comprehension of non-farm readers. And, there are many other examples. My pet peeve is the criticism of confinement housing. The accompanying cartoon expresses my feelings. I often wondered what two chickens would say if they traveled to an urban tenament district. As the Preservation Board communicates its program and efforts, we hope the modern economic message of saving farmers along with their land is featured. It’s a message that must be told over and over again. The Lancaster County Commissioners action of also naming the second FFA member to the Preservation Board suggests a way to help get this message across. I've attended and judged at FFA public speaking contests at which the new FFA member, Tim Pfautz, of the Cloister Chapter at Ephrata, has participated. Already, he’s an accomplished speaker. Why can’t he and fellow FFA'ers from other chapters carry this Farmland Preservation message to civic clubs and groups across the county? Annually, FFA’ers compete in public speaking contests and some very good “talkers” emerge here in Lancaster County. To name just a few, there are Greg Musser at Elizabethtown, Gail Cinder at Manheim, Deb Martin at Penn Manor and Carolyn Witmer at New Holland. The Preservation Board could set up an FFA Speakers Bureau and offer volunteer speakers in blue and gold to service clubs and groups throughout the county. If I was sitting in an audience appeal to save farmers and their land, it would have a lot more impact if it came from the lips of an FFA member whose whole life in farming lies ahead of hirn,or her. After all, who is the opportunity to farm and the land on which to farm being saved for? Association, 8 p.m., Bradford County Extension Office. Tuesday, May 17 North 4-H Dairy Meeting, 7:30 p.m., Glen Keener farm, RD Connellsville. Berks County annual Sheep and Wool Growers educational meeting, 7 p.m., Ag Center. Adams County Fruit Growers meeting, 6:30 p.m., Lerew’s ? as 1 f £ i $ % iff i a ii S 1? B "Ac r -e I n I d&A -< 3> Orchard & Farm Market, R 2 Dillsburg. Wednesday, May 18 Hunterdon County, N.J., Agriculture Development Board, 8 p.m., Extension Center. Southeast Pa. Sheep Council and Extension Field Day, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Allentown Fairgrounds. (■fi m i5B J if S I its CSS l5 ® I ii] 9 I H I&® 3 11 if a i I E ,l Saturday, May 21 WHEN MONEY SPEAKS May 15,1983 Background Scripture: Acts 19 through 20. Devotional Reading: John 17:20-26 Last year, when I visited the ruins of Ephesus, I made a point of leaving the guided tour of which I was a apart, so that I could take some time to cross the road and wander around the ruins of what had once been the Temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of ancient world. From the accounts that have come down to us, it was once a massive structure with a gigantic statue of the goddess Diana. Today, however, there is hardly anything left of it but a single, solitary column that stands like a sentinel over a grave. “GREAT IS ARTEMIS!” As I stood and viewed this pitful remnant of the past, I couldn’t help but remember what the crowd had roared when Paul visited this city: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” (Artemis is another name for Diana). Apparently Artemis had not been so “great” as the Ephesians had proclaimed. By comparison, the Gospel Paul preached in Ephesus now spans the globe. Why was it that these two faiths clashed? Was it inevitable? Could they not have found some way of co-existing? One answer is surely that Christianity and the cult of Diana were bound to clash because the Good News of Jesus Christ couldn’t help but be a threat to the cult of Diana, including those who stood to profit most from the cult’s NOW IS THE TIME Lancaster County Agriculture Afent To Check Weevil in Alfalfa We are right into the decision making period for alfalfa weevil control. The 'question comes up, should I spray or cut it? This depends on the degree of damage and just how far your alfalfa is along. If your stand is getting along in maturity, then it would pay you to cut it early. If you decide to spray, then it should be applied only when 60 to 70 percent of the plants show slight feeding damage at the tips. In most cases, spray application will not be necessary. The economic threshold line is based on'a loss of 1/10 ton of alfalfa hay per acre. At $lOO per ton of hay, a loss of 1/10 ton equals $lO. If the cost of spraying is $9.50 - $lO per acre, you are at the break even level. The two major problems with spraying is the physical damage by running the tractor over the growing plants, and secondly, the tolerance time from the time of application until the residue is “off” the plants. Be sure to read the label for the tolerance periods for the different chemicals and follow the directions. To Control Flies Flies are a continual problem to keep under control in most poultry laying houses. Well, we received some good news this week. Our egg producers have been granted an emergency exemption from the State Department of Agriculture to use the insecticide Larvadex to control fly problems in their continuance and growth. Although it was on the grounds of wrong teaching that Demetrius and his silversmiths opposed Paul and his preaching, it is easily apparent that it was money, not conscience that was speaking. The men he assembled to oppose Paul were highly motivated by their vested interests in the cult of Diana: “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable company of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. The bottom line was that Paul was bad for business - their business. Later, Demetrius would also worry about Artemis’ loss of adherents, but it was obvious that his profits were speaking loudest of all. THE COURTS ARE OPEN Paul’s experience with the silversmiths in Ephesus was not the last time that the Gospel was found to be “bad for business.” For, whenever business or profit are dependent upon the ex ploitation of other people, whenever it is founded upon values that are contrary to the Good News of Jesus Christ, the collision is inevitable. There is a kind of postscript to this incident. Just when it seems the whole city is about to riot, the town clerk confronts them and manages to quell the disturbance before it gets out of hand. Nothing has happened to justify such an uproar, he tells them. If Demetrius and his associates have a wor thwhile complaint, “the courts are open.” Violence and passion will not settle this dispute for either side. Too bad we don’t know this town clerk’s name, for he is worthy of being remembered. Even more, he is worthy of being emulated whenever money speaks louder than our God-given consciences. poultry houses. The exemption, granted last year, had expired. There is a minor change in the exemption this year, which states that the poultry manure from houses where Larvadex was used may not be applied in excess of 5 ton per acre and it may not be used on small grains. Considerable research has been conducted over the past several years on this feed through pesticide. All tests have shown it to be a very safe and effective fly control material. To Be Alert For Gypsy Moth We have seen the first ap pearance of gypsy moth worms in the southern part of Lancaster County. Other property owners will see them appearing most any time. Mid-May is the normal time for them to start blowing around and eating foliage. We suggest that you get prepared to protect your favorite shade trees because gypsy moths like them all. Spray materials such as Sevin or Imidan will kill the worms that are present. Repeated sprays are needed at about a week to ten days intervals, in order to give any length of protection. Owners with large woodlots may want to secure commercial sprayers that operate from the air. Eradication-of gypsy moths is very difficult; however, some protection to private shade trees is possible with repeat ap plications. (Turn to Page Al 2)
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