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Ag’s unsung heroes
BY DICKANGLESTEIN
In this era of government programs and
high-powered farming are mere any un
sung heroes left in agriculture?
Well, for what it’s worth, my vote goes to
the vegetable and fruit growers here in
Pennsylvania.
Without much fanfare and hoopla,
hundreds of them gathered this week at
the Hershey Convention Center for the
respective annual gatherings of the
Vegetable Growers Association and the
State Horticultural Association.
High on the agendas of both groups were
reports on grower-funded research
projects and even the possible expansion
of such programs. Some examples of such
research are explained elsewhere in this
week’s issue.
And, it should be stressed that these
projects are funded entirely by the
growers themselves and any contributions
ley might get from industry or business.
No tax payer funds at all.
These research projects are also
relatively modest in r .ze, too. Total annual
programs generally run between $20,000
and $30,000.
That compares to the $34,500 in unex
pended research funds just found by the
Pa. Department of Agriculture to fund
Avian flu research projects at Penn State
and the University of Pennsylvania.
But while these fruit and vegetable
research projects may be relatively
modest in size, they are just as vitally
important to the future of growers.
Saturday, Feb. 4
Annual Ephrata Area Young
Farmers Banquet, 6:45 p.m.,
Mt. Airy Fire Hall
Delaware Horse Expo, 8 a.m.,
Lake Forest High School,
Felton, Del.
Monday, Feb. 6
State Nurseryman’s Conference,
Penn State, continues through
Thursday.
Peach Production Workshop, 10
a.m., Heidlersburg Fire Hall.
Hunterdon County N.J. Sheep
Breeders, 8 p.m., Extension
Center.
Luzerne County soil fertility
meeting. 1 p.m., St. James
Lutheran Church, Hobbie.
McKean County Crops Day, 10
a.m., Seneca Highlands Vo-
Tech School.
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Farm Calendar
Kent County, Md., Tomato
Commodity Day, 8:30 a.m.,
Tidewater Inn.
Estate Planning Meeting, 7:30
p.m., Adams County Extension
Office.
Pa. Farmers Union annual con-
vention, Hotel Hershey, con-
tinues through Thursday.
Hunterdon County, N.J. field crops
meeting, 8 p.m., Extension
Center.
Eastern Co-op delegate meeting,
Liverpool, N.Y.
Gypsy Moth meeting, 7 p.m.,
Hartley, Del. Fire Hall.
Lebanon Dairy Day, 9:30 a.m.,
Prescott Fire Hall.
Wednesday, Feb. 8
Regional beef feeders meetings,
Risser’s Restaurant,
y up
Just ask a tranato grower who watches
the leaves of his plants fall off due to early
blight and his yields cut by 30 percent or
more.
Or, a peach orchardist who can’t un
derstand why his peach trees are dying
prematurely - even before they reach
their mature fruit-bearing status.
Much has been said also during the past
year of the effects of the drought. Usually
it’s in terms of the reduced corn crop and
its effect on dairy producers and livestock
feeders.
But quite a few vegetable growers, who
were not fortunate enough to have
irrigation, felt the bone-dry pinch of the
drought last year, too.
Here in Pennsylvania, we’re quick to
point out that we‘re among the top five
states in milk and egg production.
But, the Commonwealth is also among
the top five states throughout the country
in mushroom, apple, grape, peach, sweet
corn, greenhouse and nursery production.
And let’s be perfectly honest, too.
Lancaster Farming has been just as
remiss as anyone in concentrating ag
emphasis on some at the expense of others.
It’s true that, just like the research
funds, the total overall dollar values aren’t
there - as compared to the dairy or poultry
industries.
But neither are the tremendous
government-funded programs, either.
No, it’s iust a bunch of relatively small
growers who are paying their own way and
even financing their own research to try to
take some of the uncertainties out of their
operations.
On a year-in and year-out basis who in
agriculture faces more uncertainties, crop
losses and income fluctuations than the
fruit and vegetable grower.
Proximity to markets and the renewed
emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables in
the diet are shaping an expanded potential
for area fruit and vegetable growmg. That
is if we can keep our abundant water clean
enough.
The future appears to be out there. And,
it’s refreshing to see some in agriculture
really trying to shape their own future - no
matter how modest it may be.
To me, that’s makes them real unsung
heroes.
Tuesday, Feb. 7
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BLOCK?
Stouchsburg: Dairy 9:30
a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Beef 1:30-
4:30 p.m.; Part-Time; 5:30-9:30
p.m.
Mastitis Prevention School, New
Holland Production Credit
Bldg., continues tomorrow.
Pa. Young Farmers winter con
vention, Americana Host Inn,
Harrisburg, continues
tomorrow.
Improving Dairy Calf-Heifer
Management, 10 a.m., West
Street Branch, Gettysburg
National Bank.
Luzerne Farm Tax Meeting, 1 and
7:30 p.m., Water Street Annex
Extension Office.
Wayne County local government
meeting, 8 p.m., Extension
Office, Courthouse.
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Background Scripture: Isaiah
43;45.
Devotional Reading: Exodus 19; 1-
Someone recently asked me
what I thought was the single
greatest religious problem in the
world today. Without pausing to
think it over, I replied: “I would
say it is our tendency to forget both
who we are and who He is.”
On reflection, that may not be
the “single greatest religious
problem” facing us today, but it
will do very well as a starting
place. So many of our other
problems religious and secular
seem so tied to this one per
sistent flaw in human nature.
“NO HANDLES”
This is hardly a new
phenomenon in human history. In
fact, from the very beginning of
time it has seemed that God has
had to remind us of who we are and
who He is. That’s what much of the
first chapter of Genesis is about.
That’s what much of Hebrew and
Israelite history is about, too.
Nowhere is this more pointedly
expressed than in Isaiah:
“Wo to him who strives with his
Maker, an earthen vessel with the
potter! Does the clay say to him
who fashions it, ‘What are you
making’? or ‘Your work has no
NOW IS THE TIME
During my lifetime the
management of farm labor,
livestock, crops and machinery
has been very important in order
to obtain maximum production.
Many farmers have excelled in
these areas. Now, as we look into
the mid-eighties, I feel that money
management is of growing im
portance to the farmer and
warrants more attention and
knowledge. The planning of your
estate, including the making and
updating of a will, and also the
proper farm transfer are con
siderations that are very im
portant. Today, the average far
mer handles more money in one
month than his ancestors did in a
year. We urge more attention to
estate planning and money
management as part of good fram
management. We hope you plan to
attend the Estate Planning
meeting on March 1 and the Farm
OFFICE
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SAID THE CLAY TO
THE POTTER...
February 5,1984
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Ag riculture Agent
Phone 717-394 6851
To Plan Your Estate
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handles’?” (45:9)
First, we must remember that
hfc is the Creator and we are his
creatures. There is a tremendous
gap between those two poles. The
Creator brings the created into
being. Just in case we don’t get the
full impact of the difference bet
ween Creator and created, we are
given the analogy of the potter and
the clay. Everyone knows that it is
the potter who molds the clay, not
the other w-j -round.
Secondly, we must realize that
the difference in who we are a. id
who He is has a tremendous effect
upon the way we must operate in
this world. Just as the clay cannot
question the potter, just as it would
be the height of arrogance for the
clay to criticize the potter, so it is
ridiculous when the creatures call
the Creator to question.
“MY HANDS”
The crux of the matter is not that
we shall not ask the questions, but
that we could not understand the
answers if they were given. We
cannot think God’s thoughts or
understand as he understands.
Even our best human answers and
understandings are not without
holes. One cannot simply en
compass the divine with human
thoughts and words. The infinite
cannot be expressed in anything
that is finite.
This is not a put-down for
human-beings. We must use all of
our God-given abilities to their
very utmost. We must ask all the
hard questions that present
themselves to us in life. But we
must never forget that what He is
and what we are sets some
profoiihd limits.
I made the earth and created
man upon it; it was my hands that
stretched out the heavens... (45:12)
This is not the first time God has
had to remind us. Maybe this time
we’ll get it right!
Transfer meeting on March 15 -
both at 7:30 p.m. in the Farm and
Home Center, Lancaster.
To Plan Legume Seeding
It’s not too soon to make plans
for seeding clover or alfalfa on
winter grains. Many of our good
stands have been obtained by
making a broadcast seeding in late
February or early March. The
value for seeding at this time is to
take advantage of the alternate
freezing and thawing to work the
small seeds into the topsoil. Wheat
is usually the best grain to make
late winter or early spring legume
seedings. Barley and rye tend to
develop too much growth and
increase the potential for lodging
which smothers out the small
legume plants. Broadcast seeding
when the soil is “honeycombed” in
early March works very well, but
the use of a band-seeder may be a
better way to establish a new
legume stand.
To Protect Your Lungs
Be it in the coal mines or on the
farm... dust can destroy lungs.
Farmers who are exposed to dust
over long periods of time risk a
disabling disease called “farmer’s
lung”. As the dust accumulates in
the lungs the tissue hardens. This
can lead to a variety of respiratory
ailments including bronchitis and
tuberculosis. If the condition is not
diagnosed soon enough,
irreversible lung damage may
occur.
Preventing farmer’s lung
doesn’t require any elaborate or
expensive equipment... a simple
mask will do. They needn’t be worn
all the time... just when dust can’t
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