I *
4 important words
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
What does the future hold for farming 7 As
the winter meeting season is just about at its
halfway point, this subject is being explored a
number of times at all types of ag gatherings.
More than likely your crystal ball is as good
as anyone’s when you look into something that
is as fluid and dynamic as the coming years in
farming. But as I gaze into the future I can see
four words that will keep cropping up again
and again in the future of agriculture.
These words are: Research, Promotion,
Checkoff and Security.
RESEARCH and PROMOTION These two
words kmda eo hand-m-hand in the future of
agriculture. And it is good to see that the two
are so strongly represented in the ag portion
of the proposed new state budget in Penn
sylvania.
Continuing ag research is essential in three
mam directions. Production must be tempered
with operational efficiency in all farm
operations. Farm-related products must
constantly be updated to meet the ever
changing demands of consumers. And con
tinued progress must be made in eliminating
and preventing the problems of modern
agriculture.
And as progress is made in all of these
areas, it must be promoted. That promotion
Monday, Feb. 13
Luzerne County soil fertility
meeting, 1 p.m., St.
James Lutheran Church,
Hobble.
McKean County Home Grounds
meeting, 7:30 p.m., 4-H
Center, Smethport
fairgrounds.
Poultry servicemen, 6:30 p.m.,
Lancaster Holiday Inn
North, “Potential Role of
Flies in the Spread of
Avian.”
Delaware Safety Seminar, 7 p.m.,
Bridgeville Fire Hall.
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Lycoming Milkers School, 9:30
a.m., Bloomsburg
Fairgrounds.
Bucks County regional soybean
meeting, 10 a.m.,
Warrington Motor Lodge
Restaurant, Rt. 611.
Turf and Ornamental School,
Grantville, continues
tomorrow.
Wayne County farm financial
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ERG
Farm Calendar
management clinic, 10
a.m., Extension Meeting
Room, Courthouse,
Honesdale, continues
tomorrow.
Atlantic Breeders Co-op, Solanco
Fairgrounds, 7 p.m.
Schuylkill winter vegetables
meeting, 8:30 p.m.,
Dusselfink Motor Inn.
Adams County Beef Producers,
7:30 p.m., Extension
Office.
Delaware Safety Seminar, 7 p.m.,
Felton Fire Hall.
Lebanon County 4-H Livestock
Banquet, 7 p.m.,
Schaefferstown Fire Hall.
Delaware soybean weed control
meeting, 7:30 p.m.,
Townsend’s Inc, Mt.
Pleasant.
Hunterdon County, N.J. field crops
meeting, 8 p.m., Ex-
tension Center.
Elk County Milkers School, St
Marys, continues
tomorrow.
must not only be oriented to products.
Whether we like it or not we live in a very
image-conscious society .From electing a
president to the most basic of purchases,
image often guides our decisions Farming has
one of the most appealing and wholesome of
basic images, but it must be conveyed again
and again to the 97 percent of the people out
there who aren’t farmers
CHECKOFF Just as many producers are
already doing - vegetable, fruit, potato and
pork among them - farmer-sponsored
research is going to need to be expanded The
time is rapidly coming when producer-funded
studies are going to be needed for every major
crop and species found on a farm
As federal government involvement m
research becomes less and less, the slack is
going to need to be picked up And producers
will be called on to play an ever-increasing
role
But let’s look a little closer at paying the bill
for ag research As farmers, about three
percent of the population is interested in ag
research but as food and fibre consumers 100
percent of us have a vital stake in a continued
bountiful and healthful food supply.
I wonder what are the chances of ever
having a small surcharge on food and fibre
sales to provide a broad-based source of
revenue for ag research, which in its most
basic definition is directed at making certain
we have enough food and fibre, that it's good
and economically available.
SECURITY - Many hog farmers in the wake
of pseudorabies have already changed many of
their management practices, particularly
those related to security. You just don't walk
freely in and out of a lot of hog operations
anymore.
Once Avam is checked and repopulation
gets into full swing, these same stiffer security
measures are going to need to be applied to
chicken houses, too.
And, growing concern with Johne’s will
require some management changes in dairy
operations, too.
So there you have the four words -
Research, Promotion, Checkoff and Security
You just watch how many times you hear
them coming up in the future.
Berks dairy nutrition meeting, 9 30
a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Ag
Center, Leesport.
York County Soybean, forage and
small grams marketing,
9:30 a.m. - 3 pm., 4-H
Center.
York County commercial fruit
meeting, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.,
Pleasant Acres.
Blue Ball National Bank Farm
Seminar, 10:30 a.m., Blue
Ball Fire Hall.
Bluebird Nesting Workshop, 7:30
p.m., Fort Hunter Park
Barn, Harrisburg.
Luzerne County Farm Tax
meeting, 1 p.m., Nan
ticoke Ag Service Center.
Hunterdon County, N.J. Ag
Development Board,
Extension Center, 8 p.m.
Wayne County local government
session, 8 p.m., Extension
Office, Courthouse.
(Turn to Page Al 2)
Wednesday, Feb. 15
'm.
THE SOV EREIGN
SERVANT
February 12,1984
Background Scripture:
Isaiah 42:1-4;49:1-6;50:4-ll;52:13-
53:12.
Devotional Reading
Isaiah 50:4-11
Almost 30 years ago when I was
a seminary student in Dayton,
Ohio, the great Japanese
Christian, Toyohiko Kagawa,
came to town to speak in a public
convocation.
I cannot remember anything he
said that evening, for nothing he
said was all than outstanding. He
was not a great preacher in the
accepted sense of that term.
But Kagawa didn’t have to say
anything to have an effect upon
those of us present that evening.
What he was spoke louder and
more eloquently than any of his
words could have. His soft-spoken,
shy, stumbling speech could not
hide his great soul.
THESERVANT
There is a story told about a high
church dignitary who went to visit
Kagawa shortly after the World
War 11. Kagawa’s house was
small, but he insisted his visitor
stay the night with him. As a
seasoned traveler, the visitor put
his shoes outside his door that
night so that Kagawa’s servant
could clean and shine them.
In the morning, the visitor found
that his shoes had received con
siderable attention. Later in the
NOW IS THE TIME
mtm
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
To Be Concerned For
Our Neighbors
The Avian Influenza that has
dealt a heavy blow on the poultry
industry in Lancaster and nearby
counties, seems to be slowing down
a bit. We really hope so, but it is no
time to ease up on health security.
The “Poultry Watch” program
was started by the Task Force two
weeks ago to try to prevent the
spread of the virus. To date over
400 are voluntarily participating
with the program. The “Poultry
Watch” program is designed to
isolate the virus before it has a
chance to spread to your neighbors
and friends. The sooner the virus is
detected and eliminated, and the
quarantine is lifted, the better off
we’ll all be. Keep in mind that any
A.I. virus detected through Poultry
Watch will be rechecked by
veterinarians on the Task Force.
No flock will go down without
positive identification.
rVOU COULD
ADD THE
AMERICAN
FARMER
L TO ThfAT LIST
day, the visitor asked someone
where he could find Kagawa’s
servant so that he could give him a
small gratuity. He was shocked
when the other person replied,
“But Kagawa has no servant! ”
This great Christian saint was
not so great that he couldn’t stoop
to cleaning and shining the shoes of
one of his visitors. In a like man
ner, Jesus had washed the feet of
his discing Neither considered
the roll of servant beneath them.
In fact, it was their willingness *o
be servants that gave them a
status and sovereignty that would
have otherwise been denied them.
When one can willingly offer him
or herself as a servant,- it is in that
free choice to live up to the highest
and best in us that we experience
what true sovereignty means.
GIVEN, NOT TAKEN
The difference is that the true
servant gives him or herself in
service; nothing is taken from
him, either by force or by suasion.
Our problem is that we think of the
servant as one who is the unwilling
subject of someone in higher
status.
Yet, as Jesus tried to show us,
there is nothing in God’s kingdom
higher than the person who
willingly bears the burdens of
someone else. To become a servant
as Jesus did is to take a giant
step upwards, not down.
Even the injustice and rejection
which the servant sometmes en
counters, is not something that is
imposed upon him or her;
He was despised and rejected by
men; a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief...He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his
mouth.. .(53:3,7).
It is not the image of a hapless
victim we see in these prophecies,
but that of a victor who has
maintained his sovereignty.
We hope everyone cooperates.
We know the quarantine will not be
lifted until the A.I. virus is
eliminated. For more information
on “Flock Watch”, call (717 ) 295-
1800. Let’s do our part to eradicate
Avain Influenza.
To Plan Forage Management
A good supply of quality forages
is one of the most important things
in the feeding program of
dairymen, cattlemen, and sheep
producers. Growers should now be
planning what kind of forage crops
they hope to produce this year.
Both hay and silage crops
respond to good management.
Growers who make a special effort
to obtain maximum yields of
quality forages usually produce
more than the average.
Some of the top alfalfa growers
produce double the tonnage per
acre than the average. This did not
just happen. They planned and
made decisions on date from their
farm records. Doing all the
practices that have been suc
cessful, and doing them on time,
will normally bring good results.
To Evaluate Manure Plant Food
Our Agronomist has told far
mers for 40 years that a ton of
dairy manure is equivalent to 100
pounds of a 5-3-5 fertilizer, but
recent research indicates little, it
any, nitrogen is available to the
crop when manure is spread daily
and left exposed to the elements.
Current data has confirmed that
a ton of stored dairy manure is
equivalent to 100 pounds of 5-3-5
fertilizer. The nutrients in fresh
manure are equal to those of
inorgapic. fertilizer for crop
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