*lO— UHCMttr Farming, Saturday, April 28,1984
v
Ag is so easy to
take for granted
To while away the hour or so of-dnvmg to the
Pa. Grange legislative session this week in
Harrisburg, I played a little game that I used to
engage in with my younger brother as kids
during Sunday afternoon drives many years
ago.
We’d each pick a type of vehicle and then
see who counted the most seen during the
drive.
This week, I changed the rules of the game a
bit and counted the number of ag-related
vehicles seen along Rt. 283 between Lan
caster and Harrisburg,
I was literally amazed at the number.
Clearly, the greater majority of identifiable
commercial vehicles were related to
agriculture.
To cite just a few that come to mind there
were a half dozen trucks carrying food
products, two gram rigs, a couple of feed
trucks, an Al truck, another hauling a load of
farm machinery, one laden with hay and
another with straw and countless farm
pickups easily discerned by the mud on the
tires and the beds filled with sacks and bags.
If I had to hazard a guess, I'd estimate that
fully two-thirds of the trucks that could be
visually identified were carrying agriculturally
related cargoes.
After hearing the emphasis stressed by
Grange Master Charles Wismer and veterinary
representatives from Penn State and Penn's
New Bolton Center concerning animal health
problems and the need for funds to handle
Farm Calendar
Saturday, April 28
Chester-Delaware
Grange legislative banquet,
Wagontown Fire Hall.
Bradford County Maple Festival,
Troy Fairgrounds, continues
tomorrow.
Region IV 4-H Horse Clinic for
parents & leaders, 10 a.m. -
12:30 p.m.
NW All-Breed Calf Sale, 1 p.m.,
Crawford County Fairgrounds.
Annual Maryland Jersey Cattle
Club spring sale, 11:30 a.m.,
Gaywinds Farm, Keymar, Md.
Dairy Expo, Penn State Ag Arena.
Sunday, April 29
Club Lamb Workshop, noon - 2
Otis
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have you )
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p.m., Howard County, Md.
Fairgrounds, followed by Touch
of Class Club Lamb Sale, 2:30
p.m.
Pa. Flying Farmers, 1 p.m., home
of David and Joanne Sweigart,
use Elizabethtown-Marietta
Airport.
Pomona
Annual Wool Growers meeting and
educational session, 6:30 p.m.,
Berks County Ag Center,
Leesport.
Sprayer Calibration and Weed
Control meeting, 10:30 a.m. -
12:30 p.m., Dennis Boyd Farm,
them, my little game of counting ag vehicles
and state ag problems started to gel together
into a single thought.
Just like all those ag-related vehicles we
pass every day on the highway and never
really see, agriculture as a whole as the state’s
number one industry is equally taken for
granted.
As long as storo shelves remain fully stocked
at a reasonable price (reasonable to the
buyer), the average consumer never even
thinks about agriculture. They drive along
looking right through and beyond all those ag
related vehicles and the farms themselves
that line the roads.
Animal health problems are just one
example of a phase of agriculture that has
been sorely taken for granted and permitted
to slip into tough times through the lack of
adequate funding and support. And un
fortunately, it has taken a disaster like Avian
flu to bring it to the forefront.
As the Grange, other farm organizations and
ag representatives from Penn State, Penn and
other schools will confirm, it’s a constant
battle to have their needs even heard, let
alone finally met.
As representatives of a minority that is
constantly dwindling in numbers, it’s so easy
to be taken for granted.
But as Avian flu has helped to point out,
there comes a time when the bill must be paid
for all those years of being taken for granted.
Animal health and the lack of proper
veterinary lab facilities to handle them are real
problems in Pennsylvania And they are not
going to go away when the last chicken flock is
depopulated and the final quarantine is lifted.
The problems are here to stay and it’s
obvious the time is overdue to do something
about them It's up to the ag community as a
whole in league with the state to come to a
concensus of what actually should be done and
how it should be paid
We can just no longer enjoy the luxury of
taking agriculture for granted.
What we need is some sort of universal ag
logo or symbol that could be placed on every
package of food, on every ag-related vehicle,
or whatever.
Simply, it could say; “This began on a farm."
Such a logo or saying wouldn't help to solve
some of ag’s problems But it could help in
keeping ag more visible in the eyes of the
public. And increased visibility and awareness
can help create a better atmosphere to tackle
some of these pressing problems
Tuesday, May 1
Wednesday, May 2
‘ s l
ForksviUe Rl.
Adams County Sheep Producers
annual meeting, 7:30 p.m.,
Extension Office.
Thursday, May 3
15th Mid-Atlantic States
Veterinary Clinic, York
Fairgrounds.
Friday, May 4
Pennsylvania Farm-City Council,
10 a.m., Pa. Kiwanis Office.
Saturday, May 5
Adams County Apple Blossom
Festival, continues tomorrow,
South Mountain Fairgrounds.
(Turn to Page A:i 2)
TRULY WISE
& OTHERWISE
April 29,1984
Background Scripture: James 1.
Devotional Reading: James
1:12-18.
Christianity has always placed a
high priority on wisdom. This is
one of the legacies it inherited
from Judaism, in which wisdom
was highly valued. In fact, there is
a whole class of Old Testament
literature that is known as
“wisdom literature”; Proverbs,
Job, Ecclesiastes, portions of the
Psalms and the Apocryphal Ec
clesiasticus and the Wisdom of
Solomon.
In the New Testament we can
see the influence of Old Testament
wisdom literature in the sayings of
Jesus—particularly the Beatitudes
and parables—as well as various
passages in the epistles of Paul.
The New Testament Epistle of
James is almost entirely written in
the style of the wisdom literature.
LIVING RIGHTLY
Unlike the wisdom writings of
other ancient literatures, the
wisdom literature in the Bible has
a slightly different meaning.
Wisdom is not equated with learn
ing, or even understanding and
good judgement by themselves.
Rather it is the knowledge of the
principles by which a person lives
rightly. As the writer of Proverbs
puts it, “therefore get wisdom:
and with they getting get
understanding” (*•!). The person
NOW IS THE TIME
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717 394 6851
To Prepare For Corn Planting
It always seems like we are in
the full swing of the spring rush by
the time daylight savings time
arrives. Well, this year we are a bit
behind schedule but, in any event
we are fast approaching com
planting time and if your planter is
not “ready to go” then put this high
on your list of jobs that must be
done. If you plan to change the row
width, be sure to calibrate your
planter to the plant population you
desire. This should be done well
ahead of time so if you need new
plates they can be picked up and
installed. Also your pest control
programs should be worked out.
If you are on a no-till program
and have a cover crop of rye,
wheat or barley, then it should be
24 inches tall. Paraquat plus a
surfactant does an excellent job.
surfactant does an excellent job.
As far as insect control goes,
research data collected from
who does not truly understand
what he knows is not likely to put it
into practice.
This is also the way the writer of
James understands wisdom. He
begins with the advice, “If any of
you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,
who gives to all men generously
and without reproaching, and it
will be given nim” (1:5). But he
quickly makes it clear that the pur
pose of this wisdom is to enable the
Christian to live rightly:
“But be doers of the word, and
not hearers only, deceiving
yourselvs” (1:22).
I wish James had also includ
ed ... “and not speakers of the
word only,” for there are many of
us who talk an excellent game that
may pass for Christian
discipleship. We know how to
clearly verbalize what it means to
be a Christian. But between the
speaking of the word and the doing
of it there is often a great chasm.
Some Christians are obviously in
love with the ideas of Christianity.
For them the essence of being a
Christian is self-righteous
argumentation and debate. A
tremendous emphasis is laid upon
just how a person enunciates his or
her faith.
But James says, “If any one
thinks he is religious, and does not
bridle his tongue but deceives his
heart, this man’s religion is in
vain” (1:26). The unbridled tongue
is the downfall of many of us who
would never think of physically in
juring someone, but would hardly
hesitate to wound that person with
words.
It matters little that we know the
right words, unless we understand
how to do the word. That’s the dif
ference between the truly wise and
the otherwise.
By Jay Irwin
numerous sites over the past
several years indicates that soil
insecticide treatments • for corn
rootworm control have not
significantly increased yields
except in a small percentage of the
fields. If rootworm was not a
problem in the past, treatment will
not be necessafy. If the field was in
anything but com, there would not
be a rootworm problem because
they only survive on com roots.
To Think Ryelage
Many farmers plant rye as a
forage crop for their cattle. Rye
can provide a lot of much needed
high quality forage if it is
handled properly. For top quality
feed value, rye should be cut
around the boot stage of maturity,
and wilted before ensiling. After
this stage, feed value drops
rapidly. Some of our rye fields will
be heading out soon. That means
we should be thinking about cut
ting rye, perhaps even before we
start planting com.
For Spring Worming
Spring is the best time to start a
year round program to control
internal parasites in cattle.
Worming will help calves achieve
heavier weights and give better
feed efficiency.
Since producers will probably be
handling cattle before turning
them out on summer pasture it’s a
good time to worm cattle to rid
them of existing parasite burdens.
Internal parasites damage the
stomach and intestines and
compete with the animal for feed.
A parasite infection increases the
nutrient requirement for good
BRIDLE THE TONGUE
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