AlO—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 11,1984
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The Ag Olympics
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
Did you watch any of the Olympics on TV
during the past couple of weeks? Anyone who
turned a set on or opened a newspaper
couldn't help but get Olympicized.
While watching some of the Summer Games,
I got to thinking what an opportunity farmers
would have to display their skills and get their
story across to the world if they'd hold an Ag-
Olympics.
Instead of Jim McKay, Paul Harvey could be
the anchor for the telecast. Commodity
princesses could hand out the awards and
celebrities like Penny Hallowed could serve as
judges.
Here are some of the possible events that
could be held;
--Instead of a discus throw, farmers could
compete in tossing cow chips. Strict in
ternational rules would need to be written
concerning bovine diets to get the best chips,
as well as proper drying techniques - both
natural by the sun and mechanical with a
microwave or whatever
-For the shot put or hammer throw, you
could subsitiute the bale throw Rules would
need to be written concerning bale weight and
composition, method of tying and a stipulation
in case the bale falls apart in midair Instead of
the familiar little sports logos you see
plastered all over the athletes and their
equipment, New Holland, Deere and others
could become sponsors
-Watching those tiny, young ladies on the
balance beam reminds me of putting up
tobacco. To me it’s much more difficult and
requires more skill to balance yourself on a
narrow beam while passing a heavy lathe of
Farm Calendar
Saturday, August 11
SCPPPA Annual Picnic, Gene
Hege Farm, Chambersburg,
6:30 p.m.
Conservation Field Day, Cold
Brook Preserve, Oldwick, N.J.
Tours and demonstrations at
9:30 a.m.
Sussex County, N.J., Sheep
Breeders Show, continues
tomorrow.
Southcentral Pa. Cattlemen’s
Field Day, 9 a.m., Laird farm,
Dover, York County.
Annual meeting of Pa. Livestock
Auction Association, Villa Leo,
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New Cumberland.
Eastern Regional Holstein Show,
Kutztown.
Sunday, August 12
McKean County Fair, continues
through August 19.
Second Intergalactic Milk Carton
Boat Race, 1:30 p.m., Knutsen’s
Lake, Rising Sun, Md.
75th Annual Meeting, Pa. Baker’s
Association, Four Seasons
Hotel, Philadelphia.
Huntingdon County Fair, Hun
tingdon; continues through
Saturday.
tobacco up over your head to someone who’s
filling the top of the shed.
-The floor exercises of the gymnasts could
be transformed into an event for tractor
drivers pulling a haybme through a large field
of alfalfa Each driver would be required to
perform a routine of maneuvers - such as
figure-eights, circles, etc - and move through
each section of the field. Judges would
compare consistency of cut and precision of
the maneuvers
-The dance-like steps of a team driver while
standing on a moving wagon across a bumpy
field would be substituted for the ballet-like
steps of the gymnasts
-Instead of a static, unmovable side horse,
farmers could perform on a real horse
-Instead of speed swimming events, far
mers would compete against each other to see
who can get a balky cow out of a farm pond the
fastest on a hot, sultry afternoon.
-lo replace me cycling events, rarmers
would operate stripped-down self-propelled
wmdrowers around a sloping oval track of
small gram
-The high hurdles would be made more
interesting Those flimsy hurdles easily
knocked over would be replaced with barbed
wire hurdles - electrified of course Wow, what
an incentive to set a world record
-The long jump would also contain some
extra incentive. The jump would be made over
a pit of squoochy manure. Look out Carl Lewis,
our farmer -leapers will make you look sick.
-In the relay races, competitors in the Ag
Olympics must be mixed - one farmer, one
banker, one supplier and one consumer. In
this way, each would learn how important it is
to depend on the other for success.
-But the most interesting event in the Ag-
Olympics would be one similar to the parallel
bars or still rings. Each competing farmer
could display what an intricate job farming has
become, requiring the careful balancing of
many different skills. And, if a farmer lets up
for just one minute in his daily Ag Olympics
routine, he’s likely to fall flat on his .
-And, finally instead of playing the in
dividual national anthems when the medals
are presented, John Denver could belt out a
few bars of “Thank God, I'm a Country Boy (or
girl, too)’’
And, there would be a very humanitarian
byproduct of the Ag-Olympics, too All of the
food products harvested by the competitors
during the events would be donated to those
under-developed countries with the starving
populations who send athletes to the regular
Olympics to compete in the lap of luxury.
Kutztown Fair, Kutztown; con
tinues through Saturday.
Washington County Fair,
Washington; continues through
Saturday.
Mifflin County tillage demon
stration, 9:30 a.m., Ferguson
Valley Farms.
Carlisle Fair, Carlisle; continues
through Saturday.
Bullskin Township Fair, Mount
Pleasant; continues through
Saturday.
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A BACKWARD
STEP AHEAD
August 12,1984
Background Scripture:
2 Kings 18 through 20.
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 1:18-20.
Recently I had an opportunity to
return to my university alma
mater after several decades of
absence.
I knew that m the thirty years
since I had graduated, the campus
had undergone a tremendous
change. Many of the things we had
dreamed of when I was a student
there had now come to pass:
bright, shiny new buildings to
replace some of the old
“dungeons” of my day, city streets
had been closed-off, trolley tracks
taken up and the campus almost
doubled in size. Millions had been
spent to improve the university.
HE HELD FAST
But my “homecoming” was
something less than the joy I had
anticipated. The campus of my
alma mater today is a hodgepodge
of glaring architectural ex
periments, graffiti, and a campus
that looks “seedy.” All the new
“improvements” have not
necessarily made the campus a
better place to pursue an
1 education.
This is hardly a unique or
singular experience, but one that I
have encountered frequently. I
realize at this point in my life that
all too often in the past I have
placed too much stock in replacing
the “old” with the “new”. “New”
NOW IS THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717 394 6851
To Renovate Old Pastures
Late August and early Sep
tember are good times to establish
a new pasture, or renovate an old
one. In fact, this is a good time of
the year to make any pasture or
lawn seeding. The old sod should
be destroyed by cultivation or by a
herbicide. After the soil has been
treated with lime and fertilizer,
according to a complete soil test, it
can be seeded and should produce
good grazing for next summer.
The advantage of a fall seeding
is to permit time for the new plants
to become established before the
1985 hot weather arrives. The cool,
moist fall months should give the
plants a good start. The Agronomy
Guide lists some good seeding
recommendations.
is not necessarily “better.”
Like many of us, the people of
Israel were eager to leave behind
the “old ways” of their fathers and
establish the “new” ways that
seemed to be the only key to the
future. The “old” religion seemed
too restrictive and forbidding. The
“new” religious movements all
around them promised to be much
more enjoyable and profitable.
That is, until Hezekiah became
king. .e most of his
predecessors and successor
Hezekiah was not hesitant L
return his nation to the old values
and practices which had so
sustained Israel in former times.
Thus, the writer of 2 Kings makes
what was to be a very rare entry:
“And he did what was right in the
eyes of the Lord,...For he held fast
to the Lord; he did not depart from
following him, but kept the com
mandments which the Lord
commanded Moses” (18:3,6).
HE PROSPERED
It wasn’t that Hezekiah was
trying to take the people of Israel
back to “the good old days,” but
that he was trying to get them to
return to the eternal truths and
values which time does not
outgrow. It was Israel’s heritage
from the past that would be the
foundation upon which the Israel of
the present must build for the
future. The end result was that
“wherever he went, he prospered”
(18:7).
Hezekiah apparently realized
that one does not have to give up
the past in order to live in the
present and prepare for the future.
There was value in the old
traditions of Israel. There was
continuity in perpetuating some of
the old ways.
It was this appreciation and
reverence for the traditions of
Israel that made him so effective
in the present moment. The reform
of Hezekiah, although it appeared
to be a movement backward, was
actually a step ahead.
To Plan Herbicide Changes For
Next Fall
By this time of year, any weed
problems in your fields are fairly
evident and probably beyond
control. But now is a good time to
develop an effective program for
next year.
The easiest way to check for the
effectiveness of different her
bicides is to leave a small part of
your field untreated. This gives
you a chance to tell what weeds
were controlled and what ones
were missed. However, spots that
the sprayer missed near the ends
of fields will serve our purpose
quite well.
If several types of weeds seemed
to have escaped control, you
should check the herbicide con
tainer label as to whether the
material was designed to eliminate
those weeds. If it was not, be sure
to include a herbicide to control
them in your program for next
year.
If your entire weed control
program seems to have been
ineffective, reread the label to see
if you followed the instructions.
Just a few simple mistakes during
application can result in a com
plete failure.
Don’t be too quick to condem the
herbicide. Either too much or too
little rain soon after application
can cause a great loss of ef
fectiveness in many herbicides.
To Be Aware Of Tiw Pollen Count
The “hay fever” season is here.
Despite its name, “hay” is not
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