Alo— UncwtT Fanning, Saturday, August 25,1984 BYDICKANGLESTEIN This week we found out what happened to all the "BULL” after artificial insemination took hold down on the farm. A lot of it was in Dallas at the Republican National Convention. The rest was out in San Francisco a few weeks ago when the Democrats gathered for their beauty pageant. The sheer stupidity of national nominating conventions is illustrated in the fact that only politicians and their journalistic camp followers are dumb enough to travel to Texas in late August. The sultry, hot Texas tem peratures were exceeded only by the hot air generated inside the convention hall. At least, the Democrats had sense enough to pick a city with a reasonable climate. This country fought a revolution to get rid of a king, but still continues to idolize pseudo royalty at things like presidential nominating conventions, which combine the shallow pomp and ceremomy of a Miss America Contest with the mentality of a kindergarten show-and-tell. And now the campaign begins in earnest. More empty words and promises from empty heads. Candidates will criss-cross the country courting all types of voter groups - labor, women, blacks, Hispamcs -- just to name a few. Like the virile young male who cruises for pickups, they’ll promise anything to try and get the one and only thing the/Want. But you can bet your last bushel of corn that one important group will be entirely Farm Calendar Saturday, Aug. 25 Centre County Grange Fair, continues through Thursday. Monday, Aug. 27 4-H South Central District Dairy Show, 9 a.m., Farm Show Building. Indiana County Fair continues through Saturday. Wattsburg Fair continues through Saturday. West End Fair continues through Saturday. -OKi WW/T7’S I FEFL KIND OF k. Tuesday, Aug. 28 Methane digester meeting, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., Lancaster Farm & Home Center. Northumberland Conservation Tillage Field Day, 4 p.m., Jeff Pontius farm, 3 miles south of Sunbury on Et. 147. Greene-Dreher-Sterling Fair continues through Sept. 3. Flemington, N.J. Fair, continues through Labor Day. Allentown Fair continues through overlooked when the politicians make their barnstorming, biff-bam, courting swings. That totally ignored group will be the farmers of the Northeastern United States. Just as the major farm equipment manufacturers build machinery for the plains and prairies and ignore the Northeast, so do the politicians. Why it wasn't until the Avian flu that the USDA even noticed that there is quite a bit of agriculture in its own backyard. And only then because the price tag topped $5O million. Northeastern agriculture - as the largest industry from Maine down through Delaware -- deserves much more than it gets out of Washington. There are some pretty serious ag problems here in the Northeast where silos are piled one on top of the other and literally hang by a thread to existence like the weed that tenaciously sprouts in the crack in the pavement. --First, Northeastern ag needs some representation on Congressional ag com mittees. Then perhaps, things like Congressman Robert Walker's active mouth could be put to better use than just playing sophomonc word games with that fat Irishman in the House of Representatives. -Ag trade regulations need to be stiffened to give our farmers a fair chance in everything from pork to mushrooms. --The economic, ecological and sociological pressures felt by the Northeastern farmer are the worst in the nation in this populous region. -I doubt if even Avian flu has raised the animal health red flag sufficiently in the face of Washington concerning the problems of an area where livestock and poultry con centrations are unequalled. -Farmland preservation, soil erosion and water pollution are crying out for innovative and bold solutions It seems that the agricultural mentality of Washington moved west permanently with the covered wagons and completely forgot about the Northeast. Those Hollywood cowboys and others in Washington got to reopen their eyes to the ag community that is the very basis of the economy of the Northeast. But how can you recognize this when the only parts of the Northeast you see are Washington, D.C., a retreat in the Maryland mountains and a fleeting glimpse as Air Force One takes off for another vacation in California. If Northeastern farmers ever got their act together, they could be the single deciding factor in who sits in the White House for the next four years. Perhaps then, they'd get the attention they deserve. But the chances of either of these things ever happening are about as remote as making an honest living off Jerusalem ar tichokes. Sept. 3. Mifflin County conservation tillage demonstration, 9:30 a.m. Elizabethtown Fair continues through Saturday. Mid-Atlantic Soybean Association summer meeting, 12:30 p.m., Adelphia Research Farm, Adelphia, N.J. Sullivan County Fair, continues through Saturday. No-till forage seeding demon (Turn to Page Al 2) <k CONSEQUENCES August 26,1984 Background Scripture: 2 Kings 24 through 25. Devotional Reading: Jeremiah 12:8-16. The tragedy of Judah under Zedekiah doesn’t seem all that remote to us. The last days of Judah as recorded in 2 Kings 25 are not all unlike what some of us have witnessed in our century: a brave defense, ultimately overwhelmed, a city and nation devastated. For Judah it was no halfway measure. The army was utterly defeated. The king was captured, forced to watch the execution of his sons and then blinded. The Babylonians destroyed the temple, the king’s palace and the walls of Jerusalem. And the population was carried into captivity with only a few peasants left to inhabit the once-proud capitol. WHAT WAS EVIL What happened to Jerusalem and Judah was no mere accident. Nor was it fate, for the writers of 2 Kings make it clear that all of it could have been avoided if the people had changed their ways. No, it was neither chance nor fate that brought upon them this great disaster. It was, however, a matter of consequences. Judah finally paid the check for its moral and NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agriculture Agent Phone 717 394-6851 To Be Alert For Silo Gas We are fast approaching silo filling time, in fact many farmers are servicing their equipment now. This is one of the best methods of harvesting the com crop to obtain maximum feed nutrients. With our large tower silos, the danger of poisonous gases becomes more important. We urge our farmers to discuss this hazard with their employees and all family mem bers. These gases can develop from one day to 14 days after the silo is filled. Most of these gases have a chlorine-laundry bleach odor and irritate the eyes and respiratory system. Some are yellow and some are colorless. Don’t take any chances warn all your people of this danger. Never enter a partly filled silo without running the blower for at least 15 minutes. These gases are heavier than air and will come down the chute and into the bam. spiritual decline. Like almost all the kings that had preceded him, Zedekiah “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (24:19). The writer of 2 Kings doesn’t tell us what that was, but says simply “...according to all that Jehoiakim had done.” In other words, it was more of the same moral sickness that had inflicted Israel almost from its very beginning. But Jud-'h suffered the final disaster, not just because of an evil and follish king, but because the people followed him down the road to decline. Under his leadership, they also “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” and the disaster that followed was simply the consequence of that decay. INTO EXILE Life is a series of consequences for choices we have made and courses we have taken. Racial problems in our country today are largely the consequence of slavery. Many of our deepest concerns of today are obviously the consequences of discarded stan dards that have not been replaced by something better. Drug addition in our world is a consequence on our culture’s growing dependence on chemicals to solve our problems (alcohol, nicotine, barbituates, etc.). And most of our in ternational tensions and dangers are the consequence of societies that have placed material things ahead of spirtual values. If we poison our atmosphere, if we irreversibly pollute our earth, if we destroy each other in one iridescent moment of nuclear madness, it will not have been either fate or accident. It will be a consequence of what we as a society have done, are doing and seem bent on continuing to do. Exile was a picnic compared to what faces humanity today. Be careful around recently filled silos. • For Local Fairs We are rapidly approaching the time for local fairs. These times should be happy events but once in a while they are not because planning was not done ahead of time. This is the time to take necessary precautions to help prevent the possibility of your taking disease to the fair with your animals or bringing infection home to your farm. Keep in mind that poultry cannot be exhibited due to the avian influenza problem. Many fairs require health charts and specific tests or vaccinations for animals. Be sure to read the health regulations carefully. And, it doesn’t hurt to be more strict than what the regulations may require. Animals with any form of communicable ailment should be left at home. When animals leave the fair and go home, it’s important to have a place where you can isolate them and observe them closely for a period of time before returning them to their herd mates. If in doubt, consult your veterinarian for advice. & To Fertilize Alfalfa The fall of the year, after the removal of the last cutting, is a good time to topdress existing alfalfa stands. The application of a phosphorus-potash fertilizer (according to a soil test) in the fall will strengthen the alfalfa roots and result in higher yields next summer. Nitrogens should not be needed on established alfalfa (Turn to Page Al 2) To Prepare
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