AlO-Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, Dacambar 15,1984 Reagan to drop diversion plan WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Agriculture Secretary John Block last week told the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Executive Board that the Reagan administration does not plan to continue the nationwide milk diversion plan after it expires this year. The decision was among several issues addressed by the Secretary in a meeting with the state agricultural officials, including Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Penrose Hallowell, who serves as president of NASDA. Block did not elaborate on the decision to terminate the plan, but said that he would like to see milk and other commodities treated more equally under proposals currently being formulated by USDA. He said new farm legislation “should clearly state the direction of farm policy through the end of the 20th Cen tury” to permit farmers to make more sound, long range decisions. The Secretary said he is NOW IS THE TIME To Be Aware Of Fertilizer Value of Manure The 1985-86 Agronomy Guide lists, on page 15, the real fertilizer value in our livestock and poultry manure. As fertilizer costs in crease, we need to make every effort to use and preserve these manure fertilizer elements. On the h»«as of the fertilizer content at current fertilizer prices, cattle manure has $3.80 worth of fer tilizer elements per ton, swine manure contains about $5.00 worth and poultry manure contains about $13.00 worth of fertilizer elements. This will vary depending cm the moisture and bedding content. In addition, all types of manure add organic matter to the soil which is needed on most farms. For best results manure should be either incorporated into the soil or stored in a water-tight pit until it can be spread and mixed with the soil. ToUseA Real Tree For Christmas This is the time of year that most people are considering the type of Christmas tree to buy. And I hear objections to using real trees as being wasteful. So let’s take a look at this situation. Actually, the Christmas tree farmer is raising trees as a crop, and a source of income. This is much the same as the farmer who raises wheat, com or soybeans to sell or use on his own farm. Christmas trees are raised on land not suited for other crops-not even pasture land. It’s mostly rolling land and highly acid. W ELL OT/e. I THINK I'VE FOUND yOOR FINANCIAL. _ PROBLEM. } “thinking” of submitting those proposals by January 1. Block outlined several other points on the 1985 Farm BUI for the nine-member board. He said the BUI would de-emphasize the role of target prices or income subsidies to farmers, and reduce the level of price-support loans on major crops. The proposal would have farmers continue ownership of their crops. Federal costs for farm subsidies this year are estimated at $ll billion. President Reagan has proposed cuts in farm supports by as much as 50 percent by fiscal year 1988, favoring a shift away from federal loans towards loan guarantees. Block told the NASDA board he favors an “across the board” freeze in federal spending, adding that it would be “unconsionable” to make deep cuts in agriculture, which is confronted with continued economic hardship. To address soU and water con servation issues, Block said he will propose a conservation reserve of 20-30 million acres, call By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agriculture Agent Phone 717-394-6851 Also, remember that these Christmas tree farmers are put ting this land to good use; by conserving the soil and providing an excellent water shed. Keep in mind that Christmas tree farmers have a very slow turnover in their capital-from the time they plant the tree till it’s ready for your living room can be from 5 to 6 years for small trees and 10 to IS years on the larger trees. Another fact to consider is there is nothing like the fresh aroma of a real tree in your home during the Christmas season. Farmers should not neglect opportunities to reduce production costs by carefully using family and non-family labor to maintain productivity at a high level. There is more to using labor other than just wages paid or family tradeoffs to run the farm. The returns received from your help should always be based on their productivity. To Appreciate Farm Labor o° of O 7f £JC o« a.ft. BUCKLES (§ollo/n}o o o O O °o 0 o for farmers to submit bids to USDA for participation in the program. The government would take the lowest bidders. On exports, the Agriculture Secretary said he’d propose a “get tough” policy to discourage foreign competitors from sub sidizing their farmers at the ex pense of United States farmers. Fair trade efforts would be directed at Japan and the European community. Block said the Soviet Union’s Agriculture Minister Valentin Mesyats, heading a Russian agricultural mission now touring United States farms, expressed extreme interest in re-establishing scientific exchanges between the two countries on a recent visit to his farm in Illinois. The scien tific/cultural visit, the first in 11 years by a high agriculture of ficial, was a result of the lifting of the U.S. grain embargo against the USSR. Future discussions may take place early next year in Moscow. Attention to keeping the farm “labor force’’ happy and contented will really return more in production than an increase in wages. Put more emphasis on: kindness, praise, respect, concern for the employee’s family, some free time, recognition, fair treatment and other non-cash approaches. These will increase production more than added wages alone. To Protect Trees and Shrubs Your trees and shrubs can get through the winter, but they can do it better with a little help from you. Some winter protection might help save your valued trees and shrubs. Thin-barked trees can be damaged by sunscald in the winter. That’s why it’s a good idea to wrap the trunks of such trees as sugar maple, tulip tree, American linden, flowering dogwood and plum. You can use commercial tree wrapping, starting at the ground level and working up the tree, overlapping about every half inch. Tie the wrap with twine or use a waterproof tape several places along the stem. Smaller ornamentals should be mulched; this will not keep the soil from freezing but it helps keep the soil frozen to prevent root injury caused by alternate freezing and thawing of the soil. The mulch should be loose, but it should stay where you put it. Shredded bark makes an excellent mulch. The Extension Service it an affirmative action equal opportunity educational in stitution. YOU'RE SPENDING- 130% OF YOUR INCOME, j —^ s WH/TT3 THAT BOB? £3 C 3 THE HERO CHRIST December 16,1984 Background Scripture: Luke 4:16-21; 24:44-49; Acts 10:34-43. Devotional Reading Acts 1:1-8. Eberhard Bethge was one of a handfull of German Christians who, despite the obvious dire consequences, refused to allow the Third Reich to “Nazify” his Christian witness. Recently speaking at Union Theological Seminary in New York, he told of those traumatic days: On October 19, 1944, fifteen of twenty candidates for ordination at Luther’s Augustinian monastery in Wittenberg were expelled from that official seminary for preachers. A few days earlier the fifteen of us had sent to Reich- Bishop Ludwig Mueller in Berlin a letter that stated: “The un dersigned candidates for or dination want you to know that from now on we will be responsible to the Confessing Church Synod...we shall accept directions only from the Council of Brethren of the Confessing Church.” A TWISTED CROSS The Confessing Church, led by Martin NiemoeUer and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was a tiny handfuU of Christians who were determined to resist what Bethge called “the fatal temptation: nazification-Germanization, Te utonizing supported even by respectable theology and distinguished theologians.” It was,” says Bethge, “a decision between the biblical and a wonvCTiHst between the Farm Calendar Monday, December 17 Clearfield County Crop Management Association in formational meeting, 1:30 p.m., multi-service center. Tuesday, December 18 Two-day dairy seminar on feeding ' and reproduction, Lewisburg- Danville (also Dec. 20) Sussex County Extension Crop Meeting, University of Del. substation, Georgetown, Del. Ephrata Young Farmer Family Christmas Program, 7:30 p.m., Cattle feeder meeting set BLUE BALL - The Eastern Lancaster County Adult Farmer Program will hold a Cattle Feeders Meeting on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., at the Blue Ball Elementary School. Fattening pre-conditioned cattle will be the main topic with Paul cross and a cross twisted into a swastika.”* (Quoted from Union Seminary News, Sept. ’B4). Yet, Bethge tells us that he and his compatriots did not so much “confess” against the Nazis as they did “confess for Christ (“Confess” meaning to “testify” rather than admit wrongdoing.) Christianity, thus, is not so much defined by what it is against as what it • " ■ Of course the church must sei itselt agains evil, but it is always more effective when concentrates on the affirmation of the love of God. No matter how much we might enjoy delivering the “bad news” of condemnation, we are really much more called to proclaim the “good news” of redemption. ANNOINTEDFOR GOOD NEWS Bethge and his compatriots rightly realized that the Nazi regime posed a gigantic threat to Christianity, for it proposed to eclipse Christ the Suffering Ser vant with Hitler the Victorious Leader. Although the Nazis glibly held that a Christian could con tinue to serve both, it was obvious that to serve the one meant for saking the other. Hitler is dead and gone, but the threat of the “twisted cross” and the “Teutonic-Hero” are not. That is the kind of Hero idolized by so many people today: the Hero who strikes down his enemies with a ruthlessness that is justified by ideological purpose. It is the Hero who can press a button and destroy one hemisphere of the world—and maybe the whole planet. It is the Hero whose might determines right. What the world needs as never before is the vision of the only hero who can save both the world and ourselves, who conquers with love and redeems with grace. Hero-worship is inherent in human nature. The problem is not that we persist in hero-worship, but that we still venerate the wrong kind of hero. junior high auditorium and cafeteria. Dairy feeding meeting, 8 p.m., Wyalusing High School ag room. Wednesday, December 19 Mid-Atlantic No-Till Conference, York Fairgrounds, 8 a.m. Friday, December 21 Pa. State Co-op Management Association at Pleasant Gap, 9:45 a.m. Heffner, an Adams County cow calf operator sharing his ex periences with pre-conditioning cattle. He will discuss what is involved in pre-conditioning cattle, what advantages a cattle feeder has using pre-conditioned cattle, how much extra can be paid for these cattle,a nd what records a feeder should keep to evaluate his cattle and feeding program. In addition to the discussion on pre-conditioning, the Adult Far mer Instructors will demonstrate a few computer programs they have available for area cattle feeders to use. All interested persons are in vited. The Blue Ball Elementary School is located on Ewell Rd., between Routes 23 and 322, east of the village of Blue Ball. The meeting will be in the All-purpose Room, just inside the front door. For additional information, con tact the Adult Farmer Program office at 354-4525.
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