AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 22,1986
NOW IS THE TIME
To Remove Trash
Landowners along rural roads
are the victims of people who have
little respect for the property of
others. Too many people are
dumping trash in fields along the
road. In all cases when this is
dumped on pastures or cropland,
the trash should be removed before
spring growth begins. This trash
will be hard on farm equipment
when on cropland and may be
poisonous to livestock when on
pastureland.
We urge property owners to
remove the trash in the next few
weeks. If any type of identification
can be made, as to the owner of the
trash, this should be reported to
Township officials, prosecutions
can be made for dumping trash
along the highway.
To Apply Poultry Manure
Sparingly
With the large poultry population
in this region, poultry manure is in
good supply. Since poultry manure
may contain from 15 pounds to
nearly 50 pounds of nitrogen per
ton, depending on moisture and
litter content, over application can
bum crops and result in disap
Farm Calendar
Saturday, March 22
Montgomery County Dairy
Princess Pageant and Mon
tgomery County Holstein Club’s
Annual Banquet, 7 p.m.,
Towamencm Fireball.
Red and White Dairy Cattle
Association’s Sale, Guernsey
Sales Pavilion.
Brown Swiss Canton meeting,
Cloister Restaurant.
Tuesday, March 25
Safe Drinking Water Clinic, York
County 4-H Center, Bair, 1 to 3
p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.
Bradford County Agronomy Day,
Ulster Fireball, 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday, March 26
Berks Conservation District
meeting, Agricultural Center,
Bern Township, 7:30 p.m.
Veterinary Nutrition Forum, Host
Town, Lancaster, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 27
Pennsylvania on Parade Sales and
Show; continues through March
29.
Pesticide Training meeting, 7:30 to
9:30 p.m., York Extension
Meeting Room, Pleasant Acres.
Saturday, March 29
Adams County Beef Ball, Sheraton
or/*3, WHAT DO YOU THINK
WILL BE IN THE NEW
FARMB/LLS OVER THE
NEXT FEW YEARS P 7
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
pointments. Gardeners should not
be using heavy amounts of fresh
poultry manure in their soils. On
cropland it is recommended that
poultry manure applications be
limited to not more than 5 to 7 tons
of 75 percent moisture content per
acre.
Keep in mind that some poultry
manure may contain up to 50
pounds of nitrogen per ton and can
burn seeds and crop roots. Poultry
manure is also the highest in
phosphorus and potash content of
any of our farm manures. It has
excellent fertilizer value when
used properly.
The 1985-86 Agronomy Guide
(page 15) gives additional details
about the fertilizer values of farm
manures. The Agronomy Guide is
availalbe through any Extension
Office for a $4 fee.
To Wait Until Soil Dries
Many people are impatient about
starting their field work in the
spring. I would just like to en
courage you not to start your field
work when the soil is wet. We have
had a good deal of moisture over
the last several weeks, so the soil is
very wet and soggy. It will take
Inn, Gettysburg.
PA Holstein Spring Show, 8:30
a.m., Farm Show Complex,
Harrisburg.
Antique Show and Sale, Mif
fhnburg Area High School, 9
a.m. to 5 p.m., $1 admission.
Wednesday, April 2
Lancaster Conservation District
board meeting.
Berks County Marketing Meeting
on Futures, contracting and the
future.
Maryland State Jersey Sale.
Thursday, April 3
Adams County Water Quality Fair,
Penn State Fruit Research Lab,
Biglerville, 1 to 3 p.m. and 7 to 9
p.m.
Elizabethtown Young Farmer
Meeting, 6:45 p.m., Country
Table Restaurant, Mt. Joy. For
tickets ($8.50 each), call Ken
Balmer, phone: 367-0895.
Saturday, April 5
Montgomery County 4-H
Showcase, Montgomery County
4-H Center, Creamery, PA, 10
a.m. to 3 p.m.
PSU Dairy Science Club anual
dairy judging contest, PSU Ag
arena, 10 a.m.
Friday, April 4
W I
some wind, sun and time to dry out
low-lying fields and gardens.
If the topsoil is worked when too
wet and we get freezing tem
peratures, the soil will become
mellow and work satisfactory;
however, when worked too wet
without freezing temperature, the
soil will be hard and clumpy for the
rest of the season. Let’s give
Mother Nature time to dry out the
topsoil before working.
To Practice Safety
We are now into spring and that
brings heavy demands on field
work. This includes the use of
many types of machinery which
increases the potential for ac
cidents. We urge farmers to take
time to be safe; in many cases,
haste has been the reason for farm
accidents.
When we are in a hurry we
overlook safety measures and face
additional hazards. These are
three elements of safety...people,
machine and environment. Con
trolling people is by far the most
difficult, especially in farm safety.
Take time to be safe...otherwise
you may be sorry for the rest of
your life.
Farm Bureau proposes
two-tier debt plan
PARK RIDGE, IL - Farm
Bureau, the nation’s largest farm
organization, is seeking legislative
and regulatory changes that will
allow lenders to create a two-tier
debt restructuring program for
financially troubled farmers.
Under the two-tier concept, a
farmer and lender would analyze
the farm operation’s cash flow and
profit potential. They would agree
on the amount of the debt that
could be serviced within the
operation’s cash flow. This amount
of manageable debt would be
considered “tier one”.
The remainder of the debt would
be placed in “tier two” and the
farmer would be required to pay 3
percent interest but no principal on
this amount. As a portion of “tier
one” debt is paid off each year, an
equal amount of “tier two” debt
would move to the “tier one” level.
This would continue until all of the
“tier two” debt is paid off.
In this plan, no debt is forgiven.
Lenders would lose some interest
due to the reduced requirement of
“tier two” debt. However, 15 states
and the federal government
currently offer financial
assistance to troubled farmers.
Lenders offering two-tier debt
restructuring could seek to par
ticipate in appropriate credit
programs that would lessen their
interest loss. Besides, for the
HOPE AND
ACTION
March 23,1986
Background Scripture: 1 John 1
through 3.
Devotional Reading; 1 John Sill-
Several weeks ago I mentioned
the Washington, D.C. symposium
on life after physical death held
last November. I’m sure that when
some persons read the newspaper
accounts of that symposium they
found it difficult to imagine why
700 people would attend such a
conference when there are so
many other pressing issues and
challenges that confront us today.
As one man put it, “That’s just
‘pie-in-the-sky’ what’s that got
to do with the here-and-now? ’ ’
THE LAST DROP
The answer; everything!
Actually, what we believe about
the hereafter has a direct and
lasting effect upon the way we live
in the here-and-now. If I live in the
hope that I will survive death, that
by God’s mercy I shall be a part of
his kingdom, and that his purpose
will ultimately prevail in this
universe, then the way I live on this
earth ought to be directly deter
mined by that hope.
restructuring to work, the interest
loss would be less than the loss of
principal suffered through a
foreclosure sale.
Under the Farm Bureau plan,
the financially troubled farmer
benefits by keeping his farm
operation. He still pays off all his
debt. Tlje lender benefits because
all debt is repaid and no foreclosed
farm land must be sold on a
declining market. Even financially
healthy farmers gain under the
Farm Bureau plan because they
will be assured of a sound financial
system, a healthier rural com
munity and lessened downward
pressure on agricultural land
values.
For this program to work,
regulatory and legislative changes
needed by commercial banks
include a prohibition against
classifymg “tier two” debt against
the capital of the participating
financial institution. Banks should
also be allowed to evaluate farm
loans based on the productive or
market values of assets, rather
than salvage values.
Loans should also be evaluated
on profit and cash flow of the in
dividual rather than on the debt
asset ratio. Finally, banks should
be allowed 10 years to write off
loan losses rather than taking the
entire loss in one year.
Farm Bureau is working to get
X SURE HOPE THAT IT
WILL HELP ME OUT
WITH MW FARM QILLb
The writer of 1 John devotes
most of his epistle to spelling out
clearly the link between belief and
conduct; “By this we may be sure
that we are in him: he who says he
abides in him, ought to walk in the
same way in which he walked”
(2:6). If we believe that there is
more to life after we die, then it
ought to be evident in the life we
live. We don’t have to squeeze the
very last drop out of life on earth,
for there’s more from where it
came. If we believe that God is m
control of the universe and is
moving it according to his plan and
purpose, then I can accept the
defeats and disappointments of
this life secure in the knowledge
that, in the long run justice, mercy,
righteousness and love will
triumph. In other words, our
Christian hope frees us to live in
this world as Christ lived.
IN THE DARK
. Yet, although our hope frees us
to “walk in the same way in which
he walked,” many of us continue to
live as if we had no hope of
anything beyond our present
circumstances. How can we say we
believe in the supremacy of love if
we in our lives give supremacy to
something less than love? As John
puts it, “He who says he is in the
light and hates his brother is in the
darkness still” (2:9).
Actually, that is the arena in
which our hope is tested and
measured: the way we treat our
brothers and sisters, our neigh
bors. Hope makes love possible
and love is the foundation of our
hope. A partial love for those
close to us, for those whom we find
“lovable” can support only a
partial hope and a partial hope is
no hope at all.
One of the participants in the
Washington symposium, Sogyal.
Rinpoche, said “The main point of
life is how we live now.” Our
Christian hope may seem to be
“pie-in-the-sky,” but it is also
down to earth, uniting our hope
with action.
Based on copyrighted outlines produced by the
Committee on the Uniform Senes and used by
permission Released by Community and
Suburban Press
these changes adopted by the new
Farm Credit Administration so
financially troubled farmers in the
Federal Credit System may also
benefit from two-tiered debt
restructuring.
Of the 650,000 farmers that are
responsible for 90 percent of our
farm production, as many as
125,000 face liquidation within the
next two years if their debts are
not restructured. Options con
tained in Farm Bureau’s plan
would help the majority of these
troubled farmers. Two-tiered debt
restructuring would stabilize the
entire agricultural credit situation
and prevent today’s financially
sound farmer from becoming
tomorrow’s troubled borrower.
Six vegetable
projects funded
HARRISBURG - State
Agriculture Secretary Richard E.
Grubb has approved funding of
$31,398 for six vegetable research
projects aimed at improving
production and controlling disease.
The 1986 studies were recom
mended by the Pennsylvania
Vegetable Research Advisory
Board, and will be earned out by
researchers at The Pennsylvania
State and Cornell Universities
Penn State scientises will locus
on evaluation of mulches and
tunnels for early vegetable
production, increased sweet
pepper production, tomato disease
control, disease management for
vegetables and biological control
of nutsedge.
A study of the affect crop residue
disposal methods have on survival
of white mold fungus will be done
at Cornell’s agricultural eX ‘
penment station in Geneva, New
York.