OPINION
Not a very nice job
Because so much rides on the
final outcome of the herd buyout
program, these animals mi sign-up
farms must be permanently
identified. That’s only fair to
everyone involved. This includes
the dairyman who chose to remain
in business, the officials who must
carry out the program and the tax
payers who foot more than half of
tiie bill.
A farmer we talked to this week
said he certainly didn’t want these
buyout animals showing up in
someone’s milking parlor a few
months or years, down the road.
And we agree!
But how these condemned cows
and heifers are branded should be
scrutinized. Certainly ear tags are
not permanent enough. They can
be changed or removed out behind
the bam. But to hot brand these
animals on the cheek seems un
necessarily cruel. And on the rump
probably hurts too. Of-
It’s time to recognize
Pa Poultry Products
Now that the avian influenza has
been declared over by the Penn
sylvania State Department of
Agriculture, it's time other states
and countries recognize the fact
and lift the embargo on our Penn
sylvania poultry products.
Recently state agricultural
secretary Richard E. Grubb sent
this request to 17 other states.
These states included: Arkansas,
Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii,
Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland,
Missouri, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont,
Farm Calendar ; -ihi /
Saturday, April 12
Maryland State Holstein Show,
State Fairgrounds.
Pennsylvania Angus Association
Sale, Farm Show Complex,
Harrisburg.
Pennsylvania Mountains Dairy
Goat Association meeting, 1
p.m., Salem Township
Municipal Building, 1 mile west
of Hamlin on Route 590.
Sunday, April 13
Pennsylvania Flying Farmers
Meeting, Airport Restaurant,
Selinsgrove, 1 ;30 p.m.
Monday, April 14
Franklin County Conservation
District Director’s monthly
meeting, 7:30 p.m., Con-
DO HEIGHTS
SCAPE 'OU
cm<b?
ficially, the brand is to only
remove the hair and not burn the
hide. But that’s impractical in the
actual operation. The animal is
going to get burned that’s for sure.
Of course in western states cattle
have been identified by a brand on
the side for many years. But
somehow to be branded to live
seems different than to be branded
to die.
In a letter to the editor of this
newspaper last week, Sally
Fairbairn of Fleischmanns, New
York, suggested that freeze
branding would be a better
solution-not as hard on the animal
and not as dangerous to the person
who applies the brand. But not
many people seem to know how to
freeze brand.
While we may not find the
perfect solution, let’s everyone try
to do our best with a job that’s not
going to be very nice any way you
look at it.
Virginia, West Virginia, and
Puerto Rico. In addition, copies of
the letter were sent to the gover
nments of Canada, Brazil, Japan,
Venezuela, Great Britain,, and
Argentina.
We believe that the virus has
been eliminated from our state
poultry flocks. And in view of our
surveilance and quaranteen
program, we now provide the
safest place in the nation to buy
poultry and poultry productrs. And
the quicker everyone around the
world recognizes this fact, the
better off all of us will be.
servation District office, 550
Cleveland Ave., Cham
bersburg.
Berks County 4-H Sheep Club
meeting, 7:30 p.m., Berks
County 4-H Center.
Berks County 4-H Development
Board meeting, 7:30 p.m.,
Berks County Ag Center.
National 4-H Conference,
Washington, D.C.; continues
through Friday.
- - Tuesday, April 15
Poultry Sales and Service Con
ference, Penn State University;
continues through tomorrow.
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
Meeting and FFA Slave Sale,
Ephrata Senior High School,
7:45 p.m.
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Many bams, poultry houses and
feed lots will be cleaned out in the
next few weeks. We repeat the
suggestion that this material be
either injected into the soil or
worked into the topsoil within a few
days after application. This will
not only preserve more fertilizer
elements but will reduce odors and
preserve good public relations with
your neighbors.
Discing, chiseling or plowing
after the waste application is
strongly recommended. Livestock
and poultry manure have con
siderable fertilizer value when
applied into the soil before exposed
to weathering. We urge our far
mers to recognize this organic
fertilizer and utilize it fully.
We hope our non-farm people
FARM FORUM
OUR READERS WRITE
Several weeks ago there was an
article about the PFA quizzing
gubernatorial hopefuls. Did you
misquote some when they said
they wouldn’t sign a returnable
bottle bill? I wouldn’t vote for
anyone opposed to a deposit on
beverage containers.
The issue should receive more
attention in the agricultural press.
All candidates profess at least lip
service to the family farm, im
proved income, more funding for
ag programs and rural
developement. Differences need to
be pointed out.
The only time to pick up bottles
and cans along the road is after the
snow melts and before new growth
starts. Only a returnable container
law with a deposit will reduce
litter.
Wayne County Extension beef
cattle meeting, 8 p.m., Ex
tension office, courthouse,
Honesdale.
Upper Adams Young Farmers
meeting, Biglerville High
School auditorium; program
Dr. Loren Tukey, Penn State
pomologist, speaking on tree
training systems.
National Milking Shorthorn
Convention, Historic Strasburg
Inn, Strasburg; continues
through April 19.
Vet Nutrition Forum, Host Town,
Lancaster, 7 p.m.
NO, TOE HEIGHTS
DONT SCARE ME...
NOW IS
THE TIME
K m
Jay Irwin
To Incorporate Manure
Dear Sir
Richard M. Wright
EUiottsburg
Wednesday, April 16
to our fields is part of farming and
part of rural living. It may be
unpleasant for a short time, but as
far as l know, rural odors have
never been proven to be a health
hazard. We hope everyone tries to
understand the needs and cares of
others.
To Start Grazing Gradually
With the early warm spell this
spring, we are seeing rapid growth
in most pasture areas. This will
also be fine with producers who
are planning to graze winter grains
sufch as rye or barley. The herd or
flock should be controlled at first,
and not allowed on the area for
more than a half hour; bloating
and scouring may result if they
consume too much of the bush
forage the first few days.
Also, it’s best to feed the animals
some dry matter such as hay,
silage or straw before turning
them out to pasture the first few
times. Dairy fanners should keep
milking cows from the grazing
area at least four to five hours
before the milking period.
To Check Water Supplies
Your water supply should be
checked at least once a year for
nitrates and bacteria. Nitrates can
get into ground water from several
sources from a septic field, a
barnyard or feedlot, silage
seepage or from nitrogen fertilizer
on surrounding cropland.
Nitrogen can travel farther
through the soil than bacteria, with
the likelihood that more wells may
be polluted with nitrates than with
CONVINCING
THE SCOFFERS
April 13,1986
Background Scripture: Jude.
Devotional Reading; John 10:22-
30.
Dr. David C. McClelland, a
professor of psychology and social
relations at Harvard University,
has spent almost 40 years in
researching human motivation.
This research has sought to
determine whether people really
want what they say and think they
want.
Hunterdon County Agricultural
Development Board monthly
meeting, 8 p.m.
Petersburg Homemaker’s Tour,
Harrisburg, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Thursday, April 17
Grange Meeting, Pre-Flemington
Fair, Stanton Grange, 7:30 p.m.
Berks County Dairy Bowl Prac
tice, 7:30 p.m., Berks County Ag
Center.
Berks County Tractor Cer
tification, 7 p.m., Berks County
Ag Center.
Pa. State 4-H Leader’s Forum,
(Turn to Page A 33)
dangerous. Nitrogen in drinking
water reduces the ability of the
blood to carry oxygen and causes
symptoms of oxygen deficiency in
people and animals.
If your drinking water hasn’t
been checked within the last year,
then do it now. Also, if you notice
any changes in your water, such as
an off-color, an unusual flavor or
even an odor, then be sure to have
it tested immediately. Remember,
these samples should be taken to
the lab in either a container
provided by the lab or a sterilized
bottle.
To Manage Alfalfa Stands
With nearly every species of
livestock, the feeding of top quality
alfalfa hay or silage is highly
recommended.
At dairy meetings we hear how
good alfalfa is in the ration, and at
sheep meetings we learn that good
alfalfa hay is the backbone of the
live feeding program. Alfalfa meal
is often used as a source of protein
in other rations. It all adds up to
the fact that alfalfa is one of our
most important forage crops.
Every farmer should make a
special effort to produce
maximum amounts per acre. This
takes cutting management along
with proper .lime, fertilizer, insect
and disease control. Since we are
now at the beginning of another
cropping season, more attention to
alfalfa might benefit many far
mers. Don’t be satisfied with a
poor stand. The crop is worthy of
our best effort.
In one of his research projects,
he showed to a group of Harvard
undergraduates a motion picture
film of Mother Teresa, the Nobel
Laureate Roman Catholic nun,
caring for the sick and dying in the
slums of Calcutta. When asked,
“What did you think of Mother
Teresa?”, the undergraduates
split approximately 50-50. About
ludf of them thought she was
wonderful, while the other half
were negative in their response.
The latter response was typified by
one student who said, “I dislike her
intensely, all this religiosity. It’s
fake...”
T.L.C.
By measuring the amount of
immunogkthulln M secreted in their
saliva, Dr. McClelland was able to
discern how each of the students
reacted to the Mother Teresa film
on an unconscious level. Dr. Mc-
Clelland found that the negative
opinions they voiced did not
correspond to .the positive
chemical reactions recorded in
their saliva. In a report printed in
the Journal of ffto hntftuU for tho
Mdvoocomout of HooHh, Dr. Mc-
Clelland concluded, “To me, the
results mean that she was con
tacting these consciously disap
proving people in a part of their
brains that they were unaware of
and that was stUl responding to the
strength of her tender loving
care.” So, although it appeared
that her loving service made no
impact whatsoever upon ap
proximately 50% of the group,
nevertheless, on an unconscious
level these people were being
significantly and positively af
fected by her loving witness for
Christ.
KEEP IN LOVE
Dr. McClelland seems to confirm
what many Christians have long
suspected: that their witness for
Christ does not fail simply because
people either reject it or ignore it.
Even when people seem not to be
responding to our witness of
Christian love, there may be deep,
unconscious impressions within
them that later may have the af
fect of convincing them of the truth
and power of Christianity.
Thus, Jude admonishes us to
“keep yourselves in the love of
God” and later says, “And con
vince some, who doubt. .(vs. 21,
22). With love, we can!
Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by the
Committee on the Uniform Senes and used by
permission Released by Community and
Suburban Press