OPINION
A bite in the hand
We’ve seen and heard a lot of
trumped up charges lately.
Charges that dairymen who
participate in the whole herd
buyout program will rake in large
profits at the expense of tax
payers. Often one segment of
agriculture is pitted against
another segment. Political motives
or ignorance of facts about far
ming seem to invade these reports.
Sensationalism prevails.
Therefore for the sake of our city
and urban friends- even our farm
and agri-business friends- let’s
calmly pull together a sympathetic
farmer’s view of the situation.
First let’s look in on a fanner
who has milked cows for 30 years.
He as raised his family on the farm
and put his heart into the
humanitarian effort to produce
food for a hungry world. He’s
honest in the site of all his neigh
bors. A community leader. In
addition, this farmer is extremely
sensitive to the problem of over
production and the cost to
government under the price
support programs for milk and
milk products. He feels sorry for
the young farmers who can’t go
into fanning or continue in far
ming because of this surplus. He
takes a part-time job off the farm
rather than increase his herd size
because he doesn’t want to be part
of the problem.
When the government offered to
buy out his whole herd to take out
surplus production this farmer
accepted the offer at a reasonable
bid. He reasoned that since it cost
the government $l7 per hundred
lbs. to store milk products, the
reduced cost to government would
amount to $l2O thousand per year
over the five year program. That
would amount to over a half
million dollar tax payer savings
from his farm alone. In addition,
since our farm friend chose to go
out of business in the last buyout
period, all the milk he produces
from now until the cows go out the
■I -I
Farm Calendar A®l|
Saturday, April 19
National Milking Shorthorn
Convention Sale, 12:30 p.m.,
Guernsey Sales Pavilion.
Goat Seminar, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
Berks County Agricultural
Center.
Sheep Shearing School, NJ Dorset
Breeder’s Association, The
Perry Farm, Route 523 and
Edgewood Road, Reading
Township, .$l2 registration
required. Call 201-534-2376.
National Commodity Marketing
Symposium, Chicago.
farm lane will be taxed at the rate
of 40 cents per hundred lb. to
support the program. That will
give another $4 thousand to the
goveijnment to support his own
payment. And since the income
from the program will be taxable
and no production costs will be
subtracted, IRS will take right
back a sizeable chunk of the buyout
payment.
Of course our farmer gave up his
right to have a herd dispersal sale
and the recognition and income
that comes from such an event.
And should he need to sell his farm
in the next five years, the deed
restrictions that prohibit the
production of milk will likely
reduce the value of the property by
an amount equal to the payment he
received.
When you look at the overall
situation, the US Government will
be paying 14,000 farmers $l.B
billion to slaughter or export their
dairy cattle and to stay out of
dairying for five years. This will
prevent 12.3 billion lbs. of milk,
produced anually by these herds
from ever entering the U.S.
market and save the government
about $10.5 billion in the purchase
of surplus dairy products over the
five-year program.
About 38% of the total cost will
be paid by dairymen who continue
to produce milk. These
assessments will total about $684
million. Taxable income can be
expected to return about $360
million to the government. So the
dairymen will be contributing
about 1 billion dollars of the $l.B
billion total. The government’s
share will be about $BOO million. In
addition, to help prevent undue
depression of the beef market the
government is required to pur
chase an extra 400 million pounds
of red meat during the next five
years. This purchase will likely
cost another $BOO million.
Therefore the combined net total
cost to the government from the
Little International Livestock inn, 5401 Carlisle Pike;
Expo, Ag Arena. workshops -1 to 5 p.m., dinner,
6 p.m.
Adams County Beekeepers, Penn
State Fruit Research Lab,
Biglerville, 7; 30 p.m.
Sunday, April 20
Luzerne County 4-H Horse Show,
Lehman Fairgrounds.
Plain and Fancy Egg Ranch 20th
Anniversary Celebration, 6
p.m., Treadway Resort.
Monday, April 21
Pa. State Grange Legislative Day,
Mechanicsburg Holiday Inn, 1
p.m. to 9 p.m.
Grange Week Celebration, Holiday
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Once again we are stressing
bio-security for all types of farms.
Farmers are continually faced
with disease problems: LT, AI and
WND in poultry, pseudorabies in
hogs, Johnes in dairy and others.
Yes, right not we have an alert in
AI (Avian Influenza) in northern
Lancaster County, an LT (Laryn
gotracheitis) flock, and WND
(Velogenic Viscerotropic Newcas
tle Disease) in pet birds.
We urge livestock and poultry
producers to make every effort to
prevent the spread of these conta
gious diseases. Many of these
infections are brought home by
the owner or with the purchase of
a new animal. Infections can be
spread very easily from farm to
farm.
In this part of the country where
the density of poultry and lives
tock is so great, producers should
be alert to the possibility of
herd buyout ana the purchase of
red meat will be approximately
$1.6 billion.
Here’s the bottom line. The
difference between the govern
ment’s $10.5 billion reduction in
surplus dairy products purchase
and the $1.6 billion net cost of the
herd buy out and red meat pur
chases is $8.9 billion. That’s an $8.9
billion saving of taxpayer money.
To save taxpayer money is not as
sensational as to spend it. But once
again we find our farm friend has
completed his life in dairying just
like he lived it. Caring for a hungry
world. Caring for his neighbors
both rural and urban. And con
cerned that he not be a part of the
surplus problem. As for sen
sational charges, we would call it
just another case of a bit to hand
that feeds.
PFA Annual Legislative Con
ference, noon, Penn Harris
Motor Inn.
Spring Homemaker’s Day, Stanton
Grange, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., $B.
Call 782-6181 for reservations.
National Ayrshire Convention,
I WAVE A LOT OF TWINSrS
THAT X SHOULD QB
WORRYING- ABOUT..
BUTTHBYRBNjr
WORRYING
To Practice
Strict Sanitation
Tuesday, April 22
spreading diseases. When return
ing from another farm, different
clothes and footwear should be
used. Never spread dead birds in
the fields because stray dogs,
cats, flies - and wild birds can
spread the infection from, those
birds to your neighbors farm. We
urge every producer to give at
tention to ■ the prevention of
diseases through good manage
ment and the use of good sanita
tion practices.
To Clean Pastures Before
Turning Animals On Them
A careful check of pastures
before turning cows into them can
be time well spent. Trash, broken
glass, and wire may produce
serious udder and foot injuries. So,
move or bury the debris.
Nails sticking through boards
may produce serious puncture
wounds in feet. Old farm imple
ments should be hauled away;
cows seem unable to resist step
ping through old discs or harrows,
often with disastrous results.
Fertilizer and fertilizer bags are
deadly; especially, those
containing nitrates. Cows will
eagerly kill themselves eating it.
In spite of laws, we still have a
few people who will pitch a bagful
of junk out of their cows while
they drive along our highways. A
walk through your pasture fields
before turning your cows out, is
time very well spent.
To Understand Persistent
Weed Problems
Just how persistent do we have
to be in order to control weed
problems? Well, the answer to this
question comes from weed scien
tists who ran germination tests on
weed seeds which had been buried
OF AND YET
BEYOND US
April 20,1986
Background Scripture: Luke 1:5-
56; 2:21-40.
Devotional Reading: Luke 1:8-17.
When I was a seminary student,
1 found it relatively easy to speak
and speculate about both God and
Christ. Furthermore, it was never
difficult to distinguish between the
Father and the Son.
But, when it came to the study of
the Holy Spirit, nothing ever
seemed easy or clear-cut. It was
like putting together a jigsaw
puzzle and finding that lots of the
pieces wouldn’t fit. Furthermore,
it was obvious and somewhat of
a relief to me that every one of
continues through April 25.
Wednesday, April 23
York County Spring Homemaker’s
Day, St. Matthews Lutheran
Church, 839 W. Market St.,
York, 10a.m.t02:30p.m.
York County Beekeeper’s Meeting,
7 p.m., Extension Office
Meeting Room.
(Turn to Page A 39)
AND
for 19 to 60 years.
They report that 29% of John
songrass seed germinated after
being buried for Vk years; mor
ning glory 74% after 5 years;
pigweed 66% after 40 years and
dock 52% after 90 years. They
further reported that 51 of 107
species tested still had live seeds
after 20 years.
The reason these seeds remain
in the soil for such a long period
without sprouting is apparently
related to environmental condi
tions. According to weed experts,
some seeds need just the right
combination of moisture, temper
ature, and nutrients before they
will germinate. This explains why
we may suddenly be faced with a
weed problem we thought was
cured several years ago.
To Manage Poultry
House Equipment
General management of poultry
house equipment is important in
maintaining a comfortable envi
ronment for chickens and turkeys.
Defective equipment should be
repaired or replaced promptly,
especially if it is involved with the
delivery of feed or water to the
birds.
Rusty and bent cages will allow
some birds to escape and may
trap or injure other birds. It can
also cause an increase in cracked
egg shells. All sharp edges on the
poultry equipment must be
removed to avoid injuries. Rusty
and decaying feed bins are
another problem; they allow mois
ture to get to the feed, resulting in
mold and sick birds.
The Extension .Service is an
affirmative action, equal oppor
tunity educational institution.
my fellow students seemed to have
the same difficulty. And, to tell the
truth, it didn’t seem our professors
were that much more successful,
either.
“COME UPON YOU”
To be sure, in my theology
textbook there was a chapter on
“The Person and Role of the Holy
Spirit.” But this seemed the most
contrived and unconvincing
chapter in the whole book, an at
tempt to make logical and clear
dimension that defies explanation,
simplification and system
atization.
In time, I decided that, instead of
concerning myself with the
theology of the Holy Spirit, I would
focus on the experience of the Holy
Spirit. One may not be able to
rationalize and systematize that
experience, but that does not mean
we cannot gain some un
derstanding and appreciation of
this dimension of our spiritual
lives.
In the first two chapters of Luke
there are three important ex
periences of the Holy Spirit. In the
first of these, Mary is assured that
“The Holy Spirit will come upon
you” (1:35). Although Mary could
not understand how it could be that
she was to bear a child let alone
that he would be the Christ she
was assured that this would be
accomplished by God’s power: the
Holy Spirit. So, sometimes, the
experiences of the Holy Spirit is
the experience of divine power
that, although it flows through us,
comes from beyond us.
SPIRIT-FILLED
The second experience is that of
Elizabeth being “filled with the
Holy Spirit” and discerning that
her cousin Mary was to bear the
long-awaited Messiah. And the
third experience is similar: Simon
is “inspired by the Spirit” and
recognizes the newborn baby as
the Christ (2:23-32). The ex
perience in both these incidents is
an understanding, a revelation,
that also comes from beyond.
One thing characterizes each of
these three people; they were
receptive to God’s Spirit. If we are
receptive to the Spirit, we too can
receive divine power and un
derstanding from beyond our
selves.
Based on copyrighted Outli ies produced b the
Committee on the Uniterm Series and used by
permission Released by Community and
Suburban Press