AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 21,1986
OPINION
A Pet, Not
Children often say things on the
spur of the moment that give a lot
of insight into what adults think but
don’t always say. That happened
last Saturday night at the dairy
promotion program at the Buck
Tractor Pull.
After we got the cooperation of
two boys from town to hug a calf
for the photographer, one of the
boys said he wished he could take
the calf home. Boys with calves
always induce a bit of emotional
subjectivity. And we really felt
good when one of these “town”
boys wanted to take the calf along
home.
“What would you do with a calf if
you could take her along home,”
we asked. “I’d scare people with
her,” he said. That statement
dampened our good feelings rather
quickly. Farm boys would know
you couldn’t scare anybody with an
innocent calf. But maybe the town
boy had expressed underlying
Farm Calendar
Saturday, June 21
Arts on the Square, 9 a.m. to 4
p.m., Elizabethtown.
York County Farmer’s Association
annual farm tour, Headquar
ters, Anderson’s Butcher Shop
on Wellsville Road.
Lancaster County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Farm and Home
Center, Lancaster.
Sullivan County Dairy Princess
Pageant, 7:30 p.m., DuShore
Main Street.
SUN Area Dairy Princess
Pageant, Boscov’s
Susquehanna Valley Mall,
Hummelswarf.
State Brown Swiss Picnic at Dean
and Brenda Daubert’s Farm,
Bemville.
Washington-Greene County Dairy
Princess Pageant, Washington
Fairgrounds, Washington.
Sunday, June 22
Ephrata Young Farmers Picnic,
Ephrata Community Park,
12:30 p.m.
Annual Meeting, Berwick
Vegetable Cooperative, Ber
wick; contact Angel Venditti at
717-752-2062.
Monday, June 23
4-H Leadership Congress, Penn
State University; continues
through June 26.
Woodlot Management program, N.
Hunterdon High School, 8 p.m.
Call 788-1405.
Tuesday, June 24
Delegates meeting, Eastern Milk
Producers Cooperative
Association, Syracuse; call 315-
446-0730.
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A Monster
problems with farm-urban com
munication-fear of animals, fear
of farm machinery, fear of
pollution, fear of cholesterol.
pften the unfamiliar seems
scarey. So maybe the first step to
promote agriculture would be to
get those town people familiar with
farming. Ag in the classroom. Ag
in the shopping malls. Farm-city
week celebrations. Shared
holidays. Just as the automobile
plants open their factories to
public tours so we as farmers must
do everything we can as individual
families and as farm organizations
to familiarize as many people as
possible with our every day life.
And we can’t just do it once. We
must be forever developing
relationships with those not
familiar with farming. We must
develop those relations until every
boy and girl in our society would be
comfortable to take home a calf for
a pet, not a monster.
Escheats Sale, Farm Show
Complex, Harrisburg, 717-896-
4641.
Tri-County (Lebanon, Schuylkill,
Dauphin) Beekeeper’s
Association Meeting, Keeney-
Zeigler Apiaries, Bethel, 6:30
p.m.
Wednesday, June 25
Pa. Fruitgrowers’ Summer Tour;
continues through June 26. Call
Dwight Mickey, 717-263-2195.
Summer Tour, State Horticultural
Association of Pennsylvania,
Franklin County; contact Patti
Leves at 717-428-2070.
Hunterdon County, N.J., Twilight
Grape Meeting, Alba
Vineyards, Finesville, 6:30 p.m.
Call 475-8000 Ext. 657 for details.
Thursday, June 26
Annual Crops Day, Penn State,
Rock Springs Ag Research
Center. For information call
814-865-2543.
Adams County Twilight Meeting, 7
p.m. at Zepp-Dale Farms.
Friday, June 27
Warren County Dairy Princess
Pageant, 4-H Building, Pitt
sfield.
Saturday, June 28
Crawford County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Raymond Anthony
Farm, Meadville.
Berks County Wool Pool, Reading
Fair Livestock Building, 7:30
a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pennsylvania Mountain Dairy
Goat Association Meeting, 1
y do
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Feed Dry Matter on Pasture
Pastures are growing well again
due to a couple of good showers.
This means that livestock can
utilize some dry matter while on
pasture. This can include hay,
straw or silage. With the dry
matter present, they will consume
a moderate amount along with the
fresh grass.
The dry matter slows down the
passage of the lush forage through
the digestive system. Also, it
reduces the danger of bloating
when there is clover or alfalfa in
the forage mixture. If the animals
are out all of the time, then a
portable hay rack would be the
way to feed hay or straw. Dry
matter intake is important when
pastures are lush and high in water
content.
To Be Aware of New Progesterone
Test
New cowside progesterone test
kits are now available for helping
p.m., Grace Episcopal Church,
Honesdale.
Kutztown Folk Festival; continues
through July 6.
Sunday, June 29
Govemer’s School of Agriculture,
Penn State University; con-
tinues through Aug. 2.
Pa. Shorthorn Field Day, Richard
Peoples Farm, Volant.
Pa. Greenhouse and Allied In
dustries Conference, Penn State
University; continues through
July 1.
Monday, June 30
Grain Meeting, Penn Ag Industries
Association, Conestoga Resort,
Lancaster; call Dr. David
Brubaker at 717-733- 2238.
Wednesday, July 2
Lancaster Conservation District
Board Meeting.
NW Pa. Regional 4-H Dairy
Ovemighter, Mercer County
park.
Saturday, July 5
Hickory Ridge Antique Farm
Show, Horace Potter residence,
Route 113 Milford, Del.; con
tinues through July 6. For in
formation call 302422-9308.
AGRICULTURE
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farmers improve the reproductive
performance of their dairy herds.
One of the most important uses
of cowside progesterone tests is to
verify the heat status of cows,
particularly those that have weak
or questionable signs of estrus.
In the hands of an experienced
and knowledgeable user the test
can also help to confirm
pregnancy. But, other ovarian
dysfunctions may lead one to
erroneously conclude that a cow is
pregnant.
These new progesterone test kits
should be viewed as one more
useful tool available to farmers,
according to Glenn Shirk, Ex
tension dairy agent. They do not
replace the need for skilled ob-
servation of animals, good
management, and the services of a
well-trained veterinarian.
To Check Lighting For Layers
One of the cardinal rules for
poultry management is to never
decrease the light period of flocks
in production. Most flock
managers would never in- Copies are available at any
tentionally decrease the day length Extension Office in Pennsylvania
to a flock in production but we are for a cost of only $4. We urge
in the season of the year when this farmers to purchase a copy and
can happen accidently. use it. I am concerned that many
Most layers are in light- farmers who have them are not
controlled not light-tight housing, using them. Answers to numerous
The major sources of light leakage phone calls asking about crop
are the exhaust fans and air in- practices can be found in the
take. Pullet flocks placed in the Agronomy Guide. I suggest that
laying house during late fall, each farmer index the crops being
winter or spring can be given a 14- grown with tabs so the information
hour day. As summer approaches can be found more rapidly,
and natural day length exceeds 14 On one of these rainy days
hours, layers in non-light-tight become more familiar with the
housing will be exposed to an in- contents of this Guide. It is very
creasing day length due to the light useful and contains dependable
and researched information.
ON BURNING
THE SCROLLS
June 22,1986
Background Scripture: Jeremiah
23:940; 27 through 28.
Devotional Reading: Jeremiah
23:3340.
The story of Jeremiah and
Hananiah could be approached on
a very simple level: it’s a story of
the “good guy” vs. the “bad guy”
Jeremiah’s the “good guy" and
Hananiah is the “bad” one. So we
praise Jeremiah and condemn
Hananiah.
But it’s not really as simple as all
that. From our safe vantage point
in time, it is easy for us to know
that Jeremiah was God’s prophet
and Hananiah was not. But, if we
had been their contemporaries,
would we have seen it all so
clearly?
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entering the building through fans
and air intakes. This increase in
day length causes no problem. The
longest day occurs on June 21 and
decreases until December 21. It is
this decrease in day length that
can cause layers to go out of
production unless the time clocks
controlling the lights are read
justed to provide the layers with
the day length they received on
June 21.
The two points to remember are:
1) never subject layers to a
decrease in day length and 2)
unless time clocks are readjusted
on June 21, the layers in non-light
tight houses could be exposed to an
unintentional decrease in day
length.
To Use The Agronomy Guide
The 1985-86 Agronomy Guide
published by our Extension Ser
vice at Penn State is one of the
very best handbooks for all far
mers. This Guide has been
published for years and is updated
every two years.
PROPHECY “PEACE”!
Let’s look at the choice which
confronted the people. On the one
hand, there was Jeremiah who
prophesied calamity for his people
at the hands of Nebuchadnezzer
and his Babylonians. On the other
hand, there is Hananiah, who
prophecies, not war but peace.
How can you tell which of these two
men has the direct pipeline to God?
Doesn’t it make sense to go with
the positive, upbeat message of
Hananiah instead of the negative,
gloomy prophecy of Jeremiah? If
these two men were to come into
your church today, wouldn’t you be
more likely to cast your lot with
Hananiah?
And isn’t this the problem we
always have in the church? How
can we know just who is speaking
for God, particularly when there
seems to be such disagreement
over what God wants from us.
Everyone wants to be on the side of
truth, but who’s got it?
Is there, then, no way for us to
make such a determination? I
think there may be.
TRUSTING A LIE
The key, I think, may be in
Jeremiah’s concluding statement
to Hananiah; “... you have made
this people trust in a lie.” And the
lie in which Hananiah persuaded
the people to trust was that they
could have peace without
righteousness. By persuading
them that peace would be theirs,
he lifted from them the necessity to
change the way they were living.
Prophecy wasn’t a guessing game
to see who could rightly predict
what God was going to do. It was a
matter of convincing people that
unrighteous living was going to
bring unhappy results.
Did Hananiah know that he was
persuading the people to “trust in a
lie,” or was he convinced that he
was telling the truth? The false
prophet does not have to in
tentionally deceive us. He has only
to be wrong. But it makes his
message no more true simply
because he is convinced it is from
God.
Apart from waiting until we can
see which prophecy is correct,
there is only one way to discern the
truth of God: that which is true
always asks the highest and best
from us nothing less.
Based on copyrighted outlines produced by the
Committee on the Uniform Senes and used by
permission Released by Community and
Suburban Press