M-Lancaatar Firming, Saturday, August 9,1986 a farm Joyce Bnpp ' j|Hy|| -And other hazards “What shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops?” That phrase simply leapt at me from the front page of our church bulletin Sunday morning. It came, of course, from the parable of the man who tore down his barns to build bigger, to store more, then died before he could enjoy his stockpile of abundance. How ironic that this scriptural phrase would turn up now. For weeks we’ve been pleading from our sanctuary for rain to provide crops to farmers both close by and in distant states facing empty barns. And what a strange twist of fate. For while stockponds dry up in Georgia, cattle grow thinner in the Carolines, and Maryland’s stunted com and beans shrivel into tighter curled-leaves under each day’s baking heat, officials ponder where we will store the promised bumper harvest from other parts of the country. “What shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops?” While officials ponder storage for surpluses, it is other farmers who are rushing to the rescue for those in need. From Indiana and Ohio, from the mid-and upper-mid West, from Canada, and from our fellow Pennsylvanians, help is flowing from generous hearts in 1 i I Adding ammonia to corn silage has a long list of I 9 desirable benefits not only as a protein source but z | also improving the silage fermentation. I | However, with anhydrous ammonia there are | I several aspects that are less desirable. | | • A hazardous product dangerous to handle. i 1 •It is highly volatile with much atmospheric loss * 2 •It must be handled with special pressurized i I equipment. 9 I • The rate of retention depends on moisture | 1 content of corn silage. 9 2 • There is uncertainty in calibration. | | There is an alternative ammonia product which | | seeks to maintain the desirable and improve on the I 1 undesirable. 9 2 Martin's Hi-Protein liquid silage additive. i L the form of tons of hay and tran sportation contributions. Not building bams, these far mers blessed this year with more rain. Emptying them, instead, to help fellow producers. Trains piled with hay head Southeast, racing professionals park their stock cars and load bales on their trailers, and 4-H groups in distant communities sweat in bams and mows to send hay supplies. “What shall I do for 1 have nowhere to store my crops?” Sad. Because, this year, even those farmers with bountiful harvest, with bin-buster yields, will get precious little return for their yields, due to the incredibly depressed prices. How many “bigger bams” and higher grain piles outside elevators make sense, anyway, when animals are going hungry in neighboring states, and when we’ve already stockpiled enough to devastate prices? Why make continuous outright grants and donations to every foreign country that comes along with a hand out and then give our own farmers low interest loans. Why not take care of our own as we have so generously and historically befriended the rest of the world? And, to our government’s credit, Find out more from: recently announced USDA emergency programs are pointed in that direction. Farmers have stabilized and subsidized our cheap food economy for a long, long time. Abundant, inexpensive food has freed 97 percent of our population to ex plore space, make medical strides, educate our children, enjoy a standard of living and freedom still the envy of most of the world. Allowing a giant segment of far mers to wilt and fade away can only ultimately undermine the foundation of the country. Guns to Nicaraugua? Free food and grain to countless countries around the world? And only more debt to our own farmers? Realistically, we cannot possibly bail out every farmer with dry pastures and skimpy hay supplies. But, in my simplistic, naive opinion, I’d sure sooner have my taxes go to send grain, hay, even those mountains of surplus milk powder, for use in livestock feeding, to fellow farmers, than to have it sitting rotting on ships waiting at some distant foreign port, where it may ultimately end m m a m«fv w ■ Sii^Eb Of iphratci 1686 West Main St t iphrata. Pa. 17522 717-733-7356 Mil A uguat 11th thru 23rd (WtWlftStiK* MailOrtfer) 7689 96 up fattening the pockets of a tiurd world dictator or terrorist structure. To those of you who have, and who continue to generously share your hay mows, your trucks, your pocketbooks, and your hearts, God bless you. These kindnesses pf farmer helping farmer make me teary-eyed, lumpy-throat proud to be a part of the ag community. And, for others who might wish to help, an emergency hay fund is being handled by this newspaper and the Pennsylvania Farmers Association. Your contributions may be sent to: Summer Drought Hay Fund, and mailed in care of Lancaster Farming, Everett Newswanger, Editor, P.O. Box 366, Lititz, PA., 17543. Certainly, “bigger bams” is no answer. Nor, in the long-run are emergency fund and feed programs, sharing farmers, generous truckers and hotlines. Only a total, comprehensive, long-range agriculture policy aimed at making farming a profitable business will spell ultimate relief for the American farmer. - ■ Reg $47.95 SALE .T'- '■Jl *B^ Xj'df Products Include Household Molasses, Syrup & Edible Oil ★ SHOOFLY PIE ★ PEANUT BUTTER MIX ★ CORNSYRUP ★TABLE SYRUP MOLASSES * HONEY ★ BARBADOS * COCONUT OIL MOLASSES * CORN OIL ★ BLACKSTRAP ★ SOYBEAN OIL MOLASSES ★ PEANUT OIL ★ PANCAKE SYRUP If your local store does not have it, CALL OR WRITE FOR FREE BROCHURE & PRICES -WE UK DAILY GOOD FOOD INC. (F ood Division Of Zook Molasses Co.) West Main St., Box 160 Honey Brook, PA 19344 Phone: 215-273-3776 Call toll free in PA: 800-662-7464 Over 50 Years Of Service 6 Inch Style 7366,7866 Re(. $52.95 sale *36.95 8 Inch Style 7868 Reg. $54.95 sale *39.95 h Granhery Is Polled Hereford Queen ZELIENOPLE - Anne Marie Granbery of Zelienople has been crowned the 1986 Pennsylvania Polled Hereford Queen. She has shown cattle of this breed for six years. Anne Marie will enter Penn State this fall to major in ag business management and animal AnneGranbery Store Hours: Mon. thru Fri. 8:00 AM -9:00 PM Tues.-Wed.-Sat. 8:00 AM -5:00 PM
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers