stir Faming, Saturday, Fabrnary 14,1987
All
OPINION
Consider What You Can Lose
In the latest USDA Economic
Research Service Farmline
publication, the report is given that
more than half the farms showed
positive cash flows and 40 percent
of farms carried no debt. But 11
percent had both high debts and
negative cash flows.
One of the side problems with
financial pressures is the search
for alternate crops or business
enterprises to bring the cash flow
back into line with expenses and
family needs. If we’re not careful,
that leaves us open to be tempted
to go into some questionable or
untried business enterprise that
may look very promising but
depends a lot more on chance than
good business practices.
When you are offered a chance to
make some money in a new farm
enterprise or outside of farming,
beware if the offer makes claims to
double your money overnight on
your investment or offers you 100
percent interest on the money you
lend. If the project is that good,
everybody will be doing it,
probably before you had a chance
to get involved. Check on the
markets for this new product. Talk
Dear Editor
Concering your column on “Old-
Fashioned Farm Frugality” in
Saturday, February 7, 1987, issue
made sense. I agree 100 percent
that a lot of dollars are collected
from farmers paychecks. It’s easy
to spend someone elses money. We
must maintain old-fashioned farm
frugality, period.
Roland G. Kamoda
Monongahela
P.S. Would like to hear from
someone who raises asparagus.
Dear Editor:
This letter is from the board of
the Bradford County DHIA. We,
being concerned with the
gathering momentum of cen
tralization, would like to express
our opinion. We understand that
the present State system has
problems and is awkward to
operate. Our concern is whether or
not total centralization is the best
course of action. At issue are 1) the
options that will be presented to
the State Board, 2) the unknown
cost of centralization, and 3) the
inherent weakness of the DHIA
system.
First, we are concerned that only
one option will be presented to the
State Board, that of total cen
tralization. This would mean that
all the counties and all of their
operations would be assumed by
the State. All of the functions of the
local board-such as hiring, firing,
paying the supervisors and the
settling of disputes-would be taken
away. The local board might exist
to someone who is already doing it.
Check the company personnel.
Make sure they have a long
reputation of good business en
terprise. Don’t forget, to get a new
business started into today’s
market place, it takes much better
brains and marketing ability than
one or two persons can ac
complish. Verify the information
you receive about the proposal.
Check with respected financial
advisors and then listen to them.
Always sleep on any deal. Don’t
buy on the same day you first hear
the offer. If it can’t be bought
tomorrow, too, at the same price,
you just missed that opportunity.
And if you do want to speculate on
a new project, keep your in
vestment to a minimum. If the
project looks good, invest $5OO or
$l,OOO in it. If it is really good, you
have benefitted in a small way. If
the project goes broke, you’ve lost
only $5OO or $l,OOO.
The secret is to consider the
amount you can lose, rather than
the amount you can make
whenever you go into any business
deal.
FARM FORUM
lUR READERS WRITE
on paper in order to elect regional
or state directors and to arrange
the local awards banquet. We feel
that there are other options
available.
Why not offer a limited cen
tralization plan to accomodate the
differences between counties?
Many county boards are doing a
fine job on their own, meeting
certification requirements in a
manner and cost that the State
would be hard pressed to equal.
Here in Bradford County, we have
not seen a State field man in five
months. We pay a part-time
manager $3OO per month to
manage 11 supervisors. After the
State has bought and maintained a
car as well as paid a college
graduate a salary, it would have a
hard time of matching our cost
effectiveness. However, other
counties with fewer supervisors
and low cow populations might
welcome State supervision.
Second is the matter of cost.
Many questions need to be asked
and answered before total cen
tralization is adopted. How much
will it cost? How much will rates
have to go up? Will the quality of
service be enough to offset the cost
increase and keep dairymen from
dropping DHIA? Are more ser
vices being offered than most
dairymen want to pay for? Our
fear is, of course, that the cost will
increase and that the quality of
service will decrease. We urge the
State board to ask tough questions
and demand answers before ac
ting.
(Turn to PageA3l)
Y ' THE BRIGHT-SIDE
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NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Be Aware
of Milker’s Knee
Everyone knows about tennis
elbow, but who has ever heard of
“milker’s knee”? Dairy producers
may have this form of
degenerative arthritis without
being aware of it. The condition
occurs from the squatting, bending
and lifting that dairy farmers must
do when attaching milkers to cows
standing at floor level.
This wearing away of cartilage
in the joints is most common
among dairy farmers. The first
sign is usually pain in the knees.
Family and friends may notice
that the person is becoming
bowlegged. Other signs include
frequent loss of balance; swelling,
locking, stiffening, or giving out of
the knees; and a grinding or
snapping noise when bending.
/sgtT?
Farm
Calendar
Saturday, February 14
Valentine’s Day.
Monday, February 16
Atlantic Breeder’s Annual
Meeting, Penn Township
Fireball, Huntsdale, 7:30 p.m,
Southeast Regional Soybean
Meeting, Meyer’s Restaurant,
Route 309, Quakertown, 9:30
a.m.
Tuesday, February 17
Tillage Conference,,
Stabler Arena, Lehighi
University, Bethlehem, Pa.
Northeastern Pa. Turfgrass and
Grounds Maintenance School,
Luzerne Co. Community
College, Nanticoke.
Farm Management Senes,
Cumberland Extension Center,
Carlisle, 12:30 p.m.
Lancaster County Crops and Soils
Day, Lancaster Farm and
Home Center, 8:30 a.m. to 3
p.m.
Atlantic Breeders Co-op, Southern,
Quarryville Fairgrounds, 7
p.m.
Cecil County Dairy/Livestock
Day, Calvert Grange Hall, 9:30
a.m. t02:30 p.m.
Farmer’s Income Tax Meeting,
Montoursville Presbyterian
Church, 1 to 3 p.m. For in
formation call William
Messersmith, 717-327-2350.
Blair/Huntingdon Crop Day,
Alexandria Fireball, 9:30 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
(Turn to Page A3l)
A knee injury can develop into
milker’s knee but people who have
never had a knee injury may be
affected. Some farmers simply
may have inherited the problem,
especially if the family has a
history of arthritis.
Dr. Dennis Murphy, safety
specialist at Penn State, tells us
that the most important preventive
is to avoid squatting. Instead,
kneel on one knee and wear knee
pads. If you consult a physician at
the first sign of trouble, you can
probably keep the condition from
becoming worse.
To Recognize Lime
For Weed Control
You have never heard us
recommend lime for weed control;
however, indirectly lime is im
portant to obtain good herbicide
weed control. Both research and
farm experience has indicated that
herbicides are not as effective in
sour soil. So, for best control with
chemicals, the soil-test
requirement must be satisfied.
Many poor weed control ex
periences have been reported on
sour soils. A complete soil test will
indicate the amount of lime
needed. There are many other
advantages to crop production in
addition to better herbicide action.
To Know Sewage
Sludge Content
The use of sewage sludge on
farm land is becoming more
common. As the amount of this
material increases, the farmers
should be aware of the danger of
THE
EXAMINER
February 15,1987
Background Scripture:
Colossians 3:5 through 4:6
Devotional Reading
1 John 21.7-11
Tomorrow, I will make my third
trip this week to the License and
Title Bureau of the Dallas County
Court House. Two days ago I had
gone there the first time to transfer
the title on a car I had obtained,
but the clerk told me I needed
some additional forms. So, today I
returned with the forms she had
indicated. Once again, she in
formed me that I would have to get
another signature on still another
form and bring it back. That did it.
I became angry and frustrated and
I didn’t bother to hid it. The girl
obviously couldn’t care less how
many times I had to come back or
how far I had to come.
On the way home in the car I
mulled over this incident. On the
car radio the choir from some
church in the area was singing a
Christmas anthem about “Peace
on earth, good will toward men.”
That wasn’t the message I wanted
to hear. Something more on the
wrath of God descending upon
county clerks was what I had in
mind! And then it dawned on me
that, no matter how “right” I felt 1
was, no matter how “wrong” I
thought she was, I needed to
respond with forgiveness rather
,Y£R NOTGONNtK
Be BOTHERED
BY MOSQUITOS)
OR FUESp TODAY
excessive application. There can
be a problem of too much sludge
causing a build-up of heavy metals
such as zinc, copper, cadmium and
cobalt. When these metals become
too high in the soil they are toxic to
plants. Farmers that utilize
sewage sudge are urged to require
a test of the material in order to
know the exact mineral and fer
tilizer content. Disposal plants are
urged to provide this test for their
farmers in order to know what is
being done. Both the sewage and
the soil can be tested through the
Penn State Testing Laboratory.
Don’t apply sludge without
knowing the mineral built-up in the
soil.
To Keep Small
Children Away
From Machinery
The spring cropping season will
be starting in another month. That
means that a lot of farm machines
will be put into operation and
things will really be moving. Small
children like to become a part of
this action and ask to ride on
machinery, or even operate some
of the smaller tractors. It might
take nerve to refuse them at times,
however, for their own protection
they should not become involved.
Many serious accidents have
happened because “Dad” or
“Grandad” took them along.
Where there are small children,
all machinery operators should be
especially careful of their exact
location. Farm machinery and
small children do not mix.
than vengeance. (It is easy to tell
you this now, but it wasn’t all the
easy for this idea to take hold of
me—l was angry and I was en
joying my anger with self
righteousness. )
DAILY REPORTS
1 remembered reading about a
monastery where, at the close of
each day, the monks had to review
the past day, particularly in terms
of 'their relationships with others.
Every day they were examined on
their conduct and this daily need to
remember and confess their
shortcomings was a big factor in
helping them to grow more
Chnsthke in their lives. It oc
curred to me that, if I had an
Examiner to whom I had to report
daily, I might remember more
often to do the Christian thing in
my relationships with others.
What difference might that
make m your life—if each day
someone were to examine your
conduct toward other people’
What would such an Examiner be
looking for? For one thing, the
Examiner would look for negative
evidence: “immorality, impurity,
passion, evil desire, and
covetousness.. ” (Colossians 3:5).
That’s just for starters, because he
would go on to look for “anger,
wrath, malice, slander and foul
talk from your mouth” (3:8).
“Lying” would also be another
clue. Pretty tough examination!
But the Examiner would also
look for the presence of some
positive qualities too; “com
passion, kindness, lowliness,
meekness, and patience, for
bearing one another, forgiving
each other” (3:12-13). Most of all,
the Examiner would be looking for
love: “And above all these put on
10ve...” (14).
A CHECK-LIST
Actually, all of the above traits
from Colossians 3 would make a
good check-list to help us grow
spiritually each day. All of us
would probably live better, more
loving lives. The problem with
most of us is, not that we don’t
know any better, but that we tend
to forget and there is no one to
remind us or question us about our
daily lives. Without regular con
frontation, we will remember only
once in a while, as I did this af
ternoon.
£ °
Oh, if only there were an
Examiner to whom we could
report each day...
Ah, but there is!
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by the
Committee on the Uniform Series and used by
permission Released by Community and
Suburban Press)