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OPINION
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AGRICULTURE
America’s Heartbeat
The First Day of Spring
Before you get the next issue of
Lancaster Fanning, it will be
spring. March 20, you know, is the
day all farmers’ minds turn to
plowing and planting. But that’s
not all that happens on March 20.
As usual the Congress of the
United States and the President
have officially recognized this day
as National Agricultural Day. And
if agriculture should be saluted in
the nation, it should also be done in
Lancaster Fanning Territory. As
our new Pennsylvania Agriculture
Secretary Boyd Wolff said this
week, “Agriculture is the Com
monwealth’s leading industry and
provides $35 billion in economic
activity and is a significant source
of jobs for rural and urban
residents.
Across America, agriculture
provides 20 percent of the gross
national product of $3.3 trillion.
The agriculture-day slogan is
“Agriculture: America’s Heart
beat”, and the theme is “The
Business of Food and Fiber." The
observance is held annually on the
first day of spring, a tradition that
has been going on since 1973.
Agriculture is America’s leading
industry and the largest single
source of jobs, just like it is in
Pennsylvania.
Another way to say it is that
agriculture provides employment
for one out of every five job holders
in Pennsylvania. From those who
labor in the fields to others who
process foods in city-based plants.
The industry of agriculture is an
economic lifeline for thousands of
rural Pennsylvania communities
and the several million people who
live in them. It is the source of
essential food and fiber for Penn
sylvanians wherever they live.
Here are some facts about
Pennsylvania agriculture that you
might like to know. It’s 53,000 farm
families annually produce $4
billion in crops and livestock. The
agriculture and food industry
employs nearly 1.2 million per
sons. The most current data on
farm product marketing shows
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that Pennsylvania ranks 17th in the
nation. Pennsylvania’s share of
agricultural cash receipts in the
northeast now stand at 40 percent.
The net income per farm averaged
$13,115 in 1985. Farm production
expenses were estimated at ap
proximately $3 billion.
Farm land in Pennsylvania
totals 8.7 million acres according
to the most recent confirmed data.
The averaged size farm is 150
acres, and the current per acre
value of land with buildings in
cluded is $1450.
Pennsylvania is the nation’s fifth
leading producer of milk churning
out seven percent of the nation’s
supply from it’s 14,000 commercial
dairy farms. Production in 1985
was a record high 9.98 billion
pounds, which was valued at $1.33
billion.
The latest data available shows
inventories on Pennsylvania farms
of 1.9 million cattle and calves,
780,000 hogs and pigs and 93,000
sheep and lambs. The total value of
livestock inventory is $l.l billion.
The gross income from the
marketing of animals was $420
million in 1985. The value of
poultry production in Penn
sylvania was $417.8 million in 1985,
the latest year for which data was
available. Cash receipts were
estimated at $409 million. The
Commonwealth ranked third in the
nation in the number of layers and
in egg production.
The production value of Penn
sylvania’s principle field and *
forage vegetable and fruit crops
was $1.4 billion in 1985. The
marketing of those crops resulted
in cash receipts of $923 million.
Pennsylvania ranks in the top 10
nationwide in the production of 12
different crops: mushrooms, com
for silage, apples, grapes, peaches,
tart cherries, rye, tobacco, pears,
sweet cherries, oats and all hay.
Any way you look at it,
agriculture is America’s hearbeat.
And what’s true of the nation is
even more true in Pennsylvania.
Annual Meeting, Pa. Ayrshire
Breeders Association, Holiday
Inn, Grantville.
Delaware Ag Industry Dinner,
Clayton Hall, University of
Delaware. Call; 800-282-8685.
Northeast Regional Christmas
Tree Growers Meeting and
Trade Show, Split Rock Ledge,
Galleria, Lake Harmony, Pa., 8
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Berks County Guernsey Breeders
Annual Meeting, Shartlesville
Grange Hall, 11 a.m.
Maple Sugar Festival, Hibernia
Park, Chester County, 9 a.m. to
3 p.m.
Tioga-Bradford Jersey Club, Alba
Church, noon.
Egg Marketing Order Meeting,
Center, 7:30 p.m.
National Agriculture Week;
continues through March 21.
Maple Sugaring Festival,
Hashawha Environmental
Appreciation Center, Carroll
County, Md., 1 to 5 p.m.
Horse Symposium, Extension
Center, Route 31, Flemington, 8
p.m.
Forage Machinery Workshop,
Greene County Fairgrounds, 11
a.m.to3p.m.
Franklin County Beekeepers’
Meeting, County Ad
ministration Building,
Chambersburg, 7:30 p.m.
Ephrata Area Young Fanner
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Prevent Water Pollution
The quality of our water supplies
is very important; in most cases it
should receive more attention.
Many people have wells with high
bacteria count and/or high
nitrates. Both of these are un
desirable for both domestic and
livestock consumption. When
feedlots and barns are cleaned out
this spring, every effort should be
made to incorporate this manure
into the topsoil just as quickly as
possible. With liquid manure, the
soil injection type of applicator
does an excellent job. With other
types of surface spreaders, the
manure should be disked or plowed
into the topsoil soon after ap
plication; this is especially true on
slopes above water supplies. The
application of fertilizers warrants
Farm Calendar
Saturday, March 14
Monday, March 16
Lancaster Farm and Home
Tuesday, March 17
the same attention; mix it with the
top soil very soon after application.
Also surface water should be
directed away from wells or any
other water supply.
To Control Wild Garlic
We may like onions on our
hamburgers and in other foods, but
very few of us like onion-flavored
milk. This can easily happen on
dairy farms where wild garlic
plants are allowed to grow. Many
pastures are infested with wild
garlic. One of the best times to
start control measures on this
weed is early spring when the
young plants are 4 to 8 inches high.
An application of 2,4-D will knock
them down. Follow the label for
directions. When this is applied
around the middle to latter part of
March, little damage is done to any
legume in the area. If garlic plants
are allowed to mature each year,
the pasture area will become so
contaminated that dairy cows
cannot utilize the grass.
To Care For Horses
Many horses and ponies are
neglected this time of year. When
they are kept in a stable for long
periods of time, such as during the
winter, they can get out of con
dition and they may develop some
bad habits. But you can avoid this
by following good management
practices.
Your horses are natural athletes
and need the daily workout to keep
their muscles, feet and legs in good
condition. Twenty to 25 minutes on
the end of a long line is one of the
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monthly meeting, Ephrata High
School Ag Department, 7:45
p.m.
N.J. State Board of Ag Open
Hearing, Extension Center,
GIVEN FOR YOU
March 15,1987
Background Scripture; Luke 22:1-
23.
Devotional Reading: John 11:45-
53.
A month ago we were visiting for
the first time on the island of
Jersey in the English Channel. One
day, as we were touring an old fort
that had been turned into a large
recreational complex, we talked to
one of the complex’s officials. I’ve
forgotten how, but our con
versation induced the man to
reminisce about his experiences
during the Nazi occupation of
Jersey and the other Channel
Islands during World War 11. He
told us that, after he had been sent
off to a concentration camp, his
mother had taken in one day a
Russian prisoner who had escaped
from a nearby prison combound.
Despite the danger of being shot
had the Nazis discovered it, she hid
best ways. Just let the horses run
circles around you. This keeps him
from getting fat and developing
weak feet and legs.
Don’t feed moldy, dusty or dirty
hay or grain to horses; this could
result in respiratory problems.
Free choice of dean water, salt
and minerals should be provided.
Good care now will help bring good
performance during the rest of the
year.
To Control Mice in Orchards
Now that the winter weather is
almost gone, our fruit growers
should take a look at the newly
exposed grass and sod in their
orchards. If there are runways at
the surface of the grass, it is a good
sign that there are plenty of mice
in the orchard even though a
mouse baiting program may have
been followed last fall.
The mice have used up their
stockpiles of stored food and are
now looking for a fresh supply. At
this time of the year they will move
quickly onto bark and roots of fruit
trees.
Fruit growers should rebait their
orchards as soon as possible if
there are fresh mouse signs.
For growers who put out bait
stations in the orchard last fall, it
will be a simple matter of
replenishing the rodenticide
treated bait under all the stations.
You must remember that the mice
are hungry and can do a lot of
damage to fruit trees between now
and the time that other plants start
to grow in the spring.
Route 31, Flemington, 9 a.m.
Schuylkill County Beekeepers
meeting, Schuylkill Mall,
FrackvUle, 7 p.m. For in
formation call 717-385-3431.
Forage Machinery Workshop,
Westmoreland County, Lone
Maple Sales and Service, 10:30
a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Huntingdon County Dairy Market
Meeting, Raystown Country
Inn, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
(Turn to Page A3l)
the Russian escapee until the
surrender of the German forces on
V-EDay. ’
BEFOREISUFFER
The story was not only in
teresting to me, but very thought
provoking as well. This woman
risked her life for a man she hadn’t
known and whose language she
couldn’t even speak. It occurred to
me that I had forgotten the valiant
sacrifices people had made during
World War 11. Looking back from
the standpoint of our own era, I
couldn’t help wondering how much
self-sacrifice people might risk if
we faced similar circumstances
today. I may be wrong in this
perception, but it seems to me that
we live in a day when most people
will stand up for the right only
when it can be done without risk to
one’s life or well-being. The code
prevalent in our world today seems
to be one of “self first; others only
if it doesn’t cost too much.”
Both by his teachings and his
life, however, Jesus teaches us
that the essence of responding
rightly to God is our willingness, if
need be, to sacrifice ourselves for
others. This is apparent, not only
on Good Friday, but also Maundy
Thursday. “This is my body which
is given for you” (22:19), he said. I
don’t believe Jesus wanted to
suffer or that he sought it. But,
neither did he shrink from it when
it became necessary.
THIS DO
Thus, he gave us one of the most
sublime of all sacraments, “Holy
Communion,” and we receive it
“in remembrance” of him and
what he did for us. He asked us,
through his disciples, to “Do this”
and we do— again and again. But
the bread and the cup that we
receive at the “Lord’s supper” are
meaningless unless, by this
communion with him, we too are
willing to give ourselves in self
sacrificing love to whatever cross
he call us.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Series and used
by permission Released by Community and
Suburban Press )