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OPINION
The Ball Is In Your Court
The much heralded Dairy Month'arrived this week with all the
razzmatazz that local, state and national promotion groups could
muster.
It is as American as baseball, hot dogs and apple pie at least in the
dairymen’s world. Most newspapers read by the general public find a
spot for an announcement of the event, but in most cases that is as far
as their coverage goes.
Promotions kick into high gear to ward off the annual summer dip in
consumption. Yet, despite these fine efforts, the average consumer is
unaware that for the entire 30 days of June, the dairy industry is
center stage.
Dairy Month does rally more individuals to the promotion cause
than at any other time during the year. But then what? June 30 arrives
and dairy promotion slides back into the hands of those who work with
it year-round.
Dairymen need to become more active throughout the year in
marketing their product. Historically, they have been concerned
solely with the production end of the business and they have been
content to rely on a second party to market their product.
The second party, while competent and hard working, does not have
the same financial investment in the product as does the dairyman.
Too often dairymen do not know how their product is presented to
the consumer. In their opinion, after it leaves the farm it is someone
else’s concern.
The owners of competing beverage companies know how their
products are presented. They spend millions of dollars making sure
the presentation is optimum.
These competitors are seeking the same share of the consumers’
dollar and stomach space as the dairymen. From image to quality to
packaging and advertising, these owners are aware of what happens
with their products. This includes knowing and keeping tabs on the
second parties they hire to promote and distribute the beverages.
With the dairy industry it is a different story. The business has taken
enormous strides in correcting the promotional aspect, but there is a
long way to go.
Dairy foods of high quality are an important part of the diet for the
health and fitness conscious American consumer. The potential for
growth is staggering but only if we continue to get the message out.
Dairymen are ingenious at getting milk out of the cows. However,
questions concerning milk marketing leave many groping. A trip to
the supermarket’s dairy case to see the product in its final form would
be an eye opener for many.
Before the product ever leaves the farm for the marketplace,
dairymen must make sure they exercise quality control. Milk quality
begins at the farm level it does not improve after the tanker drive
out the lane with it. Only the highest quality product on the store
shelves will encourage increased consumption.
A foul tasting glass of milk quickly undoes all of the promotional
efforts. Even in the dairy community there are those individuals who
dislike milk. This distaste can be traced to the day that the cows fed on
a fresh patch of garlic which in turn caused an unappealing flavor in
the day’s milk.
The 15-cent promotion referendum has done a tremendous job of
extolling the virtues of dairy products and some dairymen are
whispering that they would support a higher deduction if the favorable
results continue. Yet, a few years ago, Pennsylvania dairymen
defeated this motion on the state level. They were unwilling to support
their product’s promotion. This mentality continues today in the form
of an ignorance of milk marketing.
Now is the time for all dairymen to come to the aid of their product.
They need to spruce up their image as well as that of their product. An
education in milk marketing is required. If the middle man is
slacking, he needs to be told.
Dairy farmers labor hard all year and mistakenly think the world
owes them some type of gratification for their efforts. Soybean
growers and drug companies will gladly cover the market. A
Michigan-based company has started making a soy milk product. The
marketplace is not a pretty world.
Dairy farmers do deserve a fair price for their product and their
labor. This is attainable through increased consumption to balance
supply and demand. Increased demand results when consumers buy
more products. Consumers look for quality products with taste appeal
and they buy from someone they like Image is more important in
selling than people realize.
Dairy Month is here and momentum is high. The fate of the dairy
industry lies in the dairyman’s hands. Catch the promotion wave and
ride it through to May 31,1988. With hard promotional efforts the wave
will be even bigger and more powerful at that time.
It all depends on you.
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NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Prepare Grain Bins
We are approaching barley
harvest season with wheat not far
behind, so I would like to remind
our grain producers that now is a
good time to clean up your grain
bins in preparation to harvest.
First, clean out all the old grain,
sweep down all the sidewalls and
floors making sure to remove old
grain lodged in the cracks.
Next, spray the floor and walk
with a residual insecticide.
Malathion and Methoxychlor are
still very effective follow the
label for directions. Finally
prevent birds and rodents from
entering the bin. Repair holes with
metal or other rat-proofing
materials. Clean up all spilled
grain around the bin to discourage
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Perm
Calendar
Saturday, June 6
Washington County Sheep and
Wool Field Day, Washington
Fairgrounds, Washington.
Landis Valley Craft Fair, Pa.
Farm Museum, Lancaster.
Cecil County, Md. Breeder’s Fair,
Fairgrounds, Fair Hill, Md.
Bucks County Dairy Princess
Coronation, Richland Mall,
Quakertown.
Tioga County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Mansfield High
School, Mansfield.
Wayne County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Hickory Grange,
Rileyville.
Pa. Jr. Polled Hereford
Association Show, Ag Arena,
Penn State, 1 p.m.
Queen Contest, Strawberry
Grower’s Association,
Lycoming Mall, Muncy.
Pa. Shropshire Breeders
Association field day and an
nual meeting, Menhennett
Farm, CochranviUe.
Saturday, June 7
4-H Highsteppers Horse Show,
Wayne County Fairgrounds.
Pa. Meat Packers Association
summer meeting, Pocono
Manor; continues through June
9.
Monday, June 8
Rabies Clinic, 5 to 8 p.m., former
Lower Chancetord School, Rt.
74, Sunnyburn. Pets must be
restrained. Cost, $5.
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the various pests from the area.
To Be Aware of Storm Safety
Spring is a time to savor and
also a time to beware when nature
casts aside a gentle way and
unleashes deadly forces. Though
lightning, wind and floods
frequently destroy life and
property, you can do much to avoid
being a victim of weather’s fury.
When a thunderstorm ap
proaches, avoid lone trees, small
metal buildings, fences and high
ground. Get out of the water if
swimming or boating. Find refuge
in a substantial building, motor
vehicle or tractor cab. Don’t ignore
forecasts of severe weather
because they are correct a
majority of the time. It’s also a
good idea to safeguard your house
and buildings with a properly
installed, approved lightning
protection system and inspect it
annually.
Don’t take chances, take safety.
To Remove Broken Limbs
In Pastures
The high winds that accompany
summer storms can create
problems in pasture fields. Broken
limbs lying around may be
hazardous to your livestock. If you
have any wild cherry or choke
cherry branches lying in your
pasture fields, be sure to remove
them before allowing any livestock
in the fields. When leaves are
damaged by broken limbs, they
wilt down and a poisonous sub
stance is formed within the leaves.
ASHAMED OF
THE GOSPEL
June?, 1987
Background Scripture:
Romansl.l7; 15:14 through 16:27
Devotional Reading:
Galatians 3:10-14.
Goou for Paul! He says “For I
am not ashamed of the gospel...”
(Romans 1:16), and I don’t believe
he ever was.
I wish that I could say that I have
never been ashamed of the gospel,
but I’m afraid there have been
times when I found the gospel a
potential embarrassment. There
have been times when I have
muted my Christian witness
because I was afraid that people
would reject me. In fact, there
have even been a few times in my
life when 1 really didn’t want
people to know I am a Christian.
Perhaps some of you reading these
words have also had that kind of
experience.
Why should anyone ever be
ashamed of the gospel? Why
should we ever feel embarrassed
to go public with our Christianity?
The reason is not all that difficult
to figure out. We are surrounded
by a society whose values are often
seriously in conflict with those of
the gospel. We become em
barrassed by the gospel because
we want to be acceptable to those
around us. Despite the com
parative prosperity of the chur
ches in the U.S.A. today, we live in
a secular, materialistic society,
the values of which are much more
in control of our nation than we
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Just a handful of these wilted
leaves can kill a cow or several
sheep if they are eaten. Death
occurs very quickly because the
poison interferes with the oxygen
carrying ability of the blood.
Treatment is possible but the
animals are usually found dead m
the field.
The only way to eliminate the
danger of wild cherry poisoning is
to eliminate the trees. Fields with
wild cherry should be checked for
fallen limbs after a storm; it’s a
simple precaution and could save a
cow or a whole herd.
To Use Respirators
A great many different types of
chemicals and pesticides are used
on farms today. This includes
mixing, handling and applying
various materials. We urge far
mers to invest in respirators to
meet safety measures under
today’s farming procedures. These
are needed for handling and ap
plying various spray materials,
and when using solvents that give
off their fumes.
In addition, farmers working in
dusty places, in manure storage
tanks, and in silos should wear one
of the protective devices. Dusts,
molds and fumes are hard on lungs
and require protection to reduce
injury. The canister type
respirators are suggested because
they cover the entire face. Don’t
expose yourself to permanent lung
injury when protection is
available.
often realize or admit.
Regardless of what we may say
we believe in, we demonstrate
daily that we really believe in the
gospel of material things, tem
poral success, and personal ex
pediency. We judge others as
“successful” if they wield a lot of
power and/or make a lot of money.
Good press relations, not integrity,
are the more cherished. Although
we weekly-and weakly-prodaim
the primacy of love, public of
ficials are lionized, not for their
love, but for their “toughness”—
“being tough” with whomever we
believe they ought to be “tough.”
Neither do our children idolize the
“good” and “loving,” but the
“famous.”
Thus,, the values we learn from
Christ and the values that are
operative all around us often put us
on a collision course. And,
because we want to be acceptable
and accepted by those around us,
we are embarrassed to let them
know that we espouse values which
are so different. It would seem that
it’s not hard to talk about love-and
maybe even do it-when we’re in
the security of our church, because
the people surrounding us there
are supposedly of a like mind and
commitment.
Actually, I find that sometimes,
although people will talk about
religion at church, it is not the
place to talk about spirituality. We
don’t mind people knowing we’re
Baptists or Presbyterians or
whatever, so long as they don’t
think we’re all that spiritual.
Spirituality seems to make many
of us embarrassed-as if it is soft
headed, a weakness of character, a
sign of not being self-sufficient.
But Paul was unashamed of the
gospel because he regarded it, not
as a position of weakness, but of
strength: “It is the power of God
for salvation to every one who has
faith” (1:16). Paul realized that it
was the paganism of his world that
was weak and powerless. Despite
all of its posturing, boasts and
claims, there was no salvation in
it-no helping people overcome
their problems to cope with life. If
anything was shameful, as Paul
saw it, it was the abject impotence.*
of the paganized way of life, the
tendency of people to seek power
and help in the wrong things and
the wrong places.
Like the church at Rome, all of
us need to be reminded that the
Gospel of Jesus is not weakness at
all, but strength, the only power
that can save the world. Then, like
Paul, we will be enabled to say: “I
am not ashamed of the gospel.”