AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, OPINION Feed The Hungry “Parity Giving” is a bold tax- unemployment, high national debt incentive plan to end America’s and eventually the risk of severe farm crisis and help feed the starv- depression. Will there be a great ing of our world. This “zero-cost” depression of 1990 as some eco amendment to the Internal nomisls are predicting? To p j an Por Pa n Revenue Service code would Under the proposed legislation, Wheat Seeding allow special valuation of agricul- Congress would set a parity value time is fast approaching for tural donations. The legislation is for donated farm products which wheal ers making being pressed by farmers and would amount to the cost of pro- plans for their fall seeding. In most' others sensitive to starvation in the duct i o n plus a profit factor. The £ wheat was a very food crop world - plan, for example, might establish but some local wheat may John Arens, senior partner with a pan ty value for com at $4.00 per * ti sfactory due to weed Arens and Alexander, a Fayettevil- bushel. If a taxpayer were to buy .. JL f lf you le, Ark. law firm that specializes in 100 bushels of com at $3.00 per farm problems says die connection bushd (current market price) and ‘ ource and^e it Janed and between starvauon and America s were to donate it to chanty, this , r „„ t „ dfnrdisease A i so ifyouhad farm crisis has not always been as donor cou i d value his gift at $4OO, b problem not obvious as it is now. “Through the instead of the current $3OO IRS 80s. my law firm has concentrated cost allowance. This incentive f f g can rcmain in the its efforts in agricultural law, help- would encourage both corporate ’ ing farmers fight in the courts to a nd individual donors to become Certified seed would the best keep their farms. Not until I sat at additional buyers of Amenca s t 0 y you experienced the kitchen table with Frances and annual harvest The private sector M Ais year , The extra Clarence Hopmann distressed would be enticed to participate in f cerUfied is well worth Delta farmers from Dumas, Ark., solving our farm/hunger crisis he , insure a good crop next did I begin to realize that the farm instead of relying on government )mmpr F crisis crises were ba n ou ts and subsidies. To Consider AUer „ ative inextricably linked, Arens saia. Any repo rted food excesses Protein Feeds “Through her tears, Mrs. Hop- would absorbed in famine Wllh lhe ic e of protein mann said: “It just doesn t make rc ii e f. This practical alternative to • in _ farmen! and feed com any sense that 40,000 children die “tearing down our bams and build- j looking for alternative each day because they have no ingne w ones” to store our excesses ‘ sourccs of protc i n feeds. Accord ftxid-wcgrownce-and yct we would noton i y reduce hunger, but A shirk, extension are told by the administration that would also strengthen America s one alternative is lhe we have a surplus and that we are depr essed farm prices and help y | non-protein-nitrogen not needed anymore; that we must revive Uie dignity of family farms. such aj ufca and anh dr . lose our home our family farm. Eventually, commodity prices a * monia . When fed properly. There is something terribly wnmg. would increase to levels nearing animals are able to con . We can’t have a real surp us when the parity value because the true vcrt NPN im o protein. Animals millions suffer and face starvation value - of donated producuon - nccd lQ be acdin [ ated t 0 NPN gra in the world. calculated by converting tax say- d „ over a rio d of 3to 4 “I began to understand that.a in gs into increased worth-would Initially> ure a can be incor lasung solution to Amenca s farm give an upw ard buoyancy to all intQ lf / e con c en trate mix at crisis would not be found in the fann prices. Charitable relief orga- a rale of about 0 .5%, and then gra courts or in modem farm subs - nizat ions would then be able to use dually i ncrea se d to a maximum of dies. The answer was ancient, the bulk of their resources tetrad- lQva L 5 %. o r, it can be Biblical economics. Only when and d i str i b ute the donated mixed ralc of about 10 America empties its food and flbcr . ton of norma , com gil . and feeds hungry, yyould our It makes no sense that US. tax- alte mative is to mix farm crisis be at an end. When payers spent $5.3 billionin 1987 to ? ds Qf anhydro us America does not give on par with slore 10 .3 billion bushels of com, •JZ lon D t s ii aEe If NPN to 'r ,y - 1.9 bimon bushels ot wheel, 635 rZJSTcSi do storehouses become artifically million bushels of soybeans and nnl ; nclude it in the silage Neither Ml, weakening hs Mm econcjmy, 23s million w«l. of rice (US. the pnmary source of new wealthy Department of Agriculture) when dtoU g ht _ slrickcn com silage. Frances Hopmann, another even j n this country some 20 mil- ° ( advocate of Parity Giving says: ii on Americans go hungry for part Parm “With parity giving, America’s o feach month, according to a 1985 * vaivuuai farmers would no longer be driven report by the Havard Physician Saturday, August 6 into debt, disappointment and Task Force on Hunger in America. 1988 PA Simmental Field Day, bankruptcy for reasons completely Our nation can no longer afford Windy Hill Farms, Titusville, beyond their control. This coun- to ignore the hungry and destroy 10:00 a.m. try’s well-tested and treasured sys- our most valuable resource: PDA Performance Tested Ram tern of family farms would Arn crica’sfoodproductioncapaci- Lamb and Ewe Sale, Ag Arena, survive.” ty which is dependent on our sys- Penn Stale, 1:00 p.m. The late Carl Wilkcn, noted tem of family farms. As public Bradford County Holstein Picnic agricultural economist and former opinion mounts, more will be Clinton County Fair, Mackeyville, editor of the Progressive Farmer heard of this simple amendment to through the 13th magazine, observed that in years the IRS code, which promises to Huntingdon Co. 4-H Clean-Up when farm income makes up at break the unholy anomaly of hun- day, fairgrounds, 9: a.m. least one-seventh of the nation’s ger in the midst of an abundant Cumberland County 4-H Horse Gross National Product, the nation harvest. It would finally signal a Roundup, Carlisle Springs, prospers. But in times when farm national response to the age-old Monday, August 8 income falls much below one- plea; Feed the hungry. Tioga Co. Holstein Show, Whit seventh, there follows increased (Turn to Page A 27) Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday At Record-Express Office Building 22 E Main Street Lititz. PA 17543 by Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Sltlnrrmn EnUrpr** Robert G Campbell General Manager Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor OpyrtlM IN by LanuMw rmm Inf BOY, TM \S> HOT WEATHER v I <=> ROUGrH y £ Ml £3 in* NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin •Lancaster County Agriculture Agent YOO 6ETT, IT MAKES PEOPLE T\ RED J& bo U <fe^— How much silage or high mois ture com must you feed each day to keep ahead of spoilage in the silo? The amount will vary considerably from hot days to cold days. Can your herd consume this much feed? The answer to these ques tions depends on the diameter of the silo, how well the feed was pro cessed and packed when it was ensiled, herd size, feeding prog ram, season of the year and type of storage structure. If you are ensiling high moisture ground shelled com in an upright conventional silo, you’ll need to remove at least 2 inches of grain a day in warmer weather to keep ahead of spoilage. For a 14 foot silo, that is 1,400 pounds or more of com per day 24 pounds per cow in a 60 cow herd. If you are ensiling whole shelled com or ground ear com, the material does not pack as tightly, and up to 4 inches may have to be removed THE PERILS OF POPULAR RELIGION August 7,1988 Background Scripture: Exodus 32. Devotional Reading: Psalms 106: 40-48. No public relations person would tell the story of the Israelites at Mount Sinai as the writer of the Book of Exodus writes it. As he tells it, just about everyone in the narrative is presented in an unfa vorable light: the Israelites, Aaron, and even Moses. Especially the Israelites. From our safe perspective of the 20th century, you and I can be proberly shocked at the irresponsible beha viour they exhibit. Impatient because Moses has not yet come down off the mountain, the people of Israel demand of Aaron, “.Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Exodus 32:1). God has brought them out of Egypt, freed them from the pursuit of the Egyptians, provided them with water and food for them in the wilderness and now, despite all of that, they are impatient and demand that Aaron provide them with idols! THE WAY IT WAS Wc commend the the writer of Exodus for telling us the way it was, not the way we would have perfcrrcd it to be. But we need to be no less acndid, for patiencke is no more a universal virtue now that it was in Moses’ day and we, despite our pretensions, are probably no less impatient with God than the Israelites were. Who among us has not dispaired when it seemed that God was delayed in coming to our aid? Which of us has not grown IT MAKES? PEOPLE - / &ICK ( * jfW op daily. Four inches of this material in a 14 foot silo is 2,436 pounds 41 pounds per cow in a 60 cow herd. If a limited oxygen storage unit is used, sizing is less critical. Late August and early Septem ber are good times to establish a new pasture, or renovate an old one. In fact, this is a good time of the year to make any pasture or lawn seeding. The old sod should be destroyed by cultivation or by a herbicide. After the soil has been treated with lime and fertilizer, according to a complete soil test, it can be seeded and should produce good grazing for next summer. The advantage of a fall seeding is to permit time for the new plants to become established before the 1989 hot weather arrives. The cool, moist fall months should give the plants a good start. The Agro nomy Guide lists some good seed ing recommendations. impatient with prayer that seemed unanswered and looked for help elsewhere? People may be more than will ing to keep the covenant so long as it seems that God is running his end of the bargain according to our time schedule. But, if God insists upon being God and uses a totally different timetable, how long are we likely to wait faithfully and patiently? Popular religion is always an impatient one. In addition to being impatient for Moses’ return, the people of Israel also wanted a god they could see, handle and maybe even con trol. It was one thing for Moses to tell them about a God whom they could not see, but they wanted something more tangible like the golden calf that Aaron made for them out of their offerings of gold. You and I, of course, are not very likely to ask for a golden idol, but that doesn’t mean that we are any less amterialistic in our reli gious outlook. We may say we believe in an invisible God, but we» act as if it is only the material goods in which we can trust. Popu lar religion is always a materialis tic one. EMOTIONAL BALANCE Thirdly, the people of Israel wanted to turn their religion into an emotional binge. The “still, small voice” within was not enough for them. They wanted a religion that swept them off their feet and turned their insides upside down: “And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play” (32:6). There’s nothing wrong about sitting down to “eat and drink” or even rising up “to play,” so long as we don’t make that a substitute for obeying our coven ant with the Lord. The problem is not emotion in religion, but emo tion instead of religion. The prob lem is substituting excitement for obedience and faithfulness, of mis taking entertainment for revela tion. Those are always the attrac tive, compelling perils of popular religion. IT MAKES) PEOPLE To Renovate Old Pastures (Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by the Committee on the Uniform Senes and used by permission Released by Community & Suburban Press) w fjpecwi CjrTooh
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers