AlHtncastK Farming, .Saturday, .November. 19, 1988
OPINION
What Do You Think?
Here’s a fictitious letter of
satire to the National Ag Secretary
that’s been circulating around the
farm community:
Honorable Secretary of
Agriculture
Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir:
My friend, over at Canby, Min
nesota, received a check for
$l,OOO from the government for
not raising hogs. So, I want to go
into the “not raising hogs” busi
ness next year.
What I want to know is in your
opinion, what is the best kind of
farm not to raise hogs on, and
what is the best breed of hogs not
to raise? I want to be sure that I
approach this endeavor in keeping
with all governmental policies. I
would prefer not to raise razor
backs, but if that is not a good
breed not to raise, then I will just
as gladly not raise Yorkshires or
Durocs.
As I see it, the hardest part of
this program will be in keeping an
accurate inventory of how many
hogs I haven’t raised.
My friend is very joyful about
the future of the business. He has
been raising hogs for twenty years
or so, and the best he ever made on
them was $122 in 1968, until this
year when he got your check for
Farm Calendar
Saturday, November 19
First annual antique model and toy
show. Benefit Denver Fire
Company, Denver Fire Hall,
from 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Bedes County 4-H horse club ban
quet, 6:30 p.m., Berks County
4-H Center.
Lancaster County Farm City Tour
runs Saturday and Sunday from
1 to 5 p.m. Call the extension
office 394-6851 for directions.
Monday, November 21
ADA/DC District 18 annual meet
ing. Holiday Inn, Grantsville,
7:30 p.m.
Octorara Young Farmers, 7:30
p.m.. Demonstration of new
shop equipment purchased with
federal funds in the name of
Octorara Young Farmers.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E Mam St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stetnman Enterprise
Robert G Campbell
Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor
Copyright IMS by Lancaalar Farming
$l,OOO for not Raising hogs.
If I get $l,OOO for not raising 50
hogs, will I get $2,000 for not rais
ing 100 hogs? I plan to operate on
a small scale at first, holding
myself down to about 4,000 hogs
not raised, which will mean about
$BO,OOO the first year. Then I can
afford an airplane-.
Now another thing, these hogs I
will not raise will not eat 100,000
bushels of com. I understand that
you also pay farmers for not rais
ing com and wheat Will I qualify
for payments for not raising wheat
and com not to feed the 4,000
hogs I am not going to raise?
I want to get started as soon as
possible as this seems to be a good
time of the year not to raise hogs
and grain.
Also, I am considering the “not
milking cows” business, so send
me any information on that, too.
In view of these circumstances,
you understand that I will be total
ly unemployed and plan to file for
unemployment and food stamps.
Be assured you will have rny
vote in the coming election.
Patriotically yours,
P.S. Would you please notify me
when you plan to distribute more
free cheese?
What do you think about this?
Tuesday, November 22
12th annual Lancaster Chamber of
Commerce Agriculture Indus
try Banquet, Willow Valley
Resort and Conference Center,
7 p.m.
Ephrata Young Farmers’ Dairy
Management Meeting, Ephrata
High School, 7:45 p.m.
Annual Forage Conference, Keller
Auditorium, University Park, 9
a.m.
Crawford County Cooperative
Extension annual banquet and
meeting at Elk’s Club, Mead
ville, 7:30 p.m.
Franklin County, DHIA annual
meeting Kauffman’s Commun
ity Center, 7 p.m.
Saturday, November 26
Mercer County Holstein annual
meeting, Mercer extension
office, 8 p.m.
HOWTO PREPARE.
THANKSGIVING
DINNER
General Manager
v£lta
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
'Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Attend The
Mid-Atlantic Conservation
Tillage Conference
“Conservation Tillage; Getting
The Full Picture,” is the theme of
the 1988 Mid-Atlantic Conserva
tion Tillage Conference scheduled
for Wednesday, December 14 at
the York Fairgrounds, York, Pa.
The program committee has
arranged for prominent speakers
to cover such timely topics as;
Resources at Risk: How Water
Quality Issues Are Shaping Your
Future; Conservation Tillage and
Groundwater Quality; Progress on
Genetic Engineering: Round-up
Tolerance in Crops; Improve
Nutrient Efficiency With No-
Tillage and Tillage Alternatives.
The keynote speaker, Dr. John F.
Marten, Farm Journal Staff Eco
nomist will speak to “Farm Pro
duction, Prices and Politics in
1989.” He is an authority on crop
outlook forecasts and analysis.
There are a great many com
mercial exhibitors with represen
tatives eager to greet and help you.
The program starts at 10:00 a.m.
and ends at 3:15 p.m. The exhibits
open in Memorial Hall at 8:00
a.m.
Tickets and program details are
now available from county exten
sion offices.
To Take A Look
At New Weed Control
Methods In The Future
Research is always looking for
new and better ways to do old
jobs. First there were hoes, then
animal drawn cultivators and
finally herbicides to control
weeds. Scientists are always deve
loping new herbicides, but now
researchers are looking in other
directions.
According to Robert Anderson,
our Extension Agronomy Agent,
researchers in both Vermont and
Quebec have been looking for
non-conventional ways to control
velvetleaf, a major weed problem
in com and other crops. Velvetleaf
is a difficult weed to control by
chemicals, mechanical or cultural
methods. Future control may be
through the use of a bioherbicide.
Research has isolated a pathogen
from foliar lesions that may offer a
new control possibility.
Research by USDA and Uni
versity of Minnesota has found a
new way to control grass weeds in
com. Once a pre-emergence grass
herbicide fails in com, the use of a
postemergence herbicide does not
exist There arc some good post
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emergence herbicides used in
other crops, but these materials are
fatal to com. Plant breeders have
isolated com cells that are resis
tant to the herbicide (Poast) and
believe that resistance can be
transferred to hybrid com varie
ties... what’s next?
To Be Careful
When Cleaning Manure
Pits
Many manure pits will be emp
tied at this time of year, it’s an
opportunity to clean out the pit
before cold weather arrives. When
this volume of manure is agitated
there is greater danger of toxic and
explosive gases being released.
Every precaution should be taken.
If there are animals above the pits,
then maximum ventilation should
ANY WORD FROM
THE LORD?
November 20,1988
Background Scripture: Jere
miah 37:1 through 38:13.
Devotional Reading: Jeremiah
37:11-21.
This is a story too human to be
fictitious. In fiction, King Zede
kiah would have been an arch vil
lain. Instead, we see him as a trag
ically weak and indecisive man.
Unfortunately, he was the king of
Judah and we do not have to won
der why the people of Judah fared
so tragically under his leadership
or the lack of it
King Zedekiah is like so many
of us: he knows so much better
than he does. When the Chaldeans
(Babylonians) have surrounded
Jerusalem and are besieging the
city, Zedekiah knows who it is to
whom he must turn for interces
sion with the Lord. So. he sends
high-ranking officials of his court
to ask Jeremiah the prophet to
“Pray for us to the Lord our God”
(37:3). Zedekiah knew that Jere
miah was the, only who could
enlist God’s help in driving away
the Chaldeans. Yet, at the same
time, the writer tells us: “But
neither he (Zedekiah) nor his ser
vants nor the people of the land
listened to the words of the Lord
which he spoke through Jeremiah
the prophet” (37:2).
AUTHENTICITY
So, on the one hand, Zedekiah
recognized Jeremiah’s link to God
as an authentic one; while on the
other, he refused to heed Jere
miah’s warnings. That sounds
strange, doesn’t it: to recognize
someone’s authority, but failing to
take the advice that authority dis
penses. The problem, it would
seem, is not that Zedekiah didn’t
believe Jeremiah, but that he
didn’t like the message he was
given. Isn’t that our problem, too,
sometimes? It is not that we don’t
be provided. When the pit is emp
ty or partially empty, no one
should enter the pit without a
respirator or gas mask. There may
be dangerous gases present. Also,
no smoking or open flames should
be nearby. These pits are the mod
enrway to store manure, but they
do present a hazard to both man
and animal.
To Appreciate
Harvest Completion
Once again we have come to the
end of another growing season
and the end of the harvest.
The 1988 year was favorable in
most areas for field, orchard and
garden crops and this has meant
good production of food and feed.
Some neighboring counties can
not say the same.
believe the message from God, but
that we don’t like it. And that is
why we often do not respond.
Obviously, the people didn’t
really understand much about pro
phets. They thought they could
pressure Jeremiah to change his
message from defeat to victory
over the Chaldeans-or at least to
drive them away. Jeremiah, how
ever, made it clear that it was not
just a matter of changing his mes
sage, but changing the reality
behind that message. The Chal
deans will prevail, not because
they are invincible, but because it
is God himself who is acting
through them. “For even if you
should defeat the whole army of
the Chaldeans who are fighting
against you, and there remained of
them only wounded men, every
man in his tent, they would rise up
and burn this city with fire”
(37:10).
Again King Zedekiah turns to
Jeremiah for good advice from
God, but typically Zedekiah, he
didn’t want it to be known in publ
ic. The king questioned him, but
privately so no one would know:
“King Zedekiah sent for him and
received him. The king questioned
him secretly in his house, and said,
‘ls there any word from the
Lord?’”
ANY WORD
FROM GOD?
Any word from the Lord? Yet
Zedekiah is the king who fails to
heed Jeremiah’s prophecies. Why,
then, would he send for him
again? Did he think that if asked
often enough, God would change
his mind or the prophet would
soften the message? Zedekiah
knew better than that, but still he
asked his fearful questions and
hoped that at last the word from
the Lord would be favorable.
Zedekiah is believable, because
he is like many of us: we want to
do right, but we find the pull to do
wrong so much more powerful.
We go through life limping
between what we know we ought
to do and what we would prefer to
do. But, unless we’re willing to
hear and respond to his message,
there’s no point asking, “Is there
any word from the Lord?”
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced
by the Committee on the Uniform Senes and
used by permission. Released by Communi
ty t Suburban Press)
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