AKHjncMter Farming, Saturday, Novmbtr 26,1988
OPINION
Wise To-Do Likewise
If you are having a traditional Thanksgiving meal
for 10 this week, it will cost you $26.61 according to a
survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Fed
eration. Led by higher prices for turkey and sweet
potatoes, the nationwide survey reveals the holiday
feast will cost 8.5 percent more than last year.
Among the items included on the menu in the survey
were; turkey and dressing, sweet potatoes,, peas, rolls,
cramberries, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, a rel
ish dish and beverages. The price for a comparable
meal in 1987 was $24.51. In 1986, a comparable meal
cost $29.75.
Of course, the cost is only relative. In many countries
around the world, not only do they not have the resour
ces to buy food, they don’t have the food to buy.
When the Pilgrims sat down to dinner with their
Indian friends more than 350 years ago, we’re sure
they had no idea how great this nation’s farmers would
become. Today our farmers and supporting agri
business not only feeds the nation, they help feed the
world.
Even in a year of drought as this one has been, our ag
industry calls forth from our farmland more food than
we can possibly eat. Our harvests of wheat, corn, soy
beans, fruits, vegetables and the food products like
cereals and dairy products keep us well fed with excess
to export.
At this Thanksgiving season, it’s time again to reflect
on our abundant blessings and on our heritage. Our
ancestors endured great hardship to come to the place
of that first Thanksgiving feast. And while, according
to the national survey, our feast this year may cost us a
little more, in comparison to those earlier times it really
hasn’t cost us much at all.
So, like the first celebrants of a feast of Thanksgiving
who sat around their bountiful tables and bowed their
heads in gratitude to the Lord for all that had been bes
towed upon them, we would be wise to do likewise.
If--
Farm Calendar
Saturday, November 26
Mercer County Holstein annual
meeting, Mercer extension
office, 8 p.m.
Monday, December 5
Lancaster County DHIA Red Rose
Annual Banquet, Yoder’s
Restaurant, New Holland,
11:30 a.m.
“Locking In Feed Prices For 1989,
FARM FORUM our readers write J
Editor:
Here is a non-fictitious letter to
the National Secretary of Agricul
ture written by a farmer who’s
been around for a while.
Dear Sir
Let’s take a lode at the other
side of the big picture. We go back
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E Mam St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stelnman Bnterpme
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett Ft Newswanger Managing Editor
Copyright IMt by Lancaster Panning
Soybean Meal”, Kent County
Extension, Chestertown, Md.,
12:30-2:30 p.m. Runs through
December 8.
Animal Patents International Sym
posium, Cornell University,
Ithaca, N.Y. Runs through
December 6.
Maryland Farm Bureau Annual
(Turn to Pag# A3l)
a number of years when a check
from the United States govern
ment was not as commonplace as
it is today. We go back to the time
when the extension department of
the land grant colleges taught us
that in order to preserve our valu-
(Turn to Page Al 9)
TD BE SAFE. YOU SHOULD
PERIODICALLY CHECK OVER
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Tighten Farm Security
Rural crime is a serious in many
parts of our country - Lancaster
County included. We need to take
every precaution to protect our
property from theft and vandal
ism. This is more difficult on a
farm because of the number of
buildings and exposed items. A
good place to start is to install
automatic lights; also a good
watch dog will signal the arrival of
a stranger or something unusual
happening.
Another preventive measure is
to keep garages and workshops
under padlock to make it more dif
ficult for illegal entry. Farm
machinery should be stored under
cover or near farm buildings at all
times. It’s a good idea to engrave
all tools and equipment with your
driver’s license. Social Security
numbers are non-retrievable so
your driver’s license number is a
much quicker identification.
Neighborhood watch is very suc
cessful -- notify your neighbors if
you see something unusual.
To Use Only Needed
Fertilizer Elements
Fertilizer prices continue to be
high, so we suggest that farmers
act now to hold this production
cost in line. A complete soil test
now will reveal the exact fertilizer
elements that are needed in certain
fields for certain crops. The idea
of applying the same amount of
the same analysis of fertilizer each
year might help but is not the best
way to obtain the most from your
fertilizer dollar. Some fields may
have sufficient amounts of potash,
or be in excess of some elements;
in these cases it is not economical
to apply more of these same ele
ments. Testing in the county over
the last several years has revealed
that some fields will require no
additional fertilizer. So with high
fertilizer costs we suggest that far
mers do soil testing and then apply
only what is needed for each crop,
and be sure to include the nutrient
value of manure when calculating
your neeos.
To Observe Withdrawal Time
The use of drugs and antibiotics
are needs in many cases to protect
the health of livestock, poultry and
dairy animals. Their use is quite
common in many farm operations.
However, the misuse of these
materials is where trouble can
start. When these items arc admi
nistered to animals or poultry, the
owner should read the label for
directions relating to withdrawal
periods for milk cows or time
between treatment and slaughter
for meat. It’s only. goocLcommon
sense that those regulations be fol
lowed. To short-cut the period of
time is only jeopardizing the pro
duct and the entire farming busi
ness. Don’t take chances with our
valuable food products. Also,
keep accurate records of all treat
ments. In case excess tolerance is
found, it might save time and
money.
To Consider Feeding
Soybeans to Cattle
High producing cows require a
lot of energy and protein, but the
amount they consume is limited
by the amount of dry matter they
can eat, according to Glenn Shirk,
Background Scripture: Jere
miah 31:27-34.
Devotional Reading: Jeremiah
32:36-41.
“The most important single
teaching of Jeremiah,” is what
Biblical scholar James Philip
Hyatt says of Jeremiah 31:27-34.
And for once, there seems to be no
scholarly disagreement with that
assessment. This passage and the
proclamation of the New Coven
ant is not only the climax of Jere
miah’s thought, but also one of the
great mountaintops of the Old
Testament The concept was so
important that later the Bible
would be divided into two parts,
the Old and the New Covenants
or Testaments.
So, what is a covenant? If you
look in a Bible dictionary you’ll
find that there is no one word that
serves as an adequate synonym. It
is a concept that is easier to
explain than it is to define. Essen
tially. a covenant is an agreement
and one can’t help of thinking of a
contract, a legal document that
defmes the promises made by two
or more parties. Yet, the covenant
that God made with the people of
Israel was more than just a con
tract of promises. In a sense, the
Old Covenant described the rela
tionship between God and his peo
ple: the Lord would be their God
and they would be his people. Per
haps we might say that the coven
ant was the bond between God and
the people of Israel.
BROKEN BONDS
Unfortunately, the Old Coven
ant didn’t seem to work very well.
The reason: the covenant was
dependent upon both parties-God
and his people-keeping their
respective end of the agreement
But again and again Israel broke
the covenant and ended the rela
tionship. In fact the old Testa-
FOR EXAMPLE • A SMALL
CRACK IN MDOR BRAKING
SYSTEM COULD LEAD T 0...
THEBOND
November 27,1988
Extension Dairy Agent. There
fore, dairymen usually increase
the amount.of concentrates fed
while also observing cows’ mini
mal needs, for forages and fiber.
Another alternative is to replace
some of die concentrate mix with
oil seeds, such as soybeans, which
are rich in protein and energy.
Beans are also high in oil, and too
much oil can impair rumen func
tion and digestion. Thus, intakes
should be limited to about 5
pounds per cow per day. Heat
treated beans are more palatable
and contain more by-pass protein
which can help meet protein needs
of high producers.
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion is an affirmative action, equal
opportunity educational
institution.
ment is a continuing story of the
numerous breakings of the coven
ant by the people of Israel.
So long as the covenant was
dependent upon Israel fulfilling its
part of the agreement, it was
doomed to failure and disappoint
ment. That’s where Jeremiah
came in with a radically new con
cept. Since the Old Covenant
didn’t work, Jeremiah prophe
sized that God would bring into
being a New Covenant: “Behold
the days are coming when I will
make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and the house of
Judah, not like the covenant I
made with their fathers when I
took them by the hand to bring
them out of the land of Egypt, my
covenant which they broke”
(7:31,32).
The people who listened to
Jeremiah must have been shocked
when the prophet spoke of God
establishing a new covenant with
Israel. For centuries the Hebrews
had lived by the covenant that was
based upon the giving of the Ten
Commandments. How would this
covenant be “new”?
First of all, this covenant will be
written, not on stone tablets, “but I
will put my law within them, and I
will write it upon their hearts”
(31:33b). No more will the people
need to rely upon written codes,
instead their lives will have an
inner motivation and power that
will lift them beyond the mere ful
fillment of written law.
Secondly, it will be a personal
bond, each person relating to God
directly. “And no longer shall
each man teach his neighbor and
each his brother, saying, ‘Know
the Lord,’ for they shall all know
me, from the least of them to the
greatest...” (31:34).
Finally, it will be a covenant of
forgiveness. What the new coven
ant will depend upon will not be
the faithfulness of the people, but
the forgiveness which God offers
them for their sin: “for I will for
give their iniquity and I will
remember their sin no more”
(31:34).
And that is the covenant by
which we live even today. That is
the bond that unites us with God.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced
by the Committee on the Uniform Senes and
used by permission Released by Communi
ty & Suburban Press)
A Bier CRACK
/ in the back
, OF VOOR
V GARAGE. .