AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 7,1989 OPINION We’ll See You There The economy of Pennsylvania depends on agriculture because agriculture is our primary industiy. And because the men and women who farm and work in the supporting agri businesses do such a good job, we have the leading agricultural state in the Northeast. That’s why this year’s Farm Show theme, “Pennsylvania Agriculture-The Keystone of Our Economy,” provides a worthy title to our annual showcase for agriculture in the State capitol. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture reports that 20 percent of the jobs in the State have their base in agricul ture. In addition, this employment stimulates $35 billion in related economic activity. Farm Show officials estimate that over 500,000 visitors make the annual visit to the nation’s largest indoor agricultural expos ition. That’s good, because not all these visitors are fanners. Many who come arc city or urban dwellers who make direct contact only with the farm at this time. What better time to have visitors than when we have on our show clothes? We even get international visitors to the show. More than 265 commercial exhibitors and about 8,000 indivi dual entries in livestock, poultry, farm crops and home and school competitions will be on display. All will try for a share of the $184,156 in premiums. In contrast, when the first farm show was held in 1917 at the Emerson Brantingham Building in Harrisburg, the premium tot al was $735. About 5,000 visitors attended that first show in 1917. While it’s hard to say just how much influence the farm show has had on the great advances in agricultural production and technology, there can be no doubt that it serves as a valuable incentive to improve agriculture. This premnier exhibit recog nizes the outstanding achievements of die industry and offers a unique location to display new technological advancements. The competition provides a spirit that helps increase farm pro duction year after year. Whatever your reason for attending the Farm Show next week, we believe you will find something to hold your interest. Come snow or high water, we hope to see you there. |* FARM FORUM our readers write Editor: With our property adjoining Having had my first contact t* l * B school property and myself with newspaper reporters in the working this ground for forty early ’4os when I started my first years I could not fail to see a lot irrigation project and quite a few about the building and operation since during my farm operation I of our school. The one word to will say your two articles in Dec. best describe it I think is disgrace 24 issue on our school problem is and the uprising which seems to very well put. be widespread and to my judg- First I want to thank you for ment is long overdue, your effort and if possible convey Every school tax payer should my thanks to every person that read the Trojan Horse in Ameri contributed information to send can Education by Samel Bleumen articles in some future issue of feld. your farm magazine. Farm Calendar Saturday, January 7 Harris Motor Inn, 9:00 a.m. to PA Farm Show. Harrisburg Farm noon, board meets with fanners Show Complex, through Jan. noon 10 3:00 Pm -13. York County Family Records Dauphin County Annual Meeting, Workshop, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 Home Center. Dauphin Co. Ag & Natural P m - Extension Office. Tuesday, January 10 Resource Ctr. Egg Producers Meeting, Lancaster Annual meeting & banquet of the Monday, January 9 Holiday Inn North, 6:30 p.m. pa Dairyman’s Association, PACAA Board Meeting, Penn Pesticide Exam, Lancaster Farm* (Turn to Pag* Al 9) Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building 1 E. Main St. Ephrata, PA 17522 by Lancaster Farming, Inc. A SMnimn EnUtprS* Robert G. Campbell General Manager Everett R. Newtwanger Managing Editor CapyilfM in* by Lanuabf Farnlni (Turn to Pago A2O) WHAT ARE yoo DOING , OTIS ? o o o o O e» a o /. -• |B? NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agriculture Agent To Transfer Silage Livestock and dairy producers who have silage stored in tempor ary structures might be planning to move this feed into upright silos in the next month or so. Many pro ducers use the temporary storage untd some of the material is fed out of the upright silo. By transfer ring, into the upright silo, mechani cal feeders can be used. The objective is to move the silage during cold weather. The months of January and February normally provide this condition. When transferring during warm weather (above 50°F) there is danger of more heating of the silage. No pre servative should be needed. The faster the material can be moved into the upright silo, the better it will settle and remove the air. To Be Aware of Child Labor Laws If you have boys or girls between the ages of 14 and 16 that plan to operate a farm tractor or machinery on a farm, other than your own farm, be sure they have the proper certification. Under the child labor regulations, the law requires that those boys or girls between 14 and 16 years of age, be certified and carry a certifica tion card before they are permitted to operate hazardous equipment Some equipment listed under the law as hazardous are... a tractor with over 20 PTO horsepower, com picker, hay baler, feed grind er. forklift and many more. Again, on your own farm, your children can operate any equipment that you feel is safe for them. The certification process in most areas is through the Voca tional Agricultural Departments in the school system or through the 4-H Tractor Clubs. Contact either for more information. To Service Farm Machinery This is the time of the year to be preparing your farm equipment for spring work. In the first place, this machinery should not be out in the weather. I know that build ings are expensive to construct, so if you are out of building space, cover the equipment with a tarp; this will reduce weather damage. Preparing farm machinery for the coming spring and summer is necessary during this slower sea- XM LOOKING TO SEE HOW COLD ITGOT CAST NIGHT f o <* c 3 o ' j a *r ° O o ' c a son. You can make use of the off season labor supplies. Machinery is a huge investment and should be kept in good condition at all times. We had a policy on my father’s farm to always give a good grease job to all equipment going into storage for the winter... this kept moisture out of the bearings. Rain and snow will soon develop rust on equipment; this will shorten the life span and is a primary cause of many unnecessary breakdowns. Freezing rain, sleet and hard packed snow on walkways and driveways are quite slippery and dangerous. The next time you have this condition, try using coarse sawdust to reduce the hazard. Ammonium nitrate and other fertilizers have been used for Background Scripture: Luke 5:1-11. Devotional Reading: Matthew 16:21-28. Hardly a day goes by that my local newspaper doesn’t run a story about a business enterprise that is in danger of failing because its goals were bigger than its resources. I must confess, howev er, that I have never known of a church that failed because it was too dedicated to the mission of Christ or attempted to do too much for others. Somewhere there may have been one or two, but I’ve never known of a church that went broke because it gave too much away. To be sure, I have known of a few churches that built struc tures they couldn’t pay for. But I have observed that most of the churches that close their doors are those that never tried to do enough. A few months ago I read The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump. It is the story of how one entrepre neur has been able to raise enorm ous sums of money for commer cial projects that would stagger the imagination of ordinary peo ple. Through faith in himself and the economic process, Trump has performed some financial mira cles. Although he has experienced some defeats and disappointments along the way, this man is obvi ously not afraid to launch out into the depths of commercial enter prise and do things that others wouldn’t imagine in their wildest dreams. LAUNCHING OUT By comparison, we Christians, blessed with even greater resour ces and promises, are not all enter prising for the sake of the gospel. I’m not talking about building a new church or enlarging an old wmatare voo \ ;«<> ® /tpie gauge on twe \® LOOKING AT ) O/ . I PROPANE TANK.. /, A trermo/v\eter > ? —v > , Ja s NOPE...)* » ° <s! *TT cl/ o oV__7 O'* O d \ ° o ( o To Use Sawdust On Icy Walks INTO THE DEEP January 8,1989 melting ice and they may be effec tive, but the chemical reaction will ruin a concrete surface in just a year or two. Sand and grit from deteriorating concrete, when tracked into the house, is a nui sance to clean and it marks and scratches finished floors. Some commercial ice melting compounds containing ammo nium nitrate are just as bad as fer tilizers and the runoff from these melting chemicals may kill grass, trees and shrubs. Coarse sawdust spread on slip pery sidewalks provides a rela tively skid-free surface. It has no harmful effect on concrete or plant life. It is much easier to pick up with a vacuum cleaner if tracked into the house. 'The Penn Stale Cooperative Extension is an affirmative action, equal opportunity educational institution. one - one can always raise funds for bricks and mortar. I’m talking about ways and means of pro claiming the gospel beyond the four walls of our church buildings, of meeting some of the monumen tal needs that cry out from our communities. It would seem that what the churcn lacks today is the enterprising spirit that is essential in the world of business. Jesus met with such success in his early ministry that the crowds became a problem. On one occa sion, the press of the crowd is so great that Jesus gets into Peter’s fishing boat and pushes a few feet offshore before settling down to preach and teach mice again. In the midst of all this, Jesus instructs Simon Peter and his associates to “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (5:4). Peter is incredulous: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” Peter could respond to Jesus on one of two levels, pn the basis of reason and exfferiencc alone, he would have to reject Jesus’ challenge. After all. fishing was Peter’s trade and there were obviously no fish to be caught. Peter, however, wisely opted for faith instead of reason: “But at your word I will let down the nets” (5:5). CATCHING MEN Luke tells us what happened next: “...when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink” (5:7). On their own efforts they had gotten nothing: because of Christ, however, their take of fish was overwhelming. This is not a scriptural “big fish" story, however, but a living parable for Peter, James, John... and us. When Peter reacts with holy fright, Jesus reassures him: “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men” (5:10). And so will we, if in faith we will dare to “Put out into the deep.” (Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by the Committee on the Uniform Series and used by perrr ssion. Released by Communi ty & Suburban Press.)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers