AlO-Lmcaster Firming, Saturday, February 4,1989
OPINION
Only Half The Job Done
The effects of the drought arc not past when you consider
costs related to the production of milk on our dairy farms. In
fact, as we approach late winter when feed supplies, especially
hay are depleted, production costs soar.
In one report from Wisconsin, fear was expressed that dairy
men who haven’t stocked adequate hay supplies by now, will
have trouble obtaining the forages they need at any price. Many
of these dairymen plan to feed out their hay supply and then send
their herds to slaughter.
In Pennsylvania, dairymen have been receiving a $1.05 per
hundred drought surcharge to help them cope with the increased
costs. Unfortunately, this relief is scheduled to end on February
28, just when the real crunch begins to show up on the purchased
feed costs. With good alfalfa hay selling at local markets for
more than $l2O per ton, it’s easy to argue for this drought relief
to continue on into next summer when a new crop of feed can be
harvested.
Thai’s what dairymen and ihcir farm cooperatives and orga
nizations were doing in Harrisburg when the Pennsylvania Milk
Marketing Board held hearings this week. The increase in milk
price first initiated in August is still needed to offset higher feed
costs due to the drought, farmers said.
“We believe that this increase must be maintained to protect
the livelihood of Pennsylvania dairy producers,” said William
Sturges, executive director, Pennsylvania Farmers Union.
A Uniontown farmer said he fell the $1.05 was needed
because he had paid $1.90 more per hundredweight for feed in
1988.
The Pennsylvania Farmers Association urged the State Milk
Marketing Board to keep the $ 1.05 per hundcrcdwcight in effect
until the end of August. PFA spokesman Mel Eckhaus told the
PMMB, “It is not our intent as an organization to use drought
relief to insure that the poor manager remain viable, but rather to
help efficient producers not go out of business due solely to
adverse weather conditions.”
James Fraher, an economist who spoke for six eastern U.S.
milk cooperatives, urged the Board to make their decision by
Friday when new national milk prices will be set.
Since the feed costs attributable to the drought have not
returned to normal, we believe the drought surcharge should
also continue into the next feed production year. And we support
the farmers who made this point to the Milk Marketing Board
this week. To end the drought cost relief in the middle of winter
only gels half the job done.
Farm Calendar
Saturday, February 4
Lawrence County Wool Growers
Meeting, Liberty Grange near
Harlansburg, 10:00 a.m.
Red Meats Spectacular, Nittany
Mall, State College, 11:00 a.m.
to 7:00 p.m.
Gphrata Area Young Farmers Ban
quet, Durlach-Mount Airy Fire
Hall, 6:45 p.m.
Monday, February 6
Pesticide Examination, Lancaster
Farm & Home Center, 8:30
a.m.
Northumberland County Conser
vation Winter Conference, First
Baptist Church, Milton, 10:00
a.m.
RCMA Region 9 meeting, Civil
Defense Center, Bath, N.Y.,
1:00 p.m.
Octorara Young Farmers Pesti
cides Relieensing meeting, ag
education room, Octorara High
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E Mam St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SMnman Enfrpf'm*
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R Newiwanger Managing Editor
School, 7:30 p.m.
Chesapeake Bay Project Sign-Up,
Schuylkill Conservation Dis
trict; runs through Feb. 17.
Contact Dave, 917/429-1744. remembered that the later a lamb
Keystone Cornucopia Dinner, receives its first colostrum, the
Hershey Lodge & Convention fewer the number of antibodies
Center, 6 p.m. transported across the walls of the
Tuesday, February 7 small intestines. If lambs arc
Lancaster County DHIA Records unable to nurse, they should be fed
& Herd Management meeting, by stomach tube. There are a num-
White Horse Fire Hall, 10:00 ber of commercial tubing devices
a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Reservations on the market, but, one that can be
needed, contact the Lancaster made on the farm consists of a6O
(Turn to Pag* A 42) cc syringe and catheter lube which
| FARM FORUM our readers writcTJ
Editor:
The 101st Congress has just * n ® 1985 Farm Bill,
gotten under way. These next two There are those who believe
years should be very exciting for will be few major changes;
the farm community as the Con-
, WHAT ARE YOU
DOIN& OTIS ? j S
V v; CHECKING )
c o' jl J TO SEE WHAT (
, / 4 fl THE WEATHER \
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
To Plan Your
Estate
During my lifetime the manage
ment of farm labor, livestock,
crops and machinery has been
very important in order to obtain
maximum production. Many
farmers have excelled in these
areas. Now, as we look into the
mid-eighties, I feel that money
management is of growing impor
tance to the farmer and warrants
much more attention and know
ledge. The planning of your estate,
including the making and updat
ing of a will and also the proper
farm transfer arc considerations
that arc very important, especially
with changes in the lax laws.
Today, the average farmer
handles more money in one month
than their ancestors did in a year.
We urge more attention to estate
planning and money management
as part of good farm management.
We would encourage you to
attend the Estate Planning meeting
on Thursday, February 23 and the
Farm Transfer meeting on Thurs
day, March 9 - both start at 7:30
p.m. in the Farm Show and Home
Center, Lancaster. Attorney John
Becker, Farm Law Specialist, Dr.
Larry Jenkins, Farm Management/
Tax Specialist at Penn State Uni
versity and Alan Strock, Multi-
County Extension Farm Manage
ment Agent will be the speakers.
To Be Aware Of The
Value of Colostrum
For Newborn Lambs
Weak, chilled lambs should
receive colostrum within 30
minutes to one hour after birth,
according to Chester Hughes,
Extension Livestock Agent. Colo
strum is high in energy and antibo
dies which arc required by the
lamb in early life. It should be
gress begins work pn reauthoriz-
(Turn to Pag* A 35)
can be purchased from a local
drug store. Lambs should be fed
25 ml(cc) of colostrum per pound
of body weight. A little extra care
at birth can mean a healthier lamb.
To Evaluate Manure
Plant Food
Our Agronomists have told
farmers for 40 years that a ton of
dairy manure is equivalent to 100
pounds of 10-3-5 fertilizer but
recent research indicates that
much of the nitrogen is lost when
manure is spread daily and left
exposed to the elements.
Current data have confirmed
that a ton of stored dairy manure is
equivalent to 100 pounds of
10-4-8 fertilizer (page 19-20 of
the 1989-90 Agronomy Guide).
The nutrients in fresh manure are
equal to those in inorganic fertiliz
ers for crop production, but more
slowly available. If the manure is
incorporated immediately, very
little nitrogen is lost, if incorpor
ated after 2 days 40% is lost, after
4 days 60% is lost and 7 days or
longer 80% is lost Studies concur
with this and show that com fertil
ized with fresh manure applied
and plowed down in the spring
produced the most com silage.
Yields were lowest when the
manure was applied in the fall, left
exposed on the soil surface all
winter and plowed down in the
spring. Be sure to include the
WHAT IS
REALLY m
February 5,1989
Background Scripture:
Luke 12:13-34.
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-48,
An African exchange student
once told me that he was quite
confused by the Americans he met
in his native land. On one hand,
there were the missionaries
preaching Christ and asserting that
life “does not consist in the abun
dance of possessions.” On the
other hand, he said, there were all
the other Americans who assured
him that he must get as much edu
cation as possible so that he might
guarantee the highest possible liv
ing standard. “Which of these,” he
asked, “is telling the truth?”
His question was very embar
rassing to me. I had to admit that,
although one day a week we pro
fess that the spiritual is superior to
the material, six days a week we
act as if one should “get all you
can as long as you can.” Turn on
your television and the message is
that the satisfaction of our deepest
needs and cravings is to be found
in material things. Our magazines,
and newspapers encourage us to
think that, no matter how much we
have, there is still something we
don’t have that we ought to have.
ARE YOU
LOOK/N©
AT THE
CLOUD
FORMATIONS?
—4
__
General pruning of apple trees
should be in full swing at this time
of year, especially if you have a
lot of pruning to do. I’d like to
remind growers and homeowners
not to overprune young trees or
those which haven’t started to
bear fruit. There is a tendency to
either prune small trees too heavi
ly, or simply to leave them atone.
A middle-of-the-road course is
best.
SANCTIFIED
MATERIALISM
Even in our religious institu
tions that same double standard
seems to apply. If you doubt that,
then consider this: next Sunday
morning two utter strangers 'enter
through your church doors one
of them is obviously affluent and
successful, the other shabbily
dressed and obviously down on
his luck. Which of these two men
will you and your church welcome
(he most warmly? Even churches
can become materially-minded
and be too concerned with beauti
ful buildings, modem equipment,
big budgets, and material
‘success.”
The man in the parable Luke
>2:16-22 seems, according to
our standards today, a most pru
dent and enterprising man. Is
Jesus faulting him because he
used good common sense and
enterprise to get ahead? Is he
implying that it is wrong for us to
plan ahead and do our best to pro
vide for our material needs? Is
there something wrong with mak
ing the best standard of living we
can?
THE KINGDOM
FIRST
I think the answer to all three
questions is no. What Jesus is
warning against is not material
things, honest enterprise, or “get
ting ahead,” but the mistake of the
rich man in the parable who mis
took his soul for his physical
body, of those who are ruled by
covetousness and do not realize
that “life is more than food, and
the body more than clothing,” and
fail to make seeking his kindgom
the number one priority of life.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Senes and used
by permission Released by Community A Sub
urban Press)
I'M LOOKING- AT
THAT GROUND HO&
HOLE
NOPE
nn
nutrient value of manure when
calculating your crop needs. It’s
important to manage manure
application just as you manage
other areas of your operation.
To Train &
Prune Trees
The training of young trees
should involve just enough cutting
to maintain a healthy central lead
er and to develop the desired num
ber of well-spaced scaffold
branches. Branches that are either
poorly spaced, or ones making
narrow-angled crotches should be
removed.
Keep in mind, when you start
pruning early - start with your
heartier trees, the apple and pear
with plums, sour cherries next and
leave your peach till near the end;
they’re quite tender.
The Cooperative Extension is
an affirmative action, equal
opportunity educational institu
tion.
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