AlO-Lancaster Faming, Saturday, June 17,1989 OPINION Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! American agriculture owes one Lancaster County veal pro ducer a huge thank you for taking great personal risks to show the public media this week what fanning is really like. This far mer who remains unidentified for his own protection, allowed his veal operation to be seen first-hand by TV and print news cameras and crews as part of the American Veal Association’s annual meeting field tour. He did this in the face of bold, public demonstration against animal agriculture at the convention headquarters. The farm is impeccable. And after all negative exposure the veal industry has received, it was refreshing to see an operation that has put practical answers to the questions that are raised by animal welfare groups. The calves in this 300 head operation are not tied. They turn around in their stalls at will. A rubber coated mesh on the floor provides comfort for the calf. And while the calves are monitored to insure that they don’t receive too much iron, they are never allowed to have “iron poor blood.” The building is clean and smells fresh. A ventilation system features evaporative cooling that keeps the inside atmosphere better than outside temperatures. Windows and a dusk to dawn lighting system provide light for the calves 24 hours per day. Non-medicated feed is provided after the calf is past the start-up period. Since the calves are free to move around, they lose no loco motion capacity. Therefore, at market time, the calves move at a lively pace in the walkways from the bam to the transportation trucks. These calves were content and received excellent care. And the Lancaster Veal Farmer who cares for them did a great ser vice for agriculture when he allowed the public to see that care. Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! Farm Calendar Saturday, June 17 Junior Livestock Day, Ag Arena, Penn State, University Park, registration at 8:30 a.m. Lancaster County Dairy Princess Pageant, Farm & Home Center, Lancaster, 7:00 p.m. Sullivan County Dairy Princess Pageant, Dushore, 7:00 p.m. Somerset County Dairy Princess Pageant, Somerset High School, Somerset, 7:30 p.m. Huntingdon County Dairy Prin cess Pageant, Shavers Creek Community Building, Shavers Creek, 7:30 p.m. Beaver-Lawrence County Dairy FARM FORUM our readers write T ' tor ’ Lancaster Farming turned out I just received the current issue the most outstanding lay-out for of Lancaster Fanning. I want to us of several publications we sent thank you for printing the article I pictures and articles to. You peo wrote about the Central Virginia pie are really professionals. Livestock Show, and commend Thank you again for including you on the great job you did with central Virginia in your fine the pictures I sent. I thought they publication were not very good but you were able to print them and make them look super. Lancaster Farming Established 19SS Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building 1 E. Main St. Ephrata, PA 17522 by Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Sltlnimn Emtrpelu Robert G. Campbell -General Manager Everett R. Newiwanger Managing .Editor e<mri|ht IM* ky LaneaMr Pttmlnf "Tf— Princess Pageant, Big Knob Grange, Rochester, 8:00 p.m. Indiana County Dairy Princess Pageant, Sprouls Fine Arts Building, McVittey Auditor , ium, Indiana University, India na, 8:00 p.m. Sunday, June 18 Jefferson County Dairy Princess Pageant, Jefferson County Ser vice Center, Brookville, noon to 6:00 p.m. World Pork Expo, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, 111.; runs through June 20. (Turn to Pag* A2l) Mary Louise Toms CVLS Committee Bedford, Va. CAN voo unscramble: /. TMESE letters to spell \ OUT 10' DAIRY PRODUCTS) p ] r NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin 'Lancaster County Agriculture Agent To Check Lighting For Layers One of the cardinal rules for poultry management is to never decrease the light period of flocks in production. Most flock mana gers would never intentionally decrease the day length to a flock in production, but we are in the season of the year when this can happen accidentally. Most layers are in a light controlled, not light-tight, hous ing. The major sources of light leakage are the exhaust fans and air intake. Pullet flocks placed in the laying house during late fall, winter or spring can be given a 14 hour day. As summer approaches and natural day length exceeds 14 hours, layers in non-light tight housing will be exposed to an increasing day length due to the light entering the building through fans and air intakes. This increase in day length causes no problem. The longest day occurs on June 21 and decreases until December 21. It is this decrease in day length that can cause layers to go out of produc tion unless the time clocks con trolling the lights are readjusted to provide the layers with the day length they received on June 21. To Be Aware Of a Farm Statis tic Survey U.S.D.A. Farm Statistics Ser vice will be undertaking its annual June farm survey, according to Robert Anderson, Extension Agronomy Agent. Three thousand Pennsylvania farmers will be part of 117 thousand farmers national ly asked to answer questions about their farming operation. The survey which will be sent to randomly selected farms between June Ist and 15th will be used to gather information about crop acreage, grain stocks, live stock inventories, the number of farms and the number of acres farmed. The facts gathered on individual farms are strictly confi dential and will only be used to project state, regional and national estimates. In Pennsylvania the survey will be conducted by the Agricultural Statistics Service of PDA. Anyone who receives a questionnaire can direct questions to them at 717-787-3904. To Control Weeds In Your Gar den Every farm and nearly every homeowner has a garden, and with that garden comes weeds. Well, it’s not generally a good idea to use chemical weed killers in the home garden. There are several good reasons DAIRY MONTH ( •TRO&UV •HEECES • KLIM • CEI RAC EM ’-TURBET • ME RAC •TILMERKUBT • TO&ETAC CEHE3E • DEWPHIp RAMEC • CAMER HESECE for this. Among them are: difficul ty of applying proper rates under home garden conditions, lack of proper equipment, and danger of injury to near-by crops and valu able ornamentals. The home garden is also limited in the number of chemicals that can be used on more than one crop. In many cases, only one material can be used on a single crop. There may be problems by having to buy more than you need and not having a good place to store these materials. Wherever possible use mulches or cultivation and good cultural practices to help eliminate weeds, in other words, a hoe operated with two good hands is a very effective and efficient method. To Renovate Strawberries Since the harvest of the straw berry crop is nearly over, it is a A CHARGE TO KEEP June 18,1989 Background Scripture: Joshu a 18:1-10; 21:43 through 22:6. Devotional Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11. ' Of course I’ve read this passage before. But I must confess that somehow in the past I have consis tently failed to appreciate its signi ficance. Actually, it is one of the supreme moments in the life of Israel - at least the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh - for it is the one time in this people’s history when, it would seem, they have been completely faithful to God’s commands. Joshua speaks to these people rare words of praise: “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you; you have not forsaken your brethren these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God” (Joshua 22:2,3). A PERSONAL CHARGE “Careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God”! Can you think of a higher commendation than that for a person, a group, a nation, or a world? What more might you want said of you than that? Can you think of a higher accolade for a church? Unfortunately, we become so involved in the daily living of life, particularly in meeting its short range demands, that we tend to forget that each of us has a charge to keep in God’s sigbf, We know God has expectations of other people - Mother Theresa, Albert Schweitzer, Thomas Merton et. al - but we need to be constantly reminded that God also has expec tation» for each of us. Some people will retort: "Well. m J good time to plant for next year. In most cases, plants that have yielded two or more crops cannot be expected to do well in the future. However, if the current planting is to be used for another year we suggest that the rows be worked by the use of mechanical cultivation and followed by top dressing with fertilizer. These practices will keep the berry plants in a row and encourage additional runners to increase next year’s yield. In the case of a new planting of strawberries, we urge you to fertil ize them in June and again in early August. This extra plant food will enable the setting of runners and will help increase yield next year. The Cooperative Extension is an affirmative action, equal opportunity educational institu tion. I’m not aware of any charge God has given me!” probably lots of us feel that way and our lives show it, too. If we are unaware, however, it is not because God hasn’t made known his expectations to us, but that we have not paid attention to them. If we want to know what we are charged to keep-for God, we can. ENOUGH SAID Mother Theresa probably knows precisely what God wants of her in thd years just ahead. (I’m assuming that; I don’t really know.) In contrast, at this moment I’m not really sure just what it is that God wants of me in the next few years. There seems to be sev eral possibilities. Perhaps you’re pretty much in the same situation. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a charge from God. Even in the general terms with which Joshua spoke to the three tribes, there is enough specifica tion of what God wants of me -- and you --: “...to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his command ments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Joshua 22:5). Of course, all of us would like things spelled out a bit more than that. I could quibble over just how to “love” God, what “ways” of his in which I need to walk, and speci fically which “commandments” upon which to concentrate. Still, if we never get another communica tion from God than the charge of which Joshua speaks, it is enough to give us a charge that will claim our deepest inspiration, our staunchest faith, our greatest efforts and highest accomplishments. (NOTE: Mr. Allhouse's new book. What You Need Is What You’ve Got - Finding, Develop ing and Using Your Inner Resources, has just been pub lished by Samuel Weiser, Inc. If not available locally, you can order it autographed for $10.95 from New Dimensions Center, First United Methodist Church, Ross & Harwood Streets, Dallas, TX 75201.) 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers