> M-Vt*" r( i i uqMt nriiTiibl I9l2fc3d£j Aio-Lancastar Farming, Saturday, decemoar 3 V, 1989 OPINION Urge Favorable Response And Speedy Appropriation AG*SAT may be a new name, but if 27 land-grant colleges and universities have their way, a new national satellite network with this name will be created to share information and resour ces. Teachers, researchers, extension agents, producers, distri butors and others can expect to profit from the huge informa tional base generated by this resource. Dr. Lamartine F. Hood, dean of Penn State College of Agri culture and secretary of AG*SAT, said the institutional mem bers will originate and distribute credit resident instruction courses, cooperative extension programs and research summa ries for use by the universities, agribusinesses, cooperative extension offices, government facilities and homes and farms across the nation. “AG*SAT will address the need to keep the U.S. agricultural economy competitive nationally and internationally,” Hood said. “The satellite technology will allow us to share die exper tise of distinguished faculty and provide courses and programs targeting state, regional and national priorities. Through this new network, we will be able to respond to growing environ mental and food-safety concerns, disseminate research findings, and assist other nations in improving their agricultural economies.” To construct the network, AG*SAT will apply in January 1990 for a matching grant from the U.S. Department of Com merce Public Telecommunications Facilities Program. This grant will be used to purchase satellite equipment and transpon der lime necessary to operate the network. AG*SAT’s potential is enormous. And because agriculture is such a vital part of the U.S national economy and a significant contributor to U.S. export and jobs, this new effort of coopera tion amoung the nation’s land grant institutions deserves all necessary matching grants available from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Through the grass roots contacts, both rural and urban, provided by the extension agents throughout the nation, every U.S. citizen is a potential benefactor of this service. Therefore, when the commerce department receives AG*SAT’s request for matching funds next month, we urge officials to give a favorable response and a speedy appropriation of these funds. Farm Calendar Monday, January 1 Red Rose Alliance pork and sauerkraut dinner, Churchtown Fire Hall, Churchtown, 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 2 Penn State income tax meeting, Farmers Best Restaurant, Lew isburg, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Cumberland County Extension Board of Directors meeting. Cumberland County Extension office, Carlisle, 7:30 p.m. 44th annaul meeting of the North eastern Weed Science Society, Sheraton Boston Hotel & Tow ers, Boston, Mass.; runs through January S. Wednesday, January 3 Penn State income tax meeting, Bethany Methodist Church, Honesdale, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. _ . „ , TWE iqeO'S> WAS A TOU&H DECADE ON THE AMERICAN \ Lancaster Farming FARMER, BUTVOOR DETERMINATION, DILIGENCE AND \ SL, HARO WORK KEPT FOOD ON OOR TABLES. SO ALLOW OS Ephrata Review Building THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXTEND TO VOO OOR HEARTFELT" / 1 E. Main st TWANKS AND WISH Y 00... / Ephrata, PA 17522 Y Lancaeter Farming, Inc. T t * A SMnmvi Eatapnlr# , ■■ ■—/ / Robert G, Campbell Central Manager BjTt 1 rO-j /*" Everett R. Newawanger Managing Editor ‘ D~DI ITfFJF a”''* CipritN ina tr inwti Fan** ' Schuylkill County Dairy Day, Penn State Schuylkill campus, Student/Community Activity Building. 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program second annual ban quet, Holiday Inn, Grantville, general session at 2:00 p.m., banquet 5:30 p.m. Lancaster County tobacco man agement meeting and show, Lancaster Farm & Home Cen ter, Lancaster, 11.00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Lancaster County home horticul ture seminar. Lancaster Farm & Horne Center, Lancaster; beginning beekeeping at 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and home gar dener’s guide to fruit produc tion at 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (Turn to Pago A2O) 1 J NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin 'Lancaster County Agriculture Agent To Attend Farm Show Events Time has a way of creeping up on us, and here it is ... nearly Farm Show time. The Farm Show will open this year on Sunday, January 7 and close on Friday, January 12. This year’s theme is “Pennsylvania Agriculture Good Food for Our Families.” We are proud of our agriculture be cause of the hard work of our family operated farms. And here is an opportunity for our farmers to show the consuming public the high quality products raised on our farms today. Active farmers should recog nize the many educational meet ings and banquets that are held during the week. Many of these are statewide organizations and should have economic benefit to the producer. 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 until 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 ob jective is to move the silage in cold weather. When transferring during warm weather (above 50* Readers Write Editor: This was certainly a rewarding year in the real estate business. Let it be clearly understood, that we are in this section of Lancaster Farming every week because we want to promote sales for our company and our clients; howev er, monetary rewards are not the only rewards that come our way. Allow me to give an example of a situation that seemed most unlikely: We were advertising a hog and poultry operation in Lebanon County, but little did we realize how far that advertising was traveling until we got a call from Tananna, Alaska. This small town is in the boonies of Alaska and didn’t even have any roads coming into it. Lancaster Farming proved its effectiveness when it found its way into this Alaskan outback. The man gave me a call and I explained to him what I (Turn to Paga ASS) P.) there is danger of more heating of the silage. No preservative should be needed. The faster the material can be moved into the up right silo, the better it will settle and remove the air. To Move Farm Equipment Safely As farm equipment has gotten bigger and taller, a new hazard has appeared. Cabs of larger tractors and combines may approach heights equal to ground clearance of high voltage electrical lines. Accidental contact between equipment and the electrical line can be fatal for the operator. This is especially hazardous where long spans cross fields creating considerable sag at mid-span. CB antennas or other additions to large equipment are almost certain to create a potential hazard of con tact with the electrical line. Wide equipment, such as plant ers or tillage equipment, folded up for transportation can also reach heights that are dangerous. Also, be careful when moving portable elevators. As we move equipment around for storage, instruct all operators and other workers about this hazard and how to avoid dan ger. SIR, COMEDOWN! December 31,1989 Background Scripture: John 4:46 through 5:18 Devotional Reading: John 4:46-54. One of the things that must have puzzled the contemporaries of Jesus, particularly his critics, was how he could be so uncannily knowledgeable in some situations, and yet be so mistaken in the peo ple whom he healed. As they saw it, he was constantly healing the wrong persons. If he was going to perform a miracle, he should restrict his miracles to the kind of persons who deserved them - the law-abiding, religiously orthodox Jew. Unfortunately, Jesus never seemed to understand ~ or, if he understood - didn’t take seriously the community’s judgement on the people he healed. Take the Capernaum official, for example. This man was not a Jew; in all probability, he was a Roman offi cial and the Romans woe clearly tlie “bad guys” of this era. They imposed their rule on Israel and forced her to pay heavy taxes. They interfered with the religious practices of the Jews and went out of their way ft) profane things held sacred. So. when the official came to Jesus on behalf of his son, Jesus should have turned him away. THE TIME IS NOW When this man came pleading to him, Jesus made his response. To Be Safe Ice Is Safe For Skating Farm ponds make great ice skating rinks . . . that’s so long as the ice is strong enough. Yes, we’ve had some very cold weath er, but it still should be checked. The general rule on thickness is that two inches will support one person and three inches will sup port a line of people. Thickness is not always the most accurate guide though. Other factors in clude color and age. New ice is stronger than old ice, and clear blue ice is stronger than slush ice. Be especially cautious with ponds that are either fed by a spring or have a fast moving current, the thickness of these ponds will vary considerably. The most important thing is to have rescue equipment at the pond site. It is wise to have a straight ladder, rope and inner tube or similar catch device nearby ... it could save a life. I would urge owners of farm ponds to use caution in permitting skat ing unless the ice is thick enough. Penn State Cooperative Exten sion is an affirmative action, equal opportunity educational institu tion. not on the basis of the man’s nationality or religious beliefs. It was compassion that motivated him. Was Jesus testing the official when he said, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe?” But the official answered at the level of his own need: “Sir, come down before my child dies” (4:49). We can talk about the theology later, Jesus, but now is when you need to heal my child.” The official had said “Come...” to Jesus and the Master replied with his own command: “Go; your son will live.” So, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and he went his way” (4:50). When the servants meet him on the way home and tell him his son is cured, he knows that his faith in Jesus is what saved him. THE WRONG PERSON In John 5 we find Jesus per forming a healing on another man who was “the wrong person.” Unlike the official in Capernaum, this man was probably a Jew. But, he was a chronically ill Jew, hav ing been waiting at the pool of Bethzatha for 38 years. Anyone ill that long was thought to be guilty of some sin or sins that brought on a divine penalty. Isn’t that what Job’s friends said to him. What have you done, Job, to get yourself in this fix? “Do you want to be healed?” A strange question, is it not? Jesus did not go about touching people with a magic wand like a fairy godmother. His compassion moved him to help them, but they had to want his help and to believe in him. Whatever their circum stances or their presumed worthi ness, they had to be able to say “Sir, come down.” (Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by the Committee on the Uniform Series and used by permission. Released by Community St Sub urban Press.) O 0 _/ e> :€|§ I. °
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers