AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 13,1990
OPINION
Family Food
If you attended the 74th Pennsylvania Farm Show this week, you
already know we saw some new innovations that helped show the
state’s leading industry to the world. Maybe the most notable addition
on the show schedule was the selection of five supreme champions.
Last year, the champions in the dairy breeds were brought together
to select the supreme champion of the show. This year all the other
livestock catagories had the same opportunity. Beef cattle, sheep,
swine and horses all crowned the best entry from all the breeds. This
gave the show participants the opportunity to focus more clearly on
each livestock category.
Entries were up for this show too. Fifty two hundred animals were
entered in the competition, a significant increase over the 4,338 animal
entries last year.
Record premiums totalling $190,000 also offered exhibitors addi
tional incentives to show their agricultural products and livestock.
That’s a 10 percent increase over last year.
Of course, many traditional events happened too. It snowed. Exhibi
tors of farm equipment and supplies again bought all the space avail
able and showcased a who’s who in agribusiness.
No question about it, if you attended the farm show in Harrisburg
this week, you know Pennsylvania Agriculture provides good food for
our families.
KsH
Farm Calendar
Saturday, January 13
Forage Conference, Caroline
County 4-H Park, Williston,
Md., 9:30 a.m.
York County Fruit Growers annual
banquet, Howard Johnson,
York, 6:30 p.m.
Franklin County Holstein Club
annual meeting, Lemasters
Community Center, Lemasters,
7:00 p.m.
Huntingdon County Holstein Club
meeting, Shade Gap Auxiliary
Building, Shade Gap, 7:00 p.m.
Monday, January 15
Northeast winter dairy manage
ment schools. Holiday Inn,
Oneonta, N.Y.; runs through
January 16.
Tuesday, January 16
Penn State income tax meeting,
Leiby’s Ice Cream House,
Tamaqua, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00
p.m.
Horticultural business manage
ment short course, Lancaster
Farm & Home Center, Lancas
ter, 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Susquehanna Valley dairy day,
Buggytown USA Restaurant,
Mifflinburg, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30
p.m.
Soil course, Montgomery County
4-H Center, Creamery, 7:30
p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; runs eight
Tuesdays.
New Jersey Vegetable Growers
Association meeting and trade
show, Trump Castle Hotel &
Casino, Atlantic City, N.J.; runs
through January 18.
New York Holstein Convention,
Syracuse, N.Y.; runs through
January 17.
Horse production enterprises
meeting, UNILEC Building,
Dußois; continues January 30,
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata. PA 17522
by pr
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Sltlnrmn Entm.pekt
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newiwanger Managing Editor
OfyrtfM IMS by Lanuahr FanaHy
February 13 and 27, and March
13; register by January 9 by
calling Gregory K. Bums at
814/776-5331.
Wednesday, January 17
Penn State income tax meeting,
Family Heritage Restaurant,
Franconia, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00
P.m.
Penn-Jersey Dairy Expo, Days Inn
Conference Center, Allentown,
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Lancaster County home horticul
ture seminar—roses top to bot
( tom, Lancaster Farm & Home
Center, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Northeast winter dairy manage
ment school, Sheraton-
Burlington Hotel. South Bur-
lington, Vt; through January
18.
Westmoreland County dairy nutri
tion school, Hoss’s, Belle Ver
non; continues January 24 and
31.
Lime, Fertilizer & Pesticide Con
ference, Sheraton Penn State,
State College; through January
19.
State Association of County Fairs
meeting, Lancaster Sheraton,
Lancaster; runs through Janu
ary 19.
Thursday, January 18
Penn State income tax meeting,
Lancaster Farm & Home Cen-
ter, Lancaster, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00
pm.
Perry, Juniata, Mifflin counties
dairy day, Ickesburg Fire Hall,
Ickesburg, 9:45 a.m. to 2:00
p.m.
Adams County Extension Associ
ation meeting, Bigierville Fire
Hall, Bigierville, 6:30 p.m.
Lancaster/Chester County Swine
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
'Lancaster County Agriculture Agei
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 certificate. 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 grin
der, fork lift and many more.
Again, on your own farm your
children can operate any equip
ment that you feel is safe for them.
The Certification process in
most cases is through the Voca
tional Agricultural Department in
the schools or through the 4-H
Tractor Clubs. Contact either for
more information.
To Attend
Winter Meetings
This is the time of year that a lot
of educational meetings are held,
and they’re held during this sea
son of year for a good reason ~
you have more time to attend
meetings. During the spring, the
summer and into the fall, there’s
just too much field work that must
be done. Take the time to become
acquainted with the meetings of
interest to you and your operation.
Some meetings are designed to
reach certain production groups
such as Dairy Days, Livestock
Day, Crops and Soils Day and
Poultry Day, but others are pro
grammed to reach all agri
business people like the Financial
Management, Estate Planning and
Farm Transfer Arrangement
meetings.
Producers Association banquet.
Blue Ball Fire Hall, Blue Ball,
6:30 p.m. Lancaster County
Montgomery County Coopera
tive Extension annual banquet,
Montgomery County 4-H Cen
ter, Creamery, 6:30 p.m.
Fruit Growers meeting, Lancaster
Farm & Home Center, Lancas
ter, 7:30 p.m.
Pesticide update training and com,
soybean yield check informa
tion, Kennard-Dale High
School, Fawn Grove, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, January 19
Penn State income tax meeting,
c r ] o c ° O
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(Turn to Page A 36)
oil!
Also, many agri-business and
lending institutions conduct meet
ings to keep you abreast of the
changes in their organizations. We
urge you to mark your calendar as
these meetings are announced,
and attend as many as possible.
To Preserve The Topsoil
The spring of the year is an
excellent time to develop some
soil conservation practices on the
land. Contour strips, slit tillage,
terraces and diversion ditches can
all be established before the 1990
crops are planted. These various
methods of controlling water will
not only prevent soil losses but
will help hold more water on the
higher slopes and fields. Good
topsoil is a precious natural
resource, and every land owner
should make an effort to keep it
from eroding. Farmers that are
growing continuous com should
be very careful to keep their soil
from washing away. In these cases
terraces and contour strips can be
established to help slow down the
STOMACH ALIVE;
SOUL EXTINCT
January 14,1990
Background Scripture:
John 6.
Devotional Reading:
John 6; 31-40.
Last week my wife and I were
invited to dinner in a very fine
restaurant. At the end of the meal,
I happened to glance at the check
and was shocked to find that din
ner for just the two of us had tot
aled $210! I couldn’t help but
remember the years of the Great
Depression of the 1930’s when
our family was glad to have even
the simplest of meals, I also
remembered times during my col
lege days when I couldn’t afford
more than one meal per day.
The food which we eat today is
generally much fancier, more
expensive, and even sometimes
exotic in comparison with the
simple fare of my childhood and
youth. Sometime when you’re in a
supermarket, just ask yourself
how many of the products on the
shelves today would have been
there SO years ago. Still, with all
of this today are we any more
satisfied with what we eat than we
were? I think not.
ALWAYS HUNGRY
In many respects we are as
“hungry” today as we were in
much less affluent times. The
“hunger” may be for food, fast
cars, drugs and alcohol, power, or
sex. Our society seems obsessed
with satisfying our ravenous hun
gers that, unfortunately, seem nev
er to be satisfied. These hungers
are like bottomless pits that take
everything we offer and still want
more and more. Someone has said
that the epithet for our generation
will be: “Stomachs alive; souls
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locs of both water and soil. Addi
tion of extra organic matter in the
form of crop residues and green
cover crops will help keep the soil
loose with a higher water holding
capacity.
To Use The
Farmer’s Tax Guide
I have to mention it, yes it is
Income Tax reporting time again.
For farmers this becomes quite
complicated with the many
changes in the regulations.
The Farmer’s Tax Guide is pub
lished by the Internal Revenue
Service and is a real help to farm
ers and others who file for agricul
tural concerns. We have a supply
in our office, as do other extension
offices. They are also available
from the Internal Revenue Ser
vice. Most farmers have their tax
es filed by a tax practitioner, but
you will find the tax guide very
helpful in preparing your mater
ials for the tax person. The filing
date of March 1 for fanners rolls
around rather quickly.
extinct”
So, we live in the most abun
dant material culture the human
race has ever known, but we are
still hungry! And worst of all, we
don’t even know what we’re hun
gry for. As soon as we get enough
of anything, we realize that that is
not what we wanted in the first
place. No matter how much we
may gorge ourselves with material
things, we find that the emptiness
inside ourselves still prevails.
TO FILL THE
EMPTINESS
Life in Jesus’ day was so much
more simple and basic. Still, the
problem was much the same; peo
ple kept looking for something or
someone to fill their emptiness.
So, when, by the Sea of Galilee,
Jesus miraculously multiplied the
loaves and Ashes, many looked to
him as God’s messenger. But the
feeding of the Ave thousand was
basically symbolic of a different
kind of hunger which Jesus alone
can satisfy.
Only Jesus can satisfy all the
appetites which drive our society.
“I am the bread of life,” he pro
claimed; “he who comes to me
shall not hunger, and he who
believes in me shall never thirst”
(6:36). All other sustenance is but
Aeeting in its power to sustain us.
This was even true of the manna
which Moses gave the people in
the wilderness. “Yout fathers ate
the manna in the wilderness and
they died” (6:49). It sustained
them for a time, but it did not
bring them eternal life. So, he
warns: “Do not labor for the food
which perishes, but for the food
which endures to eternal life”
(6:27).
Most of our appetites are
attempts to All a vague and unde
fined void within us. But this emp
tiness can be Ailed and satisfied
only by Jesus Christ, who came,
not only to sustain us in Arne of
need, but also to preserve us to
eternal life. So, may our response
be the same as theirs: “Lord, give
us this bread always” (6:34).
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Series and used
by permission. Released by Community A Sub
urban Press)
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