AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 12,1990
OPINION
Farmers Have Done Well
Several weeks ago, the Earth Day celebration drew a massive
outpouring of homage and respect for Mother Earth and the
environment. The amount of national attention the whole event
received was unbelievable. It is very fashionable to be an envir
onmentalist. I guess we all want to be one.
But there was something wrong with the celebration. It was
more like a wake with the environmental fringe filling the air
with their own pollution of gloom. Example:
• Farmers are poisoning the land by using dangerous chemi
cals in food production.
• The world population stands on the brink of global famine.
• Solid waste threatens to bury mankind.
• Our lakes and streams are polluted.
• If we don’t conduct our lives differently, a “greenhouse”
change in climate will destroy our planet.
Germany was praised over and over again for being the ideal
environmental nation.
“What we just witnessed was not my idea of a celebration or a
balanced review of where we are today, or where we have been
concerning our environment,” said John R. Block, president,
National-American Wholesale Grocers’ Association and for
mer secretary of agriculture.
“A celebration should have included a tribute to the American
farmer, the American food industry and American technology
which has been able to keep the wolf away from the door all
these years. Food in this country takes less than 13% of dispos
able family income. No other country in the world can claim the
same. And what is even more astounding - we have been able to
do all of this while making a rapid improvement in our
environment.”
We agree with Block. The life expectancy of our population is
extended every year. There is absolutely no evidence of any
harm ever coming to mankind from the recommended use of
farm chemicals, fertilizers, processing technology, and on and
on.
We have systematically been cleaning up our lakes and
streams. You can catch big, beautiful coho salmon from Lake
Michigan right off a Chicago dock. They weren’t there 30 years
ago!
The Soil Conservation effort in this country spearheaded by
USDA has built hundreds of miles of terraces, and saved thou
sands of tons of topsoil.
The 1985 Farm Bill established a conservation reserve which
has set aside in grass and trees, 34 million acres of fragile land.
Thousands of farmers are putting together their own conser
vation plan.
Germany may be doing rather well in recycling bottles and
papers, but they use five times as much fertilizer per acre as we
do and twice as much in chemicals.
The free enterprise, market-driven economy of the United
States has left the Communist-central planned economies in
Europe choking in their pwn filthy air.
We acknowledge that there is more to be done in protecting
our environment, but we think the thrust of a celebration should
be to recognize something good, instead of only espousing the
bad. And farmers have done something good.
Farm Calendar
Western Pa. Sheep and Club Lamb
Sale, Mercer Co. 4-H Park, 6:00
p.m.
Maryland Eastern Shore 4-H
Show, 4-H Club Park, Center
ville, Md., 10:00 a.m.
l<ancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Sttimmn Enl».prl>»
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor
1M by Lancaster Farml’Vf
Sunday Ma\ 13
llii|)|)> Molina's l)a\!
Gum Tree 4-H Open Horse Show,
K.A. Equestrian Center, Derry
Meeting Road, Cochranville
(rain date May 19).
(Turn to Poflo A3l)
ori
yoo
TO i
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Continue Forage Feeding
Dairy and beef cattle producers
should continue to feed some dry
matter while the animals are on
pasture. The feeding of hay or sil
age, when the cattle are turned out
to pasture will result in more uni
form production. Also, keeping
some dry matter in the ration will
help prevent serious scouring and
bloating.
Some producers provide this
forage by way of a portable hay
bunk in the pasture area. The ani
mals should consume some of the
dry forage along with lush spring
pasture. The hay should be fed
early in the day, before the herd
goes to the new pasture. Later in
the season the stored hay or silage
will continue to be useful when
growth slows down due to dry
weather and high temperatures.
To Be Aware Of Corn Insects
With the increased trend toward
no-till com planting or minimum
tillage, we can expect more prob
lems with com insects. Past exper
ience shows this. We urge com
growers to inspect their fields fre
quently to observe any feeding on
small plants. You can have cut
worms, stalk borers and army
worms at any time feeding on the
com plant. The Agronomy Guide
lists several materials for the con
trol of cutworms and army worms.
The stalk borer is very difficult to
control because they work inside
the com stalk.
Flea beetles are another insect
that may feed on small corn
leaves; they create small holes in
the leaves but seldom do extensive
damage. Sevin can be used to eli
minate these small insects, if it is
serious enough. Keep an eye on
the com field for the first several
weeks and avoid serious insect
injury. Always follow label direc
tions when using any pesticide.
Farm Forum
Editor:
I have been reading with inter
est the various letters relative to
the $33,000 line item for FFA that
was proposed to be eliminated
from the budget for the upcoming
fiscal year. As a high school agri
culture instructor for the past thir-
(Turn to Pago A 33)
For Haylage and Hay Making
Good quality forages can help
farmers generate more cash
income with little to no additional
expenses. And, what farmer
couldn’t use that right now! Cows
produce more milk and livestock
gain more rapidly on higher qual
ity forages. The need for pur
chased concentrates is also gener
ally reduced. So, if you are grow
ing forages, concentrate on impro
ving forage quality and improving
nutrient yield per acres.
Most important to quality is
stage of maturity at time of
harvest. For established stands of
alfalfa, harvest the first cutting at
the late bud stage; later cuttings
can be harvested in the late bud to
early bloom stage. .. about 35 to
42 days after the previous cutting.
To enhance the vigor and longevi
ty of the stand, at least one of the
cuttings should be allowed to
bloom. Similarly, the first cutting
of a new seeding of alfalfa should
be made in the early bloom stage.
Grasses should be cut in the
boot stage of maturity, just as the
heads are beginning to emerge.
To Safely Dispose of
Shrubbery and Plant Trimmings
As we begin to trim the trees
IF YOU WANT
TO KNOW GOD
May 13,1990
Background Scripture: 1 John
4:7-21.
Devotional Reading: 1 John
4:1-9.
A little girl was busy at work
with a piece of paper and some
crayons. “What are you drawing?”
asked her mother. “A picture of
God,” was the confident reply.
The mother smiled and said, “But,
darling, no one knows what God
looks like.” Without looking up
from her work, the daughter
snapped, “They will when I’m
finished!”
The writer of 1 John said: “No
man has ever seen God” (4:12).
But he also goes on to suggest
that, although God can not really
be seen, he can be known. The key
is love: “Beloved, let us love one
another; for love is of God, and he
who loves is bom of God and
knows God” (4:8).
CASTRO, KHADAFI & CO.
He goes even further: “He who
does not love does not know God;
for God is love. Notice, 1 John is
not saying that loving God is
enough: “...we also ought to love
one another” (4:11). And to make
it even plainer: “If any one says, T
love God,’ and hates his brother,
he is a liar, for he who does not
love his brother whom he has
seen, cannot love God whom he
has not seen” (4:20).
We are not talking about loving
just those who are closest to us.
BUT "THEY ‘bURE ARE
and shrubs in our yard and dispose
of these trimmings and other
plants around the home and gar
den, it is important to dispose of
them in a manner that will not be
hazardous to livestock, according
to Bruce Hellerick, Extension
Horticultural Agent.
Plant debris is often thrown
over the fence into a field or pas
ture. Many times we feel the trim
mings will help feed the cattle or
horses. However, many plants
found in the house or yard are tox
ic to livestock. Cherry, peach and
plum trees are extremely toxic to
livestock. When wilting, the
leaves are very attractive to ani
mals, but a few leaves may con
tain enough prussic acid to kill a
mature animal.
Other plants which are toxic to
livestock are: Yews, Laurels, Rho
dodendrons, Pieris and most other
broadleaf evergreens which con
tain toxine. Several flowers
including Oleander, Foxglove,
Delphiniums, Lobelia, Lily of the
Valley and Lupines all contain
toxic amounts of alkaloids when
eaten by livestock.
Care should be taken not to dis
pose of plant materials into pas
tures.
Jesus said that anyone can love
those who love us. It is something
else to love those who are strange
to us. It is difficult for a Democrat
to love a Republican, or a Conser
vative to love a Liberal. Method
ists may not find it all that easy to
love Baptists and Baptists may
find difficulty in loving Jews,
Moslems or Hindus. And then
there are Castro, Khadafi and the
Ayatollah! Must we not love
them?
TRUST VS. FEAR
The prerequisite is not lovabili
ty. Thomas Merton says, “If a man
has to be pleasing to me, comfort
ing, reassuring, before I can love
him, then I cannot truly love him.”
This is true whether he be Jew or
Christian, black or white. “If he
has to belong to my political party
or social group before I can love
him... then my love is no longer
love because it is not free... It is
dominated by an appetite other
than love. I love not the person,
but his classification...”*
Why do we find it so hard to
love the “unlovely”? Often it is
fear that lies behind the hate.
Hatred becomes our means of
responding to and protecting
ourselves from what threatens us.
And if fear lies behind the hate, it
is lack of faith that is the bedrock
on which the fear is founded. If we
are afraid of God’s other children,
it is because we do not trust God
as Creator. It is as if we think he
fouled-up in creating people who
are different from us. “There is no
fear in love, but perfect love casts
out fear.” If we live in fear, if we
cannot bring ourselves to love
others, then we cannot know God.
For when we love, we are as close
to God as we can be.
* (Quoted from SeoMomt of Celebration in
Slate of Recognition, edited by Thomas P
McDonnell, 1983 Doubleday).
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Series and used
by permission. Released by Community A Sub*
urban Press.)