Aio-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 8, 1990
OPINION
Now The World Knows
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed
its five-year National Survey of Pesticides in Drinking Water Wells
(NPS). The results of the survey - announced November 13 - indi
cate that 89.6 percent of the nation’s community water system (CWS)
wells and rural domestic wells are pesticide free. And in the vast
majority of wells estimated to contain at least one pesticide, quantities
are considered too small to present any health hazard.
“The results of this survey are very encouraging,” says Amy E.
Brown, pesticide education coordinator for the Maryland Cooperative
Extension Service, University of Maryland System. “They suggest
that although we should continue to be vigilant in our efforts to
reduce our reliance on chemical pesticides and improve our applica
tion methods, there is no need for undue concern regarding the quality
of well water in the United States.”
A joint project of EPA’s Office of Drinking Water and Office of
Pesticide Programs, the survey provides a national assessment of the
presence - both frequency and concentration - of pesticides and
nitrate in drinking water wells. Results are based on a statistically
relevant sample of more than 1,300 wells nationwide.
While the survey does not represent specific conditions at the local,
county or state level, it docs provide some tangible figures for those
people who always want to blame agriculture for problems of nation
al health. We know farmers are environmentalists. Now the world
knows.
7-f
Farm Calendar
Keystone Shepherds’ Symposium,
Lancaster Sheraton, thru Dec.
Keystone Shepherds’ Symposium,
Lancaster Sheraton.
Fifth regional meeting on biose
curily for poultry, reducing
risks, Clayton Hall, U. of Del.,
8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
MACE Poultry Biosecurity Con
ference, Clayton Hall, U. of
Del.
Octorara Young Farmers Assoc.,
“Water Quality On The
Farm,” Octorara H.S., Ag Ed
Lancaster Co. Milking Parlor
Design Seminar, Harvest Drive
Restaurant, Intercourse, 9:30
a.m.-3:15 p.m. 1
Adams Co. Dairy Feeding Meet
ing and Crops Show, Vo-Ag
Shop, Gettysburg High School,
7:30 p.m.
Adams Co. Milking Center Design
imdAutomationjlOajnj^j^
Mid-Atlantic Conservation Til
lage Conference, Penn Harris
Convention Center, Camp Hill,
8:30 a.m.-3:40 p.m.
TV teleconference, Mid-Atlantic
Conservation Tillage Confer
ence, Penn Harris Convention
Center, Camp Hill, 8:30
a.m.-3:40 p.m.
Milk Marketing Inc. annual dele
gate meeting, Fawcett Center
for Tomorrow, The Ohio Slate
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor
Dairymen, Inc. annual corporate
meeting, Nashville, TN, thru
Dec. 14.
Grounds Managers’ Seminar,
Warrington Motor Lodge, War
Dairy Seminar, Country Table
Restaurant, Mount Joy, 8:15
a.m.
Pa. Egg Marketing Association
annual Christmas dinner, Olde
Hickory Inn, Lancaster, 7 p.m.
Pennsylvania Seedsmens’ Associ
ation annual meeting, Eden
Resort Inn and Conference
Center, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
BH*E
Pesticide application recertifica
tion training, Clayton Hall, U.
of Del., 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Berks Co. Ag Elections, Commun
ity and County Convention, Ag
Center. 11 a.m.
Milk Equipment and Mastitis
Workshop, Susquehanna,
Wyoming, and Lackawanna
counties.
Susquehanna Co. Milking Equip
ment and Mastitis Workshop,
The Mountain View Restaur
ant, Clifford, 9:45 a.m.-3 o.m.
(Turn to Pogo A3l)
... AND IN THE OLD DAYS WE DIDN T HAVE
RUNNING- WATER, SO WE TOOK A BATH
ONLV ONCE A WEEK
c o ° °
""r -
c o
Proper ventilation of all types
of livestock and poultry buildings
is very important during the wint
er months. When the warm,
moisture-laden air is not moved
out of the area, we usually see
condensation on the windows,
walls and ceilings. This is espe
cially true with little or poor insu
lation. Exhaust fans will move air
out, and protect the building. This
time of year the bams are filled
with livestock; these animals give
off large amounts of body heat
When condensation occurs it is a
sign that some attention is needed;
in most cases it is a problem with
ventilation or with insulation.
The term, biotechnology, may
be mysterious to some people, and
if they don’t understand it, they
may actually have a fear of it,
according to Glenn Shirk, exten
sion dairy agent. Biotechnology is
not new. For centuries biological
organisms, such as yeast and bac
teria have been used to bake bread
and ferment foods, and more
recently to produce human insulin
and the enzyme (TPA) that is used
to dissolve blood clots. Genetical
ly, we have been able to improve
plants and animals through the
process of breeding and selection.
Today, scientists have refined
biotech procedures to the point
that they are able to isolate single
genes that are responsible for a
desirable trait, and transfer them
into the cell of another bacteria or
plant. Improvements that used to
take 15 to 20 years to accomplish
can now be done in 9 months, and
done so much more precisely and
with greater control. Already, sci
entists have found enzymes that
can modify cholesterol and satur
ated fats to make them “safer” for
consumption. Crops have been
developed that are more resistant
to insects, diseases and funguses,
thereby reducing our reliance on
chemical pesticides.
To Take Inventory
An area of our operation that is
very important at this time of year
is inventory. With the close of the
year most of our farmers close out
their records for the year. This
means that if you are going to
c
II
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Check Barn
Ventilation
To Understand
Biotechnology
O t <“
o C ‘ <=
c c
w°
have a Farm Analysis made you
should take inventory of all your
supplies. You’ll need this to do
any kind of farm analysis, because
the amount of grain, hay and other
supplies that are in storage will
vary from year to year, and unless
this is taken into consideration,
you cannot have an accurate
analysis of your year’s operation.
So, as accurately as possible,
record the amount of hay, grain,
feed, seeds and fertilizer that are
on hand. This is the first step in an
accruate farm analysis.
To Use A Real
Tree For Christmas
This is the time of year that
most people are considering the
type of Christmas tree to buy.
And, I hear objections to using
real trees as being wasteful. So
let’s take a look at this situation.
Actually, the Christmas tree
The Bible Speaks
Background Scripture: John
1-21.
Devotional Reading: John
3:18-21.
As a boy, I was always skepti
cal about this verse: “And this is
the judgement, that the light has
come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil”
(John 3:19). Because I was some
what afraid of the dark, I couldn’t
imagine anyone loving it. Today,
of course, I realize that, strange as
it may seem, people often do
choose darkness instead of light
because, for some perverse rea
son, they love the darkness more.
That is the supposition that under
lies the newspaper business today:
they focus on human darkness -
crime, corruption, decay, tragedy,
and anything that is essentially
negative. “Bad news” sells news
papers, books, and television
advertising time. If your daily
newspaper were to focus on “good
news” instead of “bad,” people
wouldn’t buy it.
NEGATIVELY TUNED
Unfortunately, many of us are
tuned in to negativity. If we are ill,
we can describe our feelings in
great detail. But if we are well, we
are hardly aware of our wellness at
all. If someone has a “juicy” story
about someone we know, perhaps
even a friend, we are much more
likely to listen to it. Even our
prayer lives may be dominated by
negativity: how much of your
prayer time is devoted to asking
and how much to thanking? Some
people even practice a Christianity
that is negatively oriented: seeing
NOW X KNOW WHY
THEY CALLED EM','WE
GOOD OLD days:
°o ° °
o O
0 o
o
«, *
farmer is raising trees as a crop for
a source of income. This is much
the same as the fanner who raises
wheat, com or soybeans to sell or
use on his own farm. Christmas
trees are raised on land not suited
for other crops not even pasture
land. It’s mostly rolling land and
highly acid.
Also, remember that these
Christmas tree farmers are putting
this land to good use; by conserv
ing the soil and providing an
excellent watershed. Keep in mind
that Christmas tree farmers have a
very slow turnover in their capital
from the time they plant the
tree till it’s ready for your living
room can be 5 to 6 years for small
trees and 10 to IS years on the lar
ger trees. Another fact to consider
is there is nothing like the fresh
aroma of a real tree in your home
during the Christmas season.
and expecting the worst in people
and the world. Still others are
attracted to satanic religious prac
tices that seem to glory in the
darkness and lowest elements in
our human nature.
When Nicodemus, a member of
Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious
council, came to Jesus he came by
night because he didn’t want any
one to see him in the presence of
the Nazarene. He also chose dark
ness, but in this case he chose
darkness to hide, not his sin, but
his virtue. The reason, of course,
is that his society saw sin as virtue
and virtue as sin. Associating with
Jesus would threaten his “virtu
ous” religious standing in the
community. So, he chose
darkness.
PLAYING “DUMB”
We don’t know what he
expected Jesus to say to him, but
he was obviously perplexed when
Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to
you, unless one is bom anew, he
cannot see the kingdom of God”
(3:3). Did Nicodemus really not
luiow what Jesus was saying, or
was he simply playing “dumb”
because he didn’t want to deal
with it? I suspect the latter,
because it is a lot easier to discuss
being bom physically than it is to
be spiritually reborn. If the first
seems impossible, the other must
seem highly undesirable to others.
The fact is that all of us need to
be transformed so that we will
seek the light rather than the
darkness.
(Based on copyrighted Outlines produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Senes and used
by permission Released by Community & Sub
urban Press)
o
o
a
ft°cCC
°o °
n?