AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 29, 1990
OPINION
Poultry Products Valuable
To Consumers
A national survey of consumer satisfaction with items they
purchase has produced some interesting and valuable informa
tion for poultry marketers. Fabian Linden, executive director of
The Conference Board’s consumer research center reported the
survey’s findings according to Milton Madison, Professor at
PSU. Consumers rated their level of satisfaction for 150,000
products and services that are generally available to them. In a
sample of 7,000 households, consumers were asked to give
each item a rating of “good,” “average,” or “poor,” indicating
the value received from goods or services purchased.
The poultry industry can be proud of the way consumers per
ceive poultry products’ value. Poultry purchased for home con
sumption received the best rating of all the items. The rating
system used the percentage of consumers rating the product
“good,” plus half the percentage of consumers rating the pro
duct “average,” to come up with point totals for each item.
Poultry scored nearly 70 points on the rating system, which
indicates consumers really think they get good value for money
spent on poultry products.
The lop ten items, led by poultry, were, video rentals, TV
sets, fruits and vegetables, appliances, meat, pet food, haircuts,
fish, and electricity. Restaurant meals came in next with a rat
ing of 55 points. Other surveys have shown the number of poul
try dishes being offered at restaurants growing rapidly in recent
years and consumers’ high level of satisfaction with meal value
is good news for poultry marketers. While many food items for
home consumption and restaurant meals are rated high, fast
foods are not. Poultry has been a growing portion of fast food
offerings over recent years. Consumers must be buying fast
food because it’s fast, not because it provides good value. In
our opinion, poultry consumption will increase in the fast food
area if it is easy to prepare, tasty, and convenient to eat with one
hand while on the run or driving.
Yes, poultry products continue to be valuable to consumers.
Farm Calendar
Tuesday, January 1, 1991
Happy New Year!
9th annual pork and sauerkraut
dinner, Churchtown Fire Hall,
11 a.m.
Penn Stale area tax meeting, Sha
dow Brook Dairy Barn,
Tunkhannock.
Lancaster Co. Tobacco Show,
Farm and Home Center, 9
a.m.-3;30 p.m.
Bradford Co. Christmas Tree
Management Short Course,
University Park, thru Jan. 4.
Franklin Co. Dairy Day, Kauff
man’s Community Center.
Lycoming Co. 1991 area income
tax meeting. Comfort Inn, New
Columbia, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.,
thru Jan. 4.
Lackawanna Co. regional tomato
growers meeting, Thompson’s
Dairy Bar, Newton-Ransom
Blvd., 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Christmas Tree Short Course.
Penn State, thru Jan. 4.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E Mam St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Slelnrmn Enterprise
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor
C«wl|ht iiM ay Lsnssslsr Parmlnf
York Co. Forage Show, Kcnnard-
Dalc High School, 7:30 a.m.-3
p.m.
Centre Co. Dairy Promotion Com
mittee meeting, Willowbark
Building. BellefontgjJLlLSL-
Lycoming Co. 1991 area income
tax meeting. Comfort Inn, New
Columbia, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Christmas Tree Short Course,
IJcni^iate^hri^anMj^^^
Pennsylvania Farm Show, Farm
Show Complex, open for judg
ing only.
Pennsylvania Farm Show, Farm
Show Complex, Harrisburg,
thru Jan. 11.
Pennsylvania Farm Show, Farm
Show Complex, Harrisburg,
thru Jan. 11.
Annual Dairy Industry Confer
ence, Stouffer Dublin Hotel,
(Turn to Page A 32)
WHAT ARE
YOU DOING- &
UNCLE OTIS? JET:
I*
\ $
u
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Attend Farm
Show Events
Time has a way of creeping up
on us, and here it is...nearly Farm
Show lime. The Farm Show will
open this year on Sunday, January
6 and close on Friday, January 11.
The theme for the 75th exhibition
is “Pennsylvania Agriculture -
Quality From Our Home To
Yours.” Well, we are proud of our
agriculture because of the hard
work of our family operated
farms. And here is an opportunity
for our farmers to show the con
suming public the high quality
products raised on our farms
today.
Active fanners should recog
nize the many educational meet
ings and banquets that are held
during the week. Many of these
are state-wide organizations and
should have economic benefits to
the producer.
To Properly
Feed First
Calf Heifers
Most beef producers in the
Northeast follow a spring calving
system, according to Chester
Hughes. Extension Livestock
Agent. Feed requirements for the
cow herd are highest during the
pasture season and decrease into
late fall and winter when more
expensive harvested feeds must be
fed. Remember, however, that
relative to summer, requirements
are increasing for replacement
heifers. Not only must the heifer
continue to gain body weight for
herself, but her developing calf
also requires extra nutrition.
It’s generally recognized that
the last trimester (last 90 days) of
gestation is the most critical lime
for calf growth. June bred heifers
would just now be entering this
period in their gestation. While
it’s important to provide adequate
feed, it’s also important not to
overfeed because fat deposits in
the udder will hinder a heifer’s
milk production potential.
How much, then, should a heif
er gain during this period? A rea
listic goal is probably 100 to 125
pounds, allowing good calf deve
lopment and reasonable gain of
the heifer j 0 Service
Farm Machinery
This is the time of year to be
preparing your farm equipment
for spring work. In the first place,
XM MAKING OUT
A LIST OF,
NEW YEARS
RESOLUTIONS >
this machinery should not be out
in the weather. I know that build
ings are expensive re construct, so
if you are out of building space,
cover the equipment with a tarp;
this will reduce weather damage.
Preparing farm machinery for
the coming spring and summer is
necessary during this slower sea
son. You can make use of the off
season labor supplies. Machinery
is a huge investment and should be
kept in good condition at all times.
We had a policy on my father’s
farm to always give a good grease
job to all equipment going into
storage for the winter ... this kept
moisture out of the bearings. Rain
and snow will soon develop rust
on equipment; this will shorten the
life span and is a primary cause of
many unnecessary breakdowns.
To Use Sawdust
On Icy Walks
EQUAL PAY FOR
EQUAL WORK?
December 30,1990
Background Scripture:
Matthew 19:27 thru 20:16.
Devotional Reading: Luke
5:1-11.
Let’s get it stiaight from the
very beginning: this parable, com
monly called the “Parable of the
Laborers in the Vineyard,” is not
about employment, economics,
labor policies, or human rights. It
is about the grace of God and the
story - on the surface a tale of
seeming unfairness is merely
the vehicle.
I was about to say also that
Jesus would probably have been
better off if he hadn’t used this
particular parable. It gets people
so upset and for the wrong rea
sons! It lakes so much careful
explaining and even then some
people go away grumbling. But
maybe that’s why Jesus told this
particular parable: it gels people’s
attention and perhaps brings them
to an understanding of grace that
they won’t quickly forget.
“NOT FAIR!”
The controversy over the story
is in the payment policies of the
vineyard owner. Needing to have
his crop picked swiftly, he hires
laborers at nine a.m., noon, three
and five p.m. and then proceeds to
pay everyone the same wage.
Those who started early received
the same wages as those who
started late. Those who worked
but one hour received the same
pay as those who worked all day.
It’s not fair, is it? The laborers
should have been paid on the basis
of how long they worked.
Or should they? Suppose that a
denarius was an over-payment for
even those who worked all day. In
other words, suppose what they
were paid was not what they were
worth to the vineyard owner, but
ARE YOU GOING- )
TOJCEEPjEAA^y
"f/SORE, lUPROBfIBLY
/ KEEP'EM
LONS
'3
&
Freezing rain, sleet and hard
packed snow on walkways and
driveways are quite slippery and
dangerous. The next time you
have this condition, try using
coarse sawdust to reduce the
hazard.
Ammonia nitrate and other fer
tilizers have been used for melting
ice and they may be effective, bu*
the chemical reaction will ruin a
concrete surface in just a year or
two. Sand and grit from the deter
iorating concrete, when tracked
into the house, is a nuisance to
clean and it marks and scratches
finished floors.
Coarse sawdust spread on slip
pery sidewalks provides a rela
tively skid-free surface. It has no
harmful effect on concrete or plant
life. It is much easier to pick up
with a vacuum cleaner if tracked
into the house.
considerably more. If the vineyard
owner were just being “fair,” per
haps he would have paid them less
than a denarius. That would mean
that everyone’s pay that day was
not a wage, but a gift. And since it
was a gift, “Am I not allowed to
do what I choose with what
belongs to me? Or do you
begrudge my generosity?”
(Matthew 20:15).
As I said before, this parable is
not about fair or unfair employ
ment practices. It is about the
grace of God. And the grace of
God cannot be pul on a “piece
rate” or a lime clock.
THE MERIT SYSTEM
Something else we need to gel
straight is that, although most of
life is based on the merit system,
one’s relationship with God is not.
Generally, schools, scouting, ath
letic teams, organizations,
businesses just about every
thing is which we engage in life
offer advancement on the basis of
merit. The best high school stu
dents have the best chances of get
ting m college. The best salespeo
ple arc more likely to rise to the
lop of their companies. (A possi
ble exception is the field of
politics.)
But the favor that God bestows
upon us is a matter of grace
love that we receive even though
we do not deserve it on a merit
basis. God’s love, like the wages
given to the workers in the vine
yard, is far in excess of what we
deserve. Thank God that none of
us gets what we deserve!
In the parable the owner of the
vineyard says, “Am I not allowed
to do what I choose with what
belongs to me?” That is God
speaking about his grace to those
of us who arc upset by the thought
that he might give the same grace
to someone we deem unworthy of
it. “Or do you begrudge me my
generosity?” The answer is that
sometimes some of us do
begrudge God giving others the
grace he bestows upon us. The
parable is God’s answer to those
of us who are so presumptuous.
“Equal pay for equal work” is a
good and necessary principle in
much of life. But when the grace
of God is concerned. Then it is all
grace.
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