AlO-Lancast»r Farming, Saturday, April 13, 1991 OPINION Mighty Fine Option Again this week, an animal activist group was scheduled to take a shot at agriculture with a proposed plan to eliminate dairy and meal products from the four basic food groups. According to the National Milk Producers Federation weekly news letter, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine set a news conference in Washington, DC, to announce its proposed four food groups to include only whole grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit-with dairy and meat as “options.” ‘This is another attempt by activists to force a vegetarian diet on the American public,” said NMPF Chief Jum Barr. “Dairy and meat products arc part of a well-balanced diet and many essential nutrients, including protein and calcium.” Even the American Dietetic Association does not support a diet consisting only of vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes. Of great concern to those who work with diets is the knowledge that even now, many Americans don’t meet recommended daily allowances for calcium, iron, zinc and several B vitamins. Lean varieties of meat and dairy products remain the primary source of these nutrients, which are essential to maintaining healthy bones, blood and substances that promote immunity to disease. When all things are considered, meat and milk remains a mighty fine option when you consider the food groups for a balanced diet. Farm Calendar Lancaster Co. 4-H benefit auction. Farm and Home Center, 9 a.m. Pa. Pleasure Walking Horse Asso ciation Clinic, Denver JAM Stable, 9 a.m„ thru April 14. Pa. Guernsey Breeders’ Associa tion annual meeting. Holiday Inn, Chambersburg. Tractor and machinery operators safety course, Edinboro Bor ough Building, 9 a.m.-l p.m. Mercer Co. all-breed calf sale, Crawford Co. Fairgrounds, Meadville. 11:30 a.m. Pa. Pleasure Walking Horse Asso ciation Clinic, Denver JAM Therapeutic riding for the disab led, Horse Park, NJ., 9 a.m. Elk Co. pesticide license exam, Courthouse, Ridgway, 9:30 a.m. Wayne Co. bam meeting, Anton colli Farm, Honesdale, 1 p.m. Lehigh Co. Small-Scale Farming, Ag Center, 7:30 p.m. Delmarva Poultry booster ban quet, Wicomico Youth and Civ ic Center, Salisbury, Md., 6:30 p.m. Franklin Co. Fruit Grower meet ing, Forresters, 7 p.m. Home Yard Waste Composting Seminar, Multi-Service Center, Clearfield. 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building 1 E Mam St Ephrata, PA 17522 by Lancaster Farming, Inc, A Stemman Enterprise Robert G Campbell General Manager Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor Copyright 18N by Lsneutor Fwmlng Adams Co. Fruit Grower meeting, York/Lancaster Tree Fruit meet ing, Pleasant Acres Extension, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Tioga Co. pesticide exam, exten sion office, Wellsboro. Lancaster Co. Honey Producers beekeeping meeting, David Wampler, Manheim, 6:30 p.m. Mid-Atlantic Herding Stock Dog Club herding clinic, McVeytown. Tri-State Walking Horse Associa tion spring clinic, Rockland Farms, Westminster, Md. Little International Livestock Expo, Penn State Ag Arena, 8 a.m. (Turn to Pago A3l) Farm Forum AN OPEN LETTER: To Those Who Think Defeat Of The Leahy Bill Was Good To those who felt the defeat of the Leahy bill was good for dairy farmers- you are right that Sena tor Leahy’s amendment had its shortcomings. But you are wrong or per- wow! that fish is a A REAL- BEAUTY. ) WHEN DID yOU / CATCH HIM ? y' TTl^/vL NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agricultural Agent To Stay Off Wet Ground Don’t let spring fever get the better of your good judgment. As you yearn to get into the fields and gardens, remember what you are trying to accomplish. You want seeds to germinate rapidly and seedlings to emerge quickly. The longer it takes for this to happen the greater the opportunity is for disease and insects to attack, weaken or destroy the seed and planting. Follow weather predic tions closely and delay planting until soil moisture and tempera ture conditions are favorable for good germination, and until the risk of frost injury has passed. To prevent soil compaction and sur face crusting, don’t work soils when they are too wet. To Renovate Old Pastures Are your pastures old and unproductive? Are you thinking about tearing them up and reseed ing them? Wait! According to Glenn Shirk, Extension Dairy Agent, there may be a better alternative. Chances are, the pasture already contains seeds of a variety of pasture grasses and clovers. All they need is a little bit of encour agement and an opportunity to grow. They may respond to lim ing, fertilizing, aeration, rotational grazing and mowing. This is cheaper than complete renovation and there is less risk of seeding failures and erosion. The best time to seed pastures is around early September when it is cooler and the new stands ate not stressed by hot, dry summer con ditions. Many of the annual weeds that emerge will be killed by frost before they become a serious competition. If the pastures do not respond to spring liming and fertilizing, they can be reseeded in September. haps do not fully understand the issue if you believe the bill was not beneficial for dairy farmers, whether in Pennsylvania, New York or any other part of the country. Here’s why: 1. Dairy farmers desperately (Turn to Pag* A3l) / A COUPLE OF \ ( YEARS AGO; I ) OURIN/Gr THAT / f/\ BlGr FLOOD. J To Understand Persistent Weed Problems Just how persistent do we have to be in order to control weed problems? Well, the answer to this question comes from weed scien tists who ran germination tests on weed seeds. They report that 29% of John songrass seed germinated after being buried for 3 years; morning glory 74% after 5 years; pigweed 66% after 40 years and dock 52% after being buried 50 years. They further reported that 51 of 107 species tested still have live seeds after 20 years. The reason these seeds remain in the soil for such a long period without sprouting is apparently related to environmental condi tions. According to weed experts, some seeds need just the right combination of moisture, temper ature, and nutrients before they will germinate. This explains why we may suddenly be faced with a WHO’S GOT THE GIFT? April 14,1991 Background Scripture: I Cor inthians 12:1-26. Devotional Reading: Romans 12:1-8. Whenever I get even slightly starry-eyed about the pristine puri ty of the early church, I turn to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians to bring myself back to earth. Here was a congregation that faced vir tually every* problem known to churches today and then some! Just as I Cor. 11 was a response to a particular problem the Corint hians were having with their church suppers, so I Cor. 12 is ad dressed to another serious prob lem. The end result is more divi sion in the church, but this time the source of the problem is spir itual gifts. Spiritual gifts are sup posed to be an asset to the church, but, of course, any asset can be turned into a liability. That's what was happening in Corinth. It would appear that cer tain Corinthians were having ecstatic experiences during wor ship, probably glossalalia or speaking in tongues. (Something of a misnomer since these out bursts were usually unintelligible and not known tongues or lan guages, quite unlike what hap pened on the Day of Pentecost) There is good reason to believe that these ecstatic tendencies were patterned after, perhaps even bor rowed from the wildly emotional and orgiastic practices in certain pagan cults. DISRUPTIVE & DIVISIVE The problem for the church was two-fold. For one thing, these bouts of ecstasy disrupted the WHERE DID \ YOU CATCH J him? y '—ML weed problem we thought was cured several years ago. To Prepare For Ryelage Harvest Winter grains are growing rapidly and before we know it ryelage harvesting time will be upon us. When that time comes, you want to be ready to roll with the harvester because you have so few days in which to harvest the crop at the precise time for top quality feed. If you miss these few days due to inclement weather or poor timing, quality declines very rapidly! Small grains will normal ly produce up to twice as much TDN per acre when harvested for silage as compared to the same crop harvested as grain. The boot stage of maturity is best Line up your harvester now, get the silo ready and as the harvest time approaches, keep a close watch on the Helds and be ready to roll at a moment’s notice when the weather breaks. worship services. Two people can pray in different ways in silence without disturbing each other. But let one become ecstatic and the other will have a hard time with his or her own devotion. The second problem was the divisiveness that resulted. Paul never quite uses the word "pride" in this passage, but he at least implies it Behind his words we can hear someone boast. "I'm more charismatic than you are!" Those who indulged in these ecstatic practices were obviously claiming them as signs of the Holy Spirit working in them. Because these practices were rather specta cular, some people were looking to these "gifted" people for leadership. What Paul is concerned to do in this chapter is first to challenge this premise that ecstatic Christ ians are more gifted and valuable than others. Both Paul and his readers know what he is re- ferring to when he says "no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says 'Je sus be cursed'!", but we don't know what this is about. But Paul is reminding the Corinthians that sheer ecstasy alone is not evidence of the Holy Spirit Some of their pagan neighbors were ecstatic perhaps it was one of these who said "Jesus be cursed" and they certainly didn't have the Holy Spirit THE COMMON GOOD There is nothing wrong with ecstasy per se, but ecstasy alone is not a spiritual gift from God. What makes it charismatic, a true gift from God is if it contributes to "the common good" (12:7). That is the acid test for all of God's spir itual gifts. Ecstasy or any other state that does not contribute to the common good is not of the Holy Spirit. And obviously, ecstatic utterances that are harmful to the common good, that generate spir itual pride and are divisive to the church are not of the Holy Spirit either. (Bued on copyrighted outline produced by the Committee on the Uniform Series and uaed by permission. Released by Community and Subur ban Preaa.) OVER THERE, \ BV THE ) S>l> il I W
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