AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 20, 1991 OPINION Dispersal Is Discomforting Dairy farmers and Penn State University administrators seem to have at least two things in common their businesses are regulated to an extent by government and neither is doing exceptionally well these days. To the dairyman suffering from low milk prices, the college offers the advice (via cooperative extension service), “Be a better manager. Cull unproductive cows. Become more efficient.” It is the same advice everytime the milk price plummets. So now the university isn’t getting the state or federal dollars it once received. And administrators are apparently taking their own advice. In the university’s College of Agriculture the cutbacks include the eli mination of certain breeds of species from its inventory. Thus, the dairy cattle colored breeds are slated for dispersal this year. Whenever a dairyman analyzes his own operation he must consider the results of his actions Will a cut in overhead cause a cut in income? The university must do similarly. Three of the four major reasons for dispersing the colored breeds and keeping Holsteins do make sense there are limited facilities, not enough of a colored breed herd for good research projects, and negligible use of the colored breeds in teaching judging skills. The fourth reason makes sense too. The dispersal would mean $30,000 more a year in milk and meat sales income from a Holstein herd. It is a nice benefit, but it is a troubling reason for dispersing the herd, because, after all: • A college is not a museum, but college’s frequently have museums Museums do not make money. • A college is not a library, but all colleges have libraries. Libraries do not make money. • A college is not an athletic field, but most colleges have some sort of athletic field. And even though athletic fields can generate lots of money for some colleges, the majority of athletic fields are for educational reasons. • A college is not a commercial farm. A college farm should not be expected to make money. A college sells education. And to offer a good education, and be com petitive, a college must offer access to information. And not just book information which contains “facts.” A student needs both experience and facts in order to get an education with understanding and skills at real problem solving. A good education allows the student to question the “facts” his entire life. Only then does any education become meaningful. That’s because facts change. When facts change, that’s called academic advancement. Without the colored breeds available to dairy science students, there seems to be a justifiable fear that students will graduate without any experience to go along with the “facts” of colored breeds. Without that, aren’t we in danger of eliminating academic advancement? With the help of breed organizations and individual dairymen, perhaps the possible lack in education on colored breeds to the state’s dairy stu dents can be averted. There is one other thing that causes trouble in accepting the dictum What if the breed of the future is not the Holstein? What if the current situation with Holsteins comprising 95.5 per cent of the cows on test with the Dairy Herd Improvement Association is really just the peak in a trend? For various reasons, what if the Jersey, or another breed, because of efficiency, protein production, health, behavior and size, is really the cow of the future? Penn State University has more of a role in all of Pennsylvania’s eco nomic, social and cultural aspects than merely providing a mirror of our image. In many ways, Penn State provides the images that we adopt. Farm Forum Editor, I write to you concerned over Penn State’s decision to disperse of the color breed herd. I have to question several reasons that have been presented in their paper. Penn State claims they need 40 Lancaster Fanning 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 Copyright YB9O by Lancaster ftvmlng animals of a breed to do research but have been awarded a $6,000 grant to do a nutrition study using 4 cows, Penn State claims they can not house integrated breeds together (Turn to Page A2B) rV /" NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agricultural Agent To Prepare For Corn Planting We are fast approaching com planting time and if your planter is not "ready to go" then put this high on your list for jobs that i ist be done. If you plan to change *l6 row width, be sure to calibrate your planter to the plant popula tion you desire. This should be done well ahead of time, so if you need new plates, they can be picked up and installed. Also your pest control program should be worked out This year in particular, you need to be concerned about the Western Com Rootworm. If you had injury on your farm, or if your neighbor had an infestation of Western Cora Rootworm in 1990, then use a soil insecticide. Treat at planting time with either Counter or Lorsban or Furidan or Force. Follow label directions. We know that Lancaster and nearby counties had a bad infestation last year, so beware this year. A word of caution from John Yocum, Research Agronomist; if you have Shattercane or Johnson grass and you plan to use Accent or Beacon herbicide for control... DO NOT use Counter soil insecticide. To Feed For High Production & Profitability When it comes to feeding cows for high production, there are no magic ingredients that can do the job alone. According to Glenn Shirk, Extension Dairy Agent, concentrate first on the basics. The first goal should be to max imize dry matter intake. That will require good quality forage, a properly formulated grain mix, proper feeding techniques, healthy cows and a comfortable cow environment. Good dry matter intakes also depend upon limiting the amount of NDF (neutral detergent fiber or indigestible fiber) to keep the rumen functioning properly. The goal is to maximize microbial activity in the rumen and the flow of microbial nutrients to the intestines. Once the dry matter intake is maximized, and determined, the next goal is to formulate a nutrient-dense ration, focusing 'Vn -V, C c first on energy... this may also involve the use of roasted soy beans and bypass fats, while also regulating the intake of starchy feeds which are beneficial for feeding the rumen microbes. The next concern is to provide the proper amount of rumen degradable protein and bypass protein. Once these basics are met, our final concern is to balance the ration for vitamins and minerals. To Evaluate Sewage Sludge Before Using Many farmers are being approached to have sewage sludge applied to their land. Several things must be evaluated before considering this step. First of all, many of our farms are presently producing more animal and poul try manure than they have land to apply it on, so we just don’t have the acreage. You should also be aware of potential pitfalls in sew age sludge. Sludge is a by-product of wastewater treatment and can con tain many different elements and til IAWRtNtf W AlTHOU'jt "bum THE GREATEST Background Scripture: I Comthians 13:1-13. Devotional Reading: John 3:16-21. There are some passages of the Bible that can be lifted out of con text without losing their power to inspire and instruct us. Lots of people read or hear I Corinthians 13 without any thought whatsoev er of the context from which this beautiful passage comes. Paul's great hymn to Christian love can stand all by itself. At the same time, reading it within its context can enlarge and expand our appreciation of this passage. I Corinthians 13 is the climax of all that Paul has been discussing: factions in the church, marital and family concerns, food offered to idols, divisions in the Lord's Supper, the question of spiritual gifts all of these must be seen in the context of Christian love. There is nothing wrong with the Corinthian Church that love cannot solve. GIFTED PAGANS Apparently, the ecstatic wor shippers in Corinth believe that, because their gifts are the most spectacular, they are the most gifted. So Paul strives to show that without the gift of love, their ecstasy means nothing. All the gifts in the world do not make us a church unless those gifts are moti vated by love. Otherwise, we are just gifted pagans. The key to I Cor. 13 is to be found in the last of chapter 12. Having listed all the various spir itual gifts in the church C 3 c~ <- cr~ SPI GIFT Apri121,1991 compounds from municipal and industrial sources. The wastewater goes through several stages of treatment, but the sludge that is removed from the effluent may contain heavy metals and trace elements such as copper, zinc, lead, nickel, chromium or cad mium. These elements can be tox ic to plants at low levels and some may represent a hazard to the food chain. To Develop Safe Habits Farming is the most hazardous occupation in the U.S., yes pass ing mining which held that posi tion for many years. In fact the average farm worker can expect that once every four years he'll be injured so severely that medical treatment is needed. Farmers have a work-accident rate that's two and a half times greater than the aver age for all industries. The problem is, that unlike industry, farmers work with minimal amount of supervision and they may not be properly trained for the job. We urge farmers, during this busy sea son, to take time to be safe. tongues, prophecy, healing, mira cles, teaching, administration, and so forth Paul goes on to say: "And I will show you a still more excellent way"(l2:3lb). His next words are: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 10ve..." Tongues, prophe cies, and martyrdom are impress ive gifts, but without love they are nothing at all. If one has the gift of tongues, that is pretty obvious. So are the gifts of healing and prophecy. But how do we know if we have the gift of love? Note that all the gifts Paul speaks of are divided among Christ's followers. Some have this gift; some have that gift. But love is the one gift that all of us have. The question is not whether we have it, but whether we will use it. WHAT LOVE IS In 13:4-7 Paul gives us a check list that every Christian needs to apply daily to his or her own life. "Love is patient and kind, " says Paul. There was a lot of proud and arrogant behavior in the Corint hian church that was not patient or kind. "Love is not jealous or boastful," says Paul, but that’s what was so evident among the Corinthian Christians. "Love does not insist on its own way" evi dently Paul had never attended many church business meetings! "It is not irritable or resentful, ” he maintains. "It does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right " so how come Christians love to gossip? "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" why then are Christians often so cynical? All the other gifts are fleeting and perishable tongues, heal ings, prophecies, miracles but love alone endures and lasts. Love that doesn't last isn’t love. It may be affection, passion, sympathy, or good intentions, but unless it endures, it isn't love. (Based on copyrighted outlines produced by the Committee on the Uniform Series and used by permission Released by Community and Sub uibim Press.) cr~ c
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers