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)
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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
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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
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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
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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.)
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