AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 4, 1991
OPINION
Sales Persons For Agriculture
Farmers certainly have a right to know that the manufacturer of
their farm truck has produced a safe vehicle for the family farm.
And by the same logic, consumers have a right to know they are
getting wholesome, nutritious, and safe food for their families,
too.
Unfortunatily, many consumers and their representatives, such
as urban news reporters and consumer advocates, know very little
about good farming methods and about the contribution that agri
culture makes to their high standard of living. So farmers need to
be ready to tell their urban neighbors about their business
whenever they have the opportunity.
Most farmers know the technical aspects of growing crops and
breeding top producing cows. But they have never considered
public relations as part of their job description. That is, informing
the public about agriculture and what it provides. You need to
become an ambassador for agriculture.
Public relations firms and advertising agencies hired by the
checkoff dollars from the farmer’s income help sell agriculture
and food products. But as an individual farmer, you can talk to
your neighbors. Or you can talk to the reporter from the town pap
er. We believe farmers are the best salespersons for agriculture.
Farm Calendar
Maryland Sheep and Wool Festi
val, Howard Co. Fairgrounds,
West Friendship, Md., thru
May 5.
Sheep Field Day, Delaware Valley
College, Doylestown, 9:30
a.m.-3 p.m.
Huntingdon Co. 4-H Food Booth
Sportsman Show, Huntingdon
Maryland Sheep and Wool Festi
val, Howard Co. Fairgrounds,
West Friendship, Md.
Huntingdon Co. 4-H Food Booth
Sportsman Show, Huntingdon
Tuesday. May 7
Bradford Co. Tractor Certification
Program, extension office, 7
p.m.
S.E. Pa. Fruit Growers twilight ,
meeting, Shanesville Fruit
Farm, 6:30 p.m.
Snyder Co. farm preservation
meeting, West Snyder High
Northumberland Co. spring fruit
twilight meeting, Dries
Orchards, Augustaville, 6:30
Jay Irwin retirement party. Farm
and Home Center, Lancaster,
7:30 p.m.
Bradford Co. Tractor Certification
Program, extension office, 7
p.m.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E Mam St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Slemman Enterprise
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor
Copyright ItM by Lancaster Farming
Western Pa. Sheep and Club Lamb
Sale, Mercer Co. 4-H Park,
Mercer, 6 p.m.
Bradford Co. Tractor Certification
Program, extension office, 9
a.m.
Blair/Cambria/Clearfield Co. Bee
keepers hive platform demo
and picnic, Duman Park, 1 p.m.
Poultry Management and Health
Seminar, Holiday Inn, Shamo
kin Dam, 6 p.m.
Lancaster Co. Beekeepers meet
ing, Rainbow Apiaries, East
Dairy bam ventilation principles,
Rutters Family Restaurant,
York, 7:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m.
(Turn to Page A 35)
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Farm Forum
Editor:
Thank you for your good editor
ial in 4/20 Lancaster Farming. I
hope it makes Penn State people
think twice.
More about cows of colon Will
Penn State exclude RED and White
Holsteins?
Sam Williams, Jr.
Middletown
ONCI& ofl 9, DOVDU STILL
NOW IS
THE TIME
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Bid Farewell—
A Time For A Change
Time has a way of creeping up
on us, and I have passed my 63th
birthday, so I'm taking that next
step in life .... retirement. Effec
tive May 1, I will be retiring as
County Extension Director of
Lancaster County Cooperative
Extension. I have truly enjoyed
my relationship with you through
this column and have appreciated
the many letters and comments
that I've received. The column
"Now Is The Time" will be con
tinued under the able leadership of
John H. Schwartz, the new County
Extension Director.
If you are wondering what I will
be doing, I guess I am not totally
retiring because I have accepted a
temporary duty assignment with
U.S.D.A. Extension Service and
Penn State's International Prog
ram to serve as an agriculture
advisor on a team going to Poland
from June 2 to November 29,
1991.
I have seen a lot of progress in
Lancaster County Agriculture
over the 24 years I've been here.
Dairy cows have increased from
65.000 in 1967 to 97,000 in 1989
with production per cow going
from 10,000 Ibs/cow to 15,500
Ibs/cow. Laying hens from
3.000. in 1967 to 9,000,000 in
1989 with production of 230 eggs/
hen/year to 268 eggs/hen/year.
Hogs have risen from 90,000 to
358.000. On the other hand, the
number of farms has decreased
from 6,000 to 5,000 and crop
acreage from 330,000 acres to
300.000 acres in the same time
period. These changes have taken
place because of the efficient use
of newer pesticides, better feeding
programs, nutrient management of
our soils and overall better farm
management practices. Our far-
Editor:
The page 1 article by Andy
Andrews (4-20-91) in regards to
the “Schulze Bill” on a new feder
al estate tax bill for family farm
inheritance, was very heart warm
ing to me-1 think this bill should
be vigorously supported by all
(Turn to Page A 34)
mers have steadily become much
more efficient
The consumer has greatly bene
fitted in these efficiencies because
the percent of disposable income
spent on food has been declining
since 1950. In 1950 the people in
the U.S. spent 22.2% of their dis
posable income on food; in 1960
they spent 20%; in 1975 they
spent 17% and in 1990 they only
spent 10% of their disposable
income on food. This is a tre
mendous achievement for all of
agriculture.
I also want to commend the
supportive industries that are an
integral part of this progress. The
advanced technology in feed man
ufacturing and formulation have
been a contributing factor in the
increases in milk and egg produc
tion; the supportive banking
industry has allowed farmers to
purchase new technologies for
their operations. And yes, I feel
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LEARNING
TO MEND
May 5,1991
Background Scripture: 2 Cor
inthians 1:12-2:17.
Devotional Reading: Philip
pians 4:4-13.
Back in the 19th century, a
denomination (which shall remain
nameless) was tom asunder by a
conflict that was fought under the
banner of the theological disagree
ment on the doctrine of "entire
sanctification." Today church his
torians acknowledge that essen
tially this split was the result of a
personal conflict between two
bishops, Smith and Jones (not
their real names) who refused to
acknowledge their antipathy and
elevated the conflict to the level of
doctrinal dispute. Members
divided into "Smithites” or "Jone
sites" and a small denomination
became two even smaller ones. In
1962, when I became pastor of a
church in a small town in Pennsyl
vania, I found that that conflict
had split not only the community,
but also whole families. And some
of the wounds still had not healed.
LIVING SKIM MILK
Although church conflicts usu
ally appear as matters of principle,
all too often they are really clashes
of personalities and they have
done the cause of Christ a great
deal of harm over the centuries.
As someone had put it, "we preach
whipped cream and live skim milk
. " Our professions of love and
reconciliation are often negated by
our examples of strife and aliena
tion, for people expect a higher
level of behavior from Christians.
The problem is not just that
churches are prone to the same
personal conflicts as other human
institutions after all, churches
are composed of acknowledged
sinners but that after almost
2,000 years they still are woefully
[co"
l wV
that our Penn State Cooperative
Extension has been a contributing
part of this progress through dedi
cated research and the commit
ment of Extension Agents to take
that information to the fanners
and general public.
Extension has changed and will
continue to change in the future.
Computers are a valuable tool in
Extension and will be used more
in the future to speed-up the deci
sion making process. More
emphasis will be placed on IPM
(integrated pest management) in
the future as we strive to reduce
the need for pesticides. Land use
and farmland preservation, along
with environmental issues, will be
major issues as we proceed into
the next decade.
We must all approach the future
with a good positive attitude
because each one of us can make a
difference. I truly wish each one
of you the very best in your future.
deficient in healing their human
conflicts. Church people, I have
found, are much more likely to
"fight for their convictions" than
to "reconcile for the sake of
Christ."
Church disputes have been with
us since the beginning and 2 Cor
inthians give evidence of a serious
one between the Apostle Paul and
some members of the church in
Corinth. Unfortunately— for the
sake of our curiosity, at least—
Paul doesn't tell us what was the
cause of that dispute. He knew
what it was about and he knew the
Corinthians knew, so we can only
infer some of the issues from his
letters. Apparently some of his cri
tics had accused him of vacillating
because he first planned to visit
Corinth and then later called it off.
Some of the Corinthians may have
interpreted this as a slight. At any
rate, although we can only guess
at what happened, the conflict was
very serious.
REAFFIRM LOVE
But, although one of Paul's pur
poses is to defend himself against
some of these charges, his greater
purpose is to effect reconciliation.
It appears that someone in the
Corinth church was punished in
some way as a result of this con
flict: "For such a one this punish
ment by the majority is enough; so
you should rather turn to forgive
and comfort him...So I beg you to
reaffirm your love for
him... Anyone whom you forgive I
also forgive" (2:6- 10).
I have rarely seen congregation
al conflicts end in reconciliation.
Expulsion or walk-out is the usual
result. Seldom, in the midst of
these conflicts, have I even heard
the word "love," let alone seen it
in action. (I hope my experience is
the exception rather than the rule.)
It is understandable that in our
churches we should sometimes
disagree and even that sometimes
these disagreements might cause
personal and congregational dis
ruption. But in the midst of these
conflicts we need to hear Paul say
ing to us; "I beg you to reaffirm
your love for him” (her, them).
(Based on copyrighted outlined produced by
the Committee on the Uniform Senes and used
by permission. Released by Community and Sub
urban Press)
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