Aio-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 10, 1991 OPINION Ag Science Touches Your Life The annual Ag Progress Days extravaganza is scheduled for next week. And as usual, the large number of research and educa tional projects assembled in one location boggles the mind. “Ag Science Touches Your Life” is a great theme for the three day event. And this theme tells us what we can expect. Tours of the research farm will be leaving the com bam on a set schedule. Conservation and sustainable agriculture are on the menu too. In addition, the Penn State faculty will have presentations on food safety, nutrient management, computers and information on how to start a small business. New this year, the equine educational program will include training clinics, therapeutic and 4-H champion riding demonstrations. But we can’t overlook the $2O million worth of farm equip ment that the 250 commercial exhibitors will bring to the show. The exhibition area will be filled with the newest models of machinery. And field demonstrations will show off the work that they do. Truly, agriculture and its sciences touch everyone’s life. And one of the best places to see how this happens will be at Ag Prog ress Days next week. Farm Forum Editor, I have been following with much concern the unfair treatment that is being experienced by our area dairy fanners. As a consumer who enjoys fresh wholesome dairy products: I would hope that our elected offi cials come to their senses and establish a Fair Pricing Formula before our family farmers become extinct. I can’t believe that dairy far mers are only receiving $ll.OO per cwt. for their milk. I understand this is the same price they received (12) twelve years ago. I’ll tell you one better. Twenty years ago on our dairy farm in Mississippi we received over $13.00 per cwt. for our milk. Evidently consumers and dairy farmers are being ripped off. I 7-jr— — Farm Calendar South Central Championship Show, Shippensburg, 9:30 a.m. Tioga Co. Fair Open Holstein Show, 9 a.m. Antique Tractors, Engines, and Farm Equipment Field Day, Twin Bridge Campground, thru Aug. 11. Timber ’9l Forest Productions Equipment and Technology Expo, Bloomsburg Fair grounds, 8:30 a.m.-S p.m. New Carlisle Fair. Butler Farm Show, Butler. Cochranton Community Fair, Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building 1 E. Main St. Ephrata. PA 17522 by Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Stonrmn Enterprme Robert G Campbell General Manager Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor Copyright lltl by Lancaster Farming urge all consumers to rally around the efforts of area dairy farmers as they attempt to have a new dairy policy established in the United States. I would also urge you dairy far mers that have been sitting back to become involved with the organi zations that are trying to help you. Consumers and local Agri Busi ness people will be at a severe dis advantage if our family fanners are gone. I urge everyone to stand up and be counted. Contact your legisla tors and tell them you have had enough of the imitation food pro ducts and insist they take proper steps to safe guard our food supply and maintain our family farms. Susan Tesluk Mehoopany (Turn to Pag* A 25) Cochranton. Warren Co. Fair, Pittsfield. Clinton Co. Fair. Schuylkill Co. Fair, Summit Station. Wayne Co. Fair, Honesdale, thru Aug. 11. Bedford Co. Fair, thru Aug. 11. Union Co. West End Fair, Laurelton. Greene Co. Fair, Waynesburg. Wayne Co. Fair, Honesdale, thru Aug. 11. Elk Co. Fair, Kersey. Extension Extravaganza/4-H Fair, Harrisburg Farm Show SAY UNCLBODS, I SAW IhIAT ANTIQUE TRACTOR OUT AT YOOR PLACE, WHAT DO YDO DO WITH IT, ENTER IT IN PARADES AND ANTIQUE SHOWS ? To Attend Ag Progress Days August 13-15 is Penn State Ag Progress Days at the College of Agriculture’s Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center near University Park. This three-day event is the largest display of agri cultural science and technology in the Northeast. This year will mark the first year of using the new horse facilities. Educational horse demonstrations will be featured all days. In addi tion, there will be other education al presentations and exhibits, guided tours of research facilities, commercial exhibits, soil and water conservation tours, machin ery demonstrations, and antique farm and home implements on display. Also, many groups will be meet ing and holding reunions. Plan now to take the whole family and make a day of it at Ag Progress Days. The grounds are open 9 a.m. to S p.m. on Aug. 13 and IS and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 14. Remem ber, admission and parking are free! To Make Corn Harvesting Decisions Crops are maturing much earlier than usual this year because of the early arrival and continued hot weather. Small grains matured about two weeks ahead of schedule and we expect com will also mature a few weeks early. Once com matures, it will prob ably dry down very quickly. When harvesting com for silage, this means you may have a smaller window of time to cut com at the proper moisture for good fermentation. Because of the drought and intense heat, many com fields are starting to fire very badly. Some farmers are thinking about ensiling the crop in an effort to salvage what they can. Be careful, though, not to make Northampton Co. Dairymen’s picnic, Klein Farms, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. International Society of Arboricul ture 67th Annual Conference, Adams Mark Hotel, Phila., thru (Turn to Pag* A2B) S this decision too quickly. With a little moisture, many of these Helds still have an opportunity to produce more feed dry matter. You will want to monitor these fields very closely. You may want tochopa few stalks, grind them up, and test them for moisture content to determine when to harvest Also, have your com silage tested for nitrates. Our office has been sampling whole com plants from a field low in soil nitrogen and from one high in soil nitrogen. Samples were taken during the drought, a few days after a rain, and about two weeks later. All samples were high in nitrogen, ranging from O.S to 2.2 percent. Anything above 0.4 percent is con sidered risky. The federal government is beginning to declare many Pen- ■■■■■■[: ,'J Hi IAWKiNd W MJHOUSt Background Scripture: Nehe miah 9:1-37. Devotional Reading: Psalms 24. Someone and I've forgotten who one said, "The universe is remarkably arranged: God loves to forgive sins and I love to com mit them. " Whoever he was, I think he didn't really understand the Christian faith he thought he was/ mocking. His misunderstanding of God's forgiveness is a common one, even, it would seem, among some Christians. According to this view, Providence has arranged a rather salutary cosmic division of labor: it is our job to be sinners and God's to forgiven. I call it the "spoiled-brat syn drome." We've all seen it in real life; a child who has learned that it is okay to get in trouble so long as he or she says "I'm sorry,” and gets a doting pat on the head. Very often these children become "spoiled-brat" adults. They never worry about their wrongdoings because they have found that there are always some people who are willing to dispense what German theological Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace” forgive ness that doesn't cost anything to the forgiver or the forgive. But forgiveness that does not cost anything isn't worth anything. Grace isn't 'cheap' but the most expensive commodity on earth. Just because God is willing to give it to us as a gift doesn't mean it doesn't cost him anything. In fact, he paid a terrible price: his own Son, Jesus Christ, on a cross. And how do we come to realize J] CAF To Check On Federal Drought Assistance ,f Balsas sn MORE THAN SORRY August 11, 1991 E MS nsylvania counties federal disaster areas and making them eligible for certain federal assistance programs. Grazing and harvesting of set aside acres, low interest loans, feed grain assistance, and disaster relief payments are a few of the programs. However, these programs are very complicated and vary from farm to farm. The best thing to do is contact your local USDA Agri cultural Stabilization and Conser vation Service (ASCS) Office and discuss your situation with them. Remember, to qualify for assis tance, you must have ASCS estab lish your loss. This means if you are planning to harvest com planted for grain as com silage, ASCS must determine yield loss before the com is cut By talking with ASCS now, you will know what you need to do in order to maintain your eligibility for feder al drought relief. the cost of God's grace? The answer; through sincere confes sion and contrition. When we con front ourselves with the gap between what God has created us to be and what we have done with our lives, there must be a genuine remorse at having so greatly missed the mark. None of us who takes a hard look at our lives can come away from that inventory with satisfaction. Actually, the more we grow in God’s grace, the more we realize just how greatly we have missed the mark. The closer we are to God, the more we realize our failures and shortcomings. When Ezra assembled the peo ple of Israel to confess their sins, he wasn't looking for or expecting a divine “quick-fix." Both Ezra and the people knew that real con trition meant more than saying "I’m sorry," which is really just the starting-point God lodes for more from us than just being sorry and we want more than just a pat on the head and an indulgent smile. Ezra recited the outline history of his people, noting the faithful ness of God and the recurrent faithlessness of his people. Note that he does not offer any excuses, alibies or self-justification. Note that he does not lay the sins of Israel to ignorance. Some sin, to be sure, is mostly ignorance. But more often it is what Ezra describes, willful disobedience; “Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey thy command ments, but sinned against thy ordi nances, by the observance of which a man shall live, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey." (9:29). On the human plane, true con trition rarely goes beyond being "sorry." We seldom hear a confes sion that admits that the sinner simply did that which he or she knew was wrong and against God's will. Maybe that's why so many people have a hard time believing that they have been for given because their repentance has never gotten beyond “being sorry.” I DO \ FIELD WOPK ) WITM IT' )
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