AlO-Lanctttar Farming, Saturday, April 25, 1992
OPINION
Great Future For
The American Farmer
The outlook for farmers could be quite different in a few years
if all the new off-farm, nonfood uses for ag products are deve
loped. Anything made from plastic could be made from com,
soybeans, or other crops. The technology is already at work to
make this happen.
A number of advantages are obvious in this scenario. First,
because of the huge markets for plastic, think of the increased
farm income that would occur if farm sources were tapped
instead of oil wells. In addition, since plastic made from crop
products are bio-degradable, the environmental appeal is tre
mendous. The prospect of less waste in our landfills is appeal
ing. And crop based products do not have many of the toxic
hazards associated with oil based products.
The purchase of less oil from foreign countries would help the
balance of trade. And the advanced technology that has made
the American farmer and supporting agribusiness famous could
be used to great advantage in the trade wars too. Japan’s advan
tage would dissipate quickly if our great skills in production
agriculture were used to produce the very products Japan thinks
we can’t do without.
In the future, the fanner may not only be the source of food.
The fanner may also supply the source of plastics, paints, motor
fuels, and pesticides. Just think of the size of these maikets, and
then you will see why we think there is a great future for the
farmer.
/£^7
Farm Calendar / 4§5/
Beef Field Day, western Berks
County.
Lehigh County Small-Scale Farm
ing Trip.
York County Dairy Princess and
Dairy Miss Pageant, 4-H Cen
ter, 8 p.m.
Safe Drinking Water Clinic, Brad
ford Water Filtration Plant,
Bradford, 11 a.m.
Opening celebration of the Animal
and Poultry Science Building,
Regent’s Drive at Farm Drive,
Campus, 10:30 a.m.
Small Poultry Flock Husbandry
Workshop, Harford County
Extension Office, 8:30 a.m.
Beef and Sheep Grazing Tour,
Montgomery County 4-H Cen
ter, Creamery, 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
Spring plowing contest, Shellbark
Farm, Accord, N.Y., thru April
26.
Delaware Valley College Ag Day,
Townsend Hall, Neward, Del.,
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Endless Mountains Maple Festi
val, Alparon Park, Troy, thru
April 26.
Penn Slate Dairy Expo, Slate Col
lege, Ag Arena, 9 a.m.
Spring Stock Dog Clinic, Heart
wood Sheep Farm, Bedford,
PA.
Ag Accidents and Rescue Prog-
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lanc*.**r Farming, Inc.
A Steinn v Enterpm*
Robert G Campbell General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Managing Editor
Capyrlflhl 1»1 ky LmcmUt Parmlnf
ram, Penn State, University
Park, also April 26, May 9 and
10.
Northwestern Pennsylvania Polled
Hereford Association Spring
Show, Mercer County 4-H
Park. Mercer.
Sundiiy, April 26
Old Time Plow Boys Club Spring
Plowing Show, Seidel Farm,
4-H Capitol Days, Harrisburg, thru
April 28.
Estate Planning, Bradford County
Extension Office, 10 a.m.-3
p.m.
(Turn to Pago ASS)
Farm Forum
Editor:
I’m a subscriber of Lancaster
Farming paper. I just wanted to
drop a line to let you know how
much I enjoy your paper. Sections
A & B are more for me. I enjoy
Lou Ann Good’s Homestead
Notes - the different recipes, Joyce
Bupp, & Ida’s notebook - I do
enjoy even the little articles put in
about different families.
uncle: otis, it s«vs here:
IN TUI9 BOOK, THAT FOR A
PLANT TO <3rROW. IT NEED!
PROPER NUTRIENTS, SUN
LI&HT AND A/OIS TURE...^
CA*Pt
To Manage
Milk Production
One of the challenges of the
dairy industry is to match milk pro
duction with seasonal demands for
milk.
To accomplish this, some milk
markets encourage dairy farmers
to increase production in the
August-to-December period. This
is the time that families return from
vacations and children return to
school.
The amount of milk dairy far
mers ship during these months
becomes their production base for
the following year. Any milk
shipped in excess of this base is
penalized with a lower, excess
price.
Recently, this excess price has
been about $2.30 less than the base
price. This becomes a powerful
incentive for dairy farmers to have
cows calving throughout the year
in an effort to have balanced milk
production and high milk receipts.
To Grout
Your Well
Bacterial contamination affects
more than SO percent of the private
wells in Pennsylvania.
The quality of well water is
often determined by the care taken
in constructing the well. If surface
water enters an improperly con
structed well, it can travel down
the well casing and contaminate
the groundwater.
To prevent surface water from
entering the casing, a mixture of
cement or grout should be forced
When 1 was missed one Satur
day -1 almost went -1 mean
I read your paper that day & Sun
day and let’s not forget Mailbox
Market - we advertised twice &
sold both times quickly. One item
went to New Jersey. So - to let you
know just how important your
paper means to me - I wanted to
say thanks for an excellent paper.
Janice Rehmeyer
York
into the space between die well
casing and the borehole. This pro
cess is called grouting.
The grout or cement should
extend from the soil surface to
bedrock.
Less than 20 percent of the resi
dential wells in Pennsylvania are
grouted. This relatively inexpen
sive procedure may save the cost
of water treatment and ensure a
clean water source.
To Follow
Water Legislation
Environmental issues will be
one of the major items farmers will
need to follow in the 19905. In a
recently issued report, the Joint
Legislative Air and Water Pollu
tion Control and Conservation
Committee called for revision of
the State Water Plan for
Pennsylvania.
The “Water Resources Manage-
tlr IAWHtNU W AUHOUbf
"sum
A BUTTERFLY
NAMED “HOPE”
April 26, 1992
Background Scripture: I Peter
1:1-25.
Devotional Reading: Psalms
23:1-6.
Do you remember the story of
Pandora's box?
Pandora, according to legend,
was the bride sent by Zeus to
Epimetheus. The young couple
lived happily until one day Mer
cury brought Pandora a golden
casket, telling her she should
enjoy the beauty of its exterior,
but never open it In time Pandora
was overcome by her curiosity
and she opened the box, just a
little. Out of the box surged a
swarm of nasty insects that bit and
stung. Pandora quickly slammed
the box shut but it was too late:
the insects had escaped. Everyone
in the vicinity suffered the attacks
of these insects, including
Epimetheus and his friends. The
poison of their stings was suspi
cion hatred, fear and malice.
Epimetheus bitterly chided his
bride and Pandora wept inconso
lably. As they quarreled, however,
they heard a sweet voice calling
from within the casket: "Let me
out Let me soothe your pam. "
Fearfully, the two young lovers
opened the box and out flew a
radiant butterfly. As it lighted on
their wounds, it relieved their
pains. Pandora and Epimetheus
once again began to plan a happy
life together for the butterfly's
name was Hope.
FRUITLESS?
There is really nothing that
soothes the aches and pains of life
like hope. The problem is that
much of that in which we hope is
not substantial or long-lasting.
Very often we hope in the wrong
things or even the wrong persons.
If we have been disappointed in
ment in Pennsylvania*' report
recommends the implementation
of a water permitting, registration,
and water use priority program for
groundwater withdrawals in
Pennsylvania.
The General Assembly would
have to enact legislation authoriz
ing the program. Currently, 19 of
the 26 states east of the Mississippi
River already have adopted some
form of permitting or registration
program for groundwater use.
Now is the time to become
familiar with water rights and
water laws. Through education
and knowledge, agriculture will be
able to have a very viable voice in
drafting water legislation.
Agriculture is very dependent
on water for its survival and must
take an active role in this issue.
Feather Profs Footnote: “It
takes good people to implement
good laws.”
our hoping, we are likely to
become cynical or untrusting.
Misplaced hope can destroy us
because it destroys our capacity
for faith. If there is any real basis
for hope, or is all hope fruitless?
I Peter says: "By his great mer
cy we have been bom anew to a
living hope through the resurrec
tion of Jesus Christ from the dead"
(1:3). A "living hope," what it
that? One commentator Archibald
M. Hunter, says that just "as li
ving waters' are those that flow
Cram a perennial spring, as a living
hope is one which no trials and
tribulations can ever quench." In
other words this "living hope" has
a source that does not expire, play
out or become depleted. It cannot
let us down, for it Is based Upon
the same power that cracked open
the tomb and raised up Jesus from
the tomb.
sn
In his book. The Kingdom of
God, John Bright says that "Jere
miah could never believe that the
national rain was the end. True, he
could see no cause to hope; but he
never lost hope, because he never
lost God." That is why our hope is
a "living hope"; as long as we do
not lose God, we do not lose hope,
for God is our hope. And the
resurrection of Jesus assures us
that we will not lose God even as
we experience death. Easter
means, not just that Jesus made it
through death, but that we will,
too. If death cannot defeat us
because it cannot defeat God then
our hope is secure.
A LITTLE WHILE
Just to make sure we get the
enduring message, the writer of
Peter follows up his assurance of a
"living hope" with a promise of
"an inheritance that is imperish
able, undefiled, and unfading..."
(1:4). AU of this must be seen in
the context from which I Peter is
written. The people receiving it
are undergoing persecution and so
the writer says, though now for a
little while you may have to suffer
various trials, so that the genuine
ness of your faith... is tested by
fire..."
Our hope is set in the midst of
the eveipresent possibility of trials
and tribulations.
NOT IF
YOU’RE A
weep/
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