AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 9, 1993
OPINION
Attend The Farm Show
Pennsylvania has good reason to be proud of its farmers and
agribusinesses. Agriculture has been the leading force in our state
economy for 300 years. Our farms are some of the most produc
tive in the world with cash income from farm marketings in 1991
of $3.49 billion and farm exports from the Keystone State now
totaling $347 million annually.
In addition, agriculture stimulates $3B billion in economic
activity and provides jobs for 20 percent of Pennsylvania’s work
force. The incredible efficiency and productivity of Pennsylvani
a’s farmers and agribusinesses have kept farming number one.
Now it’s time for the 77th Pennsylvania State Farm Show in
Harrisburg to showcase our great industry. As an educational for
um, the Farm Show has been instrumental in keeping farmers and
consumers abreast of advances made in agriculture. For suppliers
of equipment and services, the Farm Show gives farmers a
chance to compare products and agribusinesses the opportunity
to develop markets. In addition, the Farm Show provides a good
place for organizations to hold annual meetings and discuss key
issues and plan for the future.
Everyone in farming can find something something of interest
at the Farm Show. According to Boyd Wolff, Pennsylvania sec
retary of agriculture, a record $202,250 in premiums is being
offered this year.
“I hope you will be able to join us this year as we pay tribute to
our number one industry and the farm families who keep it num
ber one,” Wolff said.
And we hope you will be able to attend the Farm Show too,
Farm Calendar
Pa. State Farm Show, Harrisburg,
thru January 14.
Leader’s Conference, Linganore
United Methodist Church,
Unionville, Md., 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Baby Lamb Survival Conference,
Dept, of Ag, Rt. 92, Tunkhan
nock. 9:30 a.m.-noon.
'""" ‘s'imda\~.ianuary 1(1 |
Raleigh DHIA Records Work
shop, White Horse Fire Hall,
White Horse, 12:30 p.m.-2:30
New Jersey annual vegetable
meeting, Trump Taj Mahal,
Atlantic City, thru Jan. 14.
Evergreen Plant Identification,
Lehigh Co. Ag Center, Allen
town, repeats Jan. 13, 19, 20.
Pa. Flying Farmers, Farm Show
Complex, Room D, 9 a.m.-3
p.m.
Dairy Cow Nutrition Short
Course. Cecil County Exten
sion, Elkton, Md., 10 a.m.-2
twn^epeat^anMg^^^^
Vet. Assoc, annual dairy meeting,
Country Table Restaurant,
Mount Joy, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Pa. Auctioneer’s Assoc, annual
convention, Marriott Hotel,
Harrisburg, thru Jan. 16.
Soil Fertility Workshop, Washing
ton County Extension Office,
Washington, Pa., 10 a.m.-3
p.m.
Raleigh DHIA Workshop, Kinzers
Fire Hall, Kinzers, 12:30
Ag Issues Forum, Willow Valley
Conference Center, Willow
Street. 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m.
Soil Fertility' Workshop, West
moreland County Extension, 10
a.m-3 p.m., repeats Feb. 4.
Farm Financial Management
Workshop, Mahantongo Fire
Hall, Pitman, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Dairy Cow' Nutrition Short
Course, Caroline County
Extension, Denton, Md., 10
a.m.-2 p.m., repeats Jan. 21.
Franklin County Crop Manage-
ment Association annual meet
Pa. Christmas Tree Growers
Assoc, meeting. Embers Con
vention Center, Carlisle, thru
Jan. 16.
Franklin County Holstein Assoc,
meeting, Lemaster Community
Building, 7 p.m.
Dauphin County Holstein Assoc,
meeting. Western Sizzlin, Har
risburg, noon.
New Jersey Bred Equine Breeder
awards dinner. Freehold Gar
den Hotel and Conference Cen
ter, Freehold, NJ.
Mercer County Dairy Day, Vo-
Tech Center, Mercer, 10:30
,|anu;tr> IS
Northeast Winter Dairy Manage
ment Schools (West), Sheraton
Inn, Batavia, N.Y., thru Jan. 19.
Northeast Winter Dairy Manage
ment Schools (East), Ramada
Inn. Watertown, N.Y., thru Jan.
19.
Eastern Pennsylvania Turfgrass
Conference and Trade Show,
Valley Forge Convention Cen
ter, thru Jan. 21.
Crop Production Satellite Semi
nar, Forage Crops, Penn State.
Raleigh DHIA Workshop, Robert
Fulton Fire Hall, Wakefield,
12:30 p.m.-2;30 p.m.
Westmoreland County Holstein
annual meeting, Knights Court,
NY^ttfrinJirectMariceangO^
To Secure
Pesticide Credits
Many private pesticide applica
tors licences will need to be
renewed this year.
One of the requirements for
renewal is securing update educa
tion credits. The private applicator
must secure 6 core credits and 6
category credits during a three
year period.
If your licence expires March
31, 1993, you must have secured
these 12 credits by March 31. If
you need either core or category
credits, start making plans to
attend meetings now.
There will be many opportuni
ties to secure credits over the next
10 weeks. Watch the Lancaster
Fanning and extension newsletters
for meetings that will be offering
pesticide credits.
Do not wait to March 13 to start
looking for credits, because your
opportunities will be very limited.
Start attending meetings now and
have your credits completed by
March.
If you do not have the 6 core and
6 category credits by the time your
licence expires, you will not be
able to renew your licence. You
will then be required to make up
the deficient credits' and take the
test again or wait one year before
you take the test again to secure
your licence. In the meantime, you
will not be able to buy and apply
restricted pesticides.
If you have any questions, con
tact your local cooperative exten
sion office.
To Take Steps
To Higher Yields
At Farm Show this week, many
farmers will be recognized for
achieving high crop yields.
Now is the time to learn how
you may achieve higher yields.
One way to gain this knowledge is
to attend winter meetings spon
sored by cooperative extension,
young farmer programs, apd
agribusinesses.
Regardless of the crop you
grow, there are several basic prac
tices that, when followed, will
increase yields.
First, know the soils in which
you are growing crops and match
crops to soils. Second, use quality
seeds from high performing variet-
ference, Kingston Holiday Inn,
Kingston, thru Jan. 21.
Lime, Fertilizer and Pesticide
Conference, Days Inn, State
College, thin Jan. 21. ’
Dairy Cow Nutrition Short
Course, Cecil County Court
house, Elkton, Md., 10 a.m.-2
p.m.
Ag Information Series, Forest Ste
wardship and Erosion and
Sedimentation Control,
UNILEC Building, Dußois,
7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Beef Evaluation Program, Live
(Turn to Pag* A 39)
ies based on comparison trails.
Third, plant sufficient seeds to
obtain the optimum plant
.population.
Knowing the optimum plant
population for the variety you are
planting and the soils you are
planting on will help to make this
decision easier. Fourth, tend to soil
fertility and lime needs. Fifth, con
trol pests (weeds, insects, diseases,
etc.) when they reach economic
threshold.
By attending winter meetings,
you learn the latest information on
these and other topics that will help
you to make profitable decisions.
To Test
Standby Generators
The recent snow and ice storms
reminds us electricity may be
interrupted to our farms up to sev
eral days. Will your standby gener
ator function when you need it?
Your standby generator for con
finement animal housing should be
tested every week. The test should
include: 1. Will the generator start
when the current goes off? 2. Will
it operate under maximum load,
i.e. when fans, feeders, and lights
are being used? 3. Does your alarm
system let you know the electricity
is off? and 4. Do you have enough
fuel to run the generator for several
. ■666SSSFSSI
BY LAWRENCE W All HOUSE
‘uyi
WHAT CAN YOU
TRUST?
January 10,1993
Background Scripture:
1 Pcicr 1:3-25.
Devotional Reading:
1 Peter 2:1-10,
One of the recurrent themes in
the 1992 presidential campiagn
was “Who can you trust”? Actual
ly, it is a question that goes far
beyond which candidate you vot
ed for as President of the United
States.
I think that very often we are
overly discouraged and even cyni
cal because we forget that no
human being is ever 100 percent
trust worthy-neither President
nor mere citizen of the United
States. Even Jesus’ closest disci
ples let him down in his greatest
hour of need. So, discouraged
with human trustworthiness, some
people ask instead, “What can you
trust”? Some answer with a
plethora of material things. But
things are even less dependable
than human beings, because, as
Jesus put it, “moth and rust con
sume and thieves break in to
steal”. And, we might add: the
best of investments can go belly
up in a hurry.
KEPT IN HEAVEN
The writer of 1 Peter is obvious
ly struck by two'polarities. On the
one hand is the transitory nature of
just about everything in this
Vvorld. Quoting Isaiah 40:6, Peter
says; “All flcsh.is like grass. The
grass withers, and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord abides
forever” (1 Peter 1:24,25). At the
same lime, he speaks about the
one thing/person in whom we can
trust: “You have been bom anew,
not of perishable seed but of
imperishable, through the living
and abiding word of God”(l:23).
My wife, Valero, had an uncle
who didn’t trust banks and put his
savings in a metal box that he bur
ied under the floor of his garage.
Years later, ready to claim his
bounty, the uncle dug up the gar
age floor and the box-only to find
days?
In addition, when a storm
strikes, do not depend on your
automated systems. Take the time
to visit the bams on a regular basis
to make sure everything is func
tioning correctly.
By being proactive rather than
reactive, you may prevent a disas
ter. The time and problems asso
ciated with cleaning up a disaster
should be incentive enough to
make farmers anticipate problems
and prevent them.
Help support the state 4-H prog
ram by contributing to the Ton of
Change Project at this year’s Farm
Show.
Change will be collected at the
4-H booth located outside the large
arena. By giving your change, you
will be helping to fund the many
outstanding leadership, citizen
ship, and educational programs of
4-H.
We would appreciate you help
ing 4-H achieve its goal of collect
ing a ton of change at the Farm
Show.
Feather Profs Footnote:
“Always give people more than
they expect to receive."
that time and the elements had
reduced the money to worthless
fragments of paper.
So, when 1 Peter speaks of the
Christian’s inheritance as “imper
ishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for y0u...,” that is
very good news! At last there is
something in which we canjttust!
Neither time, nor the elements,
nor human sinfulness can take
away that inheritance and wexan
live confidently because we know
our inheritance is safe. Everything
elese may fail, but not our “living
hope”. 1
Iff
What does he mean by a “living
hope”? The fountain of this hope
is Christ who, by the power of the
resurrection, lives in us. “By his
great mercy we have been bom
anew to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, and to the inheritance
which is imperishable, undefiled
and unfading...” Although others
may fail us, and despite the per
ishability of all else, that which is
the basis of the hope by which we
live our lives is Christ resurrected.
“Through him you have confi
dence in God, who raised him
from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in
God" (1:21). It is important,
however, that we realize that,
while our hope will be fulfilled, it
does not keep us from crosses
along the way. Actually, the good
news of Jesus Christ is, not that
we are saved from facing tribula
tion, but that we will be victorius
over tribulation because of the liv
ing hope we have in Jesus. As
Peter says, “now for a little while
you may have to suffer various
trials” (1:6). But the hope is
greater-infinitely greater-than
the trials. As someone once said,
“Life with Christ is endless hope,
without Him a hopeless end.”
Lancaster Farming
Established 19SS
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A StmnmMn EntwpriM
Robert C. Campbell General Manager
Evamt R. Ntwtwanger Managing Editor
Copyright IM2 by Lancaster Farming
To Support
Pennsylvania 4-H
At Farm Show
A LIVING HOPE