AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 23, 1993
OPINION
Saving Agriculture
And The Bay
I was recently asked to address the Delmarva Advisory
Council’s Agriculture and the Chesapeake Bay Conference.
The audience included over 300 farmers and key members of
the region’s farm bureaucracy. I welcomed the opportunity to
address what I feel has been a very fortunate perception among
some farmers and environmentalists, namely, that we are on
opposite sides of the proverbial fence. I titled my talk, “Coop
eration. Not Confrontation: The Key to Saving Agriculture and
the Bay.”
Make no mistake, farmland, like every other land use, cer
tainly contributes its share of pollution to the Bay. Farmers can
and must do more to reduce their impact, and the Chesapeake
Bay Foundation (CBF) has been at the forefront of efforts to
address agricultural pollution. We have pushed for incentives,
education, consistent enforcement of existing regulations, and
new laws where needed, just as we have done with industry,
sewage treatment plants, developers, watermen, boaters and
homeowners. But it is important to realize that farming, by
definition, keeps the land porous, allowing rainwater to be
asborbed if proper management practices are followed. Most
other active uses of the land are more detrimental to the Bay.
Developed land, for instance, is impervious, channeling storm
water and pollutants rapidly into the nearest water body.
We at CBF want farmland to remain in agriculture. Unfortu
nately, just the opposite is happening. Sprawling low-density
residential and commercial development is rapidly converting
farmland. What’s worse, scattered development undercuts the
infrastructure of agriculture. “Nuisance ordinances" are
encouraged by those neighbors who may not like the noise or
pungent aroma o£ nearby farms. Eventually, farm suppliers go
out of business or change products to more suburban oriented
needs. Local markets for crops disappear. And taxes go up
because residential development never produces enough
revenue to meet the new demand for schools, sewage treatment
plants, landfills, police protection, etc. Farmers, hit hard finan
cially, are often forced to sell off more land. The vicious cycle
continues, while the community and the economy of farming
decline.
Rural residents must retake control of their own destinies by
planning for the future of their region. Counties must establish
mechanisms to realistically assess how much growth is desired,
where it is to be located, how to effectively protect sensitive
areas, and where agriculture should remain as the predominant
land use. Desired growth is accommodated, taxes are kept in
check, the Bay and its tributaries are protected, and agriculture
is at least given a fighting chance. If a system of purchased or
transferable development rights is also established, farmers
will have the opportunity to realize the equity in their land
without losing ownership. In this scenario, everyone wins and
no one loses.
Finally, it is important to realize that in addition to agricul
ture, sewage treatment plants are also a major source of nutri
ents to the Bay. Although compliance and even technology are
still far from perfect, vast reductions in pollution have been
achieved over the last few decades. The billions of dollars in
cost for treatment plant construction and upgrades have been
borne, appropriately, by the taxpayer.
The amount of public funds dedicated to reducing agricultur
al pollution, on the other hand, has been miniscule by compari
son, perhaps one percent, at best. From a strict cost-benefit—
analysis, wouldn’t it make sense to rethink this allocation for
mula in the future?
Saving agriculture and protecting the Bay are compatible
goals. Farmers and environmentalists can either leant to work
together and have some chance of a better future, or we can
fight with one another. Sadly, there are some strident voices in
the land extremists on both sides of the fence who feel their
agenda is advanced by division rather than coalition. We at the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation categorically condemn that
approach. Quite simply, we need agriculture, and we believe
farmers need us. Together we can achieve enormous progress.
We are committed to working with farmers, not against them,
in pursuit of our long-term common interests.
William C. Baker,
President,
Chesakeake Bay Foundation
To Set Dairy
Investment Priorities
Dairy fanning is a complex bus
iness that requires a large invest
ment of labor and capital.
One of the goals of a dairy far
mer is to show a good, quick return
on the dollar, to build equity in the
business rapidly, and to keep debt
at a manageable level. To achieve
this, investing in healthy, produc
tive cows should be your first
priority.
These cows will generate
income quickly in the form of milk
sales and later on as cattle sales.
They also reproduce, and as the
young stock mature, they increase
in value.
The next priority should be to
invest in good feed and good herd
replacements. Minimize invest
ments in land, buildings, and
equipment until the herd is produc
ing well and is paid for. Until then,
it will be cheaper to rent facilities
and land and purchase good used
equipment.
In other words, grow into the
business at an affordable rate. You
should concentrate on becoming
better before becoming bigger.
To Evaluate
Composting Manure
Much has been written and said
about composting manure. Let’s
take a look at some of the advan
tages and disadvantages.
Some of the advantages include:
• Composting shrinks the vol
ume and weight of manure and
reduces its moisture level.
• Nutrients become more stable
and are less apt to leach.
• The composted material may
be stored year-round and marketed
or applied to fields at more appro
priate times.
• You usually have fewer fly
and odor problems.
Some disadvantages include:
• Composting takes time.
• The process requires special
knowledge and management.
• For good composting, piles
must contain a proper balance of
materials.
• The piles need to be turned or
aerated regularly. Turning the
piles requires extra stack areas, so
piles may be transferred from one
area to another, or the pile may be
mixed and aerated with the aid of
expensive machinery and
equipment.
Farm Calendar
Wyoming/Lackawanna Holstein
Association annual meeting,
Meshoppen United Methodist
Church, Meshoppen, 7:45 p.m.
(Turn to Pago A 26)
• Runoff from composting sites
must be contained and managed
properly.
• Markets need to be developed.
• Permits and record-keeping
requirements might be needed.
Composting will not magically
solve a farmer’s nutrient manage
ment problems. Consider the costs,
advantages, and disadvantages
carefully when determining if
composting manure will fit into
your farming operation.
To Become
Politically Active
A new administration has taken
office in Washington D.C. and a
new legislature has begun its work
in Harrisburg. These new govern
ments will be dealing with legisla
tion that will be affecting
agriculture.
To develop good laws, your rep
resentatives need to hear from you.
These government officials need
to be educated about farming.
Many of them have had no contact
with agriculture or understand the
reasons for agriculture’s success.
The only way to maintain
Hr IAWKtNCt W ALIHOUSt
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sn
HOW MANY
DIVISIONS DOES
CHRIST HAVE?
January 24,1993
Background Scripture:
1 Corinthians 1:1 through 2:13.
Devotional Reading:
1 Corinthians 2:1-13.
If I remember this story correct
ly, it was during one of their
World War II meetings that Win
ston Churchill was speaking of the
influence of the pope. With a sar
donic smile, Stalin asked: “How
many divisions has the pope?”.
Of course, Stalin was a devotee
of “godless Communism”, so we
can -understand that he was con
temptuous of the power of re
ligion. But his dismissal of spiri
tual power is shared by many who
profess to be Christian. The fact is
that, regardless of what most peo
ple may profess about the suprem
acy of spiritual values, most of us
live as if we shared Stalin’s dis
dain for them. When it comes to
getting something done in what
we perceive as “the real world”,
we too want to know “How many
divisions has the pope?”.
It’s not that we dismiss spiritual
power completely; we know that it
works sometimes, if we’re
willing to wait long enough. But,
in business, in politics, in com
munity life, and in the world at
large - and sometimes even in the
church secular power seems to
get the job done faster, more sure
ly and more obviously if not
everlastingly.
TEMPORAL POWER
And that’s'the rub, isn’t it?
Secular power, for all of its im
mediate and visible success, does
not last and in the long run does
not get the job done. Stalin’s divi
sions, as well as those of Churchill
and Roosevelt, won World War n.
But the armies of the Allies did"
not win the peace, nor even solve
the problems that caused the war
in the first place. In the long run,
the power of armies, governments,
and material might does not pre
vail.
In Jesus’ day, the Jews looked
for temporal power, a messiah to
lead them in military revolt
against the might of Rome. That’s
why Jesus was such a disappoint
ment to so many, for the cross was
important agricultural programs is
to fight for them. You need to
inform the legislators of the impor
tance of agricultural research, edu
cation through cooperative exten
sion, uniform grading standards
for effective marketing, need for
strong animal disease diagnostic
laboratories, and plant and animal
disease prevention programs.
As food safety and environmen
tal legislation is being developed,
take an active role in offering
workable ideas to address the
issues.Thc more people involved
in the development of laws and
rules and regulations, the better
they will be.
Do not depend on your neighbor
or agribusiness to express your
opinion. Do it yourself. A simple
letter telling who you are, where
you live, the size of your farm, and
your ideas is all that is required.
Become involved in the political
process and work to keep agricul
ture a growing industry.
Feather Profs Footnote: “The
difference between the impossible
and the possible lies in a man's
determination
a symbol of weakness and defeat.
This is what Paul meant when he
wrote, “For Jews demand signs
... but we preach Christ cruci
fied, a stumbling-block to the
Jews .. ” (1:22, 23).
If the Jews looked for power,
the Greeks looked for wisdom.
Not just wisdom per se, but wis
dom to reveal the meaning and
puipose of life. With their phi
losophy, the Greeks sought the en
lightenment of the intellect Plato,
Aristotle, Plotinus and others
sought to unlock life’s mysteries.
And that is why so many of them
found Jesus Christ such a disap
pointment for the cross seemed
no explanation at all. The Gospel
was downright foolishness.
THE POWER
OF THE CROSS
But Paul knows that, just as in
the long run the power of the
world turns out to be ineffectual,
so the wisdom of the world is its
real foolishness. As Paul puts it
. .the foolishness of God is wis
er than men, and the weakness of
God is stronger than men" (1:25)
and “God chose what is foolish in
the world to shame the wise” and
“what is weak in the world to
shame the strong” (1:27). Our
secular concepts of what is power
ful and wise, for all their at
tractiveness, turn out to be a total
disappointment in the long run.
The key is the cross of Christ:
*. .. to those who are called, both
lews and Greeks, Christ the power
of God and the wisdom of God”
(1:24). Human power and human
wisdom, no matter how great and
compelling, fail in the long run.
What works, what delivers the
goods, is the wisdom and power of
God: “For the word of the cross is
folly to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is
the power of God” (1:18). In the
cross of Jesus Christ we see the
only power and the only wisdom
that ultimately work and endure;
the gracious, self-sacrificing love
of God in Christ
Stalin and his kind have never
understood that Do we?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata. PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stmman Entmpn—
Robert C. Campbell General Manager
EvsnM R. Nawnwngar Managing Editor
Copyright IM2 by Lancaaiar Fanning