AlO-Lancttter Faming, Saturday, May 1, 1993
OPINION
Out Of Control
In an article from The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio,
Keith Epstein reports that:
You can pour it on your baby carrots and romaine, but don’t
try moving salad oil by truck or train - the government says
that’s hazardous.
* “As hazardous as petroleum,” complains Sen. Richard G.
Lugar, R-Ind. “It just makes no sense.”
The Department of Transportation was only following
instructions.
“An interpretation of the Oil Pollution Act,” explains
spokeswoman Patricia Klinger.
Four years ago, after the Exxon Valdez fouled the Alaskan
coastline, Congress ordered the agency to safeguard the envi
ronment from large spills of “volatile, highly toxic and some
times frightening hazardous materials.”
Such as? “Oil of any kind,” the legislation said.
Bureaucrats hungry for - well, something a little more pre
cise - turned to a definition of oil by the Environmental Protec
tion Agency: Anything that causes “a film or sheen upon ...
water.”
An average citizen doesn’t have to pore over scores of pages
of government documents to figure that one out. It means,
besides Seven Seas or Newman’s Own: Coconut oil, whole
milk, cocoa butter, and even sun tan cream.
As a result, the government now wants large shipments of
such products to include expensive anti-spill packaging, label
ing for emergency response teams and disaster plans.
And all those requirements could mean slightly higher costs
to - well, guess who?
“Inappropriate and illogical,” objects Robert Dietz, a lawyer
for producers of vegetable oils.
“Overly legalistic,” rails Lugar, who predicts Indiana and
Ohio soybean fanners will be hit even harder than consumers.
“Good intentions run amok,” observes M.J. Fiocco, a lob
byist for companies that ship goods by train and truck. “I just
don’t think Congress was worried about a spill of salad oil.”
Tossed into the fray, bureaucrats at the Transportation
Department agency that did the deed have fielded more than
100 complaints, including letters from 30 members of
Congress.
The complaints point out, among other things, that vegetable
oils never hurt anyone, nor caused significant environmental
harm.
Before reversing anything, DOT’S Research and Special
Projects Administration must hold a public hearing. On May 13
the agency will “gather additional information,” spokeswoman
Klinger confirmed.
“Everybody agrees that after Prince William Sound we have
to protect the environment from petroleum and other harmful
products,” says Fiocco. “But foodstuffs? It defies common
sense. Things got a bit out of control.”
7 - F _
Fann Calendar
State College Lion Country Pony
Club Ride-A-Thon, Grange
Home Horticulture Seminar, Espa
liers; The Mystery Explained,
Farm and Home Center, lean-
ing School, Hidden Meadow
Farm, Souderton, 5 p.m.-8:30
Voluntary SE Reduction Program,
Lancaster Farm and Home Cen
ter, 1:30 p.m.
Poultry Assoc. Home Economics
Teacher meeting, Olde Hickory
Inn. Lancaster. 5:30 p.m.
l ii(la\, Ma\ 7
Hereford Breed Sale. Dairy Pavi
lion. New York State
Fairgrounds.
Western Pa. Sheep and Club Lamb
Sale, Mercer Co. 4-H Park,
Mercer, 6 p.m.
Beef Field Day, Clair and Susan
M(iihl.i\, M.n 10
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Atlantic Dairy Co-op 36th Eastern
Member Relations .Conference,
To Clean Fan Louvers
This past week I had the oppor
tunity to visit several poultry farms
to check ventilation fans in prepa
ration for the upcoming summer
heat.
What we observed was many
dirty fan louvers reducing the
amount of air the fan could move.
On one farm, the farmer had spent
the day before cleaning five of his
26 fans. The clean fans were mov
ing more than 24,000 cubic feet
per minute (cfm) per fan compared
to 7,000 cfm for the dirty fans.
Based on this farm, the farmer
needed more than three dirty fans
to do the job of one clean fan. This
was costing him extra electricity
now, but this summer, these dirty
fans will cause increased mortality
and decreased egg production.
To gain the most from your fans,
you need to clean the louvers at
least once a week. The first key to
success in raising confinement ani
mals is proper ventilation.
The fans are the heart of your
ventilation system. By keeping
them operating at top perfor
mance, you are now able to work
on achieving top performance
from your animals.
Make cleaning fan louvers a
regular job on your farm. Other
wise. you are letting dirt eat money
right out of your wallet.
To Protect
Sinkholes
Jeffrey Stoltzfus, extension
agent-nutrient management,
reminds us sinkholes are environ
mentally sensitive areas that need
to be treated with care.
Sinkholes are depressions that
occur in areas underlain by carbo
nate rock, such as limestone or
dolomite. As water passes through
Asian Persimmons, Dwarf Cit
rus, Kiwi and Other Unusual
Edibles. Farm and Home Cen
ter, Lancaster, 7 p,m.-9:30 p.m.
Ag Issues Forum, Kreider’s
Restaurant, Manheim, 7:30
a.m.-9 a.m.
Mid-Atlantic Arabian Horse
Show, Horse Park of N J., thru
Mav 16.
Managing Succession and Conti
nuation In the Family Business,
Alderfer Auction Center, Hat
field, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
National Dairy Promotion and
Research Board annual meet
ing. Park Hyatt, Washington,
D.C., thru Mav 20.
cracks or fractures in the bedrock,
the carbonate bedrock is gradually
dissolved until the openings
become large enough for soil to
settle into the hole.
Since the soil in the bottom of
sinkholes is often thin, it provides
little filtering of surface water
entering the sinkhole. Contami
nated water that enters sinkholes
will enter the groundwater very
quickly and could contaminate
wells and springs in a large area.
Minimize the damage from a
sinkhole by keeping the following
things in mind:
• Do not use sinkholes as dump
ing sites. The rain water and drain
age that flows through trash filled
sinkholes carries contaminants
directly in the groundwater.
• Never dump water from spray
tanks or any other hazardous liq
uids into sinkholes.
• Keep the area around sink
holes planted in grasses. This buf
fer of vegetation will help filter
runoff.
By voluntarily following good
stewardship practices, you will
help reduce government rules and
regulations and possibly keep
yourself out of serious fines and
lawsuits.
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FIRST, THE WATER
May 2,1993
Background Scripture:
John 1:19-34.
Devotional Reading:
John 1:35-42.
When I was a boy during World
War 11. I began to build a lot of
models of airplanes being used by
the Allied forces. Notice, I said I
“began”—l said nothing about
finishing these models. My prob
lem was that I was impatient and
wanted to get to the completed
model too quickly. I didn’t want to
take the time to fool with all the
details and wait for the glue on all
those small pieces to dry.
Today. I suppose you might try
to cover my impatience with the
term “results oriented.” Yes, I was
more interested in the finished
product than all the stages in
between starting and finishing.
But, just as no clever arrangement
of bad eggs can make a good
omelette, there’s no way to excuse
my desire to get results without
working and waiting for them.
The fact is that results are usually
made up of those little details
like putting piece to piece. So in
our spiritual lives too: very often,
we cannot see the desired outcome
unless we are willing to work
patiently. We all want to be instant
saints and natural mystics.
PREPARING FOR
FIREWORKS
In 1990 I attended the ISOth
anniversary of the University of
Pennsylvania (if I may insert with
some pride, the nation’s oldest
university!). One of the highlights
was a concert of Handel’s Fire
works Suite and a fireworks dis
play on the steps of the Philadel
phia Museum overlooking the city
of Philadelphia. The fireworks
were the most spectacular we have
ever seen and it was one of those
enchanted evenings. Later, how
ever, we heard about all the prepa
ration that went into our
“enchanted evening” and, if you
have ever seen anyone set up a
fireworks display, you know it is
painstaking, intricate work.
So, no matter how spiritual
enchantment occurs in our lives.
To Improve
Herbicide Effectiveness
The effectiveness of a weed
control program may be improved
by following five easy steps:
1. Match the control program,
including the herbicide, to the
weed problems in the field.
2. Plant and apply pre
emergence herbicides as soon after
the last tillage operation as possi
ble. Many herbicides are only
effective on germinating seeds and
will not control weeds after they
have germinated.
3 Use a rotary hoe or spike
tooth harrow to incorporate herbi
cides if rain is not received within
5 to 7 days after application of the
herbicide.
4. Take advantage of cultiva
tion to control escape weeds
whenever possible.
5. Develop realistic goals for
the weed control program. Crops
will tolerate some weeds with little
ar no impact on yields. However,
watch for escape weeds which
aould become problems in the
future.
Feather Profs Footnote:
"Many new ideas are simply clev
er adaptations of old ideas."
Thomas Edison
you can be assured that it is almost
always preceded by some kind of
mundane preparation, conscious
or unconscious. The Holy Spirit
very often only comes when we
have first prepared ourselves with
a baptism of water. I am speaking
figuratively, of course. I do not
mean actual water must precede
the Holy Spirit, but what water
symbolizes, penitent preparation
and receptivity. According to the
Baptist, this was his mission, to
prepare people for the coming of
Christ and the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. “I myself did not know
him,” said John, “but for this I
came baptizing with water, that he
might be revealed to IsraeL.he
who baptizes with the Holy Spirit”
(John 1:31, 33b). (Also, I am
using Holy Spirit “Baptism” in its
broader historical and orthodox
Christian conotation, rather than
in the more current and narrow”
charismatic” sense).
skj
PREPARE THE WAY
You and I cannot give someone
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but
we can help them to prepare to
receive the Christ into their hearts
and lives add the Holy Spirit fol
lows. Just as John was sent to pre
pare people for Jesus, so we are
sent by God to do the very same
thing, even though our methods
may considerably differ. John
came preaching in the wilderness;
most of us will need instead to
witness, in the marketplace. What
ever we do and however we do it,
our purpose is the same as his;
“that he might be revealed...”
John’s confession is as timely
today for us as it was in his own
day: “And I have seen and have
borne witness that this is the Son
of God” (1:34). That’s all we are
called to do and that’s all we can
do. If we “prepare the way,” it is
up to God how to use our efforts
for his purpose. He sends the Holy
Spirit into people’s lives and
hearts. But, first, the water...!
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata. PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SWmn Entmtpri—
Robert C. Campbell General Manager
Evens R. Nawmangar Managing Editor
Copyriahl 1H) by Unomar Farmin'