OPINION
Safer Pesticides Needed Now
Fanners have aggressively adopted newer, safer pesticides as
they have become available. But they are fnistrated by what some
industiy sources say has been a slow-down in the registration
process.
By some estimates, it now takes the EPA two and one-half
years or more to decide whether to register a new pesticide once
manufacturers have submitted all needed documents and data.
That’s a year or more longer than in the past. To farmers, the
slowdown is critical. Officials at the National Com Growers
Association (NCGA) say farmers are under pressure to improve
environmental stewardship, but at the same time, the products
that can help them do this are taking longer to get through to
them. ’
The high level of frustration was highlighted in a special Gal
lup survey commissioned by NCGA last winter. It showed that
neariy 80 percent of surveyed farmers think that the public sees
them as poor environmental stewards. Yet, safer products aren’t
available to them.
Part of the frustration is that EPA officials say they arc com
mitted to speed up getting safer pesticides on the market. But the
evidence shows that so far this has just been talk.
The burden is on EPA to follow through on the speed-up pro
cess so that safer pesticides are available for agricultural uses.
Farm Calendar
Virginia Summer Holstein Slnw,
Harrisonburg, Va.
Old Time Plow Boys Club plow
ing demonstration. Macungie.
11 a.m.-S p.m., thru Aug. 8.
Cumberland County 4-H Dairy
Round-up, Shippensburg Fair
grounds, 9 a.m.
Lehigh County 4-H Horse Round
up, 2850 Fish Hatchery Road,
Bedford Co. Fair, Bedford, thru
Aug. 14.
Montour-Delong Community
Fair, Washingtonville, thru
thru Aug. 14.
Cochranton Community Fair,
Cochranton, thru Aug. 14.
Greene Co. Fair, Waynesburg,
thru Aug. 14.
Butler Farm Show, Butler, thru
Aug. 14.
Kutztown Fair, Kutztown, thru
Aug. 14.
Warren Co. Fair, Pittsfield, thru
Aug. 14.
Dawson Grange Fair, Dawson,
thru Aug. 14.
Rural Environmental Field Days,
Spring Woods Farm, Gap. thru
Aug. 11.
Cumberland County 4-H Lives
tock Sale, Shippcnsburg Fair-
neyville, thru Aug. 15.
Elk County Fair, Kersey, thru Aug.
14.
Harrold Fair, Greensburg, thru
Aug. 14.
Empire Days, Fairgrounds, Seneca
fc N i Y j^hr^AugM2^^
Lancaster Co. 4-H Swine Round
up, Manheim Fairgrounds,
show 11 a.m., sale 7 pan,
York Co. Holstein picnic, Leonard
and Bonnie Greek’s Farm.
College of Ag Sciences (U. of
Del.) Farm and Home Field
Day, Research and Education
Center, Georgetown, 8:30
Ag Issues Fbrum, Leola Family
Restaurant, 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m.
Butler Co. Holstein Show, Farm
Show Grounds, 10 a.m.
Chester Co. Holstein Field Day,
Richard Hostetter Farm, Park
esburg, 10 a.m.
Lancaster Co. 4-H Market Lamb
Show, West Lampeter Fair
grounds, show 10 a.m., sale 7
p.m.
Capitol Region Summer Turf and
Ornamental School, Millersvil
le University.
Wheat and Barley Grower’s annu
al planning meeting, York 4-H
Center. Bair Station, 7:30 p.m.
Vegetable Variety Plot, Leinbach
Farm Supply, Shippensburg, 6
p.m.
Twilight Meeting Northumber
land County Conservation Dis
trict, Himmel’s Church, 6-9
(Turn to Pago A 25)
Farm Forum
Editor:
Effective advertising is the
bridge between the producer and
the consumer. Some products arc
sold in large amounts whether
they are good for us or not because
of the promotions. I do not see any
advertisements in any newspapers
promoting agricultural products
such as milk, fruit or vegetables
by the Dairy Producers Assoc, or
(he Apple Growers Assoc, etc.
Fresh untainted products free of
additives would be better than
snack foods or soft drinks which
are sold by the millions of cans.
Why not place advertisements
for milk, fresh fruits and veget
ables in the sports sections of
To Celebrate
Poultry Month
August is “Poultry Month” in
Lancaster County. The Lancaster
County Commissioners made this
declaration in recognition of the
many contributions poultry makes
to the county.
In 1992, the county was the
largest egg producing county in the
nation. The county’s chickens pro
duce 71 eggs every second. The
$lB7 million farm receipts gener
ated from poultry represents 42
percent of the total poultry pro
ducts sold in Pennsylvania.
In addition to producing enough
eggs to feed more than 8 million
people, the county’s farms pro
duced 47 million broilers.
Some economic impact figures
of the poultry industry are: every
$1 of poultry wages generates an
additional personal income of
$6.81, and $602 million of eco
nomic activity is generated from
the production of poultry and
wages paid by Lancaster County
poultry farmers.
Poultry is a very important seg
ment of Lancaster County
agriculture.-
Join the poultry industry in cele
brating August as
Month."
To Attend
Ag Progress Days
Penn State’s Ag Progress Days
will be held August 17 to 19 at the
Rockspring research farm. The
farm is located on Route 45 about 9
miles southwest of State College.
At Ag Progress Days you will
see how research and education
help to improve our food supply,
protect the environment and sup*
port Pennsylvania’s number one
industry, the $3B billion agricul
tural sector.
The event will include educa
tional presentations, exhibits,
workshops, guided tours of
research facilities and test plots,
commercial and non-commercial
newspapers as an alternative to
soft drinks and these pseudo-fruit
drink concoctions.
On the way home from work, I
often stop and get a bag of snack
food. No more. There is too much
salt and grease. I will get a bag of
apples instead. I picked up about
twenty empty soda cans and bot
tles and thought; is it good for us
what is in these cans? Also consid
er the hassle of recycling them.
Fresh agricultural products
would be better for all. They
should be advertised in the news
papers where the consumers see
them.
Victoria Lingg
Narvon
exhibits, machinery and equip
ment demonstrations.
Also, the latest on crops, dairy
and livestock production, advice
on lawns and gardens, soil and
water conservation, antique farm
and home implements, horse exhi
bits and clinics, youth displays and
careers in agriculture is scheduled
every day.
This year’s show will also fea
ture water quality, nutrient man
agement and composting demon
strations. There is something for
the entire family.
Admission and parking is free.
So, plan now to attend Ag Progress
Days. For more information con
tact your Penn State Cooperative
Extension office or read related
articles in this paper.
To Determine
When To
Rotate Alfalfa
It is always difficult to decide
just when to rotate an established
alfalfa field into another crop.
To help in making this decision,
alfalfa growers may assess the
health of a Held between the last
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RAZING THE WALLS
August 8,1993
Background Scripture:
Ephesians 2:1 f - 3:6
Devotional Reading:
Hebrews 13:1-7
It was just a year ago that I saw
something that I was quite sure
would never be possible in my
lifetime. 1 stood at the broad Pots
dammer Platz in what used to be
West Berlin and then walked
across the ground that I remem
bered as being barred by the
infamous Berlin Wall. I went to
the Brandenberg Gate and, where
once the way was barred by
barbed wire and malevolent sen
trim. I joined the happy throngs
that traipsed back and forth
through its portals. It was an
immensely pleasing experience.
But as I strolled freely through
the former West and East Belins
and later motored through the E&st
Germany that once had lain
behind the Iron Curtain, I realized
that although the physical walls
that divided Germany had been
razed, there were still-barriers
between these two peoples. One,
woman said that, whereas in
recent years the peoples of East
and West Germany had main
tained that Wir sind ein Volk!”
“We are one people!” - -” ...we are
now realizing that in SO years of
separation and hostility, we had
actually become two different
peoples.” The real barriers woe
not of concrete and barbed wire,
but of ideas and emotions. Today,
now that the physical walls have
been pulled down, all Germany is
working at pulling down those
barriers which are even more insi
dious and pervasive the bar
rim in peoples’ hearts and minds.
WHO LOVES WALLS?
Actually, that’s something we
all should have known. I have
sometimes observed that,
although you can make the people
of church sit together in the same
pews, there may be barriers within
that are not so easily breached.
Robert Frost, observing nature’s
ceaseless attempts to destroy
human walls, said that “There’s
something that doesn’t love a
wall.” The forces of nature keep
two harvests for the season by
counting the number of stems per
square foot.
Counting the number of stems
rather than the number of plants
gives a good indication of the rela
tive health of the plant healthy
plants produce more stems than
weaker plants.
Alfalfa Helds with SS or more
stems per square foot produce
maximum yields. When the num
ber of stems per square foot
declines to 40. the yield potential is
reduced by 25 percent
Economic data suggest when
yields drop by more than 25 per
cent it is time to rotate the alfalfa
Held to another crop. If Helds are
checked between the last two
harvests of the year, marginal
Helds may be identified for rota
tion and appropriate plans may be
made.
Feather Profs Footnote: "No
person wits ever honored for what
he received. Honor has been the
reward for what he
gave" Calvin Coolidge
eating away at our walls, but
human hostility keep repairing
and maintaining those barriers.
Something in human nature does
“love a wall.” Something in us
keeps pulling apart that which
God created to be together.
Why is it that so often in human
history the end result of religion
has been to build walls between
people? The other day Valere and
I were discussing the differences
between various Christian denom
inations and she asked me. “Has
there ever been a denomination
that hasn’t had a split in it? “I
thought long and hard and,
although I’m willing to concede
that I may have overlooked one, I
couldn’t recall any group that had
been spared that experiences.
HOSTILITY’S SOURCE
But, if that is so, it is nft
because God intends for uS to be
divided. That dividedness and
divisiveness is something we
human beings accomplish com
pletely upon our own. If Muslims,
Orthodox and Roman Catholics
are fighting a “holy war” in Yugo
slavia, it is a war that is neither
intended nor sanctioned by the
God they profess. When Protes
tants and Roman Catholics kill
each other in Northern Ireland, it
is not on spiritual grounds. Nor is
it their God, who incites Hindus
and Muslims to hate and attack
each other in India. For the writer
of Ephesians assures us that God’s
purpose is to reconcile both us to
each other and to him.
A gospel that divides people
and sets up impassable barriers
cannot be the Good News of Jesus
Christ. As Ephesians puts it, “For
he is our peace, who has made us
both one, and had broken down
the dividing wall of hostility... that
He might create in himself one
new man in place of the two, so
making peace, he might reconcile
us both to God in one body
through the cross, thereby bring
ing the hostility to an end”
(2:14-16).
If your religion raises walls
instead razing them, it is not the
Christianity Christ died to give us.
Lancaster Farming
. Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephreta Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SMuim Entiprim
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newnmnger Managing Edter
CagyrigM IW2 by Uneaalar Fanning