AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 6, 1993
oplsion
The Process Of Developing Consensus
A hint of believable grassroots fanner opinion has been
reported out of the Penn State University College of Agriculture.
(See Page A 1 this issue.) The survey’s results offer verifiable and
testable means of supporting statements presented as fact.
This is often not the case.
With the increased number of conflicting opinions amoung
farm groups that have appeared on the scene in the past decade, it
gets very difficult to get to the bottom line about who is actually
being represented by whom, and what positions are. in fact, wide
ly supported.
The increased use of fascimile communications, computer
links, desk-top publishing and low-cost publicity services have
made it more and more difficult to discern between legitimate
claims of farmer representation and ballyhoo.
That presents a challenge to us all to work a little harder at
being able to sift through the dogma to discover fact, and to not
always believe what we read, or what a friend says is fact.
This challenge of course is always present, but current and
planned communications technology makes it much easier for
fewer and fewer individuals to influence the knowledge of the
public, to twist facts and to alter public policy for their own
benefit.
It used to be that a good rule of thumb that only organizations
with a substantial membership could afford the postage and fancy
letterhead and professionally written news releases. No more.
Now, with a little startup money and some relatively inexpen
sive technology, fftwer than a handful of people can successfully
operate “non-profit, grass-roots organizations” that purport to
represent the opinions and policy desires of an unsubstantiated
“large majority.”
While this may not seem significant, consider the effect the
numerous anti-agriculture organizations have had in misinform
ing and misleading the public; consider the hardships endured by
the apple industry over some unsubstantiated claims made by
only a few people; consider the Dr. Spock snafu and the effects it
has had, etc..
And there are many, many more incidents of individuals and
small groups that say they spqgk for and are supported by hun
dreds of thousands or even millions of other people.
The PSU survey sampling represents rohghly 10-percent of the
dairy farm owners in the state, which is far from a total consensus.
Even so, while the facts resulting from the survey may or may not
be indicative of the desires of the majority of the state’s dairy pro
ducers, it is refreshingly substantive, straightfoward, and it offers
an alternative process to develope consensus.
Farm Calendar
North American International
Livestock Expo, Kentucky Fair
-■ and Expostion Center, Louis
ville, Ky., thru Nov. 19.
Pa. Community Supported Ag
Workshop, Dauphin County
Ag and Natural Resources Cen
ter, Dauphin, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Pa. Bison Association Buffalo
Auction, Mercer Livestock
Market, 1 p.m.
Berks County Holstein Associa
tion annual meeting, Virginvil
le Grange, Viiginville, 7:30
Poultry Management and Health
Seminar, Kreider’s Restaurant,
Manheim, noon.
Dauphin County Extension annual
meeting, Ag and Natural
Resources Center, Dauphin. 7
p.m.
Lebanon County Extension ban
quet, Myers town Church of the
Brethren, 7 p.m.
Warren County Cooperative
Extension water quality meet
ing, Sheffield High School, 7
p.m.-9 p,m.
Northumberland County Coopera
tive Extension annual meeting,
Otterbein U. Methodist Church,
Sunbury, 6:30 p.m.
Field Hearing On Rural Health,
Cumberland County Extension
shop, Edinboro Community
Center, Edinboto, 7 p.m.-9:15
p.m., thru November 10.
Centre County Farm-City Ban
quet, Penns Valley Area High
School, Spring Mills, 7 p.m.
Intensive grazing management
systems meeting, Lehigh Coun-
ty Ag Center, Allentown, 7:30
p.m.
1993 Equine School, North Hun
terdon High School, Clinton,
National FFA Convention, Kansas
City, Mo., thru November 14.
Westmoreland County Farm-City
Night, Mount View Inn.
Greensburg, 7 p.m.
ADADC District 8 meeting. Hid
den Inn, South Kortright, N.Y.,
8 p.m.
Chester County Extension annual
meeting, Government Services
NOW IS
THE TIME
By John Schwartz
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agqnt
To Test
Forages
According to Glenn Shirk,
extension dairy agent, high pro
ducing cows, dry cows, and heifers
require rations that are properly
balanced.
Hesaid, “There is little room for
error.” Failure to provide the prop
er ration may result in calving dif
ficulties, metabolic diseases,
depressed appetites, reduced pro
duction, lower conception rates,
and more problems with infec
tions, lameness, etc.
Good feeding starts with good
quality feed. Forages are a major
part of the ration. However, the
quality of forages may vary
considerably.
The best indicator of forage
quality is a forage test. To increase
the accuracy of forage test results,
be sure to submit a representative
sample of the forages to be tested.
Remember the accuracy of the for
age tests will be no more accurate
than the sample submitted.
To Work With
Your Nutritionist
Nutrition is still both an art and a
science. Experienced nutritionists
will use feed and forage tests as a
guide in developing rations. They
rely on the test results as an origi
nal guide for balancing rations and
then make adjustments as their
experience and herd or flock per
formances dictate.
To increase the accuracy of the
feed program, be sure to provide
your nutritionist with accurate feed
intakes and body weights.
Farmers work with three feed
programs. They are: 1. The one
that appears on the computer print
out or recommended by the nutri
tionist; 2. The one delivered to the
animal; and 3. the one the animal
actually eats.
The only one that counts is the
one the animal consumes, and it
may be very different than the
other two. Thus, it is important to
know what the' animals actually
consume.
To accomplish this, develop a
method to weigh what is feed and
deduct what is wasted or refused.
The balance is what is consumed.
Be sure-to share this figure with
your nutritionist or service person
so feeding recommendations may
be based on accurate intakes.
Also, moisture content of feeds,
Center, West Chester, 7 p.m.
Pa. Veterinary Nutrition Forum,
Days Inn, Lancaster.
Maryland’s 49th annual Dairy
Technology Conference at Col
lege Park Holiday Inn.
1993 Equine School, Holiday Inn,
Bethlehem, 7:30 p.m.
Fall bam meeting, Romar Jersey
Farm, New Wilmington, 1 p.m.
Western Pa. Flower Growers
annual bedding plant clinic,
(Turn to Pago All)
especially ensiled feeds, may
change from time to time. Farmers
should have on-farm moisture tes
ters to monitor moisture levels and
dry matter intakes more
accurately.
Then, appropriate adjustments
need to be made to the ration. It is
also advisable to test the final feed
mix and take feed samples at diffe
rent locations in the feed trough or
occasionally to check on the accu
racy of feed mixing and feed parti
cle separation during feeding.
To Be Kind
To Calves
The cool wet days of fall are
upon us and winter is on its way.
Thus, it is time to focus on how to
keep calves healthy and comfort
able this winter.
First and most important is help-*
\ —i
I;.'
| BY LAWR£NCt W ALTHOUSE
OB2S2JS
SFI
TRUTH OR
CONSEQUENCES
November 7,1993
Background Scripture:
Genesis 27
Devotional Reading:
Hebrews 12:14-17
The story of Jacob and Esau is
the narration of an almost per
fect crime or so it would seem.
At his mother’s suggestion and
following her clever instructions
to the letter. Jacob tricked his
father, Isaac, into thinking he was
his brother and stole the blessing
that Isaac had intended for Esau.
Of course there were some
uneasy moments and close calls.
When Jacob enters his father’s
tent, Isaac, calls out' “Here I am;
who are you my son?” Some peo
ple would have failed right there.
Then Isaac says, “How is it that
you have found it so quickly (the
wild game), my son.” Jacob was
quick with a good reply. Was
Isaac just a bit suspicious here? It
would seem so, for he says:
“Come near that I may feel you.
my son, to know whether you are
really my son Esau or not” If
Jacob was the nervous kind, he
must have really become
unhinged when Isaac having felt
Jacob’s hands, said* “The voice is
Jacob’s voice, but the hands are
those of Esau... Are you really my
son Esau?” (27:18-21).
But if Jacob was scared, he car
ried off the deception without fal
tering, “I am.” And so Isaac
accepted that the son seeking his
blessing was Esau. Jacob had
pulled it off! Isaac never sus
pected. He did not even become
aware of his second son’s duplici
ty until later when Esau came
storming into Isaac’s presence,
asking for a blessing.
THE CLEAR
In patriarchal times, a spoken
blessing, like a spoken curse, was
believed to have irrevocable pow
er. Once spoken, it could not be
recalled or taken back. The spoken
word, particularly of a dying man,
had cosmic as well as legal power.
That is something quiet alien to
us. In today’s world, if Isaac had
been deceived into blessing the
wrong son, we would say, “Don’t
worry, this is not binding. Nothing
gained by fraud has legal or actual
standing. But in the time of Isaac,
Jacob, and Esau, the blessing was
more than mere words.
Since the Messing could not be
rescinded, Jacob was in the clear.
He stayed out of Esau’s way, and
ing the calf develop its own natural
immune system. Do this by mak
ing sure die calf consumes at least
one gallon of good quality colo
strum milk within the first 12 hours
after birth (the sooner, the better).
Then place the calf in an indivi
dual pen that is dry, well bedded,
draft-free, well ventilated, and
located away from older catde. If
you are using calf hutches, place
them on an elevated, well drained
mound and orient the open end to
the southeast
To help calves maintain body fat
and normal body temperatures, be
sure to feed them adequate energy
in the form of high quality, high
energy milk replacers or feed them
more milk or mote grain.
Feather Profs Footnote:
“Recall it as often as you wish, a
happy memory never wears out."
when his brother vowed ven
geance. Jacob let his mother per
suade him to visit some relatives
far from the reach of his furious
brother. It would appear he had
gotten away with it
But did he? Inasmuch as Jacob
and Esau were eventually recon
ciled many years later, it would
appear that there were no lasting
consequences of Jacob’s cruel
deception. If we look more close
ly, however, we can see that there
were some serious consequences.
We cannot know for sure, but the
story seems to suggest that when
Jacob finally returns to his native
home, Rebekah, his mother was
dead. So, this woman who loved
Jacob best of all never got to see
her son again. This was one of the
consequences of their dead.
CONSEQUENCES
Another consequence was the
hatred of his brother. Even though
Esau eventually conquered that
hatred, still it cost both him and
Jacob a lot during all of those
years in which they were
estranged. Yes, it is wonderful
that eventually they were reunited,
but what of all the years in
between that they lost? And it cer
tainly cost Isaac something, if
nothing more than his peace of
mind to think that his own son
would practice such a deception
upon him! To know that he had
been duped into denying the bless
ing to his favorite and first-born
son. Furthermore, it is unlikely
that Jacob was ever able to collect
on the blessing and the birthright
he had taken from Esau. The Bible
doesn’t tell us this specifically, but
it does not mention or even sug
gest that Jacob ever returned to
claim his ill-gotten gains.
Did God forgive Isaac and
Rebekah for the favoritism that
permeated their home? Yes, I’m
sure he did. Did Esau eventually
forgive his scheming brother?
Yes, we know that he did. And did
he eventually redeem Jacob from
this terrible sin? Of course. But, in
between that despicable deception
and the blessed reconciliation,
there were many years of guilt,
shame and remorse that would not
go away.
Don’t ever think that just
because the consequences do not
seem evident or especially painful
that sin does not exact a heavy
toll; it always has; it always will.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SMumn Cnhtprim
Hobart G. CampbaH Qanaral Manager
Ever* R. Waamangu Managing Editor
CapyrlgM lies by Lanoaalar Fuming