AlO-LancMter Farming, Saturday, January 1,1994
OPINION
Happy New Year
To Busy Farmers
The work schedule on the farm in winter may be a little less
strenuous than at planting, hay making, or at silo filling time or in
com or tobacco harvest. But for livestock and dairy farmers, the
extra stable chores take time, so you still have a lot to do.
In addition, at this time of year farm educational meetings at
the extension office or at your farm dealership or supplier are
offered. Next year’s production schedule can be set, and tax
records assembled.
Nutrient management plans can be put in place this winter, and
soil tests should be taken. Fertilizer, lime,'seeds, and pesticides
should be purchased to insure they are available in the spring.
Winter is a good time to check, repair, lubricate and reset
equipment. If parts are worn, they should be replaced. You want
to do everything possible to reduce down time on the equipment
when you are running day and night in the fields.
Cows must be clipped and other livestock kept in clean stalls.
Water pipes must be kept warm.
Many people who don’t know better, think farmers have
nothing to do in winter. But when these consumers sit down to
their next meal, we think they should know that farmers are busy
all winter too. The blessings of Thanksgiving and Christmas have
been experienced this year. And now we anticipate the begining
of a new year. Therefore, we wish all the busy people in agricul
ture a prosperous, healthful, and happy New Year.
&
Farm Calendar
Mercer County DHI annual
meeting.
New Jersey Farm Bureau Dairy
Summit, Tranquility Church.
Tranquility, NJ., 10 a.m.-3
p.m., continues Jan. 6.
Leola Produce Auction meeting,
Bareville Fire Hall, Leola.
12:30 p.m.
Raleigh DHIA Records Work
shop, Amos Stoltzfus Farm,
Honey Brook, 12:30'p.m.
Mid-Atlantic Nurserymen’s Trade
Conference, Baltimore, Md.,
thru Jan. 6.
Berks County Dairy Day, Exten
sion Office, Leesport.
Farm Forum
Editor,
Have you ever sat by and
watched your best friend die?
However crushing it might have
been it cannot compare to the
devastation one experiences when
death comes as a result of
irresponsibility.
Rocky, my Golden Retriever, a
beloved Father’s Day gift given to
me in the mid-eighties, is at my
side, stricken with heartworms,
not far from death.
It could easily have been avoid
ed and 1 been diligent as a pet
owner and put him on the regimen
recommended by virtually every
licensed veterinarian. This mos
quito borne parasite has also
invaded the systems of three other
dogs of mine, but because they are
relatively young and robust, they
arc successfully recuperatisg from
Adams County Dairy Day, Exten
sion Office, Gettysburg. 9:30
a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Solanco Young Fanners pesticide
Sola"
District annual meeting. Stock
Yard Inn, 6 p.m.
Bucks/Montgomery Dairy Day,
Family Heritage Restaurant,
Franconia, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Franklin County Dairy Day,
■ Kauffman’s Community Cen
ter, Chamhersburg, 9:30
a.m.-2;40 p:m.
Milk Marketing Board Sunshine
Meeting, Pa. Dept, of Ag,
Pa. State Farm Show, judging
only.
Mercer County pesticide meeting.
Elder Sales and Service,
(Turn to P«fl* A 27)
the sometimes fatal treatment.
I used to pride myself as an ani
mal lover but this is no longer the
case. Sure, I hug them constantly,
give them treats (probably too
often), let them take advantage of
me-even share my bed with them
from time to time. But these indul
gences can only be part of a
commitment.
The picture cannot be labeled
“love” when their care is com
promised. “Spoiling them rotten”
means little if their well-being is
neglected. Ignoring the necessity
of regular checkups, periodic vac
cinations and parasite control is to
debase the meaning of animal
love.
Certainly, 1 can and do reflect
on all the wonderful times Rocky
and I have had together; how hie
(Turn to Pago A»1)
NOW IS
THE TIME
By John Schwartz
Lancaster County ,
Agricultural Agqnt
To Study New
Sire Information
According to Glenn Shirk,
extension diary agent, the new sire
rankings published in January
1994 will contain new
information.
This new information will
include predicted transmitting
ability (PTA) for somatic cell
score (SCS) and for productive life
(PL).
PTA SCS indicates how well
udder health qualities are transmit
ted to offspring. PTA PL indicates
how well longevity traits are
transmitted.
Cow summaries will begin to
contain this new information in
July 1994. Also to be included in
the new summaries is the net merit
(NM) index. This new index com
bines the economic impact of
somatic cell scores and productive
life with the value of the milk, the
fat, and the protein produced.
Dairy breeders should find this
new information helpful as they
search for the best genetics for
upgrading their herds.
To Look At
Farm Numbers
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Mike Espy reported that the nation
continues to loose about one per
cent of its farms each year or about
23,000 farms.
According to Espy, most of
these are small farms less than 500
acres in size which no longer pro
duce sufficient income to support
the farm family. Espy also stated
that 85 percent of the nation’s agri
cultural output comes from 15 per
cent of the nation’s farms.
This same trend may be seen in
Pennsylvania. Between June 1,
1992 and June 1,1993, Pennsylva
nia lost about 1,000 farms. This
represents a decline of slightly less
than two percent. In Pennsylvania,
about 48 percent of the farms are
less than 75 acres in size with an
average gross sales of about
$74.50 per acre. Thirty-six percent
of the farms have an average size
of 178 acres and average gross
sales of $3OB per acre, while 16
percent of the farms have an aver
age size of more than 350 acres
' with an average gross sale of more
than $575 per acre.
To Evaluate
Future In Farming
With the beginning of a New
Year, now is a good time to evalu
ate your future in farming.
With the increased productivity
and efficiency in agriculture, far
mers need to continue to grow and
be better.
There are several factors that
determine the sim of a farm. One is
the number of acres. The other is
the speed with which we may
harvest our crops orUvestock and
poultry production. The
cows you arc able to milk in in
hour, the number of eggs you may
park in an hour, the number of
acres you are able to harvcst in an
hour, and the number of hogs or
broilers you may slaughter in an
hour, etc. determine the optimum
size of your farm.
Today the major limiting factor
for farm growth besides money is
probably land. Society is writing
on defining additional minimum
standards to'meet environmental
standards and concerns of
neighbors.
Studying the income figures
based on farm size indicates far
mers of small farms must develop
flrf/iitinnal sources of income. This
could come from many sources.
• Become a part-time fanner
and have another job to supple
ment income and provide health,
retirement, and other benefits.
BY IAWRtNU W ALT H OUSt j
I3UI3SLS
SP£
GOD'S MISTAKES
January 2,1994
Background Scripture:
Luke 4:16-28
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 61:1-2; 58:6
Does God make mistakes?
Practically all of us would be
eager to say "No!” to that ques
tion. According to our beliefs it is
absolutely impossible for God to
ever be in error.
Yet, though we might vehe
mently deny that God makes mis
takes, we often act as if he does. If
God had to wait for each of his
acts to be ratified by a worldwide
popular referendum, his will
would probably never be done.
Someone has said that, if God
were a committee, the universe
would probably never have moved
beyond the “Big Bang.”
The fact is, God’s ways are
often not our ways. And when his
ways are contrary to ours, we act
as if the problem is with him not
with us. That’s why we take our
civic cues from politicians rather
than from God. That’s why we
usually leave God out of our busi
ness lives—God doesn’t seem to
have a “business head.” And that
is also why we relegate religion to
the “spiritual,” rather than the
pragmatic, every day side. God is
a nice fellow and all of that, but in
“the real world” God’s ways are
just too impractical.
WHO’S THIS?
Sometimes Christians not only
don't agree with God’s ways, but
they get downright upset about
them. That’s what Jesus exper
ienced in his home town of
Nazareth when he went to the syn
agogue on the Sabbath and read
from the scroll of the Prophet
Isaiah. At first, people were some
what impressed with his reading,
but then they began to question:
“Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Luke
4:22b). Actually, that quotation
could be taken two different ways.
It could mean appreciation: isn’t it
wonderful what our hometown
boy is sayfng! Or, it could mean
disdain: who does this local yokel
think he is? Our key comes from
Jesus’ response: “Doubtless you
will quote to me the proverb,
‘Physician, heal yourself; what mi
• Form partnerships with neigh
bors to develop a larger land base
and farm size to generated needed
additional income.
• Switch to higher income pro
ducing crops.
• Do more direct marketing.
• Sell or lease the farm and
invest the money.
• Or use a combination of these
or some other strategy you may
develop.
Fanning today is a business. We
could learn a lot from our town
business people on how they
organize their businesses, methods
of using outside capital, and busi
ness partnerships.
Take time now to discuss the
future of farming with your family
and develop a plan to achieve it
Do not forget to use the many sour
ces of help available to you in
developing your plan.
Feather Prof s Footnote: “The
happiness of your life is in direct
proportion to the character of your
thoughts."
have heard you did at Capernaum,
do here also in your own coun
try”*. And he said, ‘Truly, I say to
you, no prophet is acceptable in
his own country” (Luke 4:23,24).
Obviously, Jesus did not regard
their comment as a congratulation,
for he knew that they did not real
ly accept him and his mission. His
local townspeople figured that, if
God had chosen this man, he had
made a mistake!
Jesus forced the issue to a head
by citing to them two times in the
history of brad when God had
bestowed his special blessings
upon Gentiles instead of Jews.
Keep in mind how much they
despised the Gentiles. As William
Barclay says in his commentary
on Luke, “They believed that
‘God had created the Gentiles to
be fuel for the fires of hell.”’. If
God had specially blessed Gen
tiles such as Zaraphath and Naa
man, he had made a mistake!
ANNOYED WITH THE
GOSPEL
Now, of course, no good Jew
would have ever said or allowed
himself to think that God had
made a mistake. But he might
nevertheless have acted as if that
were so. For Luke tells us, “When
they heard this, all in the syna
gogue were filled with wrath”
(4:28). What were they angry
about? About what God had done.
Their anger showed that they dis
approved of what God had done.
Does that ever happen in our
churches? Yes, it does when we
find ourselves annoyed when the
gospel of Jesus Christ is applied to
people who, unlike ourselves,
“don’t deserve it.” We would have
a similar reaction if on some Sun
day morning in church someone
reminded us that God had healed
an errant Hindu while Christians
remained unhealed.
Unfortunately, like his fellow
Nazarenes, many of us think that,
because we arc members of this
church or that, we have a claim on
the goodness of God. But, in fact,
the goodness of God flows where
ver people are receptive to it
As always, the mistake is not
God’s, but ours.
Lancaster Fanning
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
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