OPINION
American Farmer
Distributes Lord’s Blessings
Each evening 250 million families sit down to dine on an
evening meal. Many families give thanks to the Lord for bless
ing them with the food placed before them. These evening din
ners accommodate each of the four food groups: meat, grain,
dairy, fruits and vegetables. The Lord distributes this bounteous
food to us through the American farmer.
The American farmer comprises 1.8 percent of our popula
tion and they are capable of producing healthful, abundant food.
Through my personal involvement with agriculture I believe it
is a privilege to promote this industry.
My justification for promoting agriculture generates from
agriculture’s multiple benefits. America is so dependent upon
our nation’s number one industry that without agriculture it is
doubtful we would be the world’s supeipower today. Agricul
ture provides us the fortitude and power that make our country
the primary food producing country in the world. The survival
of the United States is based mainly on agriculture. The eco
nomic fuels that power our government and nutritional energy
that feed the people are derived from this industry.
Our free enterprise farmers show a great respect for the envi
ronment. They are able to produce an abundance of food due to
environmentally safe agricultural practices that enhance the
soil’s vitality. With new farming practices, technology, and pre
servation of nutrients, the American farmer continues a trend of
producing more food, on less land.
The United States has never suffered national famine because
of our immense capability to produce ample quantities of food.
We see this when we consider that one farmer feeds 114 people.
We may not appreciate the significant importance of agricul
ture, unless we experience its failure and the dastardly effect it
would have on our people. America as we know it today, would
not be possible if it wasn’t for our success in agriculture.
The dairy industry in Pennsylvania is an example of agricul
ture’s capability to produce healthful, abundant food. The dairy
farmer, through the use of the dairy cow, takes non-edible for
ages and by-products and transforms them into edible nutritious
dairy products. These include delicious products such as, ice
'cream, cheese,'yogurt and milk. This is a guest editorial by
Amy Vanßlarcom, Bradford County Dairy Princess
Farm Calendar ''
Community Supported Compost
ing, Kimberton Waldorf
School, West Seven Stars
Road, Kimberton, 8 p.m.
Franklin County Holstein Associ
ation ar ual meeting, Pleasant
View Mennonite Church, 7
Mond;i\, 17
Martin Luther ,|r. D;n
Northeast Winter Dairy Manage
ment Seminar, Mountain View
Inn, Greensburg, thru Jan. 18.
Income tax meeting. Comfort Inn,
HDDDHDOH
New Jersey Annual Vegetable
Meeting, Trump Taj Mahal,
Atlantic City, N J., thru Jan. 20.
Virginia Corn-Soybean Confer
ence, Colonial Williamsburg,
thru Jan. 20.
Pasture Management Conference,
Lebanon Valley Fairgrounds,
Lebanon, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Lime, Fertilizer, and Pesticide
Conference, Days Inn, State
College, thru Jan. 20.
Solanco Young Farmers meeting,
financial management, High
School, 7:30 p.m.
31 st Annual New York State Farm
Direct Marketing Conference,
Sheraton Inn Syracuse, Liver
pool, N.Y., thru Jan. 20.
Beef Producers Meeting, Light
house Restaurant, Shippens
burg, 7:30 p.m.
Dairy-MAP, Huntingdon County
Hilltop Restaurant, Shade Gap,
also Jan. 25.
Raleigh DHIA Records Work
shop, Robert Fulton Fire Hall,
Wakefield, 12:30 p.m.
Farm and Home Foundation annu
al meeting, Lancaster Farm and
Hom« Center.
On-Foot, On-Rail Beef Evaluation
Program, Leesport Farmer’s
Market, Leesport, live evalua
tion at 7:30 p.m. Carcass evalu-
ation on Jan. 20 at Peter Bros.
Meats, Lenhartsville, 7:30 p.m.
Lambing Time Management
Series, Lancaster Farm and
Home Center, continues Jan. 24
and 31.
National Council of Farmer
Cooperatives’ 6Sth annual
meeting. New Orleans, La.
York County Agri Land Preserva
tion Board. Pleasant Acres
Complex. 7 p.m.
Gphrata Area Young Farmers
meeting, Ephrata High School,
7:30 p.m.
Ag Information Series, Jefferson/
Clearfield Counties, Penn State
Dußois, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., also
k Hi
NOW IS
THE TIME
By John Schwartz
Lancaster County
Agricultural Agent
To Cull For
Increased Profits
Dairy farmers need to upgrade
their herds continually to remain
competitive.
Determining which cows to cull
and when is no easy decision. One
way to help simplify this decision
is to list your criteria for culling.
This could be in columnar form on
a sheet of paper. The criteria could
include cows open more than ISO
days and not bred, cows with four
or more breeding services, cows
milking less than 30 pounds, cows
with somatic cell counts more than
400,000 and severely infected
more than three times, cows with
feet and leg problems, etc. On the
same sheet of paper, list all cows
that meet any of your criteria.
Cows that meet several criteria are
strong candidates for culling.
To Study
Peak Milk
Production
DHIA rolling herd averages and
cows’ lactation records are nice to
look at. They show what has hap
pened in the past, but they do not
reflect where the herd is heading.
This is important for managers
to monitor. Peak milk production
and persistency of production may
be a good indicator of how much
milk a cow will produce and how
profitable she might be.
Peak milk production times
225-2 SO is an estimate of how
Inn, Bethlehem, thru Jan. 20.
International Poultry Expo. Atlan
ta, Ga., thru Jan. 21.
Managing For Success Workshop,
Clarion County Extension
Office, repeats Jan. 26.
Dairy-MAP, Lancaster Farm and
Winter Nursery Seminar, Dela
ware Valley College, Doyles
town, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Pa. State Association of County
Fairs Annual Convention, Her
shey Lodge and Convention
Center, Hershey, thru Jan. 22.
Farm Income Tax meeting, Light
house Restaurant,
Chambersbutg.
Adams County Extension annual
meeting, Heidlersburg Fire
Hall.
Cumberland County Dairy Clinic,
Penn Township Fire Hall,
Huntsdale, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Raleigh DHIA Records Work
shop, White Horse Fite Hal).
White Horse, 12:30 p.m.
Atlantic Breeders Cooperative,
Schaefferstown Fire Hall, 9:30
nar, Penn State Dußois Cam
pus, also Feb. 15 and 22, at Lan
caster Farm and Home Center
and other extension offices.
(Turn to Pago ASS)
much milk a fint calf heifer will
produce in 305 days, For older
cows, multiply peak mißc produc
tion by 200-225.
About half of a cow’s profit per
lactation is made in the first 100
days in milk. Thus, persistency of
production is also important Heif
ers’ milk production should not
drop more than S percent per
month, whereas older cows should
not drop more than 8 percent per
month.
To Reduce
Nutrients In
Manure
One area researchers have been
studying to reduce nutrients in
manure is animal diets. We know
if we reduce protein and phosphor
us levels in diets, we reduce nitro
gen and phosphorus.
A recent French experiment
confirmed this in swine. They
found excessive phosphorus sup
plementation in swine diets has
hy st i
m
©OSILS
YOUR REWARD;
NOW OR LATER?
January 16,1994
Background Scripture:
Luke 6:17-36
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 5:3-12, 38-48; 7-12,
24-27; 8:1.4
Last spring I had to make a
decision concerning my pension
payments from the United
Methodist Church: I could choose
to receive an immediate lump sum
cash payment or I could opt for a
small monthly payment for the
rest of my life.
I was tempted to take the lump
sum cash because there were a
number of projects concerning our
home that we could have pursued.
But, we readily realized that post
poning the benefits to a later time
would be much more prudent.
Actually, the choice we made
concerning my pension is the
same kind of choices most of us
have to make in life: whether to
take immediate gratification or
postpone it to a later time when
the need for gratification will be
significantly greater.
NOW OR LATER?
And really, isn’t that what the
gospel teaches us about life? The
true reward comes later
“Blessed are you that hunger now,
for you shall be satisfied, blessed
are you that weep now, for you
shall laugh” (Luke 6:21). Weep
and hunger now; laugh and be
filled later. And it works the other
way, too: “But woe to you that are
rich, for you have received your
consolation. Woe to you that are
full now, for you shall hunger.
Woe to you that laugh now, for
you shall mourn and weep” (6:24,
25).
Jesus is not saying there's any
thing wrong with being well-fed
and of good cheer here and now,
but that the satisfactions in the
here and now are nothing com
pared to those we will experience
in the kingdom of God. If you
make material pleasures your aim
in life, you may get them, but that
is all you will get ‘Tor you
have received your consolation.”
Material satisfactions do not last;
neither do material deprivations.
What lasts are the spiritual bless
ings of the kingdom. So, if you
little impact on pig performance
and leads to increased concentra
tion in the manure. Dtey also
found thatMgh quality sources of
protein and lysine-HCL not only
lowered dietary protein but also
reduced nitrogen output in the
manure and ammonia emissions in
confinement buildings.
Based on this research, a finish
ing operation that produces 5,000
hogs per year would reduce their
phosphorus manure production by
4,000 pounds and their nitrogen
production by 7,000 pounds.
We need more research to iden
tify minimum levels of protein and
phosphorus that may be feed to
animals. By doing so, we increase
feed efficiency while reducing
nutrients in the manure. Remem
ber, percent protein is calculated
from the nitrogen content of the
feed.
Feather Profs Footnote:
"When you cease to make a contri
bution, you begin to die."
devote most of your life to obtain
ing the things that the world val
ues, you will miss out on the only
rewards that endure into eternity.
sn
BLESSINGS & WOES
William Barclay says that these
beatitudes and woes are like “a
series of bombshells”. If that sur
prises you, it is probably because,
like so many of us, you have
become so familiar with them that
you no longer think about how
revolutionary they are. To put
them in perspective, think of how
they would sound, not in church
on Sunday morning, but from the
White House, the Wall Street
Journal or an advertising firm on
Madison Avenue. These beati
tudes and woes are not the words
nor the principles by which our
society steers. In fact, they are so
alien to the foundations of it that
they are either rejected outright or
relegated to the churches where no
one really pays attention to them.
For, if we really paid attention to
them I’m not sure the Christian
churches could safely and comfor
tably be accommodated to our
society. Christians “get along” in
America today, because we “go
along” with a society whose
norms and values are seriously in
conflict with those of Jesus of
Nazareth.
The question of “now or later?”
also underlines Jesus’ teaching on
love. The world's concept of love
is almost totally different from
what we find in the gospels.
Worldly love tends to be the senti
ment that we are willing to give in
return for the sentiment we get in
return. If you think of only the
here and now, it will be virtually
impossible to love the person who
strikes you on the cheek, takes
away your cloak, or steals your
possessions. If you want an imme
diate return on your investment of
love, forget it! “For even sin
ners love those who love them”
(6:32b).
But, if you can focus on the
long run instead of the short run,
that is true love: “...lend expecting
nothing in return” (shortrun) “and
your reward will be great,” (long
run) “and you will be sons of the
Most High" (eternity).
Lancaster Farming
EttMlthed 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review BuHding
1 E. Main SL
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Ikhiiiu
s mnrmn cruapnis
Hobart Q. Campbell Ganaral Manager
Evana R. Nawamngar Managing EdKor
CapyrlgM IN* by Lamaalar Faming