AlO-LancMtor Faming, Saturday, May 28, 1994
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OPINION
Don’t Be Fooled:
Worker Protection Standards
Apply To Your Farm
You should have heard by now that the new federal worker
protection laws for handling agricultural pesticides will change
the way you fapn. You may not think so, but the laws will in
some way apply to your operation. And the penalties and poten
tial liability if you are in violation when an inspector walks in or
an accident occurs on your farm should make you sit up and take
notice.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t like them. You still must comply
with the laws if you want to continue to farm.
Yes, recently, some of the requirements have been delayed
until January 1 of next year. But don’t let this fool you. Not all
the provisions of the law have been postponed. If the require
ment is on the label now, you must act now. In addition, you
need to become knowledgable about what you must eventually
do so you are ready before you need to ask an uncertified worker
or family member to help load the com planter, drive the spray
rig, or work in a treated field or orchard in the rush time of seed
ing or harvest. Fathers-in-law and others, usually considered
part of the family, may not be according to some of the
regulations.
Among the provisions not delayed and therefore need to be
followed now include: protective clothing requirements;
restricted-entry intervals for certain pesticides, and “double
notification” requirements for the most toxic pesticide products.
The delayed entry requirements alone could force you to idle
planting equipment at the critical time when you must get the
seed in the ground to beat the weather and the clock. The laws
apply to pesticide products used on farms forests, nurseries, and
greenhouses.
Eventually, agricultural employers will need to provide pesti
cide safety training, decontamination sites, and pesticide appli
cation notification in areas where work is performed. In addi
tion. information about pesticide applications, emergency assis
tance, and safety posters will need to be displayed around the
farm.
You need to prepare for the pesticide education and safety of
the workers on your farm. When information meetings are sche
duled by your farm organizations, government agencies or
extension services make it a point to attend. And don’t say we
didn’t warn you.
.................
Farm Calendar
w/'" "S/
Tuesday, May 31
Nutrient Management Advisory
Board meeting, 2301 N. Came
ron St., Harrisburg, 9:30
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Pa. Dairy Industry Futures Forum,
Penn State Scanticon Confer
ence Center Hotel, University
Park.
Cream Ridge Twilight Fruit meet
ing and Strawberry Breeding
Showcase, Rutgers Fruit
Research and Development
Center, Cream Ridge, N.J., 4
p.m.
Susquehanna Conference Work
shop, Hotel Gettysburg, Gcttys-
Dairy On-Farrti Problem-Solving
Satellite Conference, down
linked to Lancaster Farm and
Home Center and other sites,
call local extension office for
details.
Friday, .liine 3
Philadelphia County Fair, Fair
mount Park, thru June 12.
Bradford County Dairy Princess
Pageant, East Smithficld, 7
Md. State 4-H Horse Judging Con
test, Howard County
Fairground.
Md. 4-H Dairy Youth Fun, Freder
ick County 4-H Camp and
Activities Center, thru June 5.
Lycoming County Dairy Princess
Pageant, 7:30 p.m.
Landis Valley Fair, Landis Valley
Monday, .lime ft
luesday, .1 ime 7
Ag Technology Day, Early Sum
mer Crop Management Field
Session, Westmoreland Fair
grounds, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. and 7
p.m.-9 p.m.
Southeast Pennsylvania Regional
Fruit Growers Twilight meet
ing, Wolfs Orchard, New
Pa. Veterinary Nutrition Forum
monthly meeting. Days Inn,
To Clean
Forage Equipment
Since we cannot use fungicide
sprays to control diseases of for
ages as we do in other crops, we
must do everything we can to
reduce disease losses.
One way is to start the harvest
ing season with clean equipment.
Clean merely means not littered
with plant debris from the last
harvest.
Ideally, all equipment should be
cleaned before it is stored for wint
er. This is necessary because many
of the pathogens that attack forage
crops have a hard time surviving
our Pennsylvania winters, but will
survive very nicely in plant debris
on equipment under shelter.
When debris-laden equipment
goes out for harvest, it carries dis
ease inoculum into your fields.
Ideally, plant debris should be
removed from equipment after
each field but at least after each
harvest It is worth the trouble.
To Mow
Forages Properly
A little “common sense mow
ing” will help to defray the intro
duction of pathogens into young
stands and minimize the spread of
pathogens within stands.
Dr. Ken Leath, USDA Pasture
Research Center at Penn State,
makes the following suggestions.
Mow your young stands first.
Disease-causing organisms are
carried on cutler bars and flails.
Generally, younger stands are
more disease-free than older
stands. Thus, keep the direction of
disease spread going from younger
to older stands. Do not mow when
forages are wet.
Pathogens are spread easily in
water films. If at all possible, wait
until the dew is off. This will keep
pathogen spread to a minimum.
Make sure cutters are sharp.
Dull cutting edges tear and fray
ends provide more opportunities
for pathogens to infect the plants.
When leaf spots are becoming
severe, consider moving your
harvest up a few days. By doing
this, you will retain more leaves
and have higher quality forage,
which will usually offset the small
reduction in yield.
By increasing leaf retention,
early harvest will remove diseased
leaves from the field. This will
reduce the disease inoculum in the
following regrowlh.
Even though chemical sprays to
control forage diseases are not
Lancaster.
Catawissa Valley Fair, Catawissa,
thru June 11.
Pesticide container recycling prog
ram, Spring McGee and Smith
Enterprises, Spring Run,
repeats July 13, Aug. 11., and
Sept. 8.
available, the use of disease
resistant varieties, coupled with
common sense harvesting prac
tices, can slow down the spread of
diseases within forage stands and
reduce the losses caused by
disease.
To Check
For Ticks
We are now in tick season and
ticks seem to be very plentiful this
year.
Ticks may cause several diffe
rent diseases. The best way to
avoid infection is to check your
body very carefully for ticks and
remove them as soon as possible.
Especially check small children
after they have been playing in tall
grass or wooded areas. A tick will
wonder about for as much as 1 to 2
hours before settling down to the
business of feeding.
If you find a tick feeding, you
will want to remove it carefully. A
[ ay LAWRENCE W AIT HOUSE
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THE MARKS OF JESUS
May 29,1994
THE MARKS OF JESUS
Background Scripture:
Galatians 6
Devotional Reading:
I Corinthians 13:1-7
It is difficult for us today to un
derstand and appreciate the Gala
tian dispute over circumcision.
Apparently after Paul left the Ga
latian church, someone arrived on
the scene and pressured the Chris
tians there to accept circumcision
as mandatory. We may assume
that this person or persons vocally
attacked those who either refused
to be circumcised or questioned it
Circumcision was a historic
means of identifying one’s self as
a Jew. Like the dietary laws which
we discussed some weeks ago, cir
cumcision was intended to be a
sign of Israel's special separate
ness in the eyes of God. It distin
guished the Jew from the pagan.
Since many Jewish Christians
considered their discipleship as a
movement within Judaism, they
believed it was essential for Chris
tians to continue to be good Jews.
When Gentiles became followers
of Christ, many Jewish Christians
expected them to live the Jewish
way.
Once again, this is an example
of a good thing carried too far.
Circumcision as an outward sign
of a person’s inner commitment is
a fine thing. But the problem was
that circumcision became a thing
in itself. It was the circumcision,
not what circumcision represent
ed, that had become all important.
Jewish Christians were teaching
the Galatians that there could be
no salvation without circumcision.
It began as a way of identifying
the person committed to God and
became the only way.
A NEW CREATION
Paul attacked this so vigorously
because it was obvious that cir
cumcision now stood where Jesus
himself should stand. “For neither
circumcision counts for any
thing,” he told the Galatians, “nor
uncircumcision, but a new crea
tion” (6:15). Christ is essential;
circumcision is not In circumci
sion, because of the emphasis that
had been placed upon it had be
come also a divisive issue in the
drop of alcohol may cause the tick
to withdraw. The object is to'irri
tate but not to kill the lick. You
must cause it to back out
Often the best method is to grasp
the tick firmly with a tweezers and
with a steady pressure pull it out.
You must be careful, however, not
to crush the tick or pull too quickly
to cause the tick’s mouth parts to
become detached.
Apply antiseptic to the wound.
If mouthparts are left in the skin,
they should be removed and an
antiseptic applied. Be sure to wash
your hands after handling ticks
since there may be germs in their
body secretions.
Destroy all ticks removed by
placing them in alcohol or by
piercing them with a sharp
instrument.
Feather Profs Footnote: "The
mind is not a storehouse to be filled
but an instrument to be used."
John Gardner
Galatian church. It threatened to
spoil all the hard work Paul had
put into that Christian community.
The problem was not just that
the Judaizers had persuaded some
of the Galatians of the necessity of
circumcision, but that others were
wavering in that direction because
they were afraid not to have it.
They might not have bought the
arguments of the Judaizers, but
they were fearful not to get on the
bandwagon.
Some of us may ask, well,
what’s the harm of adding circum
cision to the essentials of Chris
tian discipleship? It can’t do any
harm, can it? Why is Paul making
such a big deal over it? Paul’s an
swer is that you cannot commit
yourself to Jesus Christ as your
Saviour if you also cling to cir
cumcision or anything else. If you
say that you trust in Jesus Christ
and him alone, then there is no
room for trusting “a little bit" in
something else. Either Christ’s
grace is sufficient for us or it is
not
A LITTLE CIRCUMCISION?
Today circumcision is not a
point of controversy in Christiani
ty. But although circumcision is
no longer a problem, there are
things that have taken its place.
There are other things, other prac
tices, other beliefs, that some peo
ple claim are essential to salvation
doctrines, creeds, rituals, and
so forth. And whatever these
things are, they are as much a
threat to Christian commitment as
circumcision once was.
If we are dependent upon Christ
alone, then our lives will abound,
not with controversies and recrim
inations of others, but acts of love.
As Paul says, "let us not grow
weary in well-doing, for in due
season we shall reap, if we do not
lose heart. So, then, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to all
men ...” (6:9,10). Not; let us
make sure they believe or worship
or read the Bible as we do. If there
are to be any physical signs of our
relationship to God, let them be
the marks of the service we have
rendered others. “Henceforth,”
says Paul, “let no man trouble me;
for I bear on my body the marks of
Jesus” (6:17). So should we all.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming) Inc.
A SMtnm BHtqirim
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newiwenger Menacing Editor
Copyright ism by Uneaater Farming