AlO-Laneaster Farming, Saturday, July 30, 1994
OPINION
Producers And Processors
Should Communicate
The need for an effective, fast and easily used line of communi
cations between the agricultural producer and processor was
proven beyond a doubt with respect to the beef industry, by the par
ticipation and response demonstrated during a recent forum held at
Yoder’s Family Restaurant in Intercourse.
The name of the forum was “Feedlot Management Forum,” and
was truly unlike any held in recent times. This meeting was an
inside loqk into the motivations of the beef-animal buying
industry.
, It was processors being blunt and straightforward. It was pro
ducers also being straightforward with their concerns.
The result was such information as this: In the past five years,
Moyer Packing Coip. has built its export business to the point that
exporting represents 20 percent of Mopac’s sales. Most of that 20
percent is a specialty market to Japan. The Japanese buyers want
black-blood-lined animals in the 1400-pound range.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that the bulk of Moyer’s
business demands 1250-pound steers. That’s what they want.
The meaning of this information, straight from the packer is
essential to the producer-entrepreneur who must make decisions
about business and weigh the risks.
The individual can use that kind of information by producing
animals the markets seeks.
By knowing the market demand, following reported industry
trends, and making production decisions based on good sense,
there’s a better chance that a producer will significantly reduce the
risk of losing money because of receiving a discounted price on an
animal that isn’t quite right for demand.
Opcness of communications between producers and processors
ought to be more common in every agricultural industry.
/ £ >C’' -
Farm Calendar '^gs.
Southwest Championship Show,
Fairgrounds, Uniontown, 9:30
a.m.
Lebanon Area Fair, Lebanon Fair-
Morrison Cove Dairy Show, Mar
tinsburg, thru Aug. S.
Goshen County Fair, West Ches
ter, thru Aug. 6.
Clearfield County Fair, Clearfield,
thru Aug. 6.
Mercer County Grange Fair, Mer
cer, thru Aug. 7.
Carroll County 4-H and FFA Fair.
Carroll County. Md., thru Aug.
6.
State 4-H Achievement Days.
Penn State, thru Aug. 4.
Jacktown Fair, Wind Ridge, thru
Aug. 6.
New Stanton Farm and Home
Show, New Stanton, thru Aug.
6.
Southwest FFA Dairy Show, Mor
rison Cove Memorial Park,
Martinsburg.
Fayette County Holstein Show,
Uniontown Fairgrounds, 9 a.m.
Nutrient Management Field Day.
Burkholder Dairy, Fayetteville,
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Adams County Fruit Growers
Association meeting. Fruit
Research Lab, Biglerville, 7
p.m.
Cecil County, Md. Fair Ag Show
case, Fair Hill Natural Resour
ces Area.
Franklin County Holstein Field
Day, Robert Eckstine Farm,
Mercersburg, 10:30 a.m.
Livestock Pasture Session, DeHart
Farm, Milton, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
I hurs(la\, \ugusl 4
Ag Technology Day, Intensive
Grazing Pasture Management,
Westmoreland Fairgrounds, 1
p.m.-4 p.m. and 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
York County Holstein picnic.
South Central FFA Dairy Show,
Shippensburg Fairgrounds.
Potter County Holstein Show,
(Turn to Pago A 26)
Farm Forum
Editor:
The alarm clock is ringing in
Pennsylvania but alas our legisla
tors continue to sleep! What will it
take to wake our public servants to
the fact that local property and
nuisance taxes are bankrupting
those on low and fixed incomes
while strangling a sluggish eco
nomy? Perhaps, we could awaken
them with the right plan!
So, what would be included in
the right plan? It seems to me that
the right plan would include taxa
tion based on an individual’s abili
ty to pay to ensure that our elderly
keep their homes. The right plan
would develop the largest possible
tax base in order to keep tax rates
at the lowest possible level. The
right plan would keep the tax rate
flat to encourage all to earn and
invest to the maximum.
The right plan would reward,
not penalize citizens for maintain
ing and improving their property.
The right plan would generate
massive tax savings that would
stimulate the economy and create
thousands of new jobs in Pennsyl
vania. The right plan would take
the politics out of determining the
tax rate and require a voter refer-
For Ag Progress Days
Penn State’s Ag Progress Days
will be held August 16-18 at the
Russell E. Larson Agricultural
Research Center at Rock Springs
(near State College).
This year’s event will showcase
more than 300 exhibitors and
includes research and conserva
tion educational programs.
Special displays on food safety
will be featured in the College’s
Exhibits Building. Demonstra
tions there will show how bacteria
grow on meat, how safe food hand
ling can help avoid food borne ill
ness, how irradiation kills bacteria
and how integrated pest manage
ment helps reduce pesticide
residues on food.
Planned demonstrations include
35 horsepower tractor roll over and
safety, composting, high residue
cultivation for row crops, hay
mowing, baling and large bale
handling, and intensive grazing
for sheep.
Admission and parking are free.
The hours are from 9 a.m. 5
p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, and 9
a.m. 8 p.m., on Wednesday.
For more information, contact
your local Penn State Cooperative
Extension office or look for arti
cles and ads in the Lancaster
Farming .
To Select The Right Ram
Jeff Bollinger, Lancaster Coun
ty extension livestock summer
assistant, states many points need
to be considered when choosing a
endum to raise the rate.
The right plan would stabilize
school and government finances
by linking local budget growth to
growth in the taxpayer’s ability to
pay and by requiring a savings
fund to forward fund large pro
jects. The right plan would compel
the State to fund projects it man
dates to local government. The
right plan would do all these
things and more.
Do you wish the right plan had
been developed? It has! The right
plan is the Weicksel Plan. You
may contact me at 717-786-3291
oratP.O. Box 145, Peach Bottom,
PA 17563 for a copy and informa
tion on how you can help get it im
plemented.
Boyd F. Robinson Jr.
Peach Bottom
Dear Editor:
I’m writing about diabetes’
problems and what is causing it.
Sugar is the main cause.
It appears that most recipes call
for a lot of sugar. Yes by the cup.
Doctors tell us not to put sugar in
our coffee yet each piece of pie
has 2 tablespoons in it. Likewise
(Turn to Pag* A 26)
ram for your purebred or commer
cial sheep flock. Some points you
should consider include:
1. Select a ram from a flock free
of diseases.
2. Choose a ram which is a twin
or triplet. This should increase
your number of multiple births.
3. Select a quick growing, struc
turally correct ram.
4. If possible, examine the ram’s
dam and sire to assure you that the
ram has the quality you are looking
for.
S. Select a ram containing two
properly developed testicles in the
scrotum, and
6. When you have chosen your
ram. Isolate him for 30 days away
from the rest of the flock.
To Study
Financial Management
Dr. David Kohl, Virginia Tech,
shared some very interesting
financial management guidelines
at the recent Penn State Animal
Housing Expo.
Some of these included:
1. Family living cost should be
BY
©asjas
WHO NEEDS THE TENT';
July 31.1994
WHO NEEDS THE TENT?
July 31. 1994
Background Scripture:
Exodus 25:1-9, 29:38-46;
40:16-38
Devotional Reading:
Exodus 33: 12-36
Up until this point in the Book
of Exodus. God is represented as
dwelling in divine isolation on the
top of Mount Sinai. But God of
fers them a covenant in which they
will be His people and He will be
their God. He also promises to
bring them into the land of Can
aan, which they will possess as
their heritage. So, if He is to be
their God and they are to go on in
to Canaan, then He must leave the
solitary peaks of Sinai and go with
them.
Presumably, God could have
told them to go on to Canaan and
“know that I go with you.” That
would be the kind of advice we
might expect today. For the God
revealed in Jesus Christ was and is
not limited to a mountaintop, a
temple or any other holy place, in
cluding a church. Who was it de
fined God as “a circle whose cen
ter is everywhere and circumfer
ence is nowhere”? But in Moses’
day the people were not spiritually
ready for that kind of God and so
He had to present Himself to them
in terms they could understand
and believe. That, I believe, is
why He said to Moses: “And make
me a sanctuary, that I may dwell
in their midst” (25:8).
SOMETHING VISIBLE
I do not believe that God need
ed a tent in order to go with the
people of Israel, but that He knew
they needed a tent to be aware of
His presence. All the specific in
structions as to the financing of
the tabernacle (25:1-9), as to the
offerings (29:38-42), as to the
construction and furnishing of it
(40:16-33) do not represent
what it takes to please God, but
what it took to reach the hearts and
minds of the Israelites. 1. don’t
think God needed that tent, but
they did. They needed something
visible to maintain their belief in
under IS percent of revenue if you
have no non-farm income.
2. He identified three levels of
family living cost Frugal; $12,000
to 18,000 annually. Moderate:
18,000 to 30,000 annually, and
Heavy 50,000 annually.
3. Need $150,000 sales per part
ner on a traditional farm or
$40,000 to 70,000 sales per partner
for contract production.
4. Need to keep interest expense
under 20 pa cent of revenue.
5. Keep annual debt payments
under 25 per cent of revenue.
6. Build equity outside the farm.
This would include bank CDs,
mutual funds, stocks, etc. and
7. Make sure you have a good
health and disability insurance
program. Disability insurance is
very important based on number of
farm accidents in a year. These are
some excellent guidelines to mea
sure your operation against.
Feather Profs Footnote:
"Reputations are made by search
ing for things that cannot be done
and doing them."
God’s promise: “and I will dwell
among the people of Israel, and be
their God” (29:45).
Another visible symbol of
God’s presence with them was
“the cloud” that covered the tent
of meeting. “Throughout all their
journeys, whenever the cloud was
taken up from over the tabernacle,
the people of Israel would go on
ward; but if the cloud was not
taken up. then they did not go on
ward until the day that it was taken
up” (40:36. 37). Now, I don’t
think God needed that cloud, but
they did. Without it. I’m sure that
they would have “broken loose”
once again.
The writer of Exodus ends both
chapter 40 and the book with these
words: “For throughout all their
journeys the cloud of the Lord was
upon die tabernacle by day, and
fire was in it by night, in the sight
of all the house of Israel” (40:38).
They needed something “in their
sight” to assure them that God was
with them. From our contempor
ary perspective, the tabernacle and
the cloud seem rather primitive
means of signifying God’s pre
sence. But many of us also lean
somedmes upon symbols and vis
ual representations our chur
ches, shrines, religious art, rituals
and liturgy.
The purest and highest under
standing of God is the one which
we get without signs and symbols,
but that doesn’t mean we should
or can get along completely with
out them. The problem is not with
the tents or whatever represents
God to us and makes Him real, but
when we let those representadons
become the sole basis for our un
derstanding. The people of Israel
got very bogged down in the de
tails of the tabernacle, just as
somedmes we get equally hooked
on the physical appointments of
our places of worship.
Who needs the tent? Not God,
but sometimes we do, so that we
may remember that God is daily in
our midst Yet we must never mis
take the tent in our backyard for
the length and breadth of God’s
domain.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Fanning, Inc.
A SMiman Entvprim
Robert Q. Campbell General Manager
EvstM R. Nawiwangar Managing Editor
Copyright ttM by Laneaalor Farming