AlO-Lancastw Farming, Saturday, Decamber 10, 1994
OPINION
Deal To Good To Be True
Beware of telephone sales persons who solicit you to buy pro
ducts that you know nothing about. This warning comes from W.
James Milliken and John E. Hall, Maryland extension agents.
Often the caller will pretend you requested information on their
product. “You must have signed up at a farm show,” they say.
“I’ll send you a pair of gloves for your interest.”
If you didn’t sign up, tell them so.
Sometimes it involves herbicides that seem cheap but are very
dilute, very expensive formulations. It has been plant foods,
extracts, machinery, or fuel additives.
If you accept shipment for a little to tty, you’ll probably wind
up-with a lot of overpriced product. If you refuse to pay, you may
be faced with legal problems or possibly credit problems, certain
ly harassmenmt. There arc many “broiler-room” telephne scams
out there, and lots of new ones every day. Here’s several good
words of advice:
• Buy locally. Your local suppliers stand behind their products.
• Don’t buy from someone you don’t know especially over the
telephone.
• Don’t ever give credit card numbers over the phone except to
known, legitimate companies.
Because there are so many good suppliers of goods and
vices to the farm community (many of diem advertise in Lancas
ter Farming)thcK is no good reason to be taken by a con artist.
Always remember if the deal seems too good to be true, it likely
is.
Food Safety Comes To The Farm,
Broiler, Egg, and Turkey pro
ducers conference, Farm and
Home Center, Lancaster,
noon-3 p.m.
Meeting for Commercial Produc
tion of Goat Milk, Diffenbach
Auction Bam, New Holland,
Mid-Atlantic Conservation Til
lage Conference, Embers Con
vention Center, Carlisle, 8
a.m.-3 p.m.
Heifer Management Bam Meet
ing, Benuel King farm, 352
Gridley Road, 12:30 p.m„ and
Moses King, 1621 Robert Ful
Pa. Holstein board of directors
meeting. Holiday Inn, State
College, 10:30 a.m.
Penn State Chemical Safety Com
pliance School, Farm Show
Complex, Harrisburg, 8:45
a.m.-3 p.m.
Pa. Seedsmen’s Association wint
er meeting, Eden Resort bin,
Lancaster, 9:30 a.m.
Mifflin County DHIA meeting,
Camelot Restaurant, 7 p.m.
Heifer Management Bam Meet
ing, Nelson Wenger farm, 690
Earhart Road, Manheim, 7:30
Indiana County DHIA meeting,
Hoss’, Indiana, 11 a.m.
Heifer Management Bam Meet
ing, Tom Barley’s dairy, 439
Bossier Road, Elizabethtown,
❖ Farm Calendar*
12:30 p.m.
DairyMAP Information Meeting,
Knights Court, New Stanton,
Sund;i\, Dfi'i'inlur IS
Moihl.i\, DiTfinlu'i id
Stall Bams and Heifer -Housing,
Franklin County Human Ser
vices Building Conference
Room, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Luzerne County Extension Open
House, Luzerne County Court
house, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
Family Christmas Program,
Ephrata Middle School Audi
torium and Cafeteria, 7:30 p.m.
Dairy Farmers’ Breakfast Meet
ing, Willow Valley Resort,
Lancaster, 7:30 a.m.-10 a.m.
****!» WWW
Christmas Deadlines
The Lancaster Farming office will be closed Monday
December 26 to observe Christmas day. Early deadlines
for several departments will be needed the week of
Christmas. These deadlines are as follows:
• Public Sale Ads 5 p.m., Friday, 12/23.
• Mailbox Markets 5 p.m., Friday, 12/23.
Other departments will have a normal schedule as
follows:
• General News Noon, Thursday, 12/29.
• Classified Section C Ads 5 p.m., Wednesday,
12/28.
• All Other Classifieds 9 a.m. Thursday, 12/29.
vm toot
To Clean Equipment
With a lot of the fall activities
completed, now comes the time to
clean, service, and winterize
equipment
Proper cleaning and storage of
equipment now will leave them in
top shape and ready to use next
year. Remove all soil and dirt
Make any necessary repairs. Oil
and grease chains, wheels, pulleys
etc. Clean battery terminals. Check
antifreeze in engines. Replace
worn spark plugs. Sharpen blades.
Restock parts inventory. Service
and winterize gasoline engines.
By taking time now to properly
take of your equipment you will
increase useful life of your equip
ment and thus lower your produc
tion costs.
To Consider
Off-Season Lambing
Of the approximately 160,000
Pennsylvania lambs marketed
each year, 30 percent are sold as
off-season and holiday lambs.
These lambs are marketed using
both conventional (auctions,
slaughterhouses, and brokers) and
nonconventional (niche markets,
specialty stores, and direct market
ing) methods.
The ideal market weight is 110
pounds for off-season lambs and
40-45 pounds for holiday lambs.
Annual Pork Production For
um, Yoders Restaurant, New
Holland, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 o.m.
I i i(hn. I )(■< t iiilii, i 2.'
Off-season and holiday lamb pro
duction is easily adapted to small
scale or part-time farming
operations.
This type of production has a
- slightly higher investment cost
than spring lambs because of
increased housing costs.
The most significant advantages
are:
• Market prices are higher dur
ing, the off-season.
• Premium prices are paid for
the smaller holiday lambs.
• Holiday lambs are marketed
after weaning to reduce feed costs.
Before deciding to produce off
season or holiday lambs, you
should consider these important
management concerns:
• Breeding is more difficult than
with spring lambs.
• Lambing rates are approxi
mately 25 percent lower than
spring lambs.
• Lambing may interfere with
the harvesting of some crops.
To Review Safety
Around Farm
Do not let an accident spoil this
holiday season.
Take a few minutes and make
BY IAWHINCt W AUHOUSE
ISQISILII!
SHALL WE LOOK
ELSEWHERE?
December 11,1994
Background Scripture:
Matthew 11:2-15
Devotional Reading:
John 1:1-14
Some people always wonder
why John the Baptist sent his dis
ciples to Jesus and asked, “Are
you He who is to come, or shall we
look for another?” Didn’t he
remember baptizing Jesus at the
Jordan and saying, “I need to be
baptized by you, and do you come
to me?” Did he not hear the heav
enly voice say, “This is my
beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased”?
I’m sure that John did remem
ber, but now he is in prison, his life
is in danger, and I can appreciate
that in these perilous circum
stances he may have had some
doubts. Don’t you ever have the
same kind of doubts about some
thing that you already “know”? A
person of faith is not someone who
never has doubts, but who exam
ines those doubts and opts to keep
the faith. If doubt disqualified us
from Christian discipleship, who
would remain to follow the
Christ?
ARE YOU THE ONE?
In fact, I believe a faith that has
survived its doubts is going to be
stronger and more enduring than a
faith that has never been disturbed
by doubt. Jesus was a man of faith,
but there are times in the gospel
records wllen we can see he was
momentarily beset by doubts.
John the Baptist wanted to be sure
that Jesus was the one for whom
he had prepared the way; “Are you
He who is to come, or shall we
look for anther?” None of us can'
judge John for this question, for
we too at times wonder, “...or shall
we look for another.”
Nor did Jesus get upset with the
question by John’s disciples. He
understood why John might be
having some doubts. So, instead of
answering with a scriptural quota
tion or a doctrinal argument, Jesus
lays his claim on what he is doing:
“Go and tell John what you hear
sure your farm is safe. In the milk
house, sanitizer, detergent and teat
dip are all potential poisons, espe
cially for children. Keep these
items up on a shelf or in a locked
cabinet. Handle them with care
and avoid splashing them into the
eyes. When spilled on clothing,
these chemicals can soak through
fabrics and bum the skin.
Disposable plastic gloves
should be worn when treating sick
animals to prevent the spread of
disease from animals to humans.
In the shop, good housekeeping
and proper maintenance of tools
and equipment will go a long way
in reducing injuries such as trip
ping and falling, electrical shock,
and fire.
Keep all shields on grinders and
table saws. A charged fire exting
uisher, mounted on a wall, is visi
ble and saves time in an emergen
cy. Check stairways and make any
necessary repairs. Finally, make
sure all your pesticides are proper
ly locked in storage.
Feather Profs Footnote: "You
become successful the moment you
start moving toward a worthwhile
goal."
and see: the blind receive their
sight and the lame walk, lepers are
cleansed and the deaf hear, and the
dead are raised up, and the poor
have good news preached to
them” (11:4,5) Jesus’ claim is
based, not upon whom he says he
is, but upon what he is doing; heal
ing the sick and bringing hope to
the poor.
If Jesus had lived his earthly
life in our own time, we would
probably want him to appear
before a committee or board, to be
examined for the content of his
teachings and the validity of his
credentials. In that we are proba
bly like his contemporaries for
that is what they wanted, too.
MAKING PEOPLE WHOLE
If you look closely in Matthew,
Mark and Luke, you will see that
Jesus pretty much avoided claim
ing titles. Most frequently he
referred to himself as the Son of
Man, a title that could simply mean
“a man.” I think he knew he was
God’s “anointed” (Messiah/Christ),
but he was also aware that the title
meant things to others that it did
not mean to him. Jesus came, not
to debate with people or win an
election, but to heal them of their
brokenness. So, questioned by
John’s disciples, he refers, not to
any of his pronouncements he has
made, but to the works of healing
(the Greek word for “healing” and
“saving” is the same, and can
mean “to make whole”).
Jesus gives a ringing tribute to
John the Baptist: ‘Truly... among
those born of women there has
risen no one greater than John the
Baptist.” But then he goes on to
say something that probably shook
up those who listened: “Yet he
who is least in the kingdom of
heaven is greater than he” (11:11).
The word “greater” is a stumbling
block until we realize that it means
in this case, “privilege,” not
“worth.” Anyone who follows
Jesus has the “greater” privilege of
experiencing what John only
prophesied.
Lancaster Farming
EetaUfeW 1855
Pubitohad Evary Saturday
Ephrata Review BuHding
1 E. Main St
Ephrata. PA 17522
by
Lancaeler Farming. I no.
A SMmmu EMeqMbe
Robert Q. Campbell General Manager
EveM a Newmanger Mweglng EdHbr
Copyright tee 4 by Uncoolor Farming