AKKancaster Firming, Saturday, February 4, 1995
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OPINION
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Increasing
Agriculture has been trying to talk to city people by telling
them what we want them to hear. Perhaps we should start figur
ing out what they want to know hbout agriculture and then give
them some good answers that help bridge the misinformation
gap-
In the November 7 issue of Time, Dennis Avery from Hudson
Institute’s Center for Global Food Issues is quoted with a mes
sage every fanner would want the urbanites to hear.
“The real question for today is whether American agriculture
am fulfill its potential as one of America’s premier growth
industries in a world about to triple its demands on farming
resources. Few farmers have yet looked at the opportunity. They
are still fixated on saving their crumbling subsidies in
Washington.”
Avery’s answer is to eliminate price supports and trade bar
riers, and above all, increase the U.S. farm yield even further.
American’s grain is what can feed the livestock of prospering
nations as they move to improve their diets.
“The market for American fanning has been and will be meat,
milk and eggs, and the feeds with which to produce them. If
American agriculture fails to seize this opportunity, says Avery,
then in SO years, 40 million sq. mi. of the globe’s remaining
wildlife may be plowed up in a desperate race against hunger.”
The article makes two points:
• High farm yields saves wildlife because it reduces the num
ber of acres that are needed for food production, and
• Farmers can earn more by exporting, while doing global
good.
The message is refreshing and provides persuasive answers to
critical questions from the opponents of agriculture.
S.iiurcl.i\. Khruai> 4
Delmarva Forestry Seminar. Park
side High School, Salisbury, 8
a.m.-3;30 p.m.
The Fertilizer Institute’s 1995
annual meeting, Marriott’s
Orlando World Cento', thru
Feb. 7.
Animal Products Spectacular. Nit
tany Mall, State College, 10
a.m.-3 p.m.
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
annual banquet. Mount Airy
Fire Hall, 6:45 p.m.
Agronomy Facts Review meeting,
Susquehanna County Exten
Delaware Valley Milk Goat Asso
ciation Annual Kidding Semi
nar, Luthran Church of the Holy
sium, Lancaster Host Confer-
ence Center, thru Feb. 7.
Lebanon/Dauphin Crops Day,
Ono Fire Hall, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Centre County pest exam. Logan
Grange Hall, Pleasant Gap,
6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Cornucopia ’9S, State Capitol,
Harrisburg, 2:30 p.m.
Tulpehocken Young Farmers
meeting, Tulpehocken High
School, 7:30 p.m.
Mid-East DHI meeting, extension
office, Westminster, Md.
(supervisors 10 a.m., dairy far
mers 1 p.m.).
Mid-East DHi meeting, extension
office, Forest Hills, Md. 7:30
Wildlife By
Farm Production
j . x a' 7 «-,.
v f y r
♦Farm Calendar*
7 *> '
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♦f< *<• * <-
p.m.
Maryland Holstein, Frederick
County Dance, Walkersville,
Md.
Octorara Young Farmers Assoc.
nutrient management meeting,
35th Pa. Young Famrers’ Associa
tion Winter Convention, Days
Inn, Brookville.
2nd Annual Southeast Pennsylva
nia Grazing Conference, Good
*N’ Plenty Restaurant, Smoke
town, 8 a.m., snowdate Feb. 8.
(Turn to Pag* A 35)
Editor:
At a time when the general eco
nomy in the United States is
allegedly improving and at a time
when a trade agreement like NAF
TA has been implemented (which
supposedly was geared to help
agriculture), then why did agricul
ture prices plummet to a disastr
ous level during 1994?
Something is wrong when cull
dairy cows can bring only
between 250 and 300 a pound, or
when a top steer brings only 350 a
pound, or when a top hog of 225
To Apply For
Dairy Refund
This week, many dairy farmers
received from their milk marketer
the amount of milk they shipped
each month for the years 1993 and
1994. If you shipped less milk in
1994 than 1993, you are eligible
for a refund.
This refund is based on a deduc
tion taken from your milk check.
The estimated refund will average
16.5 cents per hundred weight
Your refund is based on how much
milk you produced each month and
the monthly deduction. To sign up
for the refund you must visit your
local Farm Service Agency (for
mer ASCS) office before March
15. You must take with you
monthly record of your milk pro
duction for 1993 and 1994.
If you shipped less milk in 1994
compared to 1993, sign up now
and do not wait for March IS. Bad
weather could cause you to miss
the registration deadline. Crop
insurance or conservation plan are
not necessary to receive payments,
just a reduction in milk shipped. If
you have any questions, contact
your local Farm Service Agency.
To Look‘At
Protective Equipment
Options
Two new fact sheets from Penn
State explain the personal protec
tive equipment (PPE) fanners need
for protection from pesticide expo
sure, respiratory hazards and other
farming risks.
The fact sheets are pan of a
series on PPE. Personal Protection
from Pesticides, fact sheet
Safety-35, describes how to
choose the appropriate equipment
for jobs involving pesticides.
Items covered include types of
gloves, respirators, chemical pro
tective clothing, eye protection
and boots available. It also covers
pounds brings 250 a pound.
Something is wrong when a
dairy farmer in Bradford County
receives a total check of $13.45
for 210 lbs. of holstein calves, or
when a farmer receives $5.45 for a
calf, and something is certainly
wrong when a farmer receives a
bill from a sales bam stating the
farmer owes $1.45 to the sales
bam because his calf did not cover
the cost of running her through the
sale.
(Turn to Pago A 37)
PPE maintenance and what to do in
the event of an accident
Farm Respiratory Protection,
fact sheet Safety-36, discusses
respiratory hazards commonly
found on farms and types of respir
ators that are appropriate. It also
covers respirator maintenance and
testing. According to one survey,
only 44 percent of farmers always
wear gloves when working with
pesticides, 22 percent always wear
eye protection, 8 percent always
wear respiratory protection and 4
percent always wear coveralls.
Now is the time to increase these
percentages to 100 percent.
To Care
For Horses
Just because it is winter, it is
easy to confuse over kindness with
necessity. Horses do not have to be
kept in their stalls and buried under
layers of blankets and hoods to be
happy, according to Chester Hugh
es, extension livestock agent.
In fact, they are much happier
and healthier outside. Nature pro
vides horses with a winter coat
designed to keep them warm. A
horse’s winter coat traps body heat
between the hair fibers. Placing a
AND SO SAY WE ALL
February 5,1995
Background Scripture:
Matthew 26:17-35
Devotional Reading:
John 6:30-40
Recently someone published a
biography of Benedict Arnold,
remembered as the man who
betrayed his country to the British
during the American Revolution.
Reading a review of it, I remem
bered that the tragedy of Benedict
Arnold was not that he was an evil
man who turned traitor, but that he
was one of the Revolution’s best
generals who, disappointed by
rebel politics, sold out not only his
countrymen but himself. This is
the story of a good man who went
wrong.
Much the same can be said of
Judas. He was a man trusted to
manage the finances of Jesus’
band of disciples, a task for which
he was obviously suited. Although
today we see him as an evil man—
the way he has been traditionally
portrayed—apparently his fellow
disciples did not regard him thus.
When Jesus announced that one of
them would betray him, instead of
pointing the finger at Judas, they
each asked “Is it I, Lord?” (Matt.
26:22). If Judas had been so obvi
ously untrustworthy, they would
have turned first to him. Perhaps
he too is a good man who went
bad.
FRIEND, WHY ARE YOU
HERE?
Why did Judas betray Jesus?
We will never really know,
although many have suggested
plausible reasons. The most obvi
ous is that he wanted the 30 pieces
of silver reward. Others have sug
gested that he was disappointed in
Jesus because he had expected
him to be a conquering Messiah,
rather than a spiritual one. Still
others wonder if perhaps he was
impatient waiting for Jesus to
bring in the kingdom of heaven
and intended to force Jesus to start
his reign. This view is somewhat
reinforced by Matthew’s state
ment that “When Judas...saw that
blanket on a horse at home with a
winter coat actually compresses
the insulating hair fibers, eliminat
ing the air layer and reducing the
hone’s natural protection against
the cold.
Horses start to grow their winter
coats when the days begin to shor
ten. It is the shorter length of day
light, not temperature, that stimu
lates hair growth. Very cold temp
eratures will not affect healthy
horses, but cold, soaking rains or
drafts can make them sick. As a
conscientious owner, all you really
have to do is provide horses with a
place to get away from the wind,
rain and snow.
Horses who live outdoors most
of the time need a three sided shel
ter. Build the shelter tightly and
position the opening away from
the prevailing winds. Also, take
advantage of natural windbreaks
by locating the shed on the leeward
side of small hills or groups of
trees. Be sure the site and shelter
floor are well drained to prevent
muddiness.
Feather Prof.’s Footnote:
"When called to lead, do so with
foresight, courage, and
character."
he (Jesus) was condemned, he
repented and brought back the
thirty pieces of silver to the chief
priests and elders, saying, ‘I have
sinned in betraying innocent
blood.’” (27:3,4) Jesus even greets
his betrayer in the garden with
these words: “Friend, why are you
here 7” (26:50). That is a question
that remains forever unanswered.
If you read carefully the story
of Jesus’ last night with his disci
ples, you find that it is not a story
about betrayal by just one of his
disciples, but all of them. Judas, of
course, is only the most obvious.
But we sometimes forget that
Jesus said, “You will all fall away
because of me this night” (26:30).
Doesn’t Jesus say that to us too?-
On some particular day or night
we also will “fall away” because
of him.
NOT I, LORD
Most of us, like Peter, want to
protest, “though they all fall away
because of you, I will never fall
away” (26:3). Even the suggestion
that we might betray our Lord
seems' an impossibility. But,
although Peter was undoubtedly
sincere aren’t we all! “Even
if I must die with you, I will not
deny you”—he denied him three
times that very night.
“And so said all the disciples,”
just as you and I would be likely to
protest our loyalty to Christ. But
they failed him as we fail him. One
way or another we “fall away” or
deny him.
Yet their denial of Jesus was
not the end of the story. “But after
I am raised up, I will go before you
to Galilee” (26:32). One serves as
a disciple of Jesus Christ not
because we never fail him but
because he is able to both forgive
us and use us in his ongoing min
istry. Only Judas was lost, not
because Jesus would not have for
given him but because he couldn’t
forgive himself. When we turn to
ourselves for forgiveness instead
of God, we are already lost.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
IE. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Robert a Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Nawawangar Managing Editor
Copyright 1995 by Lancaster Faming