OPINION
Chemicals Allow Farming
Practices That Reduce
Soil Erosion
For centuries, soil erosion has been the most serious side effect
of our food production. Recently, modern chemistry has found a
way to cut soil erosion radically; fanners can now control weeds
with herbicides rather than the old bare-earth farming systems.
We thank our country’s farmers and agribusinesses for this
advance, which is already being used on 100 million acres of this
country's highest-dsk farmland. As a result, future generations of
Americans can look forward to less soil erosion, more wildlife
habitat and a more sustainable world.
Dennis T. Avery writing in Global Food Quarterly, suggests
that the above paragraph could be part of a point-of-purchase dis
play in supermarkets’ produce areas. Along with lovely color
photos, such a display would make the food store manager’s
whole line of products look better to their and our (farmers’) cus
tomers. It also undergirds the whole spectrum of modem
mimimum-til farming systemns in ways that are crucially impor
tant to farming’s regulatory future.
When you have a story that is as good as American high-yield
agriculture’s, it makes sense to take the message to the public.
Philadelphia Flower Show, Phi
ladelphia Civic Center, thru
March 12.
Fellowship of Christian Farmers
Eighth Annual Outreach Lunc
heon, Wilhelm, Ltd., Westmin
ster, Md., 12 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Maryland Holstein State Conven
tion Sale, Westminster, Md.
Butler County annual meeting,
Bonanza Steakhouse, Lyndora.
Wayne County Dairy Day, Hones
dale High School, 9:30
a.m.-3:15 p.m.
Butler County Holstein annual
meeting, Bonanza Steakhouse,
Maple Sugaring Festival, Hashaw
ha Environmental Center.
__Westmjnstcr. Md.. noon-5 p.m.
Beef Production in West Virginia,
Ebersburg Extenion Office, 7
p.m.-9 p.m.
Soybean Management meeting,
Lebanon Valley Ag Center. 1
p.m.-3 p.m.
Genetic Choices For Sustainable
Dairying, Intercourse Frie Sta
tion, Intercourse, 12:45
p.m.-2:45 p.m.
Sixth Annual Southern Maryland
Agricultural Breakfast, Jay
cec’s Community Center, Wal-
dorf, Md., 8 a.m,-10:30 a.m.
Nutrient Management Woikshop,
Computer, University Park.
Pasture Management Program,
BCEAC, Baltimore County
CES, Ciockeysville, also
March 13 and 20.
Dairy MAP, Indiana/Armonstrong
County, Sandy Kay’s Restaur-
ant, Shelocta, also March 13.
Dairy MAP, Westmoreland Co.,
Donohoe Center, Greensburg,
Lancaster County Dairy Day Part
11, Farm and Home Center.
Pwnteg. Bamnay, March 4, IMS
#j* fj&j?W>wv l '
♦Farm Calendar♦
Ornamental Pesticide Manage
ment meeting, Lebanon Valley
Ag Center, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
“Leaving the Dairy Business?,”
Montgomery County 4-H Cen
ter, Creamery.
Tri-County "Soybean meeting,
Shippensburg, 8:30 a.m.
Schuylkill County Crop Clinic.
Morgan Auditorium, Penn
State Schuylkill Campus,
Schuylkill Haven, 9:30 a.m-3
p.m.
“The Rural Entrepreneur,” Shiloh
Presbyterian Church, St.
Mary’s, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Western Pennsylvania Turf Con
ference, Pittsburgh Expo Mart,
Radisson Hotel, 8 a.m.
Bedford County Holstein annual
meeting, 7 p.m.
Pestcide license testing training
program. Upper Dauphin High
School. Elizabethville, 7 p.m.-9
p.m.
Dairy MAP, Beaver/Butler/
Lawrence Co., Brown’s Coun
try Kitchen, Portersville, also
March 14.
Dairy MAP, Fayette/Gteene, Fair
Office, Fairgrounds, Union
towmals^farcJM4^^^^
Pennsylvania Potato Growers’
Institute Meeting, Willow Val
ley Resort and Conference Cen
ter, Willow Street Also March
9.
Regional Greenhouse meeting,
Richland Mall, Johnstown.
Dairy Map MFS Workshop, Lan
caster County Farm and Home
Center. Also March 15.
Westmoreland MFS Woikshop,
Westmoreland Extension
Office. Also March 15,
Fumigation Meeting, Lebanon
Valley Ag Center, 7 p.m.-8 p.m.
Dairy Day, Huntingdon and Blair
Counties, Alexandria Fire Hall,
9:30 a.m.
Nutrient Management WoiksHop,
Computer, University Park.
To Evaluate
Small Grains
Most of the small grains went
into this past winter in fairly good
shape, according to Robert Ander
son. extension agronomy agent.
However, some fields show
damage because of winter growing
conditions and herbicide
carryover.
Before Helds put on too much
new growth, it may be worth
spending a little time evaluating
them. Fields with a low number of
plants will have reduced yields at
harvest time. If the stand looks
thin, spend time counting the num
ber of plants at several representa
tive sites in the field. This may
require getting down on your
hands and knees so individual
plants, not stems or tillers, are
counted.
S I
Using a 10-foot tape or string,
count the number of plants at 7 to 8
locations in the field. After the
counts have been made, calculate
the average number of plants at
each location and dividing by the
total number of feet that the plants
were counted in.
The minimum number of plants
per foot of row needed to produce
an acceptable yield at various row
spacings are 6-inch tow 7
plants; 7-inch row—B plants; and
10-inch row —l2 plants per foot
In addition to having an accept
able average number of plants,
fields should not have great deal of
variations in number from one
location in the field to another.
To Select
Spring Oat
Or Barley
Any time a plant variety is
selected, the decision to which var
iety is chosen should be based on a
series of selection criteria.
Spring oat and spring barley
seed should be selected on several
criteria, which include yield poten
tial, bushel weight, disease resis
tance, plant height, lodging poten
tial, and maturity date.
Based on Penn State yield trials,
varieties ranged from 110 to 132
bushels per acre for spring oats.
Bushel weight ranged from 30 to
40.8 pounds per bushel.
Data from these and other trials
help you to select the best variety
for you. Whenever possible, use
the average yield over a three-year
period. When looking at multiple
traits, you may develop an index
for each trait by assigning a per
centage value to each trait. Have
the percentages equal 100 percent.
Iliursdin, March 9
Lancaster County Holstein Club
Farm tour, starts at Lancaster
Farm and Home Center, 8 a.m.
Somerset County Holstein annual
meeting, Rockwood Fire Hall,
Rockwood. 7 p.m.
(Turn to Pag# A3l)
The most important trait would
have the highest percentage.
For copies of various crop yield
trials, contact your local coopera
tive extension office.
To Select
Replacement Heifers
At weaning time, for most Pen
nsylvania herds, an important
management decision will be
made' which heifers will be
retained in the herd for breeding.
Genetic progress is made in the
herd by replacing older cows with
heifers. The downside is that if
there is a genetic problem, it will
also be retained.
A first consideration for many
breeders, particularly small breed
ers, is whether it may be cheaper to
buy heifers rather than to raise
them yourself. This will be parti
cularly true if weaned or bred heif
ers may be purchased that are
superior to those you are raising.
Most herds will routinely
replace 20 percent or mote of the
' V. ___ ~
BY SE
m
J»i;USyUjK
THE SMART AND THE
POWERFUL
March 5, 1995
THE SMART AND
THE POWERFUL
March 5. 1995
Background Scripture
I Corinthians 1:18-2:16
Devotional Reading
I Corinthians 1:18-25
Last September we visited
Budapest, Hungary. The last time
we had been there Hungary was
firmly in the grip of the Soviet
power. We were fascinated to see
the changes that had taken place
with the fall of the Communists.
We asked our guide whether he
had had to study Russian. He smil
ed whimsically and said, “They
taught us Russian, but we never
learned it”
Despite the sheer physical and
emotional power of the Soviet
presence, there were things that
force alone could not accomplish.
The same is true of human know
ledge. Our granddaughter, aged
three, has demonstrated that she
already knows far more than we
did at her age. But will her genera
tion’s superior knowledge guaran
tee greater happiness, fulfillment,
or success? Not necessarily.
There are two forces that drive
society: the struggle for power and
the quest of knowledge. Read the
morning headlines and ask your
self how these two elements figure
in news and seldom will you need
to look further.
POWER AND KNOWLEDGE
Even in this day of relative
peacefulness, the pursuit and use
of sheer force enervates conflicts,
struggles, wars, litigation, racial
strife, and personal animosities.
Our television seeks to persuade
us that force is what settles most
questions and disputes. At the
other end of the spectrum is the
quest for the ability to control the
divergent forces of life by the
power of the mind, a widespread
assumption that ultimately any
problem can be solved with the
genius of human knowledge.
Both the drive to power and
quest for knowledge can corrupt
us. The ego that possesses the
means of power or the understand
ing of knowledge, or both, tends to
become arrogant The powerful
cow herd every year. With half of
the calves normally being heifers
and realistically expecting only 80
to 85 percent calf crop, this means
35 to 50 percent of the heifer
calves bom every year will be
retained.
Selection of heifers that are bet
ter than the cows currently in the
herd is necessary to making gene
tic improvement This implies
there must be some measure of
expected productivity to select the
right ones.
Looking at in-herd weaning
weight ratios is a good start to
identify the heifers that have the
high milking dams, were bom ear
ly in the calving season, and may
have the best genetics for growth.
Heifers sired by bulls with high
EPDs for milk, maternal weaning
weight, and low birth weight will
also be desirable.
„Z eathe . r . Pr °f' s Footnote:
Clear vision and the willingness
to reach the highest goals mark a
true leader ."
tend to look down upon the weak
and the knowledgeable disdain the
uninformed. In the long run, pow
er and knowledge may bring des
pair, for we usually find that no
matter how powerful and
knowledgeable we are, there are
abysmal limits beyond which they
cannot carry us. You can raise an
army and conquer a people, but
you cannot subjugate them for
ever. You can push human tech
nology to astounding levels, but
with every victory there seem to
be pitfalls and problems that defy
your knowledge.
A STUMBLING BLOCK
The world, then, has not chang
ed all that much since Paul wrote;
“For Jews demand signs and
Greeks seek wisdom, but we
preach Christ crucified, stumb
ling block to Jews and folly to
Gentiles, both to those who are
called ... Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God”
(1:22-24). Paul said that the Jews
looked for a salvation from the
power of Rome, seeking a Messi
ah who would conquer with physi
cal might. The Greeks, he said,
looked for the solution to life’s
problems with the pursuit of
knowledge.
You can see the contemporary
parallels, can’t you. On the one
hand, the claim that political and
economic power can solve our
problems and fulfill our dreams.
On the other, those who believe
that the human mind has no limits.
So, Paul’s words are just as appli
cable today: “For the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the
weakness of God is stronger than
men” (1:15). The answer that God
gave with Jesus on the cross may
seem weak and stupid in light of
what the world holds as powerful
and wise, but the cross is the only
power and wisdom that can save
us, individually and collectively.
With redeeming, reconciling
love both power and knowledge
can avail us much. Without it,
power and knowledge fail and
corrupt us. That is why Paul came
to the Corinthians deciding “to
know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Robert Q. Campbell General Manager
Everett A Nawawangar Managing Editor
Copyright 1895 by Lancaster Farming