AtMjncaster Faming, Saturday, March 11, 1995
OPINION
Farmers Deserve
Health Care Tax
Deduction
As you know, the deduction of 25 percent of health insurance
premiums from income taxes for farmers and other self
employed business persons expired at the end of 1993. Late last
month the House passed a bill (H.R. 831) that would permanently
and retroactively restore the deduction.
Many farmers pay for their families’ health insurance out of
pocket while corporations can deduct the cost of employee health
benefits as a business expense. To be fair, the U.S. Senate should
pass the 25 percent deduction bill before the tax filing deadlines
are reached this year to save farmers a lot of extra refiling costs to
obtain the benefit later.
Of course, this should only be the first step. When Congress
takes up the health care reform debate later this year, they should
include in the final measure a 100 percent deduction for self
employed people. In this case, the little guy deserves equal stand
ing with corporate America.
Professional Shearing Clinic, T &
R Center Sheep Unit, thru
March 12.
Small Enterprise Livestock Mini
Workshop, Beef, Harford
County Md. Extension Office,
Forest Hill, Md., 9 a.m.-noon.
Columbia/Luzeme Holstein Asso
ciation annual meeting, Bonan
za Steak House. Berwick, 7
p.m.
Tioga County Holstein Associa
tion annual meeting. Fair
grounds, Whitneyville. 7:30
Poultry Management and Health
Seminar, Kreider’s Restaurant,
Manheim, noon.
Penn State Christmas Tree Pest
Control Short Course. Days
Inn, State College, thru March
14.
Soil Fertility School, Lebanon
Valley Ag Center, 10 a.m.-3
p.m.
Kent Dairymen’s Dinner-Breed
Awards, DHIA, Galena Fire
Hall, 7 p.m.
Eastern Milk Producers education
al meeting, Mifflinburg School
Building, Mifflinburg, 10 a.m.
Eastern Milk Producers education
al meeting, Guthrie Inn, Sayre,
Dclmarva Safety Seminar and
Exposition, Wicomico Youth
and Civic Center, Salisbury,
Md., thru March 15.
“Moving Your Farm Enterprise?”,
Chester County Government
Services Center, West Chester.
Annual pesticide update meeting,
EAYF meeting, Ephrata Clois
ter Dairy, 7:30 p.m.
Pesticide Recertification, York
Extension, 10 a.m.-noon or 7
p.m.-9‘ p.m.
Greene County annual meeting, 7
P-m-
Maryland Small Fruit Workshop,
Wine and Table Grape Culture
and Marketing, Oregon Ridge
Nature Center, Baltimore
County.
Lancaster County Honey Produc
ers meeting. Farm and Home
Center, 7 p.m.
Bradford County Agronomy Day,
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Editor:
The following article should be
of interest to the readers of “Lan
caster Fanning.”
‘This time it’s bees, next time
roadside produce stands ...”
Anyone in PA who has ever had
a hive of bees inspected has prob
ably received notice of the new
bee law (act 131), signed into law
by Gov. Casey at the 11th hour of
his term.
1 question the entire program
but the part informing us that the
“Beekeepers Association” has ac
tively supported this legislation I
expect is deliberately misleading.
I don’t know how it was pulled off
but I am sure that a poll of bee
keepers will show they are not in
favor of giving the bureaucrats an
other $lO every 2 years to have in
spectors spread disease in their
colonies.
The inspection of beehives by
state inspectors is the most effec
tive way of spreading bee diseases
that can be imagined. A man who
has been to numerous other hives,
breaks yours open and pulls
frames from the brood area, the
most vulnerable part of the hive.
Bees are smashed both in the re-
To Protect
Against AI
The outbreak of avian influenza
(AI) in Mexico has become more
serious with mortality reaching up
to SO percent in broiler flocks.
The virus has become highly
pathogenic and spreading despite
tight biosecurity measures. There
is concern the virus could spread to
the United States by way of
migratory birds returning to the
United States.
Now is the time to implement a
very good biosecurity program.
Farmers should enforce a
restricted movement of people to
their poultry houses. Avoid con
tact with migratory and wild birds.
Make sure your poultry houses are
birdproof. Also, change footwear
after working in fields and disin
fect boots or shoes before entering
poultry houses.
Do not allow dogs and cats that
have been in fields or in contact
with wild birds in your poultry
houses. Finally, if you have any
abnormal mortality, contact y6ur
service person immediately or take
some birds to one of the
laboratories.
Taking a few precautions now
moral and replacement of these
frames. This is the area the queen
operates in and the possibility of
her being killed or injured is real.
Over and above the physical dam
age any disease organisms he is
carrying on his self, clothing or
equipment has an excellent oppor
tunity to infect your hive.
Yes, I know die part about the
inspector taking precautions,
cleaning themselves and their
equipment: baloney! Effective
cleanup between hive inspections
short of boiling the guy in hot wa
ter is impossible. The inspection
program is superfluous. It is an af
ter the fact event at best, that has
nothing to do with disease preven
tion. It tells you your bees are in
fected and any attentive beekeeper
becomes aware of this through his
routine hive maintenance long be
fore an inspector shows up. At
worst it exposes your hive to in
fection.
The first time an inspector visit
ed my bees I was too green to as
sociate the loss with his visit On
the next visit he brought me foul
brood. On his last visit he brought
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could prevent a major disease out
break latter.
To Make
Adjustments For
Milk Base
Will breeding problems that
occurred this winter affect your
ability to establish a good milk
base this fall?
According to Glenn Shirk,
extension dairy agent, it will.
He states it could have a reduc
ing effect on your milk price for
1995. Cows you wanted to have in
peak milk around September may
now peak around the beginning of
the year. Instead of building a milk
base, they will be contributing to
excess production.
One way to help solve this prob
lem is to purchase some “tail
coders” that are bred and in late
lactation this spring at reduced
prices. You will be buying them
when feeds and pastures are more
plentiful and mote affordable
while having animals ready to
freshen during late summer.
To Plan
For Future
This past week, the future of
agriculture in Lancaster County
was discussed by two different
ON TALKING OR PLA YING
A GOOD GAME
March 12.1995
ON TALKING OR
PLAYING A GOOD GAME
March 12. 1995
Background Scripture
I Corinthians 4
Devotional Reading
Romans 12:1-10
Is Paul contradicting himself in
I Corinthians 4:20? He has been
speaking of the ultimate weakness
of temporal power, but now he
says: “For the kindgom of God
does notconsist in talk but in pow
er.”
But the “power” of which Paul
is speaking here is not temporal
power, but spiritual power and
he has already demonstrated in
this letter that there is a vast gulf
between these two types of power.
Temporal power appears to be
mighty, but ultimately it is weak.
Spiritual power seems to be weak
and ineffectual, but in the long run
it is the only power that prevails.
Lots of people bemoan the
churches’ loss of temporal power.
In the last SO years we have seen a
tremendous loss of that kind of
power. When I was growing up in
Reading, Pennsylvania, the
churches there seemed to be pretty
powerful in the community: able
to keep the stores closed on Sun
day, influence the local schools,
and often get its way in the com
munity.
SPIRITUAL POWER
The churches have mostly lost
that temporal power and, although
we all mourn the loss of it the Iqss
may be a blessing. For now, the
church can focus upon what it
should have been concentrating on
all along: spiritual power, the
power to influence, not by coer
cion, but by shining example. It is
always easier to compel than to in
spire, but “easy” doesn’t equal
“success.” All too often, we in the
church have assumed that tempor
al power is the measure of the ef
fectiveness of the gospel.
panels of agribusiness leaden. All
six speakers stated the future
depended on the people and their
outlook.
Pennsylvania is the major agri
cultural area in the Northeast.
There are many reasons for this;
the strong work ethic of the far
mers, excellent livestock and poul
try fanners, efficiencies of produc
tion. young age of farmers, and a
strong infrastructure, including
banks, feed mills, equipment deal
en, sales people, and agricultural
educators.
As one industry leader stated, if
you doubt there is a bright future in
agriculture, then look around at the
number of major national compa
nies making large capital invest
ments in Pennsylvania. They
would not be making these invest
ments if they thought agriculture is
declining in the area.
The consensus of these speakers
was agriculture will remain strong
as long as the farmers stay compe
titive by making the necessary
changes and continue being the
best there is!
Feather Prof.'s Footnote:
“Constant and determined effort
breaks down all obstacles and
sweeps away all resistance."
That’s what the cross of Jesus
Christ was all about God could
have intervened and kept Jesus
from dying on the cross. But the
victory was not dependent upon
escaping the cross, but in trans
forming it An object that repre
sented human nature at its worst
has become the symbol of divine
and human love triumphant The
cross says to us that we cannot win
with temporal power because it is
always inferior to spiritual power.
TALKERS & DOERS
A young exchange student from
Southeast Asia, after being expos
ed to American television and
radio, came to the conclusion that
Christianity is mostly a matter of
how people talk. We preach,
teach, discuss, argue and some
times fight over the words people
choose to talk about their faith.
The essence of the gospel seems to
be the precise way in which peo
ple articulate it.
In writing to the church at Cor
inth, Paul distinguished between
the talkers and the doers. “But I
will come to you soon,” he said,
“if the Lord wills, and I will find
out not the talk of these arrogant
people but their power. For the
kingdom of God does not consist
in talk but in power” (4:19,20)
spiritual not temporal power. The
gospel is about doing, not talking.
Not talking about love, but doing
it; being it.
What does that mean? Paul
gives us a good idea: “When re
viled. we bless; when persecuted,
we endure; when slandered, we try
to conciliate..(4:l2b, 13a).
Like good music, the Gospel is de
pendent not upon spirited argu
ment but inspired playing.
I’m not sying there’s anything
wrong with Christian talk so long
as we don’t let the talk become a
substitute for Christian action. We
are called, not to sing about the
“old rugged cross,” but to bear it.
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 0. Campbell Oanaral Manager
Everett R. Nawawangar Managing Editor
Copyright 1995 by Lancaster Farming