AlO-lmenter Fanning, Saturday, March 18. 1995
OPINION
Agriculture Important
Every Week Of The Year
Agriculture is Pennsylvania’s number one industry. And this
week, March 19-25, is National Agriculture Week, a good time to
remember where our good food comes from.
“Growing Better Everyday in Partnership with Nature” is the
theme for this year’s celebration. It highlights the important con
tributions our farmers make in protecting the environment and
conserving natural resources. Since air, soil, and water are the
mainstay of their existence, our fanners practice stewardship of
these resources to sustain their livelihood into the future.
The hard work and dedication of Pennsylvania’s 51,000 farm
families continue to keep agriculture the number one industry of
the Commonwealth. With $3.67 billion in cash receipts, our Key
stone farmers and agribusinesses arc the leading agriculture pro
ducers in the northeastern United States and some of the most
productive in the country.
Agriculture generates an additional $4O billion annually in
related economic activity and creates jobs for one out of every
five Pennsylvanians. This includes support services such as food
processing, marketing, transportation, as well as manufacturing
all the products and equipment used on the farm.
Milk production is the leading segment of our agricultural
industry, with annual sales of $1.43 billion. Pennsylvania’s milk
production is 10.2 billions pounds.
The total value of all cattle, hogs, and sheep on Pennsylvania
farms is $1.53 billion. Actual cash receipts from the sale of meat
animals during the past year was $561 million, making livestock
the second leading segment of Pennsylvania agriculture.
The combined value of Pennsylvania’s poultry production
from broilers, eggs and turkeys, plus the value of chicken sales
was $500.6 million last year. That’s a nine percent increase oyer
the previous year. Laying flocks produced a record 5.64 billion
eggs, and turkey producers raise 8.6 million poults.-
We join Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge in making a state
proclamation to coincide with the national event. But we go farth
er. Because of the impact of agricultrue on Pennsylvania’s eco
nomy, we proclaim every week of the year Pennsylvania Agricul
ture Week.
Saturday, March IS
Nut Grafting Workshop, Dauphin
County Conservation District,
9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Penn State Garden Symposium,
Lancaster Farm and Home
Center.
York County Pork Producers
annual meeting and banquet,
Slcwarlstown Fire Hall, 7 p.m.
Maryland Department of Ag
Annual Open House, Annapo
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Monday. March 20
Northeast Dairy Conference, Sher
aton University Hotel, Syra
cuse, also March 21.
Regional Tree Association meet
ing, Cumberland County exten
sion office, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Soil and Water Conservation Soci
ety nutrient management tech
nical meetings. Dauphin Coun
ty Ag Center, Dauphin, 9
a.m.-3:45 p.m.
Southcentral Pennsylvania Tree
Association meeting, Cumber
land County Extension office.
SCP Cattlemen’s Association
annual banquet. East Berlin
Fire Hall, 7 p.m.
Mid East UDIA meeting. Ramada
Inn, Somerset, 9:30 a.m.
Maryland Small Fruit Workshop,
•Oregon Ridge Nature Center,
Baltimore County.
Nutrient Management Workshop,
N.W. region, manure. Mercer
Extension office, Mercer.
Southwest Pa.' Hay Sale, West
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Dclmarva Hatchery and Breeder
Flock Management Short
Course, Delmarva Convention
Center, Delmar, Md.
Greene County Sheep and Wool
Growers annual meeting,
Greene County Fairgrounds,
7:30 p.m.
Mid East UDIA meeting. Holiday
Inn, Meadville, 9:30 a.m.
Maryland Small Fruit Workshop,
Oregon Ridge Nature Center.
Balitmore County.
Atlantic Breeders Cooperative
annual meeting, Eden Resort
Inn and Conference Center,
Montgomery County DHIA/
Holstein Club annual meeting,
Towamencin Fire Hall, Kulps
ville, 6:45 p.m.
Maryland Nutrition Conference
For Feed Manufacturers. Stouf
fer Harborplace Hotel, Balti
more, Md., thru March 24.
To Celebrate
Agricultural Week
Gov. Tom Ridge has declared
March 19-25 as Pennsylvania
Agriculture Week. This week is a
salute to the men and women who
provide our neighbors around the
world with an abundance of food
and fiber products.
“Growing Better Everyday in
Partnership with Nature” is the
theme for this year’s celebration. It
highlights the important contribu
tions our farmers make in protect
ing the environment and conserv
ing natural resources.
Air, soil, and water are the main
stay of agriculture’s existence, and
our farmers practice stewardship
of these resources to sustain their
livelihood into the future.
According to the Agriculture
Council of America, each year,
one American farmer provides
food and fiber for 129people—97
in the United States and 32 abroad.
American agriculture employs 21
million people or 18.5 percent of
the labor force. A family of four
eats about 5,000 pounds of food
each year. And Americans spend
11.4 percent of their personal
income on food, compared with
Japan 21 percent; Italy 26
percent; Greece—42 percent; and
China S 3 percent
To Vote In
Tobacco Referendum
United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) announced
that tobacco growers in various
parts of the country will be given
an opportunity to vote for tobacco
Sheep Management Series, York
Extension office, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
N.E. Pa. Landscape Management
School, Holiday Inn, Bartons
ville, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tractor Safety Training, Lehigh
County Ag Center, 7:30 p.m.
Nutrient Management Workshop,
soil fertility, N.E. region,
Knight’s Inn, Danville.
Lancaster County Conservation
District annual dinner, Yoder’s
Steakhouse, 7 p.m.
Northumberland County Spring
Awards Banquet, Sunbury
Social Club, Sunbury, 6:30
p.m.
Pesticide update meeting, Greene
County Extension office. 7:30
Pa. Spring Holstein Show, Farm
Show Building, Harrisburg,
9:30 a.m.
Cornell Swine School and Tirade
Show, Cornell U. Livestock
Pavilion, thru March 23.
ADC Dist 5 annual meeting, Bird
In Hand Restaurant, Bird In
Hand, 7 o.m.
(Turn to Pago A3S)
support programs to be in effect for
the next three years.
If more than two-thirds of the
growers who vote in Pennsylvania
favor the program for the state,
then USDA will set quotas for the
state and growers will be able to
obtain price support loans for the
next three years. If quotas are dis
approved, production will not be
limited and price support loans
will not be available to Pennsylva
nia tobacco growers.
Pennsylvania has never voted in
favor of quotas for the Pennsylva
nia Type 41 tobacco. The Mary
land Type tobacco grown in Pen
nsylvania and Maryland was last
grown under quotas in 1965. Pen
nsylvania farmers who grew
tobacco in 1994 are eligible to vote
in the referendum. They can vote
at the Consolidated Farm Service
Agency office (formally the ASCS
office) between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
on March 27-30.
To Study
Rural Leadership
Penn State’s College of Agricul
tural Sciences will host a series of
seven seminars aimed at preparing
municipal officials for leadership
roles within their communities.
The seminar, entitled “Rural
ay ’
TUI
w
ARE YOU STANDING OR
FALLING
March 19,1995
Are You Standing Or Fatting
March 19, 1995
Background Scripture:
1 Corinthians 10:1-17
Devotional Reading:
Ephesians 6:10-18
Now that ! am no longer
preaching—at least oh a regular
basis—l have occasion to reflect
on the sheer audacity of preach
ing. Not that I regret or would take
back most of what I have preached
over the years, but that I would
proclaim the gospel with more
humility than I did, particularly as
a young man fresh out of semi
nary. (I stayed “fresh” for quite a
while.)
Assurance is a good thing for
preachers and others, but it can so
easily turn into smug self
deception. Paul seems to under
stand the pitfalls of self-assurance
and he warns the Corinthians:
“Therefore let any one who thinks
that he stands tike heed lest he
fall” (10:12). I’m afraid there were
limes when I thought I was stand
ing on the word of God when, in
fact, I was falling flat on my
face...or some other anatomical
feature.
The problem is not assurance,
but in what we are assured. Paul
cited the example of the Israelites
in the wilderness of Sinai. They all
participated in this marvelous
experience and because of that
they became overconfident.
“Look what we’ve experienced!”
they thought to themselves, and
that was soon transformed into
look who or what we are! Because
they had the experience they
thought they had a no-fault guar
antee. But Paul says, “Neverthe
less with most of them God was
not pleased” (10:5).
Why? Paul gives us four rea
sons: (1) idolatry; (2) immorality;
(3) they put the Lord tc the test;
and (4) they grumbled, grumbled,
grumbled—all the kinds of stupid
things that people do when they
Municipal Officials Leadership
Academy,” will use interactive
television to link classrooms at
nine sites across the state. The
academy will focus on weekly
themes such as community deci
sion making, community coopera
tion and economic development,
expanding a community's finan
cial base, how to use volunteers
and organizations within a com
munity, and how to communicate
effectively.
Participants will also discuss
such issues as working with the
media, running effective meetings,
land use, and public safety. By
using telecommunications tech
nology. attending officials can lis
ten to instructors at other class
room sites and ask them questions.
The course will be held on seven
Saturdays from April 1-June 3.
Each session lasts from 8:30 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m. Lunch and instruc
tional materials are included in the
$135 registration fee. The registra
tion deadline is March 20. For
more information and registration,
contact Ann Southard at (814)
863-4679.
Feather Prof’s Footnote: “Atti
tudes are contagious. Is yours
worth catching?"
think they have it made. They
were tempted and most of them
thinking they were honor roll stu
dents, got failing grades.
Making Whoopee!
Paul sums up their attitude as,
“The people sat down to eat and
drink and rose up to dance’’ (10:7).
The problem is not in the eating,
drinking and dancing, but their
smug attitude. They thought they
were standing on God’s promises
and in reality they were falling to
temptation! Proudly assured they
were God's chosen few, they felt
free to be “making whoopee.”
Today in psychology there is a
considerable debate between
victimologist—who believe that
people who fail are largely victims
of forces which they cannot con
trol (admittedly an over
simplification of their posi
tion) —and those who believe that
very often we have control over
the choices we make. Both on the
basis of. my theology of free will
and my experience as a counselor,
I choose the latter position. With
out over-generalizing from my
experience, I can truthfully say
that I have never succumbed to a
temptation over which I had no
control. When 1 failed, I made a
choice. Professor Martin E.P.
Seligman of the University of
Pennsylvania says, “Victim expla
nations are readily adopted
because they provide one psycho
logical boon: They generally shift
blame from the self to some lar
ger, more impersonal cause” (The
devil made me do it!).
Short of physiological addition,
there is no temptation over which
we do not have the power to say
no. So Paul says, “God is faithful,
and He will not let you be tempted
beyond your strength, but with the
temptation will also provide the
way of escape, that you may be
able to endure it” (10:13).
You can stand; you don’t have
to fall.
Lancaster Fanning
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 R. Nawawangar Managing Editor
Copyright 199 S by Lancaster Farming