AlO-Lancastw Farming, Saturday, Juna 17, 1995
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OPINION
Begin To Document Your
Worker Protection Activity Now
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) worker protec
tion law that went into effect in January of this year includes
almost anyone who uses pesticides on his or her farm. It becomes
the responsibility of each farmer to follow the rules related to
education of workers who are going to work with pesticides or
work near fields that have had pesticides applied to them. In addi
tion, the law calls for verbal notification and/or posting of warn
ings so that employees do not enter these treated areas.
The days are gone when pesticides can be used without docu
menting how, when, and where they were used. For the busy far
mer this may be the most burdonsome part of the law. Specific
delayed entry times after application are important. Each pesti
cide has its own re-entry time that may be from a few hours to a
few days. And each pesticide has it own demands for warning
farm workers about the application.
Therefore, you need to document when you give the training to
workers. Have them sign in at the training session and sign when
they receive the materials from the training classes. Keep note
books and diaries of everything you do related to the use of pesti
cides on the farm. Note when you make applications and what
pesticides you have used. Follow all the directions on the label.
While not much has been said about the penalties for not fol
lowing the law, they are quite stiff, and you can’t just ignore your
responsibility. Sooner or later, violations will be reported, inves
tigated, and fines will be given. It is important that you start to
document your activity as you comply with the law so that if any
question from an employee or an inspector arises in the future,
you will have written information to prove your position. Begin
now!
Pa. Cattlemen's Field Day, May
town Park, Lancaster County, 9
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Ludwig’s Comer Riding and Driv
ing Club. Marsh Creek State
Park, 9 a.m.
Delaware Valley College Summer
Bee meeting, DVC, noon.
Erie County dairy princess
pageant, Erie Zoo.
Beaver-Lawrence County dairy
princess pageant, Westfield
Grange, New Castle, 8 p.m.
Lancaster County dairy princess
pageant. Farm and Home Cen
ter, Lancaster, 7 p.m.
Somerset County dairy princess
pageant, Somerset Area High
School, 7:30 p.m.
Sullivan County dairy princess
pageant, Dushore, 7 p.m.
Susquehanna/Montour dairy prin
cess pageant. United Methodist
Church, Montrose, 8 p.m.
York County dairy princess
pageant, 4-H Center, Bair, 7:30
p.m.
McKean/Potter Master Gardener
Summertime tours. Walker
Gardens, Bigler, 2 p.m.
Perry County dairy princess
pageant, extension office. 8
Precision Ag Field Day, USDA/
ARS Bcltsville Ag Research
Center. Beltsville. McL, 9 a.m.
Penn State 4-H Ambassador Con
ference, Penn State University,
thru June 21.
PennAg 1993 Annual Grain Meet
ing, Eden Resort Inn. Lancas
ter, dinner 7 p.m.
Berks Dairy Bowl. Berks 4-H Cen
ter. 8 o.m.
Hi everyone! This past year I
have helped the dairy industry in
an important way by serving as the
Lancaster County Dairy Princess.
Since receiving my crown last
June, I have been involved in
many dairy activities. Summer is,
of course, time for ice cream festi
vals and tired arms from dishing
out scoops and scoops of ice
cream. Next comes fair season
with farmers showing off their
best cows at dairy competitions.
You may have seen me dodging
cow piles while handing out rib
bons to the winners. Another part
of the fair season is parades.
Although some of them seemed to
last forever and I felt like I
couldn’t smile anymore by the
end, it was great to see so many
people. Grocery store promotions
are also an important part of being
Dairy Princess. Handing out store
brand cheeses, recipe pamphlets,
and samples of my very own milk
punch, Purple Cow, entices con
sumers to buy more dairy pro-
To Look For
Potato Leafhopper
The major alfalfa insect pest in
this area is potato leafhopper.
This very small insect, which
looks like a small green grasshop
per, injects a toxin into the alfalfa
plant as it feeds on it This toxin
plugs the plant’s vascular system
and stunts the growth of the plant
Leaves of infected plants take on a
brassy yellow color.
The leafhopper does not over
winter in Pennsylvania. Each
spring it must migrate here from
the Louisiana Gulf Coast. This
migration takes place in the winds
from southern storms. This usually
brings leafhoppers to southeast
Pennsylvania in June.
Their arrival date and numbers
will determine if second cutting
alfalfa needs to be sprayed. A reg
ular scouting program will identify
when spraying is needed based on
the height of alfalfa, the number of
leafhoppers found, and the cost of
the spray.
luisd.n, .|uin- 20
Schnecksville Community Fair,
thru June 24.
Lancaster County Honey Produc
ers meeting, Ralph McLaugh
lin, 7 p.m.
Lancaster FFA Hog Show and
Sale, Manheim Fairgrounds,
show 10 a.m., sale 6 p.m.
(Turn to Page All)
ducts. I have also visited area
elementary schools this year.
After a short speech about what
cows eat to make milk, calcium,
and comparing milk to soda, I play
a dairy tic-tac-toe game with the
children. Although some children
had me confused with “Miss
America” and the ‘Tooth Fairy” it
was still a lot of fun. I have also
met many of you at various Co-
Op, Farm Women, and other
groups.
I want to thank each and every
one of you for making my year so
special. Growing up on a dairy
farm myself, the industry is a very
important part of my life. Next
year I will be quite a distance from
home attending school at Penn
State University. However, my
heart will always be right here in
Lancaster County. Thank you
again for making my reign as the
1994-1995 Lancaster County
Dairy Princess a year I will always
treasure!
Amy Espenshade
To Scout
Alfalfa Fields
A check of several alfalfa fields
by Robert Anderson, extension
agronomy agent, showed that
potato lea {hoppers are in some
fields.
The best way to determine if a
spray is needed is to use an insect
net and count the number of leaf
hopper adults and nymphs caught
If the alfalfa is less than four inches
tall and scouting with a net shows
one leafhopper per four sweeps of
the net control is needed. If the
alfalfa is between four and eight
inches in height and scouting finds
four leafhoppers in 10 sweeps, a
spray is needed.
When the alfalfa is between 8
and 12 inches tall, theremust be 12
lea fhoppers in 10 sweeps. If you
are planning on cutting in 7 to 10
days, you should not spray. How
ever, it may be better to spray and
delay cutting and allow the alfalfa
to come into fairly full bloom.
With spring seedings, Anderson
recommends spraying an insecti
cide as soon as possible after the
threshold is reached and delay
harvest on these fields until full
bloom.
11% W.'j
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BY LAWRENCE W ALTHOUSE
m
isasiLS
ARE YOU FOR SALE?
June 18,1995
ARE YOU FOR SALE?
June 18, 1995
Background Scripture:
I Kings 21
Devotional Reading:
Micah 6:6-13
King Ahab is our contempora
ry. He is a person with great pow
er and equally great appetite. He
sees something he wants and
makes a reasonable offer. As
Ahab said to-Naboth, “Give me
your vineyard, that I may have it
for a vegetable garden ... and I
will give you a better vineyard for
it; of if it seems good to you, I will
give you its value in money”
(21:2).
There, what could be more fair
than that? A reasonable offer: (1)
Ahab was the king, (2) the vine
yard was next to Ahab’s palace,
and (3) Naboth would be fairly
compensated for it Surely a rea
sonable man would go along with
a deal like that!
But of Naboth there was one
consideration above all others: the
vineyard was an inheritance from
his forefathers. To sell it to King
Ahab would have been a betrayal
of family trust. Nothing Ahab
could offer would compensate
him for betraying that trust So.
Naboth, a man who had remark
ably little, couldn’t be bought at
any price.
VEXED AND SULLEN
The King was also very con
temporary in the way that he react
ed: “And Ahab went into his
house vexed and sullen because of
what Naboth the Jezreelite had
said to him ... and he lay down
on his bed, and turned away his
face, and would eat no food.” Here
was a man who had great power
and riches, yet, he focused not on
all that he had, but on this one lit
tle thing he didn’t have. And that
too is contemporary.
Some may be too lenient with
For more information on alfalfa
pest management, contact your
county cooperative extension
office and ask for Special Circular
284, “A Pest Management Prog
ram for Alfalfa in Pennsylvania.”
An insect pest which is present
in large numbers this year is flea
beetle.
Robert Anderson, extension
agronomy agent, reports he has
had several calls where they have
become problems on tobacco beds.
He suspects they will be soon feed
ing on com and other crops.
The cause is the extreme mild
winter we had.
Flea beetles are not hard to con
trol. There are several products
which will do an excellent job.
The economic threshold for
com is two or more flea beetles per
plant. Most other crops do not have
an economic threshold estab
lished. Anderson suggests farmers
consider spraying vegetables and
tobacco crops if they average two
or more flea beetles per plant.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote; "Per
severance overcomes almost
everything, even nature."
King Ahab, blaming Jezebel for
actually doing the terrible deed,
having Naboth stoned on a trump
ed-up charge. But Ahab and Jeze
bel are equal partners in this
crime. Ahab could have said, “No,
I am deeply disappointed, but I
will not permit any injustice.” But
he didn’t. Instead he sets the stage
for Jezebel’s diabolical advice by
sulkily calling attention to his un
happiness.
Note how Jezebel appeals to
Ahab: “Do you not govern Is
rael?” Are you the King or are you
not? Don’t you have the power?
Once again, the deadly, seductive
corruption of power. Aren’t you
the star of the team? Aren’t you
the CEO of this company? Aren't
you the governor of this state?
PERMISSIVE EVIL
sn
And just like today. Ahab gets
to eat his cake and keep it too.
“Arise, and eat bread,” Jezebel as
sures him, “and let your heart be
cheerful; I will give you the vine
yard ...” He knew it was wrong,
but he permitted someone else to
do it for him. And so do some of
us. It takes only one person to do
great evil, but multitudes may wil
lingly profit from it.
Hiere should be no doubt about
Ahab’s complicity: “And as soon
as Ahab heard that Naboth was
dead, Ahab arose to go down to
the vineyard of Naboth the Jez
reelite, to take possession of it”
(16). No questions raised about
this vile deed. No rebuke to Jeze
bel. No hesitation to profit from
this heinous crime.
And then Elijah comes with
God’s terrible judgment: “I have
found you. You have sold yourself
to do what is evil in the sight of the
Lord” (20). Naboth wouldn’t sell
himself and his birthright for a
magnanimous price, but Ahab
sold himself for a mere vineyard.
What about you? Are you for
sale?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
I E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Robert a Campbell General Manager
Everett R Nawawangar Managing Edttor
W
Copyright 1996 by Lancatler Farming
To Look For
Flea Beetles