AKULmoastor faming, Saturday, fafanbcr 16,1695
OPINION
Sow The Seeds Of Health
PRACTICE SAFETY
So, Sow Safety!
Once again next week, September 17-23, the nation will
observe Farm Safety and Health Week. The theme this year is
“Sow the Seeds of Health: Practice Safety."
Everyone associated with farming knows that safety, like
seeds, needs to be sown or spread through education, and conti
nually developed and nurtured through habit and diligence to
harvest good health. The good news is that fanning is becoming
safer, but the bad news is that we still have a long way to go. In the
1960’5, the death rate was about 60 per 100,000 workers. Now
according to the National Safety Council, it’s 35.
To ensure this decline continues, everyone in farming needs to
take a personal and active role in identifying hazards, adopting
safer work practices, and reducing risks on a regular basis.
Of course, it is not possible to eliminate all risk in our lives. We
have learned to accept this. But it is sobering to realize that many
fatal or serious incidents that occure on farms are associated with
routine activities like driving a tractor or handling animals.
Little things can be done now. It’s time to inspect tractors and
farm machinery for proper functioning of emergency marker
lights and properly installed SMV emblems. Never stand
between a tractor and towed farm wagon when pulling the hitch
pin on a slope. Block the wagon’s wheels to prevent drifting. And
never ask young children to inspect grain or silage levels in bins
and silos.
Every farmer knows you reap what you sow. So, sow safety as
one of your farm’s major crops this year!
N.J. Organic Country Fair, Pen
nington, NJ., thru Sept. 17.
Lancaster Farmland Trust Annual
Membership Picnic, Gene and
Karen Garber’s Farm, E-town,
2 p.m.-7 p.m.
Butler ‘Sale Of Stars’, Farm Show
Grounds, Butler, 11 a.m.
Adams County Farm-City Festival
and Farm Open House, Getty
Acres Farm, Gettysburg, 10
a.m.-3 p.m.
Biosolids Ag Field Day, Ephrata
Wastewater Treatment Plant,
Ephrata, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Pa. Draft Horse and Mule Associa
tion Annual Fall Clinic, Wind
ward Farms, Manheim, 8:30
a.m.
‘Caring For My Woods’ Work
shop, County Office Building,
Montrose, 9 a.pn.
Mercer County Country Tour, thru
1995 National DHIA Lab Mana
ger’s Workshop/Management
Seminar, Cherry Creek Inn,
Denver, Colo., thru Sept 19.
Gratz Fair, Gratz, thru Sept. 23.
Beaver Community Fair, Beaver
Springs, thru Sept. 23.
PennAg Convention, Valley Forge
(Turn to Pag* A 27)
Editor,
At a time when area dairy far
mers are suffering the worst finan
cial crisis since, maybe the
depression years of the late 20s
and early 30s, one would think all
farm organizations and Members
of Congress would fee putting their
“shoulder to the wheel” in an
attempt to develop a realistic
Dairy Act, that would be geared to
correct the financial inequities
being faced by dairy farmers.
Congressman Bemie Sanders
To Be Alert
For Silo Fires
A number of silo fires have
occurred throughout southeastern
Pennsylvania in recent weeks.
Fires are caused when crops are
too dry when ensiled. By ensiling
crops under 40 percent moisture,
you are increasing your chances
for a silo fire.
At higher moisture levels, the
moisture in the crop will help con
duct heat to the top of the silage
mass and to the outside walls
where it is dissipated. If the silage
mass is large, as in a large silo, it is
more difficult for the heat to
dissipate.
If the heat cannot dissipate fast
enough, temperatures may build
up to a level high enough to cause
spontaneous combustion. As the
heat intensifies and breaks down
the silage, flammable gasses are
formed. When temperatures reach
the ignition point in the presence of
oxygen, these gases will ignite.
To Know How
To Fight
Silo Fires
Silo fires usually are very well
developed by the time you first
notice them. The first signs maybe
bumed-out silo doors or smoke
escaping from the top of the silo.
These fires are very dangerous
to fight. The techniques used to
fight them are very different from
other fires and are very
specialized.
With this in mind, there are a
few things you should not do;
• Do not climb up the chute of a
burning silo. The steps may have
lost their hold on the door due to
damage caused by the fire. This
could result in you falling down
the chute.
• Do not stand on the roof of a
burning silo. Flammable gases
could be trapped beneath the roof.
The slightest movement could
(I. Vt.) has introduced a Bill, HR
2000 that is geared to correct the
inadequate prices paid to dairy
fanners. Locally, HR 2000 is co
sponsored by Congressman
Hinchey from the Binghamton,
N.Y. area and Congressman Paul
McHale from the Bethlehem, Pa.
area.
However. HR 2000 is certainly
not the top priority of the new
agriculture leaders in either the
U.S. House or Senate.
The proposed Gunderson Bill,
(Turn to Pag* A 22)
ignite them, causing an explosion
that would shoot you through the
air like a missile.
• Do not add water to a silo fire.
Water provides the oxygen which
the oxygen-starved, hot silage
needs to ignite. Also, as water con
tacts very hot carbon, such as a hot
mass of silage, it forms two very
flammable gasses, carbon mono
xide, and hydrogen.
• Do not walk on top of silage. It
could be nothing more than a thin
crust covering a bumt-out dome. If
you break through the crust, you
could fall into a hot, burning pit
and have no way out
If you suspect a problem, do not
take chances. Call your local fire
department for assistance.
To Test
Home Water
Supplies
If your water supply is from a
well or spring, you should test your
water annually forcoliform bacter
ial contamination.
s~r
BY
“gjasas
SP I
GIVE WHATYOU HAVE
September 17,1995
GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE
September 17, 1995
Background Scripture:
Acts 3:1 through 4:31
Devotional Reading:
Acts 3:18-26
Have you ever passed by some
one in need regretting that you
didn’t have what the person was
asking for? It can be a frustrating
experience if we feel moved by
the person’s plight and want to
help. So, we pass by giving no
thing.
This could have been the situa
tion with Peter and John when
they went up to the temple at the
hour of prayer. A man lame from
birth was lying in the Beautiful
Gate asking for alms. (That’s not a
term we use much today; instead
we would say the man was “beg
ging.”)
There is a lot of intense concen
tration indicated in this passage:
Peter directed his gaze at the beg
gar, told the beggar to “Look at
us,” and the beggar “fixed his at
tention upon them, expecting to
receive something.” Maybe that’s
why something wonderful hap
pened here each participant
gave his full attention. They really
looked at each other. This was no
encounter of the fleeting glance or
distracted attention.
EXPECTING SOMETHING
The beggar expected to receive
something from Peter and John,
but Peter plainly told him, “I have
no silver and g01d...” That could
have been the end of the encounter
right there, but Peter went on to
say, “.. .but I give you what I
have; in the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth walk!” The man
wanted money, but Peter and John
didn’t have any. Instead, they
could have given him a sermon, a
tract, their “best wishes” or a little
sympathy.
At first it looked as if the beggar
had chosen the poorest of pros
pects. It appeared as if Peter and
John had nothing to give. But they
gave him something infinitely bet
ter, the command to do what the
man had been unable to do since
birth: “Walkl” Peter and John thus
remind all of us who follow Christ
Although most coliform bacter
ia do not cause illness, they are
easy to test for and may be used to
indicate the possibility of disease
causing microorganisms in the
water supply, such as salmonella
or hepatitis.
If your water tests reveals conta
mination, there are three treatment
methods available to you: chlori
nation, ultraviolet disinfection,
and iodine disinfection.
Shock chlorination of the well
may be sufficient to solve the prob
lem. Continuous chlorination
could be installed if needed. Ultra
violet disinfection kills the organ
isms by exposing them to ultra
violet light
lodination is an effective
method of disinfecting water sup
plies, but there is concern about the
health effect of drinking iodized
water for long periods of time.
Feather Prof.’s Footnote:
"Excellence can be yours if you
use your imagination to explore
the possibilities.”
that we often have far mote to give
than we realize. We have the
promise of God’s grace the exam
ple of Christ’s love. We can share
that with anyone.
You and I may not be able to
make a lame person walk, but that
doesn’t mean we can’t minister to
someone else’s brokenness. That
doesn’t mean we have nothing to
give. For more than a decade I
conducted a weekly service of
healing and wholeness at my par
ish in Mohnton, Pennsylvania.
Many desperate people came and
were helped by the ministry. Some
of these peoplp mistakenly regard
ed me as the healer. I was not.
When they were helped and heal
ed, it was Christ who was the heal
er. At best, I only introduced them
to the healer. I could give them
only what I had to give.
BY WHAT AUTHORITY?
A man who had been lame from
birth was healed so that he could
walk. But, instead of celebrating
the man’s healing, the religious
authorities were upset by what Pe
ter and John had given the lame
beggar. Instead of “Praise the
Lord!”, they said to Peter and
John, “By what power or by what
name did you do this?” (4:7). All
too often die churches have asked
the same question. Instead of re
joicing over the wonderful deeds
done in Jesus’ name, they have
questioned the doers’ credentials.
Peter was just as incredulous as
we are today; “Rulers of the peo
ple and elders, if we are being ex
amined today concerning a good
deed done to a cripple, by what
means this man has been healed,
be it know to you all . . . that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazar
eth . .. this man is standing before
you well” (4:8-10). Peter and John
did not heal the cripple, but Christ
did. They merely introduced him
to the Healer. That’s all they had
no money, no stature, no power
of their own just an introduc
tion to Jesus Christ.
And that is something we can
all give to help in healing the
brokenness of others.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrala Review Building
IE. Mein St
EphraU, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Panning, Inc.
A Sttkvrmn Entupriu
Robert Q. Campbell General Manager
Everett R Nawawangar Managing EdNor
Copyright 1995 by LuteMu Fuming