AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 2, 1995
OPINION
When I Was A Kid!
When I was a kid
I used to think,
Coke was something
Made to drink.
Pot wasn’t something
Puffed into your head.
We had a pot on the stove
And one under the bed.
And crack was found
In ’most every plate.
Speed was put on
When we were late.
Words like “getting a fix”
Were never spoken,
When we heard “fix"
Something was broken.
When we did wrong
Mom took no excuse.
We were punished with love
Now, it’s child abuse.
I head of a crash on Wall
Street
When I was only six
I thought somewhere a wall
fell down
And the street was full of
bricks.
Northeast Lamb Pool, Troy Sales
Bam. 9 a.m. grading, 3 p.m.
sales.
Pennsylvania Quarterhorse Asso-
jpringh id.
Agronomy Ag Service School,
Brynwood Inn, Lewisburg, 9
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Penn State Income Tax Institute.
Nittany Lion Inn, State College,
thru Dec. S.
Tobacco auction season opens.
Paradise.
N.Y. Farm Bureau state annual
meeting, Melville Mariott, thru
Solanco Young Farmers’ meeting.
Cow Comfort, Solanco High
School.
Mid-Atlantic Cooperative Exten
sion meeting (MACE), Univer
sity of Delaware. Newark, Del.,
8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Agronomy Ag Service School,
Sinbad’s Restaurant, Wysox, 9
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Southwest Pennsylvania Hay Auc
tion. Westmoreland Fair
grounds, 11 a.m.
Beginning and Retiring Farmer
Workshop, Bradford County
Extension Office, Towanda, 9
a.m.-3 p.m.
Lancaster DHIA annual meeting
and banquet. Good ’N Plenty
Restaurant, Smoketown, 11:30
After that I think we were poor
But we kids didn’t know it
No one ever said “You’re poor.”
And our parents didn’t show it.
For video, we counted the stars
For audio, we sang a few bars
We had two dishwashers, my
sister and me
We never heard of allowance,
We did it for free.
We played hopscotch
With a piece of slate
And go down the street
On just one skate.
When we rode in our wagon
We felt every bump
It was made from old “stuff’
My brother found at the dump,
Sometimes I wish I could
go back
The old times I could save
And give up all the modem
things
Except my microwave!
Louella Weigand
(supplied by a friend)
❖ Farm Calendar*:*
Mid-Atlantic Tillage Teleconfer
ence, various extension sites,
also Dec. 13.
Agronomy Ag Service School,
Berks County Ag Center, Lees
tjOT^^a j m i -3j3(nJ i m^^^^
Managing Dairy Farms Sympo
sium, Hershey Convention
Center, Hershey, 1 p.m.-4:30
p.m. thru Dec. 8.
Agway regional annual meeting,
Hershey Convention Cento*.
Agronomy Ag Service School,
Lancaster Farm and Home Cen
ter, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Lancaster County Farmland Pre
servation Forum, Farm and
Home Center, 7 p.m.
Westmoreland County Extension
annual dinner meeting, Moun
tain View Inn, Greensburg,
6:45 n.m.
Agronomy Ag Service School,
Quality Inn (Embers), Carlisle.
9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Western Pa. Vegetable and Berry
Da; Ip'
nar. South Carroll High School,
Winfield, Md.. 8 a.m.
Frederick County Ag Society
stockholders meeting, Freder-
berwolf Restaurant, Darren,
N.Y., noon.
To Recruit
Farm Labor
Alan Strode, extension farm
management agent, reminds us
recruiting farm labor is becoming
more important
Many farmers are finding that
recruiting requires more time and
effort. Recruitment is the process
of searching for qualified candi
dates for a job and getting them
interested enough to apply.
Recruiting is not simply getting
numbers of people to fill out job
applications. Instead it is recruit
ing qualified and quality people
who will be an asset to the farm.
They need to bring complemen
tary skills and experiences to the
farm business’s existing labor
pool. The primary objective of the
process should be to create a suffi
cient pool of qualified candidates
from which to choose the best one
to fill the job.
The key is getting enough appl
icants of the type you are looking
for. It is in your best interest to be
clear about what you want and
reflect it in your recruiting efforts.
Also, be sure to emphasize the
advantages of working on your
farm.
To Write
Good Want Ads
The want ads approach to creat
ing a sufficient pool of qualified
candidates for a job has several
advantages, according to Alan
Strock, extension farm manage
ment agent. It is quick, relatively
Farm Employee Management
Seminar, Carlisle Holiday Inn,
also Dec. 20.
Berks/Lehigh Valley Milking
9:45
Seminar, Williamsport Shera-
ton Inn, also Dec. 21.
Winter Meeting of the Pa. Seeds-
men’s Association, Eden
Resort Inn. Lancaster, 10 a.m.
Berks/Lehigh Valley Milking
Schools, Kutztown National
Guard Armory, 9:45 a.m.-3
“Nuisance Concerns With Ameri
can Agriculture In the Com
munity: The Case of Odors,”
Yoder’s Restaurant, New Hol
land, 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
lucsd.n, lUnmlu'i Id
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
Annual Christmas Celebration,
Ephrata High School auditor
ium, 7:30 o.m.
inexpensive and it provides a way
to reach a potentially large
audience.
But newspaper ads may also
have some drawbacks. Many far
mers complain that these ads bring
them many applicants, but none
they would want to hire.
Perhaps the answer to this prob
lem is how the ad is written. Be
very specific in the qualifications
you are looking for in the future
employee. Be very specific in the
job duties, salary range, and fringe
benefits that the future employee
will perform and earn.
Also in the ad, emphasize the
advantages of working on the farm
that is, working outside, work
ing flexible hours, working with
animals and working in a neat,
clean, modem facility that is fami
ly owned.
To Understand
Forage Test Variations
A question which is frequently
asked by many livestock feeders is
how accurate are the lab analyses
of my feed?
Often a farmer will submit
multiple samples of the same feed
to different labs for analysis and
get different results from each lab.
MORE TO FOLLOW
December 3, 1995
Background Scripture:
Isaiah4o Ml
Devotional Reading:
II Corinthians 7 2-7
When life is going well for us,
we tend to forget that suffering
and sorrow are also part of the
human experience—for all of us.
Seasons of prosperity and well
being are followed or even inter
rupted by seasons of pain and suf
fering. For some of us, it is when
we are in the midst of such a sea
son that we are most likely to
encounter and recognize the reali
ty of God and His grace.
This is the background to Isaiah
40:1-11. Fifty years before these
words were- first spoken, the peo
ple of Judah had been carried off
ito captivity by the Assyrians. Jer
usalem and the kingdom were left
destitute and in mins. Those who
survived the forced march were
compelled to start life all over
again in a strange land.
In the midst of this suffering
and despair Isaiah brings a new
message: “Comfort, comfort my
people, says our God. Speak ten
derly to Jerusalem and cry to her
that her warfare is ended, that her
iniquity is pardoned..." (40:1,2). It
is a wonderful message of comfort
that the prophet brings.
GOOD NEWS!
But after the message of com
fort there is also one of challenge:
“In the wilderness prepare the way
of the Lord...” God is offering
redemption, but if they are to
receive it they must respond to the
good news of his grace. If they do,
then “the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed and all. flesh see it
together...” (40:5).
The message of Isaiah 40 was
written to a particular people at a -
particular time and place. But ear
ly Christians saw in it a prophecy
of the Good News of Jesus Christ
So, to all of us, whether as nations
or individuals, when we are hurt
ing and despairing, this message is
still relevant to our situations.
That is why Isaiah 40; 1-11 is read
every year in Advent. As Advent
is symbolic of the dark night of
our human yearning for redemp
tion, so the prophecy of Isaiah is
linked with the incarnation of
According to Dr. Marvin Hall.
Penn State agronomist, the accura
cy of forage analysis is limited by
the weakest link in the analytical
procedure, which is sample collec
tion. Research has shown that the
highest level of accuracy a grower
may expect due to testing proce
dure is plus or minus I.SB units of
crude protein, 2.48 units of acid
detergent fiber, and 4.25 units of
neutral detergent fiber.
With this in mind, a sample
which is split and sent to three labs
which report the crude protein in
the sample as; Lab 1=18.3, Lab 2=
19.4 and Lab 3=18.7 is well within
the normal deviation due to sam
pling procedure.
So why do labs report different
quality when sent the same
sample?
More than likely the samples
were not really the same. Accuracy
of sample collection is the major
cause of different test results.
To help improve accuracy, take
multiple samples and mix them
extremely well before taking a sub
sample for analysis.
Feather Prof. ’s Footnote: "The
effort to reach beyond our grasp is
what makes success a reality."
God’s grace in the birth of Jesus
Christ
In the midst of whatever bro
kenness that has overcome us we
are comforted with is promise of
redemption, that his light will
shine and prevail in ottr darkness,
whatever it may be: personal or
family crisises, community strife,
national danger. There is no mis
fortune or just desserts that we
cannot see through if we are will
ing to accept the grace of God. As
Eugene O’Neill has one of his
characters say, “Man is bom bro
ken. He lives by mending. The
grace of God is his glue!”
GLUE TO MEND
When we have fallen apart or
been run over by adversity, the
grace of God is the glue that fixes
our brokenness. What a promise to
remember whenever we are about
to give up! God comes to us ulti
mately as a shepherd who tenderly
carries his lost sheep. This is a
promise that endures when all
else—including other people—
fails.
But, if we get the message, we
need also to give the message. As
the people of Judah were
redeemed they were expected to
pass on that message: “Get you up
to a high mountain. O Zion, herald
of good tidings; Ifit up your voice
with strength..” (40:9). Advent
comes upon us with the good new
of God’s grace and a call for us to
share the good news: “Comfort,
comfort my people.”
An affluent man sent a sum of
money to another man who had
fallen on hard times. With the
money was a simple note: “This is
yours. Use it wisely. There is more
to follow.” Later, the destitute
man got another envelope, more
money, and a note that said,
“More to follow.” Again and
again the money arrived with the
same assurance. Dwight Moody
comments on the story, saying,
“So it is with the wonderful grace
of God. There is always ‘more to
follow.’”
Lancaster Farming
. Established 1955
PQbtished Every Saturday
EphraU Review Building
lE. Main St.
EphraU, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Sletnman Enterprise
Roberta Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Nawewanger Managing Editor
Copyright 1995 by Lenoesler Penning