AKHancaslf Farming, Sducdayy May-4, 4996
OPINION
We don’t know why the cow was mad. Maybe she was dis
gusted because she picked up a virus somewhere and got sick. Or
maybe she was furious because a news photographer took her
picture when she wasn’t looking her best.
We do know there is no such thing as “Mad Cow Disease.”
This is only an anonym for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE) given by the opponents of agriculture to scare people and
cause economic loss to farmers and ranchers who follow scienti
fically prescribed methods of animal husbandry.
Actually, BSE has no scientific link with Creutzfeldt-Jakob
Disease (CJD), the human brain disorder found in 10 cases in the
United Kingdom over the last two years. According to Dr. Tom
Gomez, the liaison from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service to the Centers for Disease Control and Pre
vention, the cases in the UK are unique in that they varied from
the usual CJD profile and may therefore be a new variant of the
human disease. Differences from the typical symptoms for CJD
include the young age of the persons affected, clinical findings,
and the absence of electroencephalogram features.
“No known risk factors accounted for the 10 cases of CJD,”
Gomez said. “There is no direct evidence, but the most likely link
is eating BSE-infected beef.”
Speaking at the Livestock Conservation Institute’s annual
meeting in Colorado Springs, Gomez emphasized that there is no
scientific data or proof of connection between BSE and CJD.
Still, the announcement that there may be a link sent shock waves
throughout Europe and the British cattle industry. And, of course,
the live cattle futures market in Chicago dropped limit for several
days early in April as the manipulators of public opinion moved
the hysteria here.
When you consider 10 cases of CJD from an unknown source
against the billions of hamburgers, steaks, and roasts that have
been sold and eaten for their excellent, good tasteing, nutritious
food value —what’s for dinner tonight? Beef. Without question.
It’s a lot safer than getting out of bed in the morning.
Adams County Apple Blossom
Festival, South Mountain Fair
grounds, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., thru
May 5.
Delaware Valley Old Time Power
and Equipment Association
Inc. Days of the Past Swap
Meet and Flea Market,
Washington Crossing Stale
Park, Titusville, NJ., 7 a.m.
Md. Sheep and Wool Festival,
Howard County Fairgrounds,
West Friendship, Md., thru
May 5.
Emu Processing Seminar, Pa.
Farm Show Complex, Harris-
Crowning Apple Queen, South
Mountain Fairgrounds, 2:30
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Lancaster County FFA Leadership
22nd Annual Western Pa. Sheep
Beef
For Dinner
Tonight
And Club Lamb Sale, Mercer
County 4-H Park, Mercer, 6
Poultry Management and Health
Seminar,'Kreider’s Restaurant,
Pa. Fair at Philadelphia Park, thru
Blue Ridge Open Sheep Dog Trial,
Sunnybrook Farm, White Post,
Va., thru May 19.
Responsible Use of Animals Con
ference, Double Tree Hotel,
To Sign Up For
Clean and Green
If you have not already enrolled
in Clean and Green for lower tax
assessment, you have until June 1.
1996 to enroll for the 1997 tax
year.
Lancaster County is planning on
mailing out the new tax notices in
mid May. These will be the values
for the 1997 tax year.
Act 319, Clean and Green,
allows farms to be assessed on the
soil’s income-producing ability
instead of market value. This will
mean a substantial tax savings for
farmers. •
If you signed up for Clean and
Green in 1995, you will receive
your Clean and Green assessment
later this summer. You do not need
to do anything now. If you did not
sign up in 1995, you have until
June 1 to participate in 1997.
If you have any questions about
Clean and Green, call our office at
(717) 394-6851.
Remember, you have 30 days to
appeal your assessment once it is
mailed from the county. To appeal
your values, contact the Lancaster
County Assessment office at (717)
299-8381.
To Register
Water Use
John Hoffman, Pennsylvania
Poultry Federation, reminds us
that May 11, 1996 is the deadline
for anyone using more than 10,000
gallons of water per day for any
consecutive 30-day period to
register that use with the Pennsyl
vania Department of Environmen
tal Protection.
The 10,000 gallons includes use
from all sources, including public
water supplies. Typical farming
operations using more than 10,000
gallons of water per day are dairy
operations with more than 200
Victory (ROV) Angus Show,
Maryland State Fairgrounds,
Devon Horse Show Riding and
Driving Classes, Thorncroft
ChampiOTship^
Ceremony, Handicapped Rid
ers Event of the Devon Horse
Show, Devon Horse Show
Grounds, Devon.
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cows, swine farrow-to-fmish oper
ations with more than 2SO sows,
and poultry laying operations with
more than 125,000 chickens.
These figures are based on ani
mal consumption and do not
include water in cleanup, manure
handling and evaporative cooling.
If you did not receive a form and
need to register you may call Har
risburg at (717) 772-4048.
To Evaluate
Losses From Weeds
Robert Anderson, extension
agronomy agent, reminds us that
each weed species has a different
effect on yield and quality.
Taller weeds and weeds that
produce a large amount of biomass
are usually more competitive and
have a greater impact on produc
tion than do smaller'weeds.
Even low populations of weeds
create the potential for producing a
ARE YOU HAPPY?
May 5,1996
ARE YOU HAPPY?
May 5. 1996
Background Scripture:
Matthew 5:1-12
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 1:1-16
I have found that, if you ask
people if they are happy, five out
of 10 will reply, “What do you
mean by ‘happy’?”
Isn’t it strange? Ask anyone al
most any question and you get a
“yes,” “no” or something in-be
tween. But when we ask if they
are happy, many tend to answer
our question with one of their
own. Can you think of a term in
our language that should be more
easily understood then “happy” or
“happiness?”
Yet, I can understand that re
psonse, for I knew all about happi
ness until I started writing about it
today. It all began when I began to
look for a synonym for “blessed”
as in “Blessed are the poor in spirit
..What docs this "blessed” of
the beatitudes mean, I wanted to
know? My Bible dictionaries and
commentaries suggested that
“blessed” as used in the beatit
tudes means “happy” “Happy
are the poor in spirit.” One writer
said that the Greek word which we
render as “blessed” denoted “the
highest stage of happiness and
well-being, such as the gods en
joy.”
Vail*
COMPLETELY SATISFIED
Then I asked myself what hap
piness means and that’s when the
trouble started, for I had already
defined happiness for myself as
being satisfied or contented. So,
am I happy? Well, yes but not
entirely. I am not contented with
the hate, misery and oppression I
find in the world. I am not satis
fied that I have done all I could to
minister to those needs. And so
on. (At that rate, who can be hap
py?)-
Jesus says, “Happy are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). But how
can that be? The kingdom of heav
en is not here yet, not in its full
ness. Jesus also says, “Happy are
those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted” (5:4). The words that
tripped me up here were “shall be”
how can you be happy now if
very large number of seeds which
could, in subsequent years, reduce
crop yields.
Some weed species may cause a
delay in harvesting the crop.
Delays in harvesting could result
in higher crop losses in the field
and a reduction in crop quality.
Some weeds may also add seeds
to the crop during harvest which
must be removed before use. If
those seeds cannot be removed,
they could make the crop
unusable.
Most research points to the need
to achieve at least 95 percent con
trol. However, if harvest efficien
cy, market value, and prevention
of additional weed seeds to the soil
are considered, then weed control
should be in the 98 to 99 percent
range.
Feather Prof.’s Footnote: "A
commitment to excellence will turn
any enterprise into a success."
you will be comforted later?
I found help with these ques
tions in two quotations I dug up.
One of these was from T.S. Eliot’s
play. The Family Reunion: “I feel
quite happy,” Harry said, “as if
happiness did not consist in get
ting what one wanted, or in getting
rid of what can’t be got rid of, but
in a different vision.” Instead of
waiting for things to change be
fore I can feel happy, Eliot’s Har
ry is suggesting that one can be
happy by seeing things different
ly. One doesn’t have to wait for
things to get better, if we can see
our present situation in a different
light in the light of the Gospel.
AS CLOSE AS YOUR NOSE
The second quotation that
helped me was from Josh Billings:
“If you ever find happiness by
hunting for it, you wifi find it as
the old woman did her spectacles,
safe on her nose all the time.” We
go looking to find happiness when
all we need to be happy is already
at hand if only we recognized
it So happiness is not something
that falls on you out of the blue, or
that you catch like pneumonia. It
is not something that is guaranteed
to come with the right gift or ma
terial windfall. It is something we
are carrying around inside of us
and are just too stupid or stubborn
to look.
Isn’t this the happiness that Je
sus promises in the Beatitudes?
The people who are truly happy,
says Jesus, are not those who have
won the lottery, but those who see
life and themselves through differ
ent eyes, with a different scale of
values. That which they prize
most highly is humility compas
sion, love, courage, faith and puri
ty. When we have these qualities
in our lives and recognize them as
the highest good, we ARE happy.
We don’t have to wait for happi
ness to come to us. We already
have it. I may not be satisfied with
the world or even content with
myself, but I am both satisfied and
content to be in God’s hands.
So, are you Happy?
The Althouses will lead a group
to the Holy Land, Oct. 9 to Nov. 2,
1996, Space limited. For informa
tion, write them at 4412 Shenan
doah Ave., Dallas. TX 75025.
Lancaster Farming
EtUMahed 1955
. PObliahad Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
lE. Mala St
Ephrata, PA 17522
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Lancaster Farming, Inc.
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Copyright 1996 by LaneuHr Fanning