AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 25, 1996 OPINION Neighborly Farm Odors The conflict continues between owners of new homes located close to farms where normal operations may cause offensive odors. Should the non-farm neighbors just put up with it, or should the farmers change their practices? Nuisance issues involving farmers and their non-farm neigh bors are not new. As far back as 1965, farm publications were talking about the possibility of landing in court if your manure odors were offensive to your neighbors. Today, more people are opting to move out of the city to the country, and the number of animals kept on many farms has increased drastically. A recent conference sought to get a handle on what could be done to bring the two sides together. Of course, education and communication were at the top of the list of solutions. A program to let new home buyers know about agriculture operations before they buy the home could be started in the local community. Include with this information a discussion about the right to farm law. Handouts about what to expect from country living could be distributed by real estate agents for new rural home buyers. One of the most important negative aspects of education about rural life comes from the “Old MacDonald” representation in commercials and other public presentations. We need to revamp this image to portray modem, typical farming scenes. Farm tours should be combined with processing plant, grocery distribution centers, and animal research center tours. If you host a farm tour point out how you minimize other problems, such as flies, water quality concerns, and the appearance of the farm. Many odor complaints arise as the result of other concerns about the operation. By managing all areas of possible concern, odor issues may be minimized. Many times it is the farmer’s attitude that causes the problem. Tell your neighbors you are going to haul pig manure early in the week so the odor will be gone by the next weekend when they are likely to have an outdoor picnic. If you make an effort be to your neighbor what you would want him or her to be to you if your pos itions were exchanged, you will have gone a long way toward eli minating legal problems from odors. Handicapped Riders Event of the Devon Horse Show Riding and Driving Classes, Thomcroft Ceremony, Handicapped Rid ers Event of the Devon Horse Show, Devon Horse Show ere meeting and strawberry breeding showcase, Rutgers Fruit Research and Extension Center, Cream Ridge, NJ. Philadelphia County Fair, thru June 9. Southeast Pa. Twilight Fruit Growers meeting, James Rodi chok Farm, Tower City, 6:30 p.m. Mifflin County dairy princess pageant, Belleville Lutheran Church, Belleville. North East Interstate Dairy Com pact meeting, Bradley Hall, **• A fy**} > ♦ Farm Calendar* ..... x . *• Kricla\. M;i\ 31 Saluitla\, June 1 Mid-Atlantic Highland Associa tion Sth Annual Highland Cattle Show, Ganett County Fairgrounds; in conjunction with Garrett County McHenry Highland Festival. Bradford County dairy princess pageant. Northeast Elementary School, Rome, 8:15 p.m. Huntingdon County dairy princess pageant, Juniata Valley Elementary School, Alexandri a. 8 p.m. Berks County Wool Pool, Lees- ment, Piney Branch Golf and Country Club, Hampstead. Jefferson County dairy princess pageant, Jefferson County Ser- Workshop, Lebanon County Extension Office, 9 a.m.-3;30 and Kathy Holin’, Jefferson, Md.. 10 a.m.-noon. To Combat High Feed Prices Dairy fanners are in the busi ness of converting feed into milk. According to Glenn Shirk, extension dairy agent, feed-related costs represent more than half the cost of producing milk. The drastic increases in feed prices over the past months have forced dairy far mers to make some very important decisions. When com prices nearly double, producers scramble for alternative feeds. Consequently, the alterna tive feeds become scarce and expensive. Thus, you need to help cows make the best use of all feeds they consume so more nutrients end up as milk in the tank or flesh on the cow and less as expensive fertilizer in the gutter or wasted feed. To help accomplish this, keep rations properly balanced. Also, feed and care for cows so their rumens stay healthy and function at peak efficiency 24 hours a day. To Look At Cropping Systems Glenn Shirk, extension dairy agent, says you may want to con sider some changes in your crop ping system in view of the current high feed prices. You may want to grow more grain crops for a year or two to maximize total farm profit. Either rent more land or grow less forage. If you farm more land, consider hiring a custom operator to do some of the fieldwork. This will help to reduce production 5 V Chester County dairy princess Ri*' '.lvillr Gr pagt_ . igh Auditorium, Laysburg, 7:30 p.m. Wayne County daily princess Belmr F ' Hall, Equestrian Center, Malvern. Brandywine Carriage Driving Show, Willowdale, Kennett Square, 8:30 a.m. Antique Tractor and Equipment Collet' ’s Sh( ■ Otey F' Manheim, noon. Northampton/Lehigh county dairy princess pageant, Stockertown Memorial Hall, Stockertown. 7:30 am. (Turaio Pag* A 29) costs and work loads. Reducing forage acreage also reduces total nutrient production and cow-carrying capacity of the farm. This means you might have to purchase more forages, cull some cows, or contract a farmer to raise your heifers. You may want to utilize quickly available home grown feeds by harvesting or grazing small grains and by early controlled grazing of some hay fields. However, be sure not to harm hay stands by Over grazing or by grazing when soils are too wet. To Consider Options To High Feed Prices Glenn Shirk, extension dairy agent, discusses some additional options you may want to consider as strategies for dealing with high feed prices. Feed scarce and expensive feeds to profitable cows only and con tinue to feed and care for them REPOR TING FOR DUTY! May 26,1996 REPORTING FOR DUTY! May 26, 1996 Background Scripture: Matthew 6:S-15;7:7-14; Luke 11:1-13 Devotional Reading: Matthew 7:7-14 Why is it that we do such a poor job of teaching each other how to pray? I can’t recall anyone in church or seminary teaching me how to pray. 1 do remember that some people taught me how to say my prayers, but that’s not the same as praying. Many of the prayers I heard said in church were not real ly prayers—they were perform ances. They remind me of a man in a Quaker meeting, who, according to Rufus Jones, made some announcements before closing with a prayer. But, in the middle of his prayer, he remembered some information he had overlooked. And so he prayed: “Thou knowest, O Lord, that there is plenty of food for all who wish to stay for dinner, and Thou knowest that there is hay in the shed behind the meeting house for all the horses.” TEACH US TO PRAY! So. when the disciples of Jesus come to him, saying, “Lord, teach us to pray,” I can understand why they made this request I’m sure they had heard and said many prayers, but they seem to realize that, whatever else they were doing, they were not praying. And they came to that realization because they saw Jesus praying and they knew something was hap pening when He prayed that did not happen when they prayed. I’m not talking about .being taught the “right” technique— there is none. Jesus condemned a popular technique of his own day: “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles d 0..." (Mt. 6:5). The “how” of prayer has nothing to do with say ing the right words, in the right way. Jesus gives his disciples a simple prayer to teach them how to pray: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; andforgive us our debts as we have forgiven our well. That means culling the less profitable cows. Also, drying off some lower producers (those worthy of keep ing) early will allow them to con sume less expensive feeds. Con tracting someone else to raise your heifers and dry cows will reduce your feed requirements. Remember, you are in the busi ness of converting feed to milk. You cannot do that unless you put lots of feed into cows. The last 10, 20, or more pounds you can squeeze out of a well-cared-for cow is the cheapest and most pro fitable milk you will ever produce. One pound of 11 cent com dry matter ($5.20 per bushel) has the capability of producing 2.5 pounds of 13 cent per pound milk worth a total of 33 cents. But be sure to keep the cow and her rumen healthy and functional and monitor production responses closely. Feather Prof.'s Footnote: "Every problem has a solution. Hang in there andyou willfind it." debtors; and lead us not into temp tation, but deliver us from evil (Mt. 7:9-13). True, we often use these same words—or words very similar— when we pray. But “how” is not in the words, but in the spirit behind the prayer. It is a prayer that is con cerned not only with our daily bread, but also God’s kingdom. There’s nothing wrong with pray ing for our daily bread —we should— but there’s more to pray er than daily bread. There is, as we see in the Lord’s Prayer, praise, thanksgiving, submission to God’s will, receiving and giving forgive ness, a request for guidance and commitment to God’s plan and purpose. THE DAILY BREAD LEVEL I’m afraid my prayers never get past the “daily bread” level. God does care about my daily bread, my safety and well-being, but He also cares about my soul and my place in his kingdom. Once a mother overheard her son praying and she noticed that he was mostly telling God what kind of help he wanted from him. Later, the mother told him, “Son, don’t bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.” So prayer is not just a matter of getting, but also of giving, of sub mitting ourselves to God’s pur pose. It is not a matter of getting him to do what we want, but of offering ourselves to do what He wants. And prayer is much more than words. Senator Jacob Javits used to tell about the little girl who lived next door. She really believed in the power of prayer. When her brother built a trap to catch spar rows. she prayed hard that he wouldn’t catch any. And he didn’t! When her mother asked her, “What made you so sure your prayer would be answered?” the little girl replied: “I went back there three days ago and kicked the trap to pieces!” The Althouses will lead a group to the Holy Land, Oct. (to Nov. 3, 1996. Space limited. For informa tion, write them at 4412 Shenan doah Ave., Dallas, TX 75205. Lancaster Farming Established 1955 POWiahed Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building lE. Main St Ephrata, PA 17522 -by— Lancaster Farming, Inc. a oißmWt crwppnw Hobart a CampMl Qanoral Manogor Copyright 199$ by LtneaHtr Faming
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