■wortw Farming, Saturday, August 31, IMS
“Milking The Children”
And “Chopped Liver”
If a business continues to sell its products below cost or for
only a small, unreasonable profit, eventually the business is
forced!© gftout of business. This, in summary, is how serious the
propel. iflteliminate the authority of die Pennsylvania Milk
ward (PMMB) must be viewed.
The state House of Representatives State Government Com
mittee held a public hearing last week at the Lower Merion
Township building on the PMMB elimination proposal made by
state Rep. Colleen Sheehan, R-King of Purssia in House Bill
2628. In her testimony she called the practice of setting minimum
retail prices for fluid milk “corporate welfare.”
She sited a 67-cent difference in the retail price of a gallon of
milk sold in the same-chain supermarket stores —one in Pennsyl
vania, the other in Maryland which does not have minimum retail
prices for milk. What Rep. Sheehan didn’t say is that Maryland is
losing dairy farms so fast it makes your head spin because they
can’t continue to keep producting milk at a loss any longer. We’re
losing dairy farms in Pennsylvania too. But maybe instead of try
ing to put Pennsylvania in Maryland’s situation, Maryland
should get a milk marketing board or some other means whereby
they can get their price up to Pennsylvania’s and keep their far
mers in business so we don’t have a major famine in the U.S. like
so many other peoples of the world have experienced.
In Pennsylvania there is no farm “cartel” as the opponents of
agriculture would like you to believe. But large organizations
such as the Philadelphia Public School System right in Rep.
Sheehan’s own back forty might deserve such a city label. Last
year they negotiated a lower price for their school lunch milk
from the PMMB. But did they pass this savings to the kids and
their families Rep. Sheehan is so concerned about? No! The
school district made $1,500,000 in new money from the lower
price of their milk to be absorbed unnoticed into the system’s
huge deficit. The school district makes 100 percent profit based
on the cost of the sale of milk to students and in addition the
schools get state and federal reimbursements on meals served
containing milk.
Turning the tables on Rep. Sheehan’s testimony at the hearing,
who would you say is really “milking the children,” and who is
being treated like “chopped liver”? And all these disparaging
remarks about agriculture in a state where bottled water sells for
nearly three times the price of milk.
Juniata County Fair, thru Sept 7.
Mon Valley 4-H District Dairy
Shr F r Cot
Timonium.
Cambria County Fair, thru Sept. 7.
Spartansburg Community Fair,
Show, Timonium.
Waterford Community Fair, thru
Sept. 7.
West Alexander Fair, thru Sept. 7.
Ox Hill Community Fair, thru
Claysburg Farm ShowTUmiSept
7.
Jamestown Community Fair, thru
Bellwood-Antis Farm Show, thru
Sept. 7.
Luzerne County Fair, thru Sept 8.
Outstanding Farm Family awards
banquet Fleetwood Grange
OPINION
❖ Farm Calendars
“Keeping th Farm in the Family,”
Wayne County Extension
>ffi'' Cr H 92
14.
40th Annual Thurmont & Emmits
burg Community Show. Thur
mont, Md., thru Sept 8.
Mason-Dixon Historical Society
Steam and Gas Roundup Show
Days, Carroll County Farm
Museum.
Wes^&ntral4-fSHRADismS
Dairy Show, Lycoming County
Fairgrounds.
Northwest District Dairy Show,
Crawford County Fairgrounds,
Meadville.
Bradford County “How to Identify
Trees,” Courthouse Annex,
Montrose, 9:30 a.m.-4 o.m.
>ep\
Bradford County 4-H Advisory
Community Meeting, Exten
sion Office, 7:30 p.m.
To Evaluate
Alfalfa Fields
It is always difficult for a farmer
to decide when to rotate an estab
lished alfalfa field into another
crop, according to Robert Ander
son, extension agronomy agent.
The best time is probably in ear
ly spring when the plant is starting
to break winter dormancy. Howev
er, delaying the decision that long
may put the grower in a bind for
ordering seed, fertilizer, and plan
ning the year’s production of
crops.
The earlier the decision to rotate
a Held to another crop is made, the
easier the planning is.
Farmers may assess the health
of a alfalfa field between the last
two harvests for the season by
counting the number of stems per
square foot Counting the number
of stems rather than the number of
plants gives a good indication of
the relative health of the plant
Alfalfa fields with 55 or more
stems per square foot produce
maximum yields. When the num
ber of stems per square foot
declines to4o, the yield potential is
reduced by 25 percent Economic
data suggests when yields drop by
25 percent it is time to rotate the
alfalfa field to another crop.
If fields are checked between
the last two harvests of the year,
marginal fields may be identified
for rotation and appropriate plans
made.
To Control Weeds
In New
Alfalfa Seedings
Weed management at establish
ment or in the seeding year is
critical to ensure a healthy, vigor
ous stand.
However, there are several other
cultural control practices that will
help forages compete against
weeds including proper liming and
fertilizing, selection of a well
adapted long-lived variety, plant
ing weed-free seed, selecting a site
with good soil drainage, and
avoiding poorly drained fields.
Others include selection of a
disease-resistant or disease
tolerant variety, timely control of
insect and weed pests, and follow
ing a good cutting schedule during
the life of the stand.
Dr. Bill Curran, Penn State
Agronomy Department, gives the
following guidelines on weed
competition with alfalfa.
First, most of the damage from
liu'sdas. Si'ptfmlHT 10
Ephrata High School Young Far
mers, cafeteria, mentors’ prog
ram, young farmer and school
district reps. Ephrata High
School, 7:30 p.m.
Albion area Fair thru Sept. 14.
Denver Community Fair thru Sept.
14.
(Turn to Page Alt)
weeds in forages is from winter
annual weeds in early spring. Sec
ond, die grass weeds are more
competitive against legumes than
are broadleaf weeds. Third, any
w&d which emerges at the same
time as the alfalfa will usually cre
ate more problems. Fourth, the
weeds which emerge during the
first 60 days after planting will
cause more competition than
weeds which emerge after 60 days.
However, late emerging weeds
may influence forage quality.
To Know
Alfalfa Weed
Control Products
One of the most effective times
to use a herbicide in an alfalfa field
is in the seeding year. After that,
alfalfa should be able to compete
with weeds other than winter annu
al weeds, such as chickweed, mus
tard, and a few others.
Chemical control of weeds in
HOW GOOD IS
“THE BEST”?
September 1. 1996
HOW GOOD
IS *THE BEST 7
September 1, 1996
Background Scripture:
II Kings 18 through 20
Devotional Reading:
Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Apparently, the writers of the
biblical books that chronicle the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah held
most of the kings of these two na
tions in no higher esteem than
many of us view the politicians of
today. One after another they are
condemned: “And he did what
was evil in the sight of the
Lord..(ll Kings 21:2a). This
was a reference to Judah’s King
Manasseh, who succeeded Heze
kiah, but it was also said of most
of those who came before and af
ter him.
One outstanding exception is
Hezekiah, who became King of
Judah at the age of 25 and ruled,
for 29 years: “And he did what
was right in the eyes of the
Lord..." (II Kings 18:3). And :
“He trusted in the Lord the God of
Israel; so that there was none like
him among all the kings of Judah
after him, nor among those who
were before him” (18:5).
What were the fruits of Heze
kiah’s trust in the Lord? First, he
reformed Judah’s religion, des
troying the pagan idols and places
of worship. “And the Lord was
with him; wherever he went forth,
he prospered. He rebelled against
the king of Assyria, and would not
serve him. He smote the Philis
tines as far as Gaza and its terri
tory, from watchtower to fortified
city” (18:7,8).
A PRAYER ANSWERED
II Kings provides us with two
signal events from the life of He
zekiah. The first is the miraculous
salvation of Jerusalem from the
army of mighty Assyria. Having
already subdued Judah’s cousin,
Israel, Shalamaneser, king of As
syria, began to invade Judah and
capture its cities. Knowing that
Assyria was too much militarily
for Judah, Hezeldah tried to pla
cate them by paying enormous
tribute to him.
But Shalamaneser wasn’t satis
legumes is easiest in alfalfa seeded
without grass. Two products,
Balan and Eptam, are labeled for
use on alfalfa seeded alone as a
preplant incorporated material.
They both do a good job of con
trolling annual grasses and some
broadleaf weeds.
Balan is slightly effective
against duckweed while Eptam is
better on the control of winter
annuals such as mustards, henbit,
and quackgrass.
If you are unsure of the weeds
which may become a problem, a
wait-and-see approach may be
used.
Several good post emergence
herbicides are available for annual
grass and broadleaf weed control
For a listing of products that may
be used, consult the Penn State
Agronomy Guide.
Feather Prof.’s Footnote:
"Nothing lasts forever —not even
your troubles.”
fied with most of Judah and its
treasure; he also wanted Jerusal
em. Shalamaneser calls upon He
zekiah to realize his hopeless posi
tion and surrender the city. His ap
proach is mockingly arrogant:
“Come now, make a wager ... I
will give you two thousand horses,
if you are able on your part to set
riders upon them” (18:23). So He
zekiah prays and consults Isaiah
the prophet who tells him not to be
afraid because God himself will
cause Shalamaneser to return to
Assyria without attacking Jerusal
em. He also prophecies the violent
death of the Assyrian king.
The second major event is He
zekiah’s miraculous healing from
a sickness that had already been
pronounced as terminal. Despite
this prophetic prognosis, Heze
kiah prayed for healing and Isaiah
came to him with the good news
that God was granting him another
15 years of life!
NOT PERFECT
But, for all Hezekiah's virtue
and reform, he was not a perfect
man. He made some mistakes and
the last view that we get of him is
disappointing. Following his re
covery, Babylonian envoys come
to visit him. Flattered and eager to
impress them, he shows them vir
tually every treasure which Judah
still possessed.
What was wrong with this and
why did he incur Isaiah’s displea
sure? Because it would seem that
his deliverance by God had made
him proud instead of humble. His
pride rested upon material trea
sures, not faith in the Lord. So
Isaiah tells him that Judah would
be carried away into Babylon and
his own sons would suffer
humiliation. But all this would
happen after the death of Heze
kiah!
And that’s where this otherwise
admirable king makes a disap
pointing response: “‘The word of
the Lord which you have spoken is
good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not if
there will be peace and security in
my days?’” (20:19). Informed of
this great disaster to Judah and his
own family, he rejoices that at
least it won’t happen to him!
Even the best of us are anything
but perfect
Lancaster Farming
Established 19SS
Published Every Saturday
Ephraim Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
Robert G. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newawangar Managing Editor
Copyright 1996 by Lancaster Farming