AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 7, 1996
OPINION
Replace Speculation
With Observation
If you want to get ahead in the dairy business, you need to
replace speculation with observation. To fill in the gaps of what
you don’t know about a sutiation, you need to gather the facts
rather than suppose what you think is true.
Managers of successful organizations deal with what is called
critical success factors (CSF’s). These concepts in the managers’
minds are the things they continually watch to see that their oper
ations are successful. By watching successful managers, these
CSFs can be identified.
Bill Heald in Penn State’s dairy and animal extension says that
for dairy fanners, two CSFs are daily dry matter intake and daily
milk producton. Farmers that calculate and record these daily and
make notes of what imparted the daily outcome continue to make
improvements. These improvements are at the heart of a dairy
operation’s profitability. Feed is approximately half the cost of
producing milk, and milk often generates 90% of the farm
income.
When dry matter intake per milk yield is fine-timed, the herd is
working near maximal efficiency. It is like fine-tuning a carbure
tor on a gas engine or adjusting the oxygen and acetylene on a cut
ting torch. Today’s cows have the genetic potential to produce
thousands of pounds more than they are currently. Therefore,
today’s cows must need fine-tuning.
If you speculate that today’s dry matter intake and milk pro
duction per cow is about the same as yesterday’s and everything
is OK, you can’t pinpoint daily environmental factors impeding
production. In turn, you can’t make important management
changes to fine-tune production efficiency.
So you need to replace speculation with observation. Keep
records. Gather the critical facts. Daily record the bulk tank milk
weights divided by the number of cows in production and the
amount of feed consumed.
In other words, replace speculation with observation!
West Central 4-H/FFA District
Dairy Show, Lycoming County
Fairgrounds.
Northwest District Dairy Show,
Crawford County Fairgrounds,
Meadville.
Bradford County “How to Identify
Trees,” Courthouse Annex,
Show Series, Grazing Acres Farm,
Green Township Community
Association Fair thru Sept. 14.
Bradford County 4-H Advisory
Community Meeting, Exten
sion Office, 7:30 p.m.
Poultry Management and Health
Seminar, Kreider’s Restaurant,
Manheim. noon
Tuesday, Seplemhir 10
Ephrata High School Young Far
mers, cafeteria, mentors’ prog
ram, young fanner and school
district reps, Ephrata High
School, 7:30 p.m.
Albion area Fair thru Sept. 14.
Denver Community Fair thm Sept
14.
Sinking Valley Fair thru Sept. 19.
Grazing Management Meeting.
Byerly Bros. Farm, Rt, 15,6:30
p.m.
Lehigh CountyTwiUgntPotato
Field MEeting, Donald E. Lich
tcnwalner Farm, Macungie,
27th Annual American Gold Cup,
Devon Show Grounds, thru
Sent. 15.
❖ Farm Calendar*:*
Friday, September 13
The Great Frederick Fair thru Sept.
(Turn to Page A3O)
Editor:
With the passage of the state
budget. New York farmers won
much needed property tax relief.
That’s important to fanners across
the state because our property tax
es are four times the national aver
age and the highest of the coun
try’s 40 agricultural states. The
viability of the state’s number one
industry agriculture is im
portant to the state economy and
to working men and women all
around the state. This measure
will also benefit mral areas and
cities all across Upstate New York
and Long Island. That’s because
the tax relief that farmers see will
be spent locally, at places like
computer stores, machinery
shops, hardware stores, farm
equipment dealers, car and truck
dealerships, lumberyards, and
feed mills.
The 26,000-member New York
Farm Bureau waged an all out,
grassroots campaign to win pas
sage of legislation that would
lighten the heavy property tax
load paid by the state’s farm fami
lies. The new program which will
bring school taxes down for farm
ers through a refundable tax credit
To Estimate
Corn Yields
According to Robert Anderson,
extension agronomy agent, one
way to estimate com yields before
harvest time is to count the number
of good ears in 1/I,oooth acre.
Within this area, hand harvest
every fifth year. Count the number
of rows of kernels on each ear and
determine the average number of
rows per ear. Next, count the num
ber of kernels per row on each of
these ears. Do not count the ker
nels on the tip or butt of the car that
are less than one half the size of the
normal kernels on the ear.
Next, calculate the average
number of kernels per row. The
yield in bushels per acre may be
determine by multiplying the num
ber of good ears per 1/I,oooth acre
by the number of rows of kernels
by the average number of kernels
per row, then divided by 90 to
determine the yield.
To Know
Soybean Maturity
Mike Brubaker, Brubaker Agro
nomic Consulting, reports soy
beans need 30 to 40 days between
end of bloom and first killing frost
to reach maturity.
End of bloom is determined by
the appearance of small pods in the
top of the plants. Once soybean
mm ■ *'i
Forum *
* /
level, thereby assuring
no shirt of the tax burden to non
farmers.
This new law would never have
seen ihe light of day without the
relentless efforts of Governor
George Pataki. He initiated the
proposal and it kept alive because
he knows the tough times New
York farmers are having staying
competitive and profitable, and
the tough times that rural econom
ics arc feeling.
The state’s farmers owe a huge
thank you to Governor Pataki. We
also thank the Agriculture Chairs
who first brought the issue to state
lawmakers several years ago. As
semblyman Bill Parment and State
Senator Randy Kuhl, and Senate
Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who
himself introduced a farm omrw*r.
ty tax relief proposal, earlier this
year.
The farm property tax relief
measure is historic the most
important piece of state legislation
for farmers this century. It’s long
overdue and an economic stimulus
that will fuel the recovery of agri
culture and the state economy.
John Lincoln
President
New York Farm Bureau
leaves are turning yellow, they
have reached maturity. If frost hits
after that, there should be no sig
nificant yield reduction.
Full-size soybeans will continue
to mature after frost. As with com,
frost damaged soybeans do not dry
as well in the field as normal
mature soybeans. Combine cylin
der speed may need to be increased
to properly thresh the tougher pods
caused by higher moisture.
To Find IPM
Info on WWW
Computers and telephone lines
now make it possible to move
information quickly. Farmers may
now access Integrated Crap Man
agement (IPM) information from
lowa State University on the
World Wide Web (WWW).
For several years, farmers have
been receiving crop information
from lowa State via mail. Because
lowa’s weather is very similar to
*^+X/
BY LA^S^^^^)USE
Mf mag
sn
FINDING THE BOOK
September 8, 1996
FINDING THE BOOK
September 8, 1996
Background Scripture:
2 Kings 22 through 23:20
Devotional Reading:
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
King Hezekiah, as we observed
last week, was one bright excep
tion in a long and dreary list of
Judean and Israelite kings who led
their kingdoms into ruin and
oblivion.
There is one more exception to
this all-too-general rule: King
Josiah who reigned over the
southern kingdom of Judah from
621 to 590 B.C. “And he did what
was right in the eyes of the Lord,
and walked in all the ways of
David his father, and he did not
turn aside to the right hand or to
the left” (2 Kings 22:2). Josiah is
remembered as one of the greatest
reformers in Old Testament
history.
The reform started with a
reconstruction project. Apparent
ly, because of the spiritual lassi
tude of the people, the temple had
slid into serious disrepair. It had
become just one of a great number
of places of worship in the king
dom. These rival shrines were
dedicated not to god, but to pagan
deities that sometimes were wor
shiped along with the Lord.
THE BOOK OF THE LAW
So, the first recorded act of
King Josiah is the project to
restore the temple of the Lord in
Jerusalem, an extensive project
that cost a great deal of money.
When the king sent emmisaries to
the high priest, Hilkiah, to inquire
whether there was enough money
to pay the contractors and work
ers, we see a monarch who is con
cerned about people— in this
case, the workers who have work
ed so hard to restore the temple.
He not only was concerned about
them, but hie trusted them as well:
“But no accounting shall be asked
from them or the money which is
delivered into your hand, for they
deal honestly” (22:7).
Upon receipt of this inquiry
from King Josiah, the high priest
revealed that “I have found the
book of the law in the house of the
Lord” (22:8). It is implied that the
book— actually a scroll— had
been lost and was then found by
accident This scroll is believed to
Pennsylvania’s, many of the prob
lems found in lowa’s crops show
up in Pennsylvania at the same
time.
The newsletter from lowa con
tains information on insects, dis
eases, management strategies, fer
tility. and other topics of interest.
Under the web. the information
will be available to the user two
days after it is written. This is the
same day the hardcopy goes to the
printer.
lowa Cooperative Extension
estimates by using the WWW, far
mers will receive the information
six days earlier than the hard copy
method. The information on die
network will include the same col
or photographs which are included
in the hard copy. This information
may be found at:
http://www.ipm.iastaie.edu/ipm.
Feather Prof.’s Footnote: "Per
sistence prevails when all else
fails."
be the earliest form of the present
book of Deuteronomy. Apparently
it contained commandments about
which the people had long
forgotten.
Actually, the demands of the
newly-found scroll were so radi
cal, that the whole nation was
indicted by them. The way they
had been living, individually and
corporately, has been seriously
out of step with what God had
long ago revealed to their fore
fathers. So striking is the contrast
that, “when the king heard the
words of die book of the law. he
rent his clothes" (22:11). Tearing
one’s clothes was an ancient sym
bolic act indicating guilt or
remorse.
GOD’S WRATH
When King Josiah read the
scroll, he was appalled to realize
how much he and his people were
failing to live by God’s command
ments. To confirpi its legitamacy,
he sent representatives to Huldah,
a prophetess who would know the
truth of the matter. Huldah minced
no words — great calamity would
fall on the nation “Because they
have forsaken me and have burned
incense to other gods...therefore
my wrath will be kindled against
this place” (22:17). But Huldah
also said that, because the king
had shown such abject repentance
upon reading the scroll, the terri
ble prophesy would be fulfilled
only after he died.
Josiah is a more conscientious
king than Hezekiah. Instead of
rejoicing that the prophesy
wouldn’t be fulfilled in his life
time. he decided to reform Judah,
assembling all the people, reading
the scroll in their presence and
then, with them, making a coven
ant to live by the newly-found law
of God. Thereupon Josiah rooted
out all the pagan idols and sacred
places of Judah.
Reform is no less possible
today than in the time of Josiah.
Like the people of his time, we
may not see a need for it But
whenever we rediscover the Word
of God and we take it to our hearts
we find a compelling need to
change. And the Book that can
awaken us. unlike the scroll in
Josiah’s time, is not lost— just
ignored.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturdsy
Ephraim Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Bphrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Farming. Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Robart Q. Cimpball Qanaral Managar
Evamtt R. Nawawangar Managing Editor
Copyright 1996 by Lancaster Farming