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OPINION
Future Vision
At the Pennsylvania Council of Cooperatives annual meeting this
week, their executive director. Crystal Smithmyer, presented a heart
felt reportof her experiences with fanners and the farm. In the opening
of her talk she mentioned a visit with Sam Minor a well-known west
ern Pennsylvania dairyman who expressed the desire for the Council to
find the right people to move the industry forward. We pick up the con
versation in Crystal’s own words.
“But what 1 suspect, deep down, is that most of all he (Sam Minor)
cares for the farmer, just like himself, who is just trying to make a good
living while doing what he or she believes their vocation to be.
“I can certainly relate to that. On Sunday, with the incredible golds
and reds of fall unfolding in the trees around us, I walked with my two
young children through the potato fields as we followed their daddy
and the harvester around the fields. This time of year, it’s a daily ritual
that after work or on the weekends, if the wind isn’t too bitter or it isn’t
yet dark, that the three of us trek off to the field with a snack and a drink
for Dad to just spend some time near him as he tries desparately to get
the harvest in before the first snow flies.
“My nearly four year old son, Eli. races up and down the rows, pick
ing up small potatoes and attempting to throw them at his uncles and
their buddies as they ride the harvester and trucks. And my almost two
year old Molly sees life in her own sweet time as we stop to examine
(nearly) every rock and bug and bush before us.
“Their heritage and their future rest in the earth at their feet
But it also rests with each of you who have so courageously accepted
the responsibility of providing leadership to the farming organizations
that support our being on the farm. And so, like Sam, I trust that you
will have the faith and good sense to look ahead and I mean some
distance ahead—and not just a few feet in front of you—to make the
right decisions for the long-term good of your farms, your coopera
tives and their supporting organizations.
“As most of you can tell. I’m pretty young, not yet thirty and still
getting knocked around pretty hard learning life’s tough lessons. One
that I’ve struggled with, and been educated by pretty severely in the
past few years has been this need to look farther ahead, not just at my
feet. When my mom got cancer before she was forty and died before
she was fifty I was filled with this desperation to live life a bit like a
person possessed to get all my living done before it was taken from me.
I was always running around thinking it can’t get any worse, or it can’t
get any better, and you know what? Things would get worse lots
worse. Or I would experience joy unlike I’d never believed possible.
“So what does all this have to do with PCC? As we face some very
difficult decisions about the organization’s future in the coming
months I expect that there will be moments, like a few I’ve had already,
when I stare at the very real possibility that an organization that has
served farmers for over six decades will fold and fade into the wind.
“And there will be other moments, like many I have had in my five+
years with the Council when I am consumed by the excitement and vit
ality expressed through the people that we serve as our work touches
their lives and, truly, hope springs anew for our farms and farmers and
the cooperative community.
“And it will be those moments that will cany me, and others, for
ward as we explore new possibilities and partnerships that will provide
support to the cooperative members.
“As I though about what I would say to you today I attempted to look
critically at this job and the organization to think about what we had
achieved this past year. As I reflected, images of people that I had
touched through this work kept flitting through my mind:
‘The young farmer who had first come to a conference shy and reti
cent, who, now with some training and opportunity stood before my
“new” young farmers and confidently and articulately talked about his
work with the Ag Awareness project and his pleasure in conducting
workshops to the eager educators who wanted to know how they could
share the message of agriculture and cooperatives.
“The youth scholar who went on to be first-alternate in the national
ambassador competition. I had helped coach this young man, and
when he “only” placed second I felt in my heart his disappointment. So
I sent him a copy of Dr. Seus’s “Oh the Places You’ll Go,” and I pray
ed, gave him the hope and confidence to never fear trying to achieve
that which may seem unattainable. And, when, at the closing ceremo
nies of this year’s youth institute he and his fellow lead scholars read
from the book to encourage and inspire the seventy-five youth he had
been charged to lead, I felt that we had indeed served some purpose.
“And finally, I remembered a young woman who with her husband
attended this year’s YCL conference. During the opening segments
when self-introductions were required her looks to the planning com
mittee were lethal for making her talk before the group. And during the
brief moments that she spoke she literally quivered with fright A
metamorphasis truly occured as we watched her get involved and gain
confidence and feel some place to belong in her husband’s farming
world. And my joy knew no bounds when they came to me near at the
end of the conference and said several times that they really
wanted to come back and they had a great experience.
“You folks pay me to do many things as your director, all of them
under the heading of adminstering the program. What that means is
adminstering things like: hope, self esteem, opportunity, direction,
understanding, self confidence and ownership.
“Now if this all sounds a bit mushy and warm fuzzy to you I suggest
that when you sit in your board rooms or offices or ponder while you
milk the cows or plough the fields that those words that I just men
tioned to you are the soul of what you do. And when bottom-line and
(Turn to Page A3l)
To Plant
Cover Crops
Growing cover crops offers
many advantages to the farmer at a
very small cost, according to
Robert Anderson, extension agro
nomy agent
Cover crops help to manage nit
rogen. Depending on the species
used, a cover crop may either add
nitrogen or conserve nitrogen in
the soil.
A legume cover crop may add
80 to 100 pounds of nitrogen per
acre with a value of $25 to $3O per
acre in added fertility alone.
If the soil contains high levels of
nitrogen, a grass cover crop (small
grains) will capture nitrogen and
hold it until the next growing sea
son. Cover crops also make good
feed.
A cover crop harvested as a pas
ture, hay or silage crop makes a
high quality economical feed.
When fed to livestock, they pro
vide additional home grown feed
which reduces the amount of pur
chased feed.
In addition, cover crops increase
the soil organic matter, help to
reduce weeds and reduce soil ero
sion. Cover crops provide all these
benefits at only a few dollars per
acre cost in seed and planting
expenses.
To Attend
Animal Housing Expo
Northeast farmers may leant
mote about how to remodel and
expand their livestock, dairy and
poultry facilities at the fifth annual
Animal Housing Expo.
The expo will be held October
29-30 at the Lebanon Fairgrounds.
Lebanon, PA. It is sponsored by
Penn State Cooperative Extension
and agri-businesses.
Admission is free and the hours
for the expo are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The expo will feature approxi-
❖ Farm ,
Calendar*
S:iliii cl;i\. Octolu-i- 19
Lebanon County Forest Steward
ship Organizational Meeting
and Field Trip, Lebanon Ag
Center, 12:30 pjn.-S p.m.
Fall Harvest and Sawmill Show,
Jacktown Community Center, 7
Cochranville, 7:30 a.tn.
Family Day on the Farm, Mt. Arar
at Farm, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Raindate
agcmcnt Symposium, Marriott-
Harrisburg Hotel, Harrisburg,
thru Oct 23.
AD ADC District 9 meeting, Tally
(Turn ;o Page A2fl)
mately 40 commercial exhibitors,
presentations by nationally known
and local experts and a variety of
educational demonstrations and
exhibits.
Educational topics include odor
control, obtaining building per
mits, milking parlor for every
budget, nutrient management,
greenhouses and other dairy shel
ter alternatives and your family
business goals.
To Control
Diseases in Wheat
Farmers may use a few simple
strategies this fall to help ensure a
healthy stand of wheat according
to Dr. Elwood Hatley, Penn State
agronomist
The first step to a healthy wheat
crop is the selection of a wheat var
iety which is resistant to the com
mon diseases found in the area.
The Penn State Agronomy
Guide lists most of the common
diseases and ranks most of the sold
varieties in the state. Also, planting
wheat during the recommended
time will help prevent diseases.
SITTING ON SCORPIONS
October 20, 1996
SITTING ON SCORPIONS
October 20, 1996
Background Scipture:
Ezekiel 2:1 through 3:2
Devotional Reading:
Ezekiel 3:16-21
From the perspective of history,
it might appear to us that being the
prophet Ezekiel would have been
a rewarding experience. Although
he lived more than 2,500 years
ago, his name is one of the best
remembered in Judeo-Christian
history, his book is one of the
most formidable of all the pro
phets in the Old Testament, and he
had been celebrated in sacred art
and song, including the popular
spirituals. “Ezekiel Saw The
Wheel” and “Dry Bones.”
But Ezekiel probably didn’t see
his role that way. A prophet’s life
is not a bowl of cherries! All of us
should be grateful that God has
not called any of us to be pro
phets! or hasn’t he?
At least God didn’t give Ezekiel
any false expectations. He told
him exactly what kind of life he
was facing: “Son of man, I send
you to the people of Israel, to a
nation of rebels, who have
rebelled against me ... The people
also are impudent and stubborn”
(Ezekiel 2:3,4). Can you imagine
how a ministerial candidate would
respond if he were told that by his
bishop or ecclesiastical superiors?
It might be enough to make him
reconsider his vocation. And in
God’s call to Ezekiel he character
izes the people of Israel as a
“rebellious house” three times,
using the terms “rebels” and
“rebelled against me” once each.
Not an inviting prospect
BE NOT AFRAID
But God tells Ezekiel that he is
not to let this stand in his way.
“And whether they hear or refuse
to hear (for they are a rebellious
house) they will know that there
has been a prophet among them.
And you, son of man, be not afraid
of them nor be afraid of their
words, though briars and thorns
are with you and you sit upqn
scorpions” (2:6). Being God’s'
prophet is going to be a painful
Wheat that is planted too early
has a greater potential to become
infected with several diseases.
Cold weather will kill rust but has
little effect on powdery mildew.
When mildew becomes a prob
lem in the fail, most of the time it
will return full force in the spring.
Fungicide treatment of wheat will
control powdery mildew.
Fields which were planted with
seed treated with a fungicide out
performed those not treated. How
ever, the best treatment is still the
use of a mildew resistant variety.
On the other hand it is just as
important not to delay planting.
When wheat or any crop is
planted too late, it may not have
sufficient time for growth to with
stand cold winter weather. If wheat
is planted late, it is recommended
that the seeding rate be increased
by 30 percent to help offset the
winter plant loss.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote:
“Respect cannot be learned, pur
chased or acquired - it can only be
earned."
experience.
Sometimes the tasks to which
God calls us is like sitting on
scoipions. Given a choice, we
might prefer the scorpions. Maybe
it is a matter of saying something
that should be said, but is not like
ly to be received gladly. Years ago
at a wedding reception. I was
introduced to a man by a mutual
friend who said, “Larry, this is
Judge Blank” (not his rad name),
“he’s the guy who keeps the nig
gers in their place here.” Shocked,
I shook the offered hand in
silence, knowing I should say
something, but not wanting to
embarrass my friend in public.
CONSEQUENCES
Many times since then I have
thought about what as a Christian I
should or might , have said. That
opportunity to speak as a Christian
had came and went and I failed to
speak because I didn’t want to
rock the boat. It was only many
years later that in a similar situa
tion my remorse over that incident
enabled me to say that I found
another remark offensive. And I
survived the experience!
There are lots of times in life
when God wants us to speak or
act, but we are held back by our
fear of the consequences what
people will think or say or do.
People, we think, will not like us,
and often we are right in think
ing that But God says to us what
he said to Ezekiel: “And you shall
speak my words to them, whether
they hear or refuse to hear” (2:7).
In other words, the results of
our witness are in God’s hands,
not ours. If people do not respond
positively to our witness, that is
between them and God. It would
be gratifying if they did, but if not,
that isn’t the end of our world. Far
better for us to do God’s will and
be rejected by others, than for us
to curry their favor and thereby
offend the Lord.
It is better to sit on scoipions
and contend with briars and thorns
than to fail to do or be what we
know God wants of us.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Bphreta Review Building
1 B. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Fanning, Inc.
A Stelnman Enterprise
Roberta. Campbell General Manager
Everett R. Newawanger Managing Editor
Copyright 1996 by Lancaster Farming