♦t- w n , Thi'f? rt'niif j AlO-Lancaster Farming) Saturday, May 17, 1997 Farmers Need To Tell Their Story While ag security areas are made to help insure that a farmer can perform the normal farming practices in his operation, all problems with neighbors are not eliminated. You still need to work with your non-fann neighbors in a neighborly way. Carl Shaffer, vice president of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and president of the Ag Awareness Foundation, has some definite ideas along this line. Even though he farms in ag security areas in Columbia County, he still keeps communication open with neighbors by informing them if the cultivating machinery and tractors are going to be raising the dust. And he spreads the waste water from a pet food company on fields not located close to local homes where the odor may be a nuisance. If the neighbors want corn stalks to decorate the house in the fall, they may take them. And they may walk the fields in search of arrow heads before the crop is planted. Shaffer raises 300 acres of green beans, so the neighbors get to pick some of them too. It’s cheap public relations. The Foundation helps too. They are placing a set of slides about agriculture in each county agent’s office for use by farmers who get the opportunity to speak at a civic meeting. And with the Ag In The Classroom program now reaching 100 teachers each year, information is getting to the right source for grades K through 6 to become acquainted with farming in a positive way. Farmers don’t often think of themselves as public relations persons. But think about it, farmers are the most creditable source of information about their occupation. They need to tell their story wherever they have the opportunity. Children: A Kaleidoscope of Opportunity, Lebanon Career and Technology Center, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mercer County 4-H Market Lamb Weigh-In, Mercer 4-H Park. Idlewild Ruritan Plow and Field Day, Bridgeville, Del., 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; raindate May 24. Pa. Emu Farmers Association Annual Spring Seminar, Farm and Home Center, Lancaster, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mastersonville Volunteer Fire Company All You Can Eat Breakfast, Fire Company, Man heim. 6 a.m.-until ? 111 i 111 rfci hi im Siiii(l;i\, Ma\ IS Using Green Cleaners In The Home, Fulton County National Bank and Trust Theater Build ing, McConnellsburg, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Lancaster County Honey Produc ers Association meeting, home of Barbara and Dale Beiler, Strasburg, open hives 6:30 p.m., meeting 7:30 p.m. Farm Financial Standards Semi nar, Carroll Community Col- lion Spring Sale, Mercer 4-H Park. \\ i (liu s(la> ■ Min 21 Water Conservation Wellhead Protection Seminar, Fulton County National Bank and Trust Theater Building. OPINION OU‘ ti< * * / '< > if Wr'k/r ; x t - -*- ■• ■< > <■■ - :i.S**JTB!K* ->M> ❖ Farm Calendar*:* Butler Fairgrounds, also May Atlantic National Angus Show, Md. State Faigrounds, Timo- Thomcroft Handicapped Riders Event of Devon Horse Show, Riding and Driving, Equitation, FMI, Thomcroft, Malvern, other events continued May 25. Northwest Keystone Junior Beef Championship Class and Awards Ceremony, Handicapped Rid ers Event of Devon Horse Show, Devon Horse Show W t'diK'sdin, i\Ln 28 Ihms(hi\. M;n 29 Philadelphia County Fair, Fair mount Park, Philadelphia, thru June 8. Nutrient Management Town M< Dali Club 12th Annual Show. Kempton Community Center, Kempton. thru June 1. Southeast Regional Fruit Meeting. Dunn’s Fruit Farm, New Ring gold, 6:30 p.m. Pasture Walk and Conservation Tour, Samuel K. King Farm, ♦ 4*£>* « We-** MVtV.AW* ,AVUAVAK To Sign Up For Clean And Green If you did not sign up for Clean and Green last year and you saw a big increase in your spring taxes, you may want to consider signing up for Clean and Green. The deadline for signing up for the 1998 tax year is June 1, 1997. Clean and Green is a preferen tial tax program for farmers that allow the county to determine real estate values on farms based on income potential instead of market value. For most farms in Lancaster County, this means reducing the value of your land by at least $4,000 per acre. This could mean a reduction of taxes by at least $6B per acre. Once you are enrolled in Clean and Green, you do not have to enroll again. If the use of the land changes from farming, the person making the change is liable for rollback taxes up to seven years plus interest For more information on Clean and Green and an application form, contact the Lancaster Coun ty Cooperative Extension Office at (717) 394-6851. To Control Burcucumber According to Robert Anderson, Lancaster County extension agro nomy agent, burcucumber has become a problem weed for many com and soybean farmers in south central Pennsylvania. Burcucumber is a summer annu al weed which is difficult to con trol because of its ability to germi nate over the entire growing sea son and from considerably deep in the soil. It has an aggressive growth pattern which allows one plant to grow vines which cover many square yards. This weed may be very devas tating to yields and makes harvest ing almost impossible for both com and soybeans. W. Curran and D. Messersmith, Penn State Agronomy Depart ment, completed a two-year study looking at the effect tillage and herbicide application had on the Gordonville, 10 a.m.-noon DST !• ritla\, .I line 6 Saturday .Imu* 7 Special Dair\ Issue Ride and Drive at Reinecke Fuchs Farm, noon. Bucks-Montgomery Cooperative Wool Pool, Delaware Valley College, Doyles town. Pa. Equine Council Allegheny Trail Ride, thru June 8. Ccntre/Clinton County Day Camp, Clinton County Fairgrounds. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Cambria County Farm Safety Day, Fairgrounds, Ebensburg, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. control of burcucumber. They con cluded that tillage can affect bur cucumber control. In two of the three locations, no till controlled more of the burcu cumber than moldboard plowing and chisel plowing. Regardless of the tillage system, post applica tions of herbicides were more effective than preemergence applications. If you have burcucumber prob lems, consider using a no-dll planting system followed by late postemergent applications of her bicide such as Beacon, Peak, or Exceed. Remember to always read and follow label instructions when using pesticides. To Spot Poisonous Plants Chester Hughes, Lancaster . j -==== o: BY lAWRENCE W ALIHOUSE 'mils SFE •EASY ON THE HALLELUJAHS * May 18, 1997 Background Scripture: Revelation 19 through 20 Devotional Reading: Revelation 19:1-10 Some time ago I saw a piece in the newspaper about two men who got into a fight and were arrested by the local police for disturbing the peace. What was unusual and shocking about this incident is that the men began by arguing over the Book of Revelation! One of them was a premillenarianist and the other a postmillenarianisL It was their violent disagreement over the so-called “thousand-year reign of Christ” that brought them to blows. While I don’t claim to know for a certainty what reaction John ex pected from the readers of his Re velation, I do not think that Chris tian division was his aim. Unfor tunately, people have used the book of Revelation to divide the Body of Christ and the controver sy continues into our own time. To me, taking John’s visions as literal descriptions of the end of time is a tragic mistake. For one thing, the visions are too confused and fragmentary to be literal des criptions. Making literal sense of them is like trying to nail jello to the wall! ‘FOREST’ vs. ‘TREES’ Secondly, it is apparent to me that, in interpreting the Book of Revelation, we are always in dan ger of missing the forest for the trees. The details (trees) of John’s visions lead us into bickering and disunity: the overall meaning (the forest) of Revelation is a message of hope in a time of tribulation, the assurance that God in Christ will prevail and we will share in the victory. To me, that is enough; I leave the details, not to the theo logical warriors, but to God. And I take seriously Christ’s admoni tion: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). That means I can read Revela tion 19 and 20 without a millenial timetable. Sufficient for me are the numerous images and symbols of the final victory of Christ Whe ther it happens before or after a thousand year period is not im portant to me; but that God prom- County extension livestock agent, reminds us that Pennsylvania has about 100 toxic plants to animals. Some of these are responsible for death of numerous domestic livestock every year. Factors con tributing to plant poisoning are starvation, accidental eating, and browsing habits of animals. With houses springing up closer to farms, many farm neighbors are unfamiliar with the plants that are toxic. Following are some common plants that are poisonous to lives tock and should not be tossed over the fence to grazing animals: yew, holly, bracken fern, rhubarb. Engl ish ivy, wild cherry, oak (acorns and young shoots), and mountain laurel. Feather Prof.’s Footnote: "Energy and persistence will con quer all things.” ises it will happen is. I really don’t care to be in on the details which.l am content to leave in God’s hands. But I do need the reassurance that Revelation provides. As a youth, I naively thought that I would see substantial signs of the advancement of the kingdom of God in my lifetime. Now, SO years later, I cannot tell whether the reign of God is closer by an inch or a yard. But at least I know it will not happen during my life time. So, it is particularly import ant for my faith to be able to trust that God’s purpose will be ful filled in his own time. DETAILS, DETAILS I don’t know the details of what the kingdom of God will be, but I am assured by Revelation that there will finally be the justice of God that so eludes us in this life. I am assured that the world will some day be responsive to the love of Christ. And all those people who have lived and died as vic tims of tyranny will at last be justi fied. The poor will no longer be poor and the rich will no longer be rich at least not in material “things.” The broken will be healed and the empty will be filled. I cannot in my wildest imagina tion conceive of what God’s king dom will be like and I would not be satisfied with anything that I could conceive or author. Nor would I be willing to leave it to any denominational or even ecumenical board. Some years ago I saw a cartoon in the New Yorker. A man and woman were standing and singing in a church pew. The man’s visage was enthusiastic, but his wife ad monished him, “Take it easy on the Hallelujahs, Harry!” The Book of Revelation’s mo mentary glimpse of the glory that is yet to come gives us reason enough not to take it easy on the “Hallelujahs!” (The Althouses will walk in the footsteps of Paul and John of Revelation, leading a tour to Tur key next Oct. 17-Nov. 2. For in formation: "Turkish Delight," 4412 Shenandoah Ave., Dallas, TX 75205/(214) 521-2522.) Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building IE. Main St Ephrata, PA 17522 -by- Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Steinman Enterprise Robert G. Campbell General Manager Everett R. Newewenger Managing Edltoi Copyright 1997 by LoncotUr Forming
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