Alftiancaster Faming, Saturday, June 7, 1997 I OPINION Milk For Dinner More good publicity for the promotion of dairy farms and the products they produce have come from these four words than any other slogan we can think of: June is Dairy Month. People buy products they know. And it’s a good thing they do. The increase in milk production per cow in the last 20 years is amazing. How farmers get their two year-olds to milk 100 pounds per day is always noteworthy. In the old days, the; registered breeders had the good genetics and the high producing cows. But with AI, commercial herds have used the best bulls and the difference between the production and even the type of commercial and registered cows is not that great. All this means we need to sell more milk and at a better price. And the milk promotion groups try to do this and do a good job. And a lot of dollars go into research of new products. But we must say, the new products that are developed with good consumer acceptance are slow to come on the market. Why can the grocery stores in Holland and England have banana milk, strawberry milk, cherry milk, two kinds of chocolate milk and all in contain ers that fit the cola holders in your car? We know some attempts are being made to bring these milk drinks to the U.S. markets. But it seems to us, we should have led the way in these efforts. We hope that with all the mergers and the resulting large players in the dairy industry, new dairy products will find their way into our grocery stores in a more timely way. Nevertheless, June is Dairy Month, and we salute all the dairy farmeres and the industry businesses who help bring milk and milk products, nature’s most refreshing foods, to the dinner tables of America. Farm, noon. Bucks-Montgomery Cooperative Wool Pool, Delaware Valley College, Doyles town. Pa. Equine Council Allegheny Trail Ride, thru June 8. Centre/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. SASDA Annual Meeting, Historic Inn, Annapolis, Md., thru June 11. Huntingdon County Dairy Prin cess Pageant, South Hunting- Beginner-Open Novice. FMI, Thomcroft, Malvern. Specialty Mushroom Woikshop, Nittany Lion Inn, Penn State, thru June 9. Native Plants Tour, Montour Pre- Lion Inn, Penn State, thru June Schantz Farm, Ephrata. FFA Activities Weeks, State Col- lege, thru June 12. Family Dairy Days, Oregon Dairy Farm Market, Oregon Pike, 3 p.m.-7 p.m., thru June 12. Grazing and Pasture Meeting, Bill Dietrick, New Columbia, 7 Carlisle Fairgrounds, 7 Heim, Glenmoore, 7 p.m. Editor: I read your article on sludge application in the May 31 issue with great interest. I agree that this is a contentious issue and many issues and opinions need to be addressed. I think the agricultural com munity needs to view this practice with some scepticism and with an eye to the real value of sludge application. I realize that sounds confusing so let me try to explain. 1. If the amount of organic material that can be applied to soil is limited (I certainly don’t doubt that this is true) then maybe we need to limit sludge application so we are sure we can allocate live stock manure efficiently. 2. If we limit the spreading of sludges, maybe septic owners and Municipalities will have to find alternate methods of sludge dis posal and will become more effi cient in sewage treatment technology. 3. If we are to continue to spread sludge on cropland, maybe we need a fee structure to corres pond to the value of this service. To Salute Dairy Farmers June is Dairy Month—the time of year we salute Pennsylvania’s number 1 agricultural industry. It is a time to put the spotlight on milk and dairy products. Once again Pennsylvania ranked second in the nation in ice cream production. In 1996 the commonwealth’s manufacturers produced 52 million gallons of ice cream. Lowfat ice cream produc tion was 13 million gallons and milk sherbet production was 2.1 million gallons. In addition, Pennsylvania pro duced 79.3 million pounds of but ter and 340.6 million pounds of cheese. This represents a signific ant part of the state’s economy. We say thank you to all the dairy Cooperative New Business Work shop, Harvest Drive Restaurant Lancaster County Holstein Field Day, Ed Hamish Farm, Nine Pageant, Lighthouse Restaur ant, Chambersburg. 7 p.m. Union and Snyder Holstein Club Twilight Meeting, John Rishel’s, Mifflinburg, 7:30 p.m. (Turn to Page A 37) That is, maybe the true value of the sludge isn’t the nutrient value to the fanner, but the removal fee to the septic tank owner of Munic ipality. Therefore, if you own a septic tank, maybe you should also have to own spreading rights to enough ground (as determined by the soil scientists) to properly assimulate your sludge. I suggest #3 has some real potential benefits. 1. The sale or rental of spread ing rights could become an impor tant source of revenue for farmers (shall we say $20,000 as a sale price or $lOOO-2000 per year as rental for a septic tank owner who doesn’t have enough ground to spread his own sludge?) 2. Developers would have to account for sludge disposal when planning developments. 3. Some of folks who have a tendency to complain about dust, corn husks in the yard, etc., might have to reconsider their gripe list if they ate going to have to rent sludge rights. J.W. Temple, DVM Sunbury fanners for making this possible. Wear your milk mustaches with pride! To Reduce Pesticide Drift Spring pesticide applications are made more difficult because it is often windy. Wind may cause microscopic spray droplets to move off target When selecting nozzles you need to consider spac ing, speed, gallons applied per acre, and maximum and minimum pressure. Dropping the pressure below the minimum or raising above the maximum will change the spray pattern. When selecting nozzles a prime consideration should be dro plet size. Droplet size is the key item in causing drift The smaller the dro plet size, the further the spray material will drift To reduce drift, keep the carrier volume up and the pressure down. Select nozzles which will operate and give a good spray pattern at lower pressures and higher vol umes, especially on windy days. By increasing the droplet size ARE YOU SERIOUS, JESUS? June 8, 1997 Background Scripture: I Timothy 6:2b-21 Devotional Reading: I Timothy 6:14-20 Many years ago I saw a British motion picture. Heavens Above!, in which the late Peter Sellers played the part of a naive Angli can priest who took seriously and literally Jesus’s teaching about money. Without meaning to do so. the rector alienated just about everyone in his parish with his ad monitions to share material good with those who were needy. What made the film so whimsical for me was that he didn’t exaggerate or bend the words of Jesus in any way; he simply accepted these teachings at face value. The movie audience laughed heartily at Sellers’ character, but I suspect that most uf were laughing at ourselves as well. For we are of ten the ones who fail to take Jesus seriously, particularly when tak ing him seriously would interfere with something we want to do or not to do. Like sharing our mater ial wealth with those in need. BELIEVING IN MONEY To be sure, we do share a por tion of it what was the last sta tistic I saw on church giving: the majority of Christians giving less than one per cent of their income for charitable and benevolent causes! We all know that level of sharing is not what Jesus expects of us, but we resist taking him seriously because material wealth is what most of us really believe is the root of happiness. We believe in God, but we believe even more in money and what it can buy. If this doesn’t apply to you, well good for you! But it applies to me, even though I profess that God is much more important than money. It is not what I say about money, but how I feel about it and what I do about it If I really be lieved that God alone is the source of all that I need for abundant life. I would be more generous with what I have. And I strongly sus pect that I am not alone in that from SO microns to 400 microns, the drift may be reduced from 108 feet to slightly over 6 inches. To Control Rodents Chester Hughes, Lancaster County extension livestock reminds us that rats and mice maj| be a major economic threat around swine facilities. They consume and contaminate feed which trans lates into feed losses. They arc also responsible for spreading swine diseases. In addition, most com mon types of insulation including rigid foam and fiber glass are sus ceptible to rodent damage. Rodents also gnaw on electrical wiring causing equipment mal function, power outages, and fires. Droppings, tracks, burrows, path ways, and fresh gnawing indicate where rodents are active. Effective control includes sani tation, rodent-proof construction, and population reduction. tion techniques include trapping and a regular baiting program. Feather Prof.’s Footnote: A lt’s not so much what we do, but how we do it that really matters." condition. The problem, of course, is not with money itself, but as the writer of I Timothy says, “the love of money is the root of all evil” (6:10). And if it is not the love of money itself, it is the love of what money can buy—or at least what we think it can buy. Despite our disclaimers, all Of believe and have faith in money and material things. We often turn to money, not God, when we need help. God’s greatest adversary in our world is and has always been ma terialism. And that’s why we have a hard time taking seriously Jesus and the writer of I Timothy when they speak to us of material wealth. GODLINESS: THE REWARD Some people try to insure hap piness by behaving in a godly manner. They use godliness as a strategy to assure themselves of God’s salvation. But the writer of I Timothy tells us that they have it all wrong: godliness doesn’t buy us happiness, godliness is happi ness. “There is great gain in godli ness with contentment” (6:6). Godliness is its own reward. What we are looking for in following the almighty dollar is precisely what we experience when we live godly lives. Godliness makes us feel good, full and complete. So what is godliness? The writ er puts it simply for us: “They are to do good, to be rich in good| deeds, liberal and generous, thflj laying up for themselves a gooa foundation for the future, so that they make take hold of the life which is life indeed” (4:18,19). If we want “life indeed” we need to take Jesus seriously. (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 information: 4 Turkish Delight,” 4412 Shenandoah Ave., Dallas, TX 752051(214) 521-2522.) Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday 1 Ephrata Review Building IE. Main St Ephrata, PA 17522 -by- Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Stetnman Enterprise Robert 0. Campbell General Manager Everett R. Nawawenger Managing Editor Copyright 1997 by latutOtr Forming
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers