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OPINION
About Rapids And Whirlpools
Peiiiaps it is fitting that June is both Dairy Month and Rivers
Month in Pennsylvania.
There are shared lessons for those who choose to dairy farm and
those who choose to handle a boat in a river.
All rivers can be described in terms of pools separated by rapids.
At those plapes where fast water meets slow water, there are
whirlpools along the edge where the different waters meet.
In constantly turbulant water, those with their oars in the water
must constantly shift their position in order to keep their boat from
sinking.
The dairy industry is like a river, not only in that there are
“pools,” but because the industiy also has every type of “water”
that a river can offer.
Those in the dairy industry should be very aware of constantly
turbulant water.
But all who navigate any kind of “ship” in any kind of “waters”
should be reminded that there is a difference between the turbu
lance caused by fast rapids between pools and that caused from the
downward twisting of a whirpool.
Those who are indeed running the rapids will do well to watch
ahead for rocks, and change course with enough power to propel
the craft to its next safe position, to take ftill advantage of the forces
of the river.
It requires a steady concentration and an oar in hand ready to use.
But it can be very enjoyable.
Those who find themselves locked in a whirlpool are well
advised to set a tangential course away from the center and paddle
hard for the edge either into the mainstream, or further into the
backwater.
Some people don’t seem to know when they are in fast water or a
whirlpool.
One good way to tell is how much effort is required to stay on
course.
In a rapids, the effort is constant, but not continuous, with per
iods of effort marked by intermittent and engergy recharging rests.
In a whirlpool, the effort can either be minimal the force of
the water just keeps the craft going around and around and farther
down or extremely difficult fighting against a current conti
nuously, never gaining, with the best possible outcome being
maintaining position.
Probably the best possible pieces of advice to boaters are:
always scout the fast waters before deciding to shoot them; and
when the loss of control seems imminent, head for shore.
tour of preserved farm.
Hay Day, Eastern Ohio Resource
Development Center, Caldwell.
Northeast Piedmontese Field Day,
Covered Bridge Farm, Lewls-
ville, Ohio, 10 am.
Bucks County and Montgomeiy
County joint bee meeting, Dela
ware Valley College,
Doylcstown.
Crawford County Daily Princess
Pageant, Cochranton Commun
ity Church, Cochranton, 8 p.m.
Erie County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Hoss's Steak House,
Erie.
Sullivan County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Dushore Main St,
Dushore, 7:15 p.m.
SUN Area Dairy Princess Pageant,
Susquehanna Valley Mall,
Hummels Wharf, 7 p.m.
Kempton Country Fair, Kcmpton
Community Center Fair-
Show, Columbia Riding Club,
9 am.
Schuylkill County Daily Princess
Pageant, Red Lion Cafe, Pine
Editor:
It is hard to believe that my year
as dairy princess is coming to a
close. I have had many education
al experiences as well as a lot of
fun in this past year. Some of my
duties included speaking engage
ment at schools, malls, stores,
farm and non-farm meetings. I
rode through many parades, did
several radio spots and wrote
newspaper articles as well. In
doing all of this I feel I have edu
cated the public on the importance
of the Dairy Industry. I also feel I
have brought a sense of awareness
To Dispose Of
Plastics Correctly
Leon Ressler, Lancaster County
sustainable agricultural extension
agent, states there is more waste
plastic on today’s farms than ever.
Plastic bale wraps, silage bags,
plastic mulch, trickle irrigation
tubing, and plastic barrels will
quickly clutter your farm if not dis
posed of regularly.
Resource recovery incinerators
that are located in many counties
provide a cost effective way to
solve this pollution on the farm.
These facilities bum wastes at
1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, elimi
nating most of the toxic waste pro
duced by open fires. Additionally,
the exhaust gases are injected with
a lime slurry to remove acidic
gases. The exhaust then enters a
fabric filter baghouse to remove
the particulate matter.
While there is a per-ton tipping
fee to dispose of waste at the facili
ty, considering the labor savings
on the farm, neighbor relations and
pollution prevented, it is a very
cost effective solution to trash dis
posal on the farm.
As we make management deci
sions, we need to factor in the cost
of proper disposal methods for
inputs used and waste generated.
We must continue to be good ste
wards of the environment.
Washington County Fair
grounds, thru June 24.
SchnecksvUle Community Fair,
Schnecksville, thru June 28.
Southern Allegheny 4-H Camp,
C Ka' akr S
Pageant, Leslie Firth Learning
to the public just how important
dairy products are in our everyday
lives.
It has been a great honor to have
received this position and be of
service to the public in the four
county area. I’d like to thank the
SUN Dairy Princess Committee,
the Dairy Maids, the Dairy Mis
ses, my family and friends for
helping me to have a successful
year. I will soon turn the reigns
over to the new Dairy Princess and
I hope that she will enjoy her role
as much as I did.
Jennifer M. Hollenbach
SUN Area Dairy Princess
To Monitor Feed
Feed is a major cost in produc
ing animals. It is important to
maintain an adequate supply and
quality of feed. Thus, it is impor
tant to work with your feed com
pany, broker, or supplier to lock in
supplies and prices.
With the trading of puts and
calls on the futures market, hedg
ing feed costs have become less
riskier and perform mare like price
insurance. Contact an experienced
broker to explore ways the futures
market may be used in feed cost
management.
Whenever possible, buy in bulk
to take advantage of bulk dis
counts. Shop and negotiate for
favorable feed prices. You need to
be a quality control manager.
Be sure you are receiving the
quality and weight you paid for.
Collect representative samples for
moisture and nutrient analyses.
Also, be sure to draw additional
samples from each delivery. Accu
rately identify and label these sam
ples, including date and type of
feed or ingredient. Store them for
future testing should a problem
occur such as poor performance,
residues, etc.
. | ‘
BY LAWRENCE W ALEHOUSE
f ®ai3lLS
sn
DEPEND UPON ME
June 22,1996
Background Scripture:
H Timothy 4:1-18
Devotional Reading:
Philippians 4:8-20
I’m old enough to remember
those delightful Burma Shave
signs that used to grace our high
ways. My favorite is:
John said his car couldn’t skid
This monument shows
It could and did!
There’s a lot of wisdom that
I’ve found in graveyard epitaphs.
Some years ago Charles L. Wallis
put together a book of epitaphs.
Stories on Stone. One of his stor
ies was about U.S. President John
Tyler who wrote the following
epitaph for his favorite horse:
Here lies the body of my good
horse. The General. For twenty
years he bore me around the cir
cuit of my practice, and in all that
time he never made a blunder.
Would that his master could say
the same.
MOTTO TO LIVE BY
I can’t think of a more desirable
epitaph than the words of II Timo
thy 4:6,7; “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I
have kept the faith.” Nor is there a
better motto by which to live my
life.
Notice that the satisfaction of
the writer is found in his efforts,
not the obvious results. He has
fought the good fight and finished
the race, but he doesn’t say he has
won either. Keeping the faith, he
has continued to fight and run and
he leaves to God the outcome. For.
despite what may or may not seem
to be the results of his efforts, he
already knows that his reward will
be in keeping the faith. “Hence
forth there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, will
award to me on that Day ...”
(4:8).
The other day, in looking
through some boxes of memora
bilia, 1 found a little card that used
to lie beneath the glass top of the
To Consider
Custom-Mixed TMRs
Custom mixed TMRs (total
mixed radons) is a new service that
is making its way onto the list of
custom services a farmer may use,
according to Glenn Shirk, Lancas
ter County dairy extension agenL.
These custom services allowT
the farmer to cut operating costs,
meet labor demands, and reduce
the cost of investing in expensive
equipment. Custom mixed TMRs
may be an additional source of
income for larger farmers to help
defray equipment investment
costs. It also helps to reduce labor
demands and investment costs for
smaller farms.
Small farmers have the oppor
tunity to share the economy of
scale of the larger farmer, such as
bulk purchases and services of a
competent nutritionist. Custom
mixed rations could be delivered
daily to neighboring farms and dis
tributed directly into the bunk or
dumped on a pad. r
Feather Prof.’s Footnote:
"Cherish your visions and your
dreams as they are the children of
your soul, the blueprint of your
ultimate achievements."
desk in my study in Mohnton,
Pennsylvania, when I was pastor
there. It reads:
I am called
Not to be successful in my
ministry,
But to be faithful in my witness
That will be success enough.
A REMINDER!
If I remember correctly, itwasa
thought that came to me decades
ago during a period of prayer and
meditation. I put it on my desk as a
reminder against the daily seduc
tion of worldly success. I would
like to think that I have fairly con
sistently held that ideal before me,
but I would be considerably
than honest in claiming that I
ways did. It is very difficult for '
ministers and others not to
be bitten by the popularity bug.
The writer of n Timothy warns
against this: “For the time is com
ing when the people will not en
dure sound teaching, but having
itching ears they will accumulate
for themselves teachers to suit
their own likings, and will turn
away from listening to the truth
and wander into myths” (4:3,4). I
have known for a long time that
the surest way to “success” in the
ministry is to tell people what they
want to hear. It also works for
business people and politicians.
Yet, God does not call any one
us pastors and lay people alike
to be “successful” as the world
defines it, but “faithful.” The wri-jj
ter of II Timothy is feeling aban-v
doned: “For Demas, in love with
this present world, has deserted
me and gone to Thessalonika.. .”
(4; 10). The real test of life is to be
faithful to God, to be the kind of
person who says to the Lord and
means it, “Depend upon me!”
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: "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. Newswanger Managing Edltoi
Copyright 1997 by Lancaster Farming