Aio-lancwtw Faming, Saturday, Novambar 22, 1997 V -*o— OPINION Let’s Hope The Appeal Is Successful As reported last week, U.S. Minnesota District Judge David Doty threw out a Depression-era system of 32 milk marketing orders that pay farmers a price differential for milk based on their distance from Eau Claire, Wis. The ruling that a key portion of the country’s milk pricing policy is illegal eliminates federal orders to all but a few geographic areas in the Southeast In the eight year-old lawsuit by the Minnesota Milk Producers Asso ciation, Doty ruled that the milk price system makes no sense. Farmers from the Upper Midwest have complained for years that the system was outdated and discriminated against them. Actually, the judge ruled that the current Class I differentials in surp lus and balanced federal order markets do not conform to the require ments described in the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act and are therefore illegal. This act is the enabling legislation for federal market ing orders, originally passed in 1937. The current Class I differentials may be legal in deficit markets that depend directly or indirectly on the Upper Midwest for alternative supplies. These markets are not named in the ruling. To us, it seems totally irresponsible to change a national milk market ing system overnight, especially since the system has been in place for 60 years. Because of the immediate uncertainty the ruling rendered, some milk handlers woe already refusing to pay established farmer prices in certain areas of the country. Because we are concerned about the immediate effect the suprise rul ing has on the dairy industry, we hope the dairy and government offi cials, including the national secretary of agriculture, will prevail in their appeal of the decision. The last thing we need is a disruption in the milk marketing field at this time when so many dairy farmers are already on the brink of giving up their farms. Susquehanna County Farm-City Feast, Mt View H.S., 7:30 p.m. Pa. Sheep and Wool Growers Association meeting. Grange Hail, Centre Hall, 10 a.m. Hunterdon County, NJ. Board of Agriculture Annual Dinner Meeting, Quakertown Fire house, Quakertown, N.J., 7 p.m. Milk Marketing Inc. Cooperative Annual Meeting, Doubletree uui tlOSt, p, v Farm Production Management Workshop, York County exten der- Election Meetini S:ilurd:n, Ndumlnr 2‘> 4-H Hoedown, Berks County 4-H Monthly. December I York County Holstein Association fall tour of New Bolton Center, meet at extension office at 7:45 ■DSBS9DSDOSH Nutrient Management Workshop, Tranquility Methodist Church, Andover, N.J., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. -i ❖ Farm Calendar* <jf Somerset County extension office, Bridgewater, N.J., 6' Nutrient Management Workshop, Columbus Grange Hall, Col umbus, N.J., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Nutrient Management Workshop, Salem County extension ofice, Woodstown, NJ., 6 p.m.-10 p.m. Environmental Commission Reg ional Public Roundtable, National Institute For Environ- mental Renewal, Mayfield, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. and 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Passing On the Farm Workshop, Schoonovers Restaurant, Sunday, DciainlKi 7 Howard Maryland Farm Bureau meeting, Sheraton Fontainebleu, Ocean Meeting, Corestates Bank, Ephrata High School, 7:30 p.m. IHWHEHUIggin..... 12th Regional Meeting on Practi- Ephrata Area Young Farmers cal Biosccurity For Poultry, Christmas Event, Ephrata University of Delaware, New- Middle School, 7:30 pjn. ark, Del. New England Vegetable and Berry Ag Service School for Pa., Growers Conference and Trade Williamsport Show, Sturfotidge Host Hotel V nin> pabt ADADCDist.2I meeting,Timber and Conference Center, Star- ~ A Th a ,r> Wolf Restaurant, Darien, N.Y., bridge. Mass., thru Dec. 18. . A {** AS u G f m ® ™ diirwHwii«M sewtssas EISSFHS... !T: .ir. f. T. .t. .“r; To Study Environmental The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced plans to aggressively reduce non point source of pollu tion in the nations streams and rivers. Agriculture has been identified as a major contributor to non point pollution. Many best management practices (BMPs) have been identified and implemented by farmers that have reduced water pollution. These include storm water runoff, stream bank fencing, cover crops, nutrient manage ment, crop rotation, diversion Days Inn Penn State, thru Dec. 11. Regional Vegetable Meeting, But ler Days Inn, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Ag Service School for Pa., FSA Borrowers Training, Farm Financial Management Work shops, Lancaster, also Dec. 11, 13,18 and Jan. 22 and Feb. 19 and 26. Managing Your Dairy Business For A Successful Future, Rhodes Grove Camp Confer ence Center, Chambersburg, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Managing Your Dairy Business For A Successful Future, fy.%, * 4$ Boss’s Restaurant, West York, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Ag Service School For Pa., Lancaster. | Friday. December Environmental Commission Reg ional Public Roundtable, Days Inn and Conference Center, Allentown, 9 a.m.-noon. Ag Service School for Pa., Reading, Managing Your Dairy Business For A Successful Future, Yod er’s Restaurant, New Holland, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Risk Managemeni/Commodity Marketing Workshop, Antrim House Restaurant, Greencastle, 10 a.m.-2 P.m.. also Dec. 19. Holiday Crafts Workshop, Fair Hill Nature Center, Cedi Coun- Mond;n. I )cmiiiHT 15 Issues terraces, etc. Farmers need to be concerned about water quality and look for ways to prevent water pollution. If you have not already developed and imple mented a soil conservation plan and nutrient management plan you should do so now. Farmers have a small window of opportu nity to implement BMPs to reduce pollution before they are fined. Now is the time to start identifying and implementing these BMPs before it is too late. To Make Your Rations Work To often the ration you have on paper is not the ration you are feeding, states Glenn Shirk, Lancaster County Extension Dairy Agent. There are several things you can do to help improve ration formulation, ration quality, dry matter intake and overall performance of the herd. 1. Test ration ingredients for variations in moisture con tent. Then adjust feeding rates accordingly to maintain dry matter intake and nutrient intake. 2. Check the accuracy of scales and measure ingredients YOUR PART OF THE GAME November 23, 1997 YOUR PART OF THE GAME November 23. 1997 Background Scripture: Nehetniah 4 Devotional Reading: Nehemiah 9:6-15 Those who know me, I believe, characterize me as a person who perseveres. (Some have stated it less delicately than that!). I don't think I was bom with perseverance. I think, rather, that early in my early life I decided that perseverance was absolutely necessary in life. I remember when I was a Boy Scout reading an article in Boys Life, the official scouting maga zine. I still remember the title of the article. It was called, “A Guy As Game As That,” and it was a story about a young man who went to Notre Dame and wanted to play football there, although he was not a natural athlete and was relegated to “the scrubs.” Then, along came World War I and he joined the army. During the war he was badly wounded. But, when he later returned to Notre Dame, he didn’t let that stop him from making die team and earning his letter. What called that influential arti cle to my mind was coming across a quotation from a writer named Hulbert from hit book Forty- Niners: “The finding of gold is luck; you will not be held blam able if you are unlucky. But mak ing the journey, overcoming ob stacles. fighting your way through, that is a matter of grit, not luck. Do that, get there, and you are absolved, you have mastered the part of the game that depended upon you.” (Quoted by Irving Stone in Men To Match My Moun tains.) by weight, not by volume. 3. If you are using TMR, be sure the ration is mixed thoroughly. Do not over mix and destroy parti cle length, and 4. Push feed up to the cows several times a day to entice feeding activity and making it easier for cows to reach. To Encourage Cows to Eat Glenn Shirk, Lancaster County Extension Dairy Agent, offers the following ideas to ensure proper feed intake for cows. 1. Be sure cows have easy access to lots of good quality water. Is there adequate drink ing space? 2. Keep the feed fresh. Feed often. Match silo size to herd size and feeding rates. Maintain a smooth face on the bunk. Clean up spilled silage. Protect silage from birds. 3. Remove stale feed and keep feed bunks and waterers clean, and 4. Group and feed heifers sepa rately so they are not intimidat ed by older cows Feather Prof.’s Footnote: “Every obstacle is a stepping stone to your success upon him. He couldn’t control the circumstances of his life, the de gree of his athlete ability was de termined by his genes, but he took charge of the one thing that was in his control: he persevered. Perseverance is also a Christian virtue. We are called to persevere, not for the sake of perseverance alone, but because we are in God’s hands. We cannot persevere with out trusting the providence of God. Perseverance is what the story of Nehemiah is all about. Nehe miah persevered despitethe obsta cles that confronted him. He got the people to persevere even when the task seemed almost impost ble. Their enemies laughed aUtt' jeered and that’s enough right there to make lots of people quit But Nehemiah met every one of these obstacles and stuck to hit commitment IN THEIR MINDS Their perseverance was to be found, not in their genes, but in their minds. “So, we built the wall; and all the wall was joined to gether to half its height. For the people had a mind to work” (4:6). Sticking to it began in die commit ment they made. They mastered the part of the game that depended upon them: persevering and God would do the test But that was not the end of the matter. Their enemies, they learned, were plotting to stage a surprise attack upon them. Their enemies reasoned that the Jews could not both build the wall and guard against attack. The Jews themselves realized that, but Ne hemiah set in motion a plan whereby half the people would work at building and the other half would stand guard. Would it work? They didn’t know, but they stuck to it They did their part and God did his. That is really all that God asks of us to do our part, to perse vere, regardless of the obstacles. If we do, God will do his part Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building IE. Main St Ephrata, PA 17522 -by- Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Stelnman Enterprise Robert G. Campbell General Manager Everett R. Nawawanger Managing Edltoi Copyright 1 997 by UmeotUr Farming v. L t.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers