AiO'Lmcastar Fuming, Saturday, April 25,1998
OPINION
Another View Of
Farmland Preservation
On 2/27981 wrote that there is abetter way to preserve fanners
and farmland than the current method.
Twenty-three states of the USA now have preservation pro
grams, many based on the perpetual easement concept. How
ever, this is the most expensive method short of fee-simple pur
chase, and is absolutely unsustainable, besides putting all future
generations under the thumb of “preservation boards."
In Pennsylvania, a $lOO million bond issue 10 years ago has
grown into a $220 million expenditure but has only preserved 1
percent of the farmland!!! That is one-tenth percent per year,
which will take ONE THOUSAND YEARS to complete!!!!!
Can there be a more foolish program than this?
Instead, shorten the term from “perpetual” so that each gen
eration pays its own way, instead of the current generation pay
ing for all future generations’ interest in these insignificant par
cels, that only tend to attract development to their borders any
way, because some people want to live next to a “preserved”
farm!! Some “clever” but not too ethical landowners have fig
ured out how to put part of their property into a permanent ease
ment, then sell lots on their adjoining property!!
The Lancaster County (PA, USA) Farm Bureau has bad a pol
icy opposing the current program for over eight years, and came
up with a plan as follows:
Design an annually rolling five-year program that would pro
vide a tax credit for those who agree to not develop their enrolled
land for five years, and each year when property taxes come due,
the owner would decide whether to renew one more year in or
der to get the tax credit, or drop out, paying the full tax for five
consecutive years. This kind of planning window would provide
the community with an excellent guide to where landowners in
tend to keep their land in fanning for the next five years, provid
ing plenty of time to adjust to changes that may be coming. The
value of the tax credit would be set by the taxing authority at a
level to reach their goals of the percentage of land they want en
rolled. There would be no fearof crisis of lost farmland, because
plenty of notice would be given for any enrolled property, al
lowing neighbors to buy the property, or in any other legitimate
way, prepare for a change in use of the property. Eighty percent
of farmland could be enrolled annually for the same cost as 8
farms per 1,000 in the current program!!
In Pennsylvania, 40,000 farms could participate for the same
cost as 40 farms in perpetual easements per year across the
whole state, the current rate.
> Planning commissions would have an excellent tool based on
,each landowner’s personal decision on how they plan to use
their property for die next five years, instead of attempting to
impose the iron fist of government and steal the rights with ever
more stringent zoning, which always backfires.
Could you have a more democratic form of government than
this plan would provide? The Pennsylvania Landowners’ Asso
ciation endorses this concept fully, as well.
s.iiin il.n, \piil 25
Sheep and Wool Day, Springton
Manor Farm, Downingtown, 10
ajn.-2 p.m.
Farm Plow and Field Day, Miller
Farm, Dover. Del., 10 a an.
Penn Statc/PDA Chem Sweep,
Lebanon Fairgrounds, 10
Mdiulav, \() nl 27
Carroll County Truck and Tractor
Pull, Carroll County Ag Center,
Westminster, Md., (rain date
Don L. Ranck
Paradise
Found on the
-L Internet
Dal
Course, Holiday Inn, Clarion,
8:30 a.m.-9 pjn., thru April 29.
Dairy Calf Nutrition Workshop
Teleconference, broadcast to
various extension sites.
On-Foot Live Evaluation, Lees
port Farmers’ Market, 7:30
p.m.
Life Skills Workshop For Profes
sionals Who Teach Self-
Management Skills, Penn State
Extension Delaware County,
8:30 a.m.-3:30 o.m.
W ccliii'sthix. \|>ril 2 ')
Poultry Association Home Eco
nomic Banquet, Comfort Inn,
Centerville.
To Check Electric
Fencers
Glenn Shirk, Lancaster County
Extension Dairy Agent, reminds
us to make sure your electric
fencer is charging your fence and
not your barn. The electric fence
chargers we are using today are
much more powerful than the
ones we have used in the past.
To get the electricity to the
fence and to keep it from straying
into the bam, the fencers need to
be well grounded and the hot wire
needs to be properly insulated. Re
fer to your operator's manual for
proper installation, grounding and
operating procedures.
To Prevent Stray Volt
age From Fencers
Improperly installed and main
tained electric fencers could cause
stray voltage on your farm, re
minds Glenn Shirk, Lancaster
County Extension Dairy Agent.
Some good precautions to prevent
this are: Keep the grounding rods
well away from the barn, the die
sel shed and water pipes.
Use 3 to 5 deep grounding
rods rather than one rod. One way
to do this would be to run two
wires to the fence, the hot wire
and the ground wire on insulators.
Keep them well separated.
Drive a series of ground rods
adjacent to the fence posts where
they will be out of the way. and
Keep the hot wire away from
other objects that can pick up
voltages and convey it to un
wanted areas like pipes, cooper
tubes, wires, equipment, ground
rods, etc.
Thursday Vpril 30 |
On-Foot, On-Rail Beef, Lamb, and
Swine Evaluation, Leespoit
Market, Leespoit and Peters
Bros. Meats, Lenhartsville.
Tioga Bradford Milking School.
C&N Bank, Troy, 11:30 a.m.-3
Yoder’s Restaurant,
Mifflinburg.
EasternLlaintandAlpaca Fcsti
val, Charming Fosse Farm near
Reading, 10 un.-5 pjn., thru
May 3.
Erie County 4-H Public Auction,
Waterford Fairgrounds, Water
ford, 10 a.m.
Adams County Apple Blossom
Festival, South Mountain Fair
grounds, Arendtsville, 9 a.m.-S
18th Annual Statewide FARMER
Dinner, Hershey Lodge and
Convention Center, Hershey,
reception S:3opjn„ dinncr6:3o
Franklin County Fruit Twilight
(Turn to Pago All)
To Control Herbicide
Drift
The increased use of post ap
plied herbicides has brought the
issue of herbicide drift to the top
of the list of concerns related to
the use of pesticides, according to
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County Extension Agronomy
Agent.
Due to the nature of applying
sprays, it will be impossible to
completely eliminate the problem
of drift. However, applicators may
reduce the risk by using appropri
ate equipment and basic knowl
edge.
It is normally considered that
droplets less than 200 microns in
size pose a risk to drift. Based on
' . ——^^^r//j'
LAWRENCE W ALIHOUSf
THE
mUK
FREE INDEED!
April 26. 1998
Background Scripture:
John 8:12-59
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 51:1-9
There’s a story about a little boy
who passed his neighbor on the
sidewalk. “I’m miming away from
home!” the little boy announced
as he sped off. Minutes later the
neighbor saw the little boy coming
up the sidewalk from the opposite
direction. As he passed the neigh
bor he said again, “I’m running
away from home!” Soon the boy
was seen to be approaching again
and this time the neighbor stopped
him to ask, “If you’re running
away from home, why do you
continue to run around the block?”
looking at the neighbor in disbe
lief, the boy explained, “Cause
I’m not allowed to cross the
street!”
I like that stay because it illus
trates something I've learned ova
the years; no freedom is absolute
and when we have reached what
we think is freedom, we may have
simply attained a state of bondage
on a less obvious level We are a
lot like that little boy, forever tun
ning away from home, but getting
nowhere because we aren’t al
lowed to cross the street
In John 8 we find the critics of
Jesus confidently discussing
“truth” and “freedom” without
really knowing what it is like to
personally know either of them.
Like the old farmer once ex
plained, “You can’t describe a
place you ain’t never bear.” So of
ten. that is what is happening
when we talk confidently about
“truth" and “freedom."
WALKING IN DARKNESS
It all begins in John 8 when Je
sus proclaims, “I am the light of
the world; he who follows me will
not walk in darkness, but will have
the light of life” (8:12). Immedi
ately the Pharisees pounce on him,
“You are beating witness to your
self; your testimony is not true.”
They contest what Jesus is saying
because they reject him, but Jesus
tells them that what he says it true
because it comes, not from him
but God. Surely, if they knew
God, they would recognize what
Jesus is saying as true.
Of course, that’s the hand part,
isn’t it? How can we be sure we
know God? Jesus replies to us as
well as them: “if you knew me.
you would know my Father also"
(8:19). This is what Jesus meant
when he said that he is the light of
the world. He illuminates the
darkness that surrounds the nature
of God. When we know what Je-
research done by Dr. Robert
Hartzler, he found nozzle type and
pressures had a significant influ
ence on drift potential. His re
search showed that the drift guard
and turbo teejet nozzles produced
less drift than the flat fan nozzle.
Increasing spray pressures in
creases the number of small drift
able droplets.
Pesticide applicators should
take steps to ensure that spray
equipment is set up properly to
minimize drift by selecting the
best nozzle, spray pressure and
boom height. Also, weather con
ditions must be considered and
avoid spraying on windy days.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote: "If
you do not discipline yourself
someone else will do it for you."
sus is about, we also know what
God is like. All that I think that I
know about God is what I have
seen in the life and words of Jesus.
There are lots of things I do not
know about Jesus and his Son, but
what I do perceive is enough life
for me to live hopefully and faith
fully.
sn
This light that Jesus shines on
God the Father gives me the only
possible capacity for true free
dom. As Jesus tells his followers;
“If you continue in my word, you
are truly my disciples, and you
will know the truth, and the truth
will make you free” (8:21,22).
Their reply is indignant* “We are
descendants of Abraham and have
never been in bondage to anyone.
How is it that you say, ‘You will
be made free?’” (8:33).
WHO ME, IN BONDAGE?
I can hear us saying something
similar. “I’m a descendant of John
Wesley, how can you say I’m in
bondage?” "I’m a disciple of John
Calvin, what do you mean I’m not
free?” “I’m a Roman Catholic,
how can you make me more free?”
Actually. Jesus is telling them,
“truth” and “freedom” are not so
much in what they say they be
lieve, but in what they do about it
“If you were Abraham’s children,
you would do what Abraham did,
but now you seek to kill me, a man
who has told you the turth which I
heard from God” (8:39,40). If the
life doesn’t match the words, the
words are a lie.
As I write these words the
whole world waits to see whether
we will once again go to war with
Saddam Hussein. The other day
my wife, Valere, told an audience
that as Christians we ought to pray
for Saddam and the people were
shocked. Pray for such a man as
he? But isn’t that what Christ has
taught us to do with our enemies?
If we, are true disciples of Jesus
Christ, how can we curse those
who are our enemies? Is it because
we believe that God is incapable
of changing the heart of this ty
rant?
“So if the Son makes you free,
you will be free indeed.” Only in
Jesus Ovist can we know teal
freedom from hate and prejud
ice, from judging when we ought
to be blessing, Grom despair when
God offers us hope. Only when
Ovist has freed us from that kind
of bondage can we be free indeed!
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
lE. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
Robert a Campbell General Manager ,
Everett R. Newewenger Managing Editor*
Copyiisl* 199 S by Lanoutar Fannins