AlO-Lanca«tef Farming, Saturday, May 2, 1998
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OPINION
Preserving Our Most
Valuable Resources
(Continued from Page A 1)
$76 million or 36.1 percent
of the money bought the develop
ment rights of landowners in as
sembly territory.
Agriculture is an important eco
nomic activity of the South Cen
tral Assembly area. The
1996-1997 United States Depart
ment of Agriculture/Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture
(USDA/PDA) Annual Report
shows the assembly countries con
tain 1.597 million acres or 20.7
percent of Pennsylvania’s 7.7
million acres of farmland. The
USDA/PDA report also states that
the agriculture income from the
farms in the area was $306 million
for crops and $1.4 million from
livestock for a total farm income
of $1.7 billion. This is 34.8 per
cent of the farm gate value of
Pennsylvania’s total farm produc
tion income of $3.02 billion.
If we consider the related eco
nomic activity generated by this
farm production inputs like
machinery, feed, fertilizers, labor,
fuel and supplies plus the eco
nomic activity generated after the
crops and animal products leave
the farm including transportation,
processing, packaging, distribu
tion and sales costs —we can esti
mate over $l5 billion of additional
business activity brought about by
our farmers in assembly counties.
These figures emphasize the
value our farms and their related
businesses contribute to the eco
nomy of our area. They also
emphasize why we need to contin
ue preserving as many acres as
possible while we struggle with
land use and growth management.
What are some other benefits of
the Farmland Protection Program?
Farms for the program are chosen
by the local County Farmland Pro
tection Boards. They are selected
Eastern Llama and Alpaca Festi
val, Charming Forge Farm near
Reading, 10 a.m.-S p.m., 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.-5
nj J JiruMav3^^^_
18th Annual Statewide FARMER
Dinner, Hershey Lodge and
Convention Center, Hershey,
reception 5:30p.m., dinner6:3o
p.m.
Franklin County Fruit Twilight
Meeting, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Lackawanna/Wyoming County
Extension Spring Fling Semi
nar, Keystone College,
LaPlume, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
either from farms threatened by
development with a higher value
or from farms under less develop
ment pressure at a lower per acre
value. This leads to clusters of
preserved land, which allow for
easier land management and in
duce conflict between agriculture
and non-agriculture neighbors. It
also allows farms to be sold to the
next generation at lower cost —ag
value versus development value.
The average difference between
these two values in participating
farms in the assembly counties is
$1,580 per acre.
What does a farmer give up for
these dollars? He gives up his op
portunity to sell his land for a non
farm use at a much higher price.
And he does this for perpetuity.
Another reason the program has
been successful is that it is volun
tary. No landowner is forced to
give up his development rights.
And if he does so elect, he is com
pensated only for a part of the
actual commercial value of his
land.
However, even with the success
of the program we need to look at
other ways to fund the program as
well as to seek other programs to
save one of our most valuable na
tural resources land. Over the
last five years alone, assembly
land had 60,000 acres or 4 per
cent of its farmland converted
to other uses. Additional possible
funding sources are a farmland
conversion fee, a realty transfer
tax (RTT) or long term installment
purchases. Another program that
is working well in Maryland is the
Transfer of Development Rights
(TDR).
If we are to continue to realize
the economic benefits of our farm
land and to appreciate its con
servation and esthetic values, we
must continue to build on the suc
cess of the current program.
❖ Farm Calendar*
Grant Writing Workshop For Non
profit Organizations, County
Office Building, Montrose, 9
a.m.-3 p.m.
International Internet Dairy Gene-
Lancaster County FFA Leadership
School, Lancaster Mennonite
High School.
Lancaster/York Fruit Growers’
Twilight Meeting, Cherry Hill
Antique John Deere Tractor Show
and Pulls, Zem’s Auction and
Sales, Gilbertsville, 2 p.m., also
Capitol Area Beekeepers Associa
tion Short Course, Dauphin
County Agricultural and Natur
al Resources Center, Dauphin,
8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and May 16,
Milton Hersbey School Farm
(Turn to Page All)
To Control Corn Disease
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County Extension Agronomy
Agent, reminds us that the mild
winter weather means an increase
in the little flea beetle insect.
High numbers of flea beetles in
creases the threat of Stewart’s Wilt
in corn
Stewart's Wilt is caused by the
bacteria Pantoea stewartii. It can
cause a fatal wilting of young
corn plants especially sweet com
and a few susceptible field com
varieties. In can also be exhibited
as a leaf blight after pollination.
The system to predict the se
verity of the disease is based on
the expected survival rate of the
flea beetle. Cold winter tempera
tures reduce the risk of flea beetle
survival. The scale developed is
based on the sum of the average
temperatures for the months of
December, January and February.
If the total exceeds 90 degrees, the
risk is severe.
This past year the sum for
Lancaster County was over 110.
degrees. The economic threshold
for treating susceptible varieties of
field com before the five leaf stage
is 50 per cent of plants with 5 or
more beetles per plant. In sweet
com the threshold is 10 per cent
of the plants with 2 or more bee
tles per plant.
There are a number of insecti
cides registered for flea beetle con
trol. Remember to always follow
the directions on the label.
To Look For Alfalfa
Weevil
Alfalfa weevil over winters as
eggs and adults. The time of the
egg hatch is based upon heat units
accumulated from January 1. With
the unusually warm winter this
year, heat units referred to as
growing degree days (ODD) have
accumulated faster than usual.
For the alfalfa weevil, the base
temperature for GDD is 48 de
grees. Research has shown that al
falfa weevil begin feeding when
250 GDD base 48 is reached.
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County Extension Agronomy
Agent, reports Harrisburg has al
ready accumulated 92 GDD base
50 from April 1 to April 12..
The National Weather Service
does not calculate GDD before
April 1. Thus, we have received
more than 92 GDD this year. He
expects Lancaster County should
exceed the 250 GDD before the
end of April.
To Scout For Alfalfa
Weevil
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County Extension Agronomy
Agent, expects many alfalfa fields
will see alfalfa weevil feeding very
soon. He encourages farmers to
begin looking for alfalfa weevil
now. A simple scouting procedure
consists of three steps.
Step one. To sample a field,
carry a 5 gallon bucket and walk
through the field in a zigzag pat
tern. Randomly select 30 entire
stems from the field. While col
lecting the stems, be careful not
to dislodge any feeding larvae.
Place the stems in the bucket with
the top of the stems down.
Step two. Separate the stems
into 3 or 4 bundles and beat each
bundle 10 to 15 times against the
inside of the bucket to dislodge
the larvae. Count all the alfalfa
weevil larvae that are in the
bucket. Divide the number of lar
vae in the bucket by the number
of stems collected to determine the
number of larvae per stem.
by
£ SO!B)L|
WHERE'S THE GLORY?
May 3,1998
Background Scripture:
John 12:20-50
Devotional Reading:
Romans 5:1-11
When Jesus announced to his
disciples, "The hour has come for
the Son of man to be glorified,:
(12:23), I'm sure they assumed
that he meant that the homage
paid him by the crowds on Palm
Sunday would be capped by
some even greater exhibition of
God's favor. Isn't that what one
would expect if they were to be
"glorified"?
But Jesus went on to say
something that must have puz
zled, if not frightened them:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless
a grain of wheat falls in the
earth and dies, it remains alone,
but if it dies, it bears much
fruit." What does being "glori
fied" have to do with a seed
dying and bearing "much fruit"?
The disciples must have felt
euphoric about the great recep
tion along the Palm Sunday
road, but now Jesus is sounding
doomed.
His next words remove are
even more portentous; "He who
loves his life loses it, and he who
hates his life in this world will
keep it for eternal life. If any one
serves me, he must follow me;
and where I am, there shall my
servant be also." What is Jesus
suggesting about the fate of
those who follow him? Surely
being in the vanguard of the
Messiah is not meant to be a
hazardous association! Who
would join a Messiah who
promised, not security, but dan
ger?
DANGER AHEAD?
If they listened carefully to
what Jesus said next, they
would realize that even the
Messiah himself would be
endangered; "Now is my soul
troubled. And what shall I say?
'Father, save me from this hour 1 ?
No, for this purpose I have come
to this hour," (12:27). Is Jesus
saying that this dangerous situ
ation which he is anticipating is
the way things are supposed to
go? Jesus has already said that
his disciples "must follow me "
That is scary because it is obvi
ous that Jesus is headed in
harm's way.
Ironically, their Master's next
words are. "Father, glorify thy
name." Something very strange
follows, there was a great noise,
everyone would agree to that.
But what made that noise? "The
crowd standing by heard it and
said that it had thundered
Others said "An angel has spo
ken to him " Those who heard a
voice heard these words that
came as a reply to Jesus' prayer
Step three. Determine the
value of the hay in dollars per ton.
Using charts available at county
extension offices, the number of
larvae, value of the hay and cost
of spraying are compared to de
termine if spraying is economi
cally justified. For example, if the
cost to spray is $lO per acre and
the value of the forage is $ll5 per
ton, you must have an average of
2.2 larvae per stem to justify
spraying.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote: "It is
a sign of immaturity to think
yourself exempt from the rules
that everyone else lives by."
"I have glorified it, and I will
glorify it again."
Jesus explains to the disci
ples that 'This voice has come
for your sake, not for mine." In
other words, the heavenly voice
came to the road to the
Messiah's glorification ran
through the valley of the shadow
of death—as must theirs as well.
Glorification seems entirely
incompatible with danger and
death. Where's the glory in
death? Jesus has already
explained that if something dies
it can yet, like a seed buried in
the earth, yield "much fruit."
Something good can come from
this dangerous path he is follow
ing. He has also indicated that it
is only through death that we
can know eternal life.
THE COSMIC CROSS
But this is about more than
just one person's death or even
that of his followers. There are
cosmic implications that mean
that the whole universe will be
affected. By his death Jesus will
utterly defeat Satan, "the ruler
of this world" and his death will
reconcile all humanity. "...I,
when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men to
myself (12:32). ifcead iri this
light, Jesus' message is not real
ly one of doom and gloom, but of
the glory of God in Christ. As
horrible as the cross will be, it
will form the bridge whereby
God is able to unloose his love
into the cosmos. "I have come as
light into the world," says Jesus,
"that whoever believes in me
may not remain in darkness"
(12:46).
It is interesting, then, that
having taught his disciples that
he and they must tread a dan-
gerous path to glorification,
• many of those who had been fol
lowing him drew back for fear of
the consequence: "...many even
of the authorities believed in
him, but for fear of the
Pharisees they did not confess it,
lest they should be put out of the
synagogue; for they loved the
praise of men more than the
praise of God" (12:42). They
wanted to play it safe, but you
can't play it safe and follow
Jesus Christ. You can have one
or the other, but not both.
Where's the glory in danger
and death? Answer: just on the
other side. Either way, playing it
safe or taking up a cross, it is a
gamble. Each of us has to decide
on what we will bet our lives.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
EphraU Review Building
1 E. Main St
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
Robert Q. Campbell General Manager |
Everett R. Newtwanger Managing Editor 4
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