AlO-Uncaster Farming, Saturday, Juna 13, 1998
I^nng^
OPINION
The War Of Noses
As farming enterprises and urban home development coun
tinues to grow closer together, the resulting “war of noses” inten
sifies. Last week we heard of a new large hog maternity operation
that has just started. Even at half capacity the odor has already
become so repulsive that homes down wind have been enveloped
with “hog smell” that the families cannot tolerate.
These homeowners ate not fresh out of the city. They have
lived among and do business with farmers every day. In fact, one
of the homes is a new one a farmer built on his farm property
when the son took over the farming operation.
What seems disconcerting is that this hog house was built
before the farm had a nutrient management plan in place. Now
there seems to be a question about where all die hog manure will
be placed.
We certainly suppoit all fanning enterprises though we are not
sure the economies of scale and efficiences of largeness that show
up on the drawing board always materialize in actual operation.
We do believe that whenever possible farmers should not put
themselves in an adversarial position with government regulators
or urban neighbors. They must use common sense when placing
large size animal and poultry units near urban centers or where
there is not enough land to utilize the nutrients produced by the
operation.
To disregard this common sense is to risk the ire of neighbors
and the likely possibility that the operation will be shut down by
the environmental laws already on the books.
June 13 j
Ephrata Area Young Fanner 4th
Annual Farm Family Safety
Day Camp, Ephrata Communi
ty Park, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Lancaster County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Farm and Home Cen
ter, Lancaster, 7 p.m.
Beaver-Lawrence County Dairy
Princess Pageant, Old Prince
ton School, Princeton, 8 p.m.
SUN Area Dairy Princess Pageant,
Susquehanna Valley Mall,
Hummels Wharf, 7 p.m.
Md. Simmental Field Day, How
ard County Fairgrounds, West
Friendship.
Md./Del. Wool Pool, Del. State
Fairgrounds, Harrington, 7
a.m.2;30 p.m.
Lebanon County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Lebanon Career and
Technology Center, 7:30 p.m.
Emu Farmers Seminar, Farm
Show Complex, Harrisburg, 9
a.m.
Somerset County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Berlin Brothersvalley
Schuylkill County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Zion’s Church, New
Whi
Course, Montgomery CES
Office, Derwood, Md.
Oregon Dairy Family Dairy Days,
Oregon Dairy, east of Lancas
ter, 11 ajn.-7 p.m., thru June
18.
Lancaster County Honey Produc
ers Meeting, Glenn Long resi
dence, Washington Boro, hive
opening 6:30 p.m., meeting
7:30 D.m.
❖ Farm Calendar*
Wednesday, Juih 1 17
Md. Wool Pool, State Fairgrounds,
Timonium, 7 a.m.-2;30 p.m.
Using Milk Futures To Effect
Summer Pricing, Session 1,
Kent College Extension Office,
Chestertown, 10:30 a.m.-noon.
Pasture Walk, Holterholm Farms,
Frederick County, Md., 10
a.m.-noon.
Snyder County Holstein Associa
tion Twilight Meeting, Terry
and Shirley Womer Farm, Mid
dleburg^MjjiTij^^^^^^
Tree Appraisal Workshop, York
Extension, 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Lancaster/York Fruit Grower
Twilight Meeting, Rinehart
Orchards, Dillsburg, 7 p.m.-9
Editor:
It has been almost a year since I
have been crowned the Lycoming
County Dairy Princess. In that
year I have been given the oppor
tunity to represent the dairy Burn
ers of Lycoming County in vari
ous ways. From wotking with
children to attending farm and
non-farm meetings to writing
newspaper articles, I have pro
moted the dairy industry spread
ing the great news about dairy
products. Now it is time to end my
reign and pass it on to another girl.
At 7:30 Friday, June 12. at the
Lycoming Mall, I will crown my
successor. This year there is one
To Compost Swine
Mortality
With recent changes in Penn
sylvania law, composting is now
an option for disposing of swine
mortality, according to Leon
Ressler, Lancaster County Exten
sion Environmental Agent. Com
posting involves the microbial
breakdown of organic matter into
carbon dioxide and water with the
release of heat in the process.
Several factors need to be
managed m order to make the
process work efficiently. First, the
moisture content needs to be in
the 40 to 60 per cent range.
Second, oxygen is needed to
maintain the activity of aerobic
bacteria. If the compost pile is al
lowed to run out of oxygen, then
anaerobic bacteria will begin to
operate and this will result in
break down products with offen
sive odors.
Therefore, it is important to
maintain oxygen in the pile either
by turning the pile or with aera
tion. The third parameter that
needs to be managed is the carbon
to nitrogen (C/N) ratjo m the pile
This should be m the 20 to 30
parts carbon per one part nitrogen.
Adding a bulking agent such as
straw or dry broiler litter to the
swine carcasses is necessary to
12th Annual Eastern Regional
Shorthorn Show. Howard
County Fairgrounds, West
Friendship, Md., thru June 20.
Warren County Dairy Princess
Pageant, 4-H Center, Warren
County Fairgrounds, Pittsfield.
Md. Dairy Youth Weekend, Fre
derick County 4-H Camp Cen-
(Turn to Pago A 34)
v*
❖ Farm Forum ♦
* <■ -Vf-
candidate for the Lycoming Coun
ty dairy princess crown. Melissa
Daly, the 18-year-old daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Keith Daly, will be
crowned. Also, four new maids
will be honored. They are Shelly
Vandine, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Wayne Vandine; Donnica
Greider, Vanessa Creider, daugh
ters of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffery Greid
er, and Janele Hearn, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Hearn.
I am sure this team of young
ladies will have a joyous and suc
cessful year of dairy promotion.
Be there to help the girls start off
the year in a grand celebration on
June 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Ly
coming Mall.
supply carbon to bring the C/N
ratio into the proper range.
To Build A Compost
Facility
Composting of swine mortal
ity should be done in a facility
constructed to Natural Resource
Conservation Service (NRCS)
specifications. These plans are
available from your county NRCS
or Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion office.
Generally these facilities con
sist of several bins over a concrete
pad with a roof. The bins are filled
one at a time. First, a layer of
carbon source such as straw and
broiler litter is put down. Then
the daily mortality for the day is
placed in the bin. Then a final
layer of broiler litter and straw is
added. Each day the process is re
peated until the bin is full.
The bin is allowed to compost
for at least 10 days and then the
material is turned and moved to a
secondary area for an additional 10
days. Depending on size of ani
mals being composted, you may
GOOD QUESTIONS
June 14,1998
Background Scripture:
Job 1:1-4,8-11; 2:3-8 3:1-4,20-26
Devotional Reading;
Job 3:11-26
Recently, our delightful four
year-old grandson was diag
nosed as having leukemia.
When we told his six-year-old
sister, she put into words the
questions that had risen silent
ly in our own minds; "Why
James? He's just a little boy!"
Indeed, why? That's the ques
tion lots of us ask when inno
cence appears to be rewarded by
pain and suffering. It is this
same kind of question that is
raised in the Book of Job.
Job's story is one of the oldest
in the world. Scholars believe
that the original story may have
begun to circulate orally some
time between 1,000 and 2,000
B.C. It was probably written
down in the time of David and
Solomon, between 1,000 and 800
BC.
What can such an old story
have to do with us today? The
world of Job was a totally differ
ent world than what we live in
today. But maybe it wasn't as
different as we might first
assume. People had the same
problems, concerns and outlooks
that we have today, even though
our circumstances are quite dif-
j v >
ferent.
The Book of Job is full of
questions that are just as fresh
and relevant today as in the
time of Job. His questions are
about suffering and he raised
them because he is trying to
understand the mystery of suf
fering. Many of those questions
remain unanswered in Job's
story, but he finally arrives at a
point were his faith can take
hold once again.
CELESTIAL QUESTION
The Book of Job begins with
some questions raised in the
celestial realm. On a day when
the sons of God present them
selves before the Lord, with
obvious pride, God asks Satan,
"Have you considered my ser
vant Job, that there is none like
him on the earth, a blameless
and upright man, who fears God
and turns away from evil? (1:8)
want to turn the pile again and al
low the pile to go through a third
10 day cycle. At this point the
process is complete and the com
post may be used as fertilizer.
To Wear Rubber Boots
With Pesticides
When working with pesticides
it is very important to wear rubber
boots. If you wear leather shoes or
boots and pesticide spray or spill
onto the leather, it is impossible
to remove the pesticides from the
shoe or boot.
The pesticide is absorbed into
the leather. When the shoes or
boots are worn latter, the pesticide
may move from the shoes or
boots to your skin as your feet
perspire.
Remember it is very impor
tant to wear protective clothing
and goggles at all times when
handling and applying pesticides.
It is your health your are protect
ing!
Feather Prof, 's Footnote: "See
the invisible, feel the intangible
and achieve the impossible."
God and Satan, despite
apparent civility, are verbally
sparring and Satan replies with
a smirking derision: "Does Job
fear God for naught? Hast thou
not put a hedge around him and
his house and all that he has, on
every side?" (1:9), Sure, Job is a
good guy, but who wouldn't be
with all you've given him?
I often wonder whether I
could keep my faith in God if my
circumstances should ever turn
as disastrous as Job's. I like to
think that I would keep the
faith, but I cannot guarantee it.
When things are going reason
ably well, it is easy to praise
God; but when life falls
apart ?
HUMAN QUERIES
When at last Satan was per
mitted to afflict Job as much as
he wanted, providing he did not
take his life, Job finally verbal
ized the questions that he could
not restrain: "Why did I not die
at birth?...Or why was I not as a
hidden untimely birth?.,.Why is
light given to him that in in mis
ery and life to the bitter in soul"
(3:11,16,20).
Is it sacrilegious for us to cry
out questions like these? I do not
think so. To keep them bottled
up inside without ever raising
them, I believe, would be much
worse. God wants our honesty
much more than he wants pre
tenses of false piety. In the
Bible, God is not represented as
being offered by his children's
questions-even hard questions
which may sound like accusa
tion.
By the time we reach Job 3,
he is obviously reeling under his
adversity Why did God cause
him to be born if he was to suffer
so much? He has not lost faith in
the existence of God, but he
seems to have lost his faith in
God's goodness. God does not
rebuke his temerity in‘raising
these questions, because God
knows that they are good ques
tions which Job must raise.
And you? Do you have any
good questions for God?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor
Copyright 1996 by Lancaster Farming