frrmlng, Saturday, June 27, 1998
■- | j— ■ mi —I.—II
OPINION
Farms For The Future
Recent opinion polls and news reports all suggest the
public is becoming increasingly concerned over runaway
growth and its ramifications in the metropolitan
Washington and Baltimore areas and the surrounding mid-
Atlantic region. As our population soars and shifts to rural
areas with cheaper land and greater open space, growing
numbers of residents are openly voicing their frustration
and distress over the impact of sprawling development on
their lives.
Frequently overshadowed in the clamor about sprawl
induced construction, congestion, crime and overcrowded
classrooms is the destruction of our farmland and the agrar
ian way of life it has provided generations of Maryland
farmers and the escalating conflicts between farmers and
city dwellers who want country surroundings but eschew
the agricultural traditions.
In the last 45 years, about 2 million acres of Maryland
farmland, more than half the total agricultural land base in
1950, were paved over as the state's population swelled by
2.5 million. That means just about one acre of farmland pro
duction was lost for every person added to the state's census
rolls. The Maryland Department of Agriculture says that
should the ratio persist, the state in just two generations
will not have a single acre of farmland left to feed its pro
jected population of 9 million. If that trend is not sufficient
ly sobering, then consider the fate of the Maryland farmer.
In 1950, the state had 39,000 farmers. Today, the number is
13,000 and falling.
As a fourth-generation Maryland farmer with a true pas
sion for the land and a strong commitment to seeing it saved
from rampant, runaway growth, I am concerned about the
loss of the state's farmers and farmland. This is state with a
proud agricultural heritage. During the Revolutionary War,
our farmland generated flour, meat and other foodstuffs for
George Washington's army and his French allies, an action
for which we later were hailed as the Breadbasket of the
Revolution. Soil additives were developed in Maryland, and
the nation's first manufactured fertilizer was produced in
Baltimore. Even today agriculture remains Maryland's
largest industry with $1.5 billion in annual sales, and the
farmland upon which this economic powerhouse is based
continues to offer numerous other environmental, social,
scenic, historical, cultural, and wildlife benefits.
To its credit, the state has recognized the widespread but
often underappreciated values of our farmland and the
development threat facing it. Long before most, Maryland
established a number of farmland protection programs, and
it now leads the country m farmland acreage permanently
saved from development.
But admirable as they are, the programs still have not
been enough. Much of our most important farmland remains
at serious risk of bemg overrun. Moreover, less than seven
percent of the state's farmland with prime or productive
soils and an even smaller percent of ag land with key envi
ronmental, cultural or historical features have been perma
nently protected.
Three years ago, the Future Harvest Project brought
together a diverse group of public and private agricultural,
environmental, political, planning and development inter
ests as the Chesapeake Farms for the Future Board. The
board completed an appraisal of the state's farmland pro
tection efforts. As part of the process, it identified on sophis
ticated, computer-generated maps the state's strategic farm
land, the land most deserving protection because of its agri
cultural, environmental, cultural, or historical importance
or its risk of being developed. It also developed a model
farmland protection program.
The model is the first of its kind in the country. It relies
on a comprehensive mix of proven incentive-based and reg
ulatory farmland protection techniques that evenly divide
program cost between individual landowners and the gener
al public.
With the program, responsible county and state agencies
would establish plans with firm farmland protection goals
and timetables-goals and timetables that identify on the
maps which strategic farmland to save and how.
Agricultural zoning protection would be strengthened. More
compact, efficient housing would be encouraged in farming
areas. Landowners would receive stronger incentives for
enrolling" their land in agricultural protection districts.
Federal and state funding for farmland protection programs
would be increased to truly allow landowners the option of
saving their land rather than developing it. Counties would
(Turn to Pag* AST)
To Understand Odor Per
ception
A 1995 report from North
Carolina State University Swine
Odor Task force noted four factors
which influence how objection
able an odor may be to individu
als
First, the amount of control
an individual has over the situa
tion will affect ones feelings to
wards an odor If one feels they
have no ability to do anything
about the odor, then the situation
is likely to be more offensive.
Second, the more understanding
one has about the source of an
odor, the more tolerable an odor
will be It the source of an odor
seems mysterious to the offended
party, the level of objection is
likely to be higher
Third, the context of an odor
also influences how objectionable
the odor will be. It the operation
has dirty, unkempt appearance, the
neighbors are likely to have more
of a problem with the odor then it
the farm is neat, tidy and appeal
ing
Fourth, is the level of expo
sure II one is constantly exposed
to an odor, ones awareness of it
lessens In time one may lose the
ability to detecfthe odor. This ex
plains why livestock workers may
have a difficult time understanding
the objections of others about
odor By considering these factors
one may gam an understanding ot
where objections to odors arc
likely to occur and steps which
Farm Calendar*
Western State Master Gardener
Conference, Penn State Beaver
Campus.
Pa. German Fesdvan, Kutztown
Fairgrounds, thru July 5.
Crawford County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Christ Evangelical
Free Church, Saegertown.
National Holstein Convention,
Louisville, Ky., thru June 30.
18th Annual Hickory Ridge Anti
que Farm Show, Horace Potter
Residence, Milford, Del., thru
June 28.
Marburger Farm Dairy Open
House, Marburger Farm, Evans
City, noon-6 p.m., also June 28.
Sequoia Riders 4-H Horse and
Summer Picnic, Ephrata Park,
Holstein Association 113th Annu
al Convention Meeting, Louis
ville, Ky., thru June 30.
IDFTA Summer Orchard Tour,
(Turn to Pag* ASS)
could be taken to avoid or reduce
the problems.
To Control Bagworms
Dr. Timothy EJkner, Lancaster
County Extension Horticultural
Agent, notes bagworms have
hatched recently. If you had prob
lems with these pests last year,
now is the time to check your
plants to see if these insects are
around again this year
Look for tiny bags on the up
per leaf surface of your deciduous
plants or along the needles of
spruce and arborvitae The bags
are pointing upward at this time
of year and are mostly silk with
little bits of leaves attached. As
the insects grow larger, the bags
will hang downward and will be
covered with a large amount of
plant material
Start your scouting now where
bags were observed over the win
ter season It is important to find
bagworms early in their develop
ment because controlling them is
easier while they are small Bt
will provide excellent control
NOW J KNOW!
June 28, 1998
Background Scripture:
Job 38: 1-7; 42:1-6-10
Devotional Reading:
Job 28:20-28
The “friends” of Job have all
had their say: three times, in fact.
Job has answered each of their dis
courses, insisting upon his inno
cence and the rightness of his
cause.
Elihu.
A fourth visitor,
ly appears, vents his anger upon
Job and j'ust as suddenly disap
pears from the scene.
Job has repeatedly asked God to
come and hear his complaint. Now
at last, enter God, demanding:
“Who is this that darkens counsel
by words without knowledge?”
The Lord of the universe governs
in light, but Job's ignorant com
plaints bring, not light, but dark
ness. Job wants to argue with God
and challenge him to answer his
questions; all right, let him stand
up like a man and see whether he
can answer God's questions!
These questions, 77 as I
counted them, span most of chap
ter 38 through 41. From the first
* Where were you when I laid
the foundation of the earth?”
(38:4) to the last “Who can
open the doors of (Leviathan, a
mythical sea monster) his face?”
(41:14) they are unanswerable.
(All of us should read these ques
tions at least annually to help us
remember who we are and are
not!)
BEYOND UNDERSTANDING
The questions are asked, not in
expectation that Job might answer
them, but to forcefully impress
upon him that the creature cannot
possibly understand the answers
that the Creator might give to his
questions. Job is asking good and
honest questions about the infin
ite, but he and all of us are able to
comprehend only that which is
finite.
Like Job we ask our questions
and the more up-front of us even
sometimes challenge God with
our human logic. “Lord, how
could you let this happen?” “Why
this innocent little child?” “What
have I done to deserve this?”
“How can you let evil people pros-
while bagworms are small. There
are several other products labeled
for the control of bagworms on
ornamental plants.
To Enter Hay Show
The Pennsylvania Forage and
Grassland Council and Penn State
Cooperative Extension are spon
soring the 1998 Pennsylvania Hay
Show as part of the Penn State
Ag Progress Days. Ag Progress
Days is scheduled August 18 -20
at the Rock Spring Research
Farm. The hay show has three
sections- Field Cured, Heat
Treated and Preservative Treated
There are 30 classes of hay in each
section for exhibitors to enter hay
samples.
Samples for this year's show
must delivered to Ag Progress
Days before 10 a.m on August
18 A complete copy of the
classes and rules may be obtained
from your county extension of
fice
Feather Prof.'s Footnote "In
the middle of even difficulty lies
opportunity "
per?” “Lord, how can you be good
and permit this evil?” And you can
probably add some questions of
your own. These human questions
are logical and we are not blasphe
mous in asking them. But we are
arrogant in thinking that we could
understand God’s answers.
I’m not suggesting for one mo
ment that we should not seek an
swers to life’s questions. The gos
pel of Jesus Christ gives us all the
answers that we can comprehend.
Sometimes we may not be satis
fied with those answers, just as
Job was not satisfied with the tra
ditional theologial answers given
by his friends. But, having asked
our questions and understood as
much of the answers as we can,
we need to know that the ultimate
answers lie beyond human com
’ prehension. That is where hath
comes in, living confidently on the
sudden-
basis of what we do know and can
understand.
SOMETHING TO BANK ON
This is what Job concluded.
Faced with God’s unanswerable
questions, he confesses the basis
upon which he will live: “I know
that thou canst do all things, and
that no purpose of thine can be
thwarted" (42:2). No matter how
tragic and bleak the circumstances
of life. Job will trust in the God
whose eternal purposes are not
whimisical and cannot be de
feated. That will be enough for he
knows now that “I have uttered
what I did not understand . . .”
The late Prof. Samuel Terien
comments that apparently Job’s
faith had been an inherited, sec
ond-hand one. In good times, that
inherited faith was good enough,
but in the midst of his personal tra
gedy it was not Now, having ex
perienced God in the deepest lev
els of his life, he has a faith that
will sustain him: “I had heard of
thee by the hearing of the ear, but
now my eyes see thee. .(42:5).
Job does not have to. have an
swers to all his questions to the
Creator, for he knows and trusts
the Creator himself. Job could say,
Now I know! Can you?
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 Sditor
Copyright 1996 by Lancaster Farming