AlO-Uncastw Farming, Saturday, September 5, 1998
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OPINION
This Means You
Pennsylvania’s Nutrient Management Act went into effect
back in October 1,1997. Under this law, operators of farms fit
ting the definition of a concentrated animal operation (CAO) are
to develop, submit, and implement an approved nutrient manage
ment plan. Operators of CAO farms are to submit these nutrient
management plans to their county conservation district for
approval by October 1. 1998.
This means that farms having an animal density of greater than '
2,000 pounds of live animal weight per acre of owned and rented
land used for manure application have only this month yet to sub
mit the plan. That’s not very much time.
Quite a number of farms are not yet in compliance with the
law. And there is not much time to act. The farm community was
active in the development of the Nutrient Management Act prog
ram that is designed with the understanding that the agricultural
community will come forward to comply as they are required. It
is important that farmers be responsive in fulfilling their respon
sibilities under this law because if this law is unsuccessful in get
ting farmers to participate, a more aggressive approach may be
imposed by the federal or state government to address manure
and fertilizer practices associated with animal agriculture.
From what we know, we believe it is important that farmers act
now to participate in this program. Many opponents of agricul
ture just can’t wait to put greater restrictions on our production
facilities and capabilities.
Certainly, we want to protect our local water quality. By com
plying with the requirements of this act voluntarily, we protect
the reputation of the agricultural community as being responsive
to the efforts to protect our water resources. Everyone who farms
must act now. Yes, we must say it. This means you.
Northwest District Dairy Show.
Crawford County Fairgrounds.
Meadville.
Mon Valley District Dairy Show,
Washington County
Fairgrounds.
Juniata County Fair, Port Royal,
Spartansburg Community Fair,
Spartansburg, thru Sept. 12.
'ibr Ci W- 'her
Waterford Community Fair,
Waterford, thru Sept 12.
Ox Hill Community Fair, Plumvil
le, thru Sept 12.
West Alexander Fair, West Ale-
1, poi
ship, 7:30 p.m.
Jamestown Community Fair,
Jamestown, thru Sept. 12.
Claysburg Farm Show, Claysburg,
thru Sept. 12.
Twilight Meeting For Produce
Farmers, Karns Market,
Lemoyne, 7 p.m.
Dauphin County Farm Bureau Pol
icy Development Meeting, Ag
Luzerne County Fair, Dallas, thru
Sept. 13.
Pike County Fair, Matamoras, thru
Sept. 13.
Bellwood-Antis Farm Show, Bell
wood, thru Sept 12.
Agribusiness Breakfast, McCon
❖ Farm Calendar*
- M'
nellsburg American Legion
Post 561, 8 a.m.
Water Clinic, Fulton County
Extension Office, McConnells
burg, 10 a.m.-noon.
Farm Field Day, East Neck Wild
Prince George’s County Fair,
Prince George’s Equestrian
Center, Upper Marlboro, thru
Sept. 12.
Clear Spring Community Show,
Clear Spring High School,
Clear Spring, thru Sept. 12.
Twilight Meeting For Produce
Farmers, Oregon Dairy Market,
Lititz, 7 p.m.
Nittany Antique Machinery Asso
ciation Inc. of Central Pa.,
Penns Cove, Centre Hall, thru
Sept. 13.
Small Grain Roundtable, Hilltop
Restaurant, Shade Gap, noon-2
Hay Creek Fall Festival, north of
Morgantown, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.,
thru Sept 13.
Ballenger Community Show, Fre
derick, thru Sept. 12.
Wicomico County Fair, Wicomico
Youth and Civic Center, Salis
bury, thru Sept 12.
Damascus Community Fair,
Damascus Volunteer Fire Dept
Activity Grounds, Damascus,
thru Sept 13.
Thurmont and Emmitsburg Com
munity Show. Catocdc High
School, Thurmont thru Sept
13.
York Fair, Yoik, thru Sept 20.
34th Annual Steam and Gas
Roundup of the Mason-Dixon
Historical Society, Carroll
To Use Cover Crops in
Soil Management
According to Robert Anderson,
Lancaster County Extension
Agronomy Agent, cover crops not
only keep soil erosion to a mini
mum m the winter time, they
provide several other important
functions.
Cover crops act as anutnent
bank. The nutrient of biggest con
cern is nitrogen. Cover crops are
capable of using left over nitrogen
Irom the previous crop season be
fore it leaches into the ground wa
ter.
In the spring when the cover
crop is killed with a herbicide or
plowed down, the nitrogen is re
leased back into the soil during
the growing season for the next
crop. Cover crops add organic
matter to the soil. Whether the en
tire plant is left in the field or just
the roots, this plant material adds
to the organic matter m the soil.
Organic matter adds water hold
ing capacity to the soil, provides
food for soil microbes, improves
soil structure and adds to the soil's
ability to hold nutrients.
To Use Cover Crops
for Feed
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County Extension Agronomy
Agent, reminds us cover crops can
County Farm Museum, West
minster, Md., thru Sept 13.
New-Generation Coalitions For
Value-Added Products and
Marketing Opportunities,
Christ Lutheran Church, Mill
mont, 10 a.m.-ll:30 a.m.
Bth Annual Hinkelfest, Fanner’s
Pride Airport, Fredericksburg,
Annual Membership Picnic,
Honey Harvest Festival, Hashaw
ha Environmental Center.
Westminster.
Equine Trivial Pursuit, Green
Lane Reservoir Pike, 9 a.m.
Mason-Dixon Red and White
Dairy Cattle Association Picnic
and Field Day, farm of Paul and
Lucinda Moyer, Bemville, 1
p.m.
GrcenTownslupCommunity Fair,
Cookport, thru Sept. 19.
Poultry Management and Health
Seminar, Kreider’s Restaurant,
Manheim, noon.
Beef Producers Meeting, Country
Cupboard Restaurant, Lewis
burg, 5:30 p.m., and Byerly
Brothers Meats, West Milton, 7
p.m.
Albion Area Fair, Albion, thru
Sept. 19.
Sinking Valley Fair, Skelp. thru
Sept. 19.
Denver Fair, Denver, thru Sept. 19.
also provide additional forage for
livestock feed. If the crop is har
vested as a silage crop, the nitro
gen which it captured from the
soil becomes a source of protein
when fed to ruminant livestock.
When the cover crop is used to
produce silage, not only is the ni
trogen kept from leaching into the
ground water, the silage harvested
will replace purchased feeds at a
very small cost to the farmer.
A little money tor seed and a
little time to plant are small costs
to pay for the many returns cover
crops may provide. Erosion con
trol, nutrient bank, feed source,
organic matter, water holding ca
pacity and soil structure are a few
of these returns C over crops offer
the most advantage when planted
immediately after removing com
silage or tobacco.
To Test Private Water
Supplies
If your water supply is from a
ON BLAMING
THE SNAKE
September 6, 1998
Background Scripture:
Genesis 3
Devotional Reading:
Romans 7:IS-2Sa
As a teen-agaer, I assumed that
the sin of Adam and Eve was a
sexual one. My assumption was
understandable because people
very often portrayed them in that
light The ‘forbidden fruit’
usually depicted as an apple
was usually suggestive of sexual
pleasures. It probably wasn’t until
my theological studies that I re
alized that their sin was much
mote encompassing. They dis
obeyed God in eating the forbid
den fruit and it robbed them of
their innocence, making them
ashamed of their nakedness.
This misconception is only one
of many which people entertain
about the meaning of the Garden
of Eden. Among others is that God
counts us as sinners because of
what Adam and Eve did eons ago.
One bright lad in one of my con
firmation classes said he thought it
was very unfair of God to hold us
responsible because people dis
obeyed him so long ago.
My response was that this story
is not so much about what hap
pened long, long ago, but what is
happening in our lives right now.
Like Adam and Eve not be
cause of what they did we will
fully disobey God’s command
ments today. That responsibility
does not rest with them, but each
of us. It is not so much history as it
is our story.
NOTHING TO HIDE
Just compare their situation
with ours. Their initial relation
ship with God was an ideal one.
They “were both naked,” but they
were “not ashamed.” Innocent up
to this point, they had nothing to
hide, either from God or from
each other. That is the kind of un
ashamed relationship for which
God creates us.
Then, introduced into the story,
is the one factor that always ruins
that guileless relationship: the
tempter. Note that the tempter in
Genesis 3 is not the obvious “bad
guy.” Genesis portrays the temp
ter as a serpent, “who was more
subtle than any other wild animal
that the Lord God had made.” The
worst temptations arc the subtle
ones that persuade us that they are
private well or spring, monitoring
water quality is your responsibil
ity. Leon Ressler, Lancaster
County Extension Environmental
Agent, reminds us that the only
way you may be certain your wa
ter is safe to drink is to have it
tested periodically.
Several screening tests can
give you a pretty good idea about
the quality of your water. A test
for total coliform bacteria should
be run annually. The acceptable
test results are zero colonies of
coliform bacteria in the sample.
Make sure the lab running the
test is certified for microbiology
tests by the Pennsylvania De
partment of Environmental Pro
tection. Other tests you might
want to consider are nitrate nitro
gen, hardness, iron, total dissolved
solids and pH.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote: "You
lead people and you manage
things."
not temptations, but ideas that are
fully rational and justifiable.
The tempter always tries to con
fuse us with suggestive words:
“Did God say, ‘You shall not eat
of any tree in the garden’?” (May
be politics is the world’s oldest
profession!). But Eve knew that
God had restricted them from eat
ing only the fruit of “the tree in the
midst of the garden.” She remem
bered also that God had warned:
“... lest you die.” Note that Eve
rejects the tempter’s suggestion,
not because God forbade them,
but because she is afraid of the
dire consequences.
EQUAL WITH GOD!
This is where the tempter ex
cels: he makes us doubt sin’s con
sequences. “You will not die,” he
tells Eve. “For God knows that
when you eat of it your eyes will
be opened, and you will be like
God knowing good and evil.” He
suggests a divine conspiracy to
keep Adam and Eve from being
equal to God. How much more
effective these words are than if he
had simply said, “Go ahead and
disobey God!” Eating the fruit
will not be “disobedience” but
self-fulfillment (How often we
disobey God for the sake of “self
fulfillment”!)
Later, when God confronts
them, it is evident that the serpent
lied. They were not given the
power to discern between good
and evil, but only to be ashamed
of their nakedness. “Who told you
that you were naked?”, but God
already knows the answer. Their
shame is not that they are naked,
but that they feel naked in God’s
sight. Now, they have something
to hide and he can see them exact
ly as they are.
I always marvel when I read
their self-justifications. Adam
blames Eve, even implying that
God is also at fault: “The woman
whom thou gavest to be with me.
she gave me the fruit of the tree
...” Eve at tempts to shift the
blame too: “The serpent beguiled
me ...
It seems no one is ever wrong
today. Either we blame our dis
obedience upon some other person
or we are still trying to blame the
snake with the same conse
quences!
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Bphrata 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