AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, October 3, 1998
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A Farmer's Creed
I believe a man's greatest possession is his dignity and that no
calling bestows this more abundantly than farming.
I believe hard work and honest sweat are the building blocks of
a person's character.
I believe that farming, despite its hardships and disappoint
ments, is the most honest and honorable way a man can spend his
days on this earth.
I believe farming nurtures the close family ties that make life
rich in ways money can't buy.
I believe my children are learning values that will last a life
time and can be learned in no other way.
I believe farming provides education for life and that no other
occupation teaches so much about birth, growth, and maturity in
such a variety of ways.
I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free; The
splendor of a sunrise, the rapture of wide open spaces, the exhila
rating sight of your land greening each spring.
I believe that true happiness comes from watching your crops
ripen in the field, your children grow tall in the sun, your whole
family feel the pride that springs from their shared experience.
I believe that by my toil I am giving more to the world than I
am taking from it, an honor that does not come to all men.
I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have
done for my fellowman, and by this standard, I fear no judgment.
I believe when a man grows old and sums up his days he should
be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life he's lived.
I believe in farming because it makes all this possible.
4-H Super Saturday, Mercer
County 4-H Park, 4 p.m.
Mercer County Conservation Dis
trict Open House, Mercer
County Conservation Farm, 10
a.m.-3 p.m.
National 4-H Week, thru Oct 10.
Open Youth Schooling Horse
Show, Northampton County
4-H Center, Nazareth, 10 a.m.
Solanco Young Farmers Family
Picnic, Karl Herr and Family.
4th Annual Fall Antique Tractor
and Implement Collector’s
Show, St. Peter’s Church,
Holidaysburg Community Fair,
Hollidaysburg, thru Oct 8.
Manheim Community Farm
Show, Manheim. thru Oct 9.
Poultry Health and Management
Meeting, Kreider’s Restaurant
Manheim, noon.
Dauphin County Farm Bureau
Banquet Halifax Ambulance
and Rescue Building, Halifax, 7
pjn.
Dauphin County 4-H Achieve
ment Night Dauphin Ag
Resources Center, Dauphin,
6:30 p.m.
Roadside Marketing Field Day,
The Spring House, Eighty-
Four, 1 p.m.
Md. and Va. Milk Producers Meet
ing. Even Restaurant Mt
Tele-Auction Sale, Buckhan-
non Stockyards.
Linganore/New Market Commun
ity Show, Linganore High
School, New Market, thru OcL
8.
1998 National Angus Conference.
The Angus Plan For 2000 and
Beyond, Washington State
University, Pullman, Wash.
* :
'
❖ Farm Calendars
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~
Fulton County Agribusiness
Breakfast, American Legion,
McConnells burg, 8 a.m.
Md. and Va. Milk Producers Meet
ing, Four Points Sheraton,
IJaecrstown^Mdj^Tjjjm^^
Media Forum: Communicating
About Food To A Cynical Publ
ic, St Joseph’s Univenity, Phi
ladelphia, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Berks county 4-H Swine Roundup,
Leesport Farmers Market,
nett Square, thru Oct 10.
ADADC Dist 17 meeting. Gibson
Grange. Gillette, 8 p.m.
S3rd Annual Pa. National Horse
Show, Farm Show Complex,
Harrisburg, thru Oct 17.
Trimming and Shoeing For Natur
al Hoof Balance, Willow Brook
Equestrian Center, Catesqua, 7
pjn.-lO p.m.
Schuylkill County Extension
meeting, St. Paul’s UCC
Church, 6:30 p.m.
Hooftalk Clinic, Willow Brook
Farms, Monroe County, 7
p.m.-10 p.m.
N£. Rf tonal 4-H Leader
Farms. Monroe County, 10
a.m.-3 p.m.
Wyoming County Sheep and Wool
Producers Association annual
meeting and roast lamb dinner.
United Methodist Church, Cen-
quet, York Springs Fireball,
York Springs, 7 p.m.
24th Annual Choice Plus Club
Calf Sale. Mercer 4-H Park,
7:30 p.m.
Northwest Pa. Sheep and Wool
Growers Fall Shepherd Picnic,
To Implement Nutrient
Management
October 1, 1998 marks the im
plementation of Pennsylvania Nu
trient Management Law. All con
centrated animal operations (CAO)
are required to file nutrient man
agement plans with their county
conservation district.
Recently USDA and EPA re
lease its strategy for animal feed
ing operations. Agricultural lead
ers have been successful in includ
ing voluntary participation as im
portant components of these gov
ernment programs
Nutrient management plans are
the basis of these programs. The
amount of government regulations
will depend on farmer participa
tion. Farmers need to develop and
implement nutrient management
plans. A recent report from the
Susquehanna River Basin Com
mission, shows nitrogen, phos
phorus and sediment concentra
tions have significantly decreased
during the period 1985 to 1997.
Voluntary nutrient manage
ment plans have played a major
role in this decrease. By having all
farmers implementing nutrient
management plans, we will be in
creasing public support of agricul
ture and reduce government regula
tions while improving the envi
ronment and water quality. Now is
the lime to implement your nutri
ent management plan.
To Pick Up Farm Show
Lists
The 1999 Pennsylvania State
Farm Show Premium Lists have
Warren County Fairgrounds,
Beef Skil-A-Thon, Berks County
Ag Center, 3 p.m.
Judged Obstacle Ride, Marsh
Creek State Park, 9:30 a.m-2
p.m.
Family Day on the Farm. Cliff and
Jacqueline England Bethel
Farm. Rising Sun, Md., 1
p.m.-5 p.m.
Safety Training Workshop, Holi
day Inn, Grantville. thru Oct
Meeting, Hotel and Exit 37
(formerly Four Points Hotel
Sheraton), Liverpool, N.Y.,
thru Oct. 14.
ADADC Dist 16 meeting, Troy
Fire Hall, Troy, 7:30 p.m.
Solanco Young Fanners Com Sil-
Mar ' Meet’ Sol
tion Educational Bus Tour,
leaves Farm Show Complex
CTurn to Page A 35)
arrived at your county Penn State
Cooperative Extension Office.
The dates for the 1999 show arc
January 9th to 14th. Many of the
departments have closing dates in
early November and December.
The premium list have rules,
regulations, requirements, entry
forms and schedule of events.
Mam attractions include rodeo.
Pa. State Police Mounted Drill
Team, Cumberland County 4-H
Drill Team. Folk Dance Festival.
Sheep to Shawl contest and Bid
Calling contest. 3e sure to pick
up copy of the premium list, read
it and make your entries for the
1999 Farm Show. Mark your cal
endars now and plan to attend this
outstanding agricultural show.
To Plant Cover Crops
Using cover crops on the farm
offers many advantages at a very
minimal cost while requiring little
time input, according to Robert
BY IAWRfNCf W AIIHOUSf
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THE BAALS IN
YOUR BACKYARD
October 4, 1998
Background Scripture:
Judges 2
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 78:17-32
So what are these 'baals' that
I'm saying are so close at hand?
In the Old Testament Baal
was a Canaanite farm god who
was thought to be responsible
for the germination and growth
of crops, the increase of flocks
and fruitfulness of farm fami
lies. He was also believed to be
the consort of the goddess
Asherah or Astarte.
There was not just one Baal,
but each Canaanite community
had its own manifestation of
Baal. All of the Baals together
were referred to as the Baalism
and they were worshipped on
mountain "high places" in licen
tious rituals. This worship was
known as Baalism and,
although strictly forbidden by
God, was very attractive to the
people of Israel who had hereto
fore practiced an austere desert
wilderness religion.
From our 20/20-hindsight
vantage point more than 3,000
years later, it seems incredible
that Baalism should have been a
threat. Trust in Good and his
covenant had freed these people
from captivity in Egypt, guided
them safely through the wilder
ness and brought them to the
promised land. With a track
record like that why wouldn't
they continue to "dance with the
one that brung them"?
VICIOUS CYCLE
Judges 2 is an introduction to
the whole book, setting forth a
cycle of national apostasy, peril,
repentance and deliverance.
Practically every chapter follows
that outline and begins with
these words: "And the people of
Israel did what was evil in the
sight of the Lord and served the
Baals" (Judges 2:11). The writer
of Judges seems as incredulous
as we are today: "...and they for
sook the Lord...who had brought
them out of the land of Egypt..."
(12). After all the Lord had done
for them, how could they forsake
him?
Generations from now, people
may look at us and ask the same
question. After all that God has
done for us, how can we turn
from him and worship the Baals
Anderson, Lancaster County Ex
tension Agronomy Agent. Cover
crops planted in the fall are super
at reducing winter soil erosion.
Cover crops add organic matter
to the soil profile which in turn
increases the soil's ability to hold
water, nutrients and improves soil
tilth. Fall planted cover crops cap
ture nitrogen in the soil at the end
of one growing season and prevent
it from leaching below the root
zone. Cover crops may help break
up compacted zones in the soil.
Cover crops help hold live
stock waste spread on the field in
the winter. Cover crops make an
excellent source of additional for
ages for the livestock and dairy
farmer. As you see, cover crops
offer many advantages at a very
small price.
Feather Prof, 's Footnote: "We
cannot direct the wind...but we
can adjust the sails."
in our backyards? From the per
spective of time, it may be quite
apparent that we, too, have for
saken the Lord.
If the people of Israel had
been asked whether they had
forsaken the Lord and were wor
shipping the Baals, I am sure
that they would have replied in
the negative. The "anger of the
Lord was kindled against
Israel," not because of what they
did. They still gave lip-service to
the Lord, but it was to the Baals
that they turned when they
determined their values and
their conduct.
OUR BAALS
Most of us also profess to
believe in god, but it is not our
profession, but our conduct that
is offensive to the Lord. When
we decide what is important in
life, when we determine the
ethics by which we live our daily
lives, where do we turn for the
answers? What backyard Baals
entice us; power, wealth, popu
larity, sex, pleasure, material
things or others? To what or
whom do we turn when we need
help? In what or whom do we
trust? Where does our money
go?
Inevitably, in Judges, when
ever the people forsook the Lord
and "did what was evil in the
sight of the Lord," there was a
painful price to be paid. Often, it
was only when they were in the
midst of suffering a terrible
price that they repented and
called upon the Lord to get them
out. Since much of their suffer
ing was at the hands of foreign
enemies, God's response to their
pleas was to raise up judges,
"who saved them out of the
power of those who plundered
them" (16).
Yet, although time after time
he sent judges to save them,
they would eventually rebel
against him again and the cycle
would start all over again Note
that, although they were not
faithful to him, he was faithful
to them. Despite their dismal
record of loyalty, the Lord did
not give up on them.
Just as, despite all those
Baals in our backyards, he does
not give up on us.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata. PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Slemman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing editor
Copyright 1996 by Lancaster F^rnvng