AlO-Lancuter Farming, Saturday, December 5, 1998
OPINION
Realistic Butter Prices
With butter back in the good graces of the medical/health food
establishment, sales have been steadily increasing over the last
few years. But based on the premise of charging what the market
will bear, prices for butter have been reported up to nearly $4.00
per pound. One report said prices in New Jersey had reached
$5.00 per pound.
Naturally, reports of good milk prices to farmers have been
used to justify the increase in price to consumers. But according
to Arden Tewksbury, Pro Ag manager, the price to farmers for
milk to be manufactured into butter dropped from $ 13.28 per cwt.
in January 1998 to $10.76 per cwt. in May. That is 2S-3S cents per
gallon. The wholesale price of butter in January was $l.lO per
pound. By mid-fall this price had reached over $2.90 per pound in
some markets. In the last few weeks, of course, the wholesale
price of butter has taken some dramatic declines and is now back
around $1.20 per pound.
A recent survey indicates that consumers criticize the high but
ter prices, but most of them don’t blame dairy farmers. More and
mote consumers are aware of the value of real butter. But if it is
over-priced as we have seen in the past, sales drop. We can only
hope the distribution system for dairy products will take a realis
tic profit but price butter according to the cost of the milk paid to
farmers for manufacturing, not on what the market will bear.
Maryland Farm Bureau 83d Annu
al Meeting, Ramada Inn Con
vention Center, Hagerstown,
Beginners, Huntingdon County
extension office, 9:30 a.m.-3
p.m.
New York Farm Bureau Citizen
ship Award Contest, New York
Farm Bureau annual meeting,
Radisson Plaza-The Hotel Syr
acuse, thru Dec. 10.
Dairy Options Pilot Program
ip
School, Princess Royale
Occanfront Hotel and Confer-
ence Center, Ocean City, Md.,
thru Dec. 10.
Daily Feeding Systems Confer
ence, Radisson Penn Harris
Hotel and Convention Center,
Camp Hill, thru Dec. 10.
Solanco Young Fanners meeting.
Farm Safety, Solanco High
School, 7:30 p.m.
Regional Greenhouse Meeting,
Huntingdon County Coopera
tive Extension office.
Huntingdon.
Practical Biosecurity for Poultry,
13 th Regional Meeting, Uni-
versity of Delaware, Newark,
Del., 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Western Pa. Regional Vegetable
Conference, Days Inn, Butler.
Poultry Plentitude, University of
Delaware, Newark, Del.
Series County DHIA Banquet, Ag
Services Center, noon.
Fulton County Agribusiness
Breakfast, McConnellsburg
American Legion Post S6l, 8
#>•/>
•A Civ *t>'
Calendar*
Dauphin County Agronomy
Workshops, Elizabethvillc
Public Library, Elizabcthvillc,
different, morning and after
noon sessions, 10 a.m.-2;30
pun.
Westmoreland County Coopera
tive Extension Association
Annual Meeting, Donohoe
Center, 7:30 p.m.-9:30 pun.
Dairy Options Pilot Program
Meeting, Berks County Ag
Center, Lcesport, 1:30 pun.
Dairy Options Pilot Program
Meeting, Kutztown High
Core Pesticide Training, Mercer
County Extension, 1 p.m.-4
p.m.
Adams County DHIA Banquet,
York Springs Fire Hall, 7 p.m.
Dairy Optioris Pilot Program
Ag Cli Ol
Cake and Kandy Emporium,
East Petersburg, 11 a.m., 1
p.m., and 3 p.m., also Dec. 13,
11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Methane Digestion Open House,
Siuubn, December 13
Moiulav, December 14
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
Christmas Event, Ephrata
Middle School, 6:30 p.m.
Solanco Young Farmers meeting.
Computer Education: Navigat
ing Windows, Solanco High
School, 7:30 p.m.
Passing Chi The Farm Workshop,
Lighthouse Restaurant, Cham-
nology Show and Seminar,
To Return DOPP Sign
up Form
If you have received informa
tion on the Dairy Options Pilot
Program (DOPP), you must re
turn your sign up form by De
cember 11. DOPP is a program to
help dairy farmers understand the
value of risk management and
acquire the tools to practice it.
The key concept is risk man
agement. This program sets the
tone for government programs for
the 21st century. It will be impor
tant for farmers to understand op
tions, hedging with options and
valuing options.
DOPP lets you put words into
action. DOPP will give you hands
on learning experience in using
PUT options to protect your milk
price at a very small cost. Read
Secretary Glickman's letter and
consider signing up for the bene
fits of this program. Remember,
this form is only a commitment
of interest in the program.
You may withdraw at anytime
without any cost or penalty. If
you are in a DOPP county, you
irliist return the sign up form by
December 11, 1998 in order to be
eligible to participate.
To Feed Your Ram
Rams should .have a body con
dition score of 3.5 to 4 before the
beginning of the breeding season,
according to Chester Hughes,
Lancaster County Extension Live
stock Agent. A body condition
score of 1 is thin and 5 is obese.
Once turned in with the ewes for
breeding, rams spend very little
time eating. They can lose up to
12 per cent ot their body weight
during the 45 day breeding period.
That equates to 30 pounds for a
250 pound ram.
Poor nutrition is a major cause
of ram mortality. In many cases,
lorage alone is not adequate nutri
tion for placing rams in proper
body condition for the breeding
season At the very least, rams
should be evaluated for bcdy con
dition six weeks before breeding.
Lancaster Host, Lancaster.
Pork Forum, Bird In Hand
Restaurant, Bird In Hand, 9:30
ajn.-2 p.m.
Crop Planning Workshop, Hugo's
Restaurant, Brownsville, 9
Stater Conference Center, State
Holiday Inn, Grantville.
Top Gun Com Producer Confer
ence, Mercer County extension
lU'itiiilut 21
Thin rams should receive grain
as a means to increase body
weight and condition. It takes SO
days and approximately 2.5
pounds of com per day in addition
to a ram's normal diet to move
him from a weight of 225 pounds
to 250 pounds.
Mature rams, not in breeding,
may be maintained on pasture or
wintered on good quality hay. Six
to eight pounds of mixed grass
and clover hay is sufficient to
meet the daily energy requirements
of a 250 pound ram. A free choice
source of water, salt and minerals
should be available at all times.
To Caulk for Energy
Savings
As much as 30 per cent of the
home's heat may be lost through
leaks and cracks, reports Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County Ex
tension Agronomy Agent. Doors,
windows, chimneys and the foun
dation of the house offers oppor-
BUT WHAT
DO YOU SAY?
December 6, 1998
Background Scripture:
Hebrews 1:1-4;
Matthew 16:13-26
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 11:1-10
When my father was still on
this side of the gateway we call
death, whenever I was visiting
with my parents and answered
the telephone, people on the
other end of the line would
invariably say, “Hello, Wilson.”
Often, when I replied, “No this is
his son, Larry,” the caller would
pause, wondering if my father
was playing some kind of joke on
them. My-voice sounded a great
deal like his, even though nei
ther of us particularly thought
so.
Even face-to-face, some peo
ple would mistake me for him.
Others would say, “You don’t
have to tell me whose son you
are.” The interesting thing
about this is that we didn’t real
ly look alike. Yet, when they saw
me, many people saw in my vis
age something that reminded
them of my father. I can appreci
ate their reaction, for I’m often
surprised when I look in the
mirror and seem to see my
father looking back at me.
I have known lots of sons and
daughters who looked like and
sounded even more like one or
both of their parents. Family
resemblances can range from
slight to absolutely amazing! So,
we can appreciate what the
writer of Hebrews means when
he says: “ In many and various
ways God spoke of old to our
fathers by the prophets; but in
these last days he has spoken to
us by a 50n...” (1:1).
MANY & VARIOUS WAYS
I have literally and figura
tively traveled around the world
and everywhere I have visited I
have found some evidence of
God’s revelation. Buddhists,
Hindus, Moslems, Jews and oth
ers, it has seemed to me, have
not been denied divine revela
tion. God has spoken and still
continues to speak “in many and
various ways” to all his children.
While I deeply respect these
other religions and their experi
ence of the one God, I have been
personally reinforced in my
choice of Christianity, for I can
tunities for heat leakage. Good
quality caulking will help prevent
much of this heat loss resulting in
a savings of heating dollars. Be
fore starting the job, identify the
main areas of heat loss through
cracks.
Check spaces where pipes,
wires, cables or water faucets enter
the house or bam. Check around
doors and window frames where
the frames meet the wall. Look
under window sills and between
porches and the main portions of
the house for openings.
After identifying where the
leaks are, select the proper caulk
for the job. Generally look for
caulking materials with a high
resistance to water and are easy to
use.
Feather Prof's Footnote: "It
takes courage to push yourself to
places that you have never been
before, to test your limits and to
break through barriers."
not help but believe that the
fullest understanding of this
God whom we all worship comes
through his reflection in Jesus
Christ. So, when people ask me,
“Why Jesus?” it is easy for me to
answer: In him is the most that a
mortal can ever know of the
immortal God.
The writer of Hebrews puts it
well: “He reflects the glory of God
and bears the very stamp of his
nature...” (1:3). To know Jesus is
to know as much of God as it is
possible for us to know. This is
one of the great themes of John’s
Gospel: “He that has seen me has
seen the Father” (14:9). Not in a
physical sense, of course, but
there is an even greater resem
blance between Jesus and the
Father than there is between
any parents and their offspring.
WHAT IS GOD LIKE?
With people around the globe
we share the conviction that
there is a God, but when we con
sider what that God is like, what
is his essential nature, it seems
that there is no clearer picture,
no fuller representation than
the God we find revealed in
Jesus.
When Jesus gathered his dis
ciples about him at Caesarea
Philippi, he asked, “ Who do men
say that the Son of man is?”
Among the popular answers
they repeated were, “John the
Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one
of the prophets” (Matt. 16:14)
But his disciples know that he is
more than a prophet, and when
he asks, “But who do you say
that I am,” Peter probably
answers for the group when he
says, “You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God.”
Even these titles do not say it
all. The term “Christ” is the
English rendering for Christos,
the Greek word for Messiah,
“the annointed one.” Messiahs
ranked more highly than
prophets. They were special
“messengers” from God. “Son of
God” implies the closest of filial
relationships. But, of course, it
doesn’t matter what others call
him. His question for us is the
same that he asked Peter, “ But
who do YOU say that I am?”
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 1998 LoneotUr-Forming