AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 20, 1999
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OPINION
The FFA Theme Making the Connection
The future is only u tomorrow away, and we need leaders to meet the challenges rapidly transforming our world
Grown from the strong roots of American agriculture, an organization is preparing today's students with the Icnowl
edge and skills to provide this leadership These are the young men and women of the FFA
In schools across the nation, agricultural education and the FFA are connecting students to their communities Their
contributions are valued by government and businesses that recognize the importance of investing well By working
with community leaders, members embrace their civic duty and become active citizens
Becoming a leader takes strong personal commitment Members make the connection between education, hard work
and a strong entrepreneurial spirit FFA programs and activities reveal that education is more than homework and
classes, and include competitive events that provide recognition lor members who want to lest their talents and
strengthen their skills
America leads the world in agricultural production and technology The global market is full of opportunity FFA con
nects members to the limitless possibilities by equipping them with a larger understanding of the world around them
FFA has made a commitment to provide a stepping stone to the diverse and exciting careers awaiting our members
The spirit of "the blue and gold" reaches out in all directions FFA members stretch across the nation from the smallest
of towns to the largest af cities, yet they are still connected Through agricultural education and FFA, all are developing
their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success They are truly "Making the
Connection"
Saturday, February 20
Lancaster County 4-H Benefit
Auction, Farm and Home
Center.
Dauphin County 4-H Banquet,
Dauphin County Ag and Natur
al Resources Center, Dauphin.
Western Pa. Gardening and Land
scaping Symposium, Pitts
burgh Civic Garden Center.
Crop Management School,
Thompson’s Daily Bar, Clarks
Summit.
Beginning Beekeeper Seminar,
Leslie Firth Learning Center,
Mercer, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Careers In Ag Night, York County
4-H Center, 6:30 p.m.-8:30
p.m.
Annual Lambing School, Wyom
ing County Sheep and Wool
Producers Association, PDA
Building, Tunkhannock, 9:30
a.m.-noon.
Beekeeping Short Course, S&S
Apiaries, Little Creek, Del.,
Neb., thru Feb. 26.
Game Bird Production and Man
agement of Hunting Preserves,
Nittany Lion Inn and Penn State
Winter Meeting, Franklin
County extension office, 7:30
u m <■
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
p.m.-9:30 p.m.
USDA’s 75th Ag Outlook Forum,
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Hotel, Arlington, Va., thru Feb.
23.
Pesticide Applicator Recertifica
tion Meeting, Southern Fulton
High School, Warfordsburg, 7
p.m.-9 p.m.
Pork Workshop, Farm and Home
■BSE9MOBSH
Tri-State Conservation Tillage
Conference, Radisson Hotel,
West Middlesex. •
Solanco Young Farmers meeting.
Global Positioning, Solanco
High School, 7:30 p.m.
Schuylkill County Regional Veg
etable Meeting, Ag Center,
Pottsvillc, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Feeder School, Green Hill Sewing
Club, Harrisonville, 10 a.m.-3
p.m.
Bucks County Conservation and
pesticide update meetings,
Neshaminy Manor Center,
Doylestown, also March 2.
Beef Producers Meeting, Olter
bein United Methodist Church,
Sunbury, 7 p.m.-8:45 p.m.
Public Hearing by House Agricul
ture and Rural Affairs Commit
tee on Northeast Dairy Com
pact, Room 60, East Wing of
Mid-Atlantic Dairy Management
Conference, Radisson Penn
To Think Safety
Farming has the undesirable
distinction of being the most haz
ardous occupation in the United
States, reports Leon Resslcr, Lan
caster County Extension Agricul
tural Environment Agent. Now is
a good time to review your
equipment and regular routines to
spot safety lapses.
Do not wait until tragedy
strikes' Take the time now to re
place any missing guards on PTO
shafts or covers on augers. Check
all fire extinguishers on the farm
to make sure they are in working
order. If you do not have any, pur
chase several for important loca
tions on the farm.
Remove any piles of flamma
ble trash that may have accumu
lated. Make sure all crop protec
tion chemicals are stored away
from food and feed and kept under
lock and key at all times. Any
hazardous sanitizing products
should be stored out of reach of
children.
To Make Tractors Safe
Harris, Camp Hill, thru Feb. 25.
Pa, Potato Growers Cooperative
Annual Meeting, Nittany Lion
Inn, Penn State University
Park, thru Feb. 25.
Vegetable growers meeting, Mey
ers Family Restaurant, Quaker
town, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Huntingdon County Dairy Day,
Alexandria Fire Hall, Alexan-
Pa. Ag In the 21st Century 1999
Conference, Holiday Inn Har
risburg East, Harrisburg, thru
Feb. 26.
Sheep Production, Wesley
Grange, Barkeyville, 7 p.m.
Kutztown Produce Auction Annu
al Growers Meeting, Fleetwood
Grange, 10:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
N.Y. Farm Show, N.Y. State Fair
grounds, Syracuse, N.Y., thru
Feb. 27.
Corn Roundtable Discussion, Hill
top Restaurant, Shade Gap,
11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
York County Beekeepers Meeting,
York extension office, 7 p.tn.
Commercial Tree Fruit Growers
Meeting, Carriage Corner
Restaurant, Route 45, east side
of Mifflinburg, 9 a.m.-3:30
Bucks County extension annual
banquet, St Matthews Luthe
ran Church, 6:30 p.m.
Governor’s Conference on Dela
ware Ag, Sheraton Inn, Dover,
Del.
2nd Annual Northwest Grazing
Conference, Clarion Holiday
Inn, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
* Feeder School, Jim Rider Farm,
Woodlot Owners Workshop,
(Turn to Page A 35)
Rollovers and runovers account
for a majority of fatalities on
farms each year, according to Leon
Ressler, Lancaster County Exten
sion Agricultural Environment
Agent. With this m mind, now is
a good time to install ROPS de
vices on any tractors lacking
them.
When operating a tractor make
sure you always wear the seat
belt. Also, decide now to adopt a
firm policy of no riders on any
tractor at any time. Check to
make sure your lights are working
on all tractors. Make sure all im
plements and tractors have an or
ange triangular slow moving ve
hicle sign easily seen by anyone
overtaking the equipment.
To Protect Your Hearing
Power equipment may be re
sponsible for reducing the hearing
of many farmers and their family
members. Agricultural workers are
definitely at risk, many at high
risk tor noise exposure, according
to Dr. Chris Etcher, Ohio State
RECONCILED
and RECONCILING
February 21,1999
Background Scripture:
II Corinthians 5:11-21
Devotional Reading
I Peter 2:18-25
I have been reading “plow
ing my way through” would be a
more apt description a little
177-page paperback book by the
Nobel Prize-winning physicist,
Steven Weinberg. It is entitled The
First Three Minutes: A Modern
View of the Origin of the Uni
verse. It is essentially a recon
struction of the first three minutes
of the creation. For me, it is fas
cinating but very tough going;
there’s so much that I do not un
derstand. I’m only up to the first
1.09 seconds after the “Big Bang."
This book is helping me to ap
prehend, if not comprehend, the
sheer enormity and wonder of
God’s creation (that’s me speak
ing, not Weinberg). Once again I
have been made to realize that my
God is too small my concept of
God, that is. This glimpse of God
the Creator, has staggered my
imagination and the suggestion
that all this is the product of mere
chance and not design (and a De
signer) is utterly unthinkable.
GOD IN A TREE
Yet, regardless of how much
and how often I find the Creator
revealed in his creation, I am fre
quently reminded that nature
speaks only of the majestic power
and design of God. Commenting
upon this passage, the late Halford
E. Luccock quotes Randall Ste
wart’s observation that “The
romantic poet is forever tunning
the risk of mistaking God for a
tree,” and then adds, “In Paul there
was no risk of ‘mistaking God for
a tree.’ God was in Christ" Nature
may have spoken to Paul of God,
but Christ spoke to him more
deeply and more fully.
The great mystery, the sublime
reality is not only that God makes
a tree, but that in Jesus of Nazar
eth he was “reconciling the world
to himself." Magnificent as is the
sheer creation of the cosmos,
without the love made manifest in
Christ the universe would be no
thing but an inhospitable, imper
sonal, even hostile penitentiary for
Agricultural Engineer. He believes
that ear plugs should be part of
the dress of every person operating
equipment.
Normal speech is in the range
of 50 to 60 decibels. The thresh
old for pain is 140 decibels. Most
farm tractors without a soundproof
cab emit noise at 100 to 110 deci
bels. Soundproof cabs reduce the
level to 85 to 90 decibels
O.S.H.A. recommendations limit
exposure to 90 decibels tor an
eight hour work day.
Hearing loss is related not
only to the decibel level of the
sound but also to the pitch and
length of time a person is exposed
to it. Farmers should wear hearing
protection at all times when oper
ating equipment because there will
be times the noise level will ex
ceed what is safe for the ear to
hear.
Feather Prof, 's Footnote
"Obstacles are those frightful
things you see when you fail to
focus on your goals."
the human race. So, even more im
portant than the God who creates
this unimaginable universe is the
God who loves bis creatures so
much that he becomes incarnate in
the man Jesus to effect our recon
ciliation with him.
Somewhere I read that philoso
pher Henry Thoreau was once
asked by his mother whether he
had made his peace with God and
he replied, “Made my peace? I
didn't know we were at war!” It is
an amusing answer but it glibly
glosses over a persistent fact: all
of us at times, maybe all the time,
in some way or ways, whether we
are aware or not, are “at war” with
God. No matter how close we may
feel in our relationship with God,
we all violate or adulterate that re
lationship from time to time. Even
the best of his children must disap
point the Father.
UNLESS, GOD...
So reconciliation with God is
our greatest need, but it’s too big a
job for us to be able to achieve it
unless God takes the initiative.
And that is what Paul is saying:
“God was in Christ reconciling the
world to himself." There is no bet
ter nor briefer statement of the
gospel in a nutshell than that
Neither is there a more concise
and yet comprehensive statement
of the gospel's meaning for each
of us personally: “So we are am
bassadors for Christ, God making
his appeal through us” (5:20). If
we are to be reconciled with God
we must in turn take up his minis
try of reconciliation. We don’t
have to preach sermons, teach les
sons or stand on street comers to
make public witness. Actually, we
don’t have to say much of any
thing so long as we let God be in
us reconciling others to himself
and to each other.
Wherever we arc or go in the
world we can be ambassadors for
Christ, working for reconciliation
in a broken, divided world. We do
not have to bring nations together
or personally reconcile the races
and ethnic groups. But we can
help people to be reconciled
through the love of God in Christ
that shines through us.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Farming. Inc.
A Steinman Enteipnse
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor
Copyright 1999 by Lancaster Farming