A 1 ©-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 27, 1999
OPINION
Worse Than The Depression
When the price of hogs tecently fell to below 10 cents a
pound and the price in the supper markets did not fall at all,
tarmeis had a reason to ask why They had even more reason
to ask why, when these low hog prices were compared to the
three dents per pound hogs were bunging during the
depression Actually when you figure inflation and other
factors, the depression prices would have been equivalent to
approximate!) 26 cents per pound in today's econom) It's not
hard to figure that hog farmers today are worse off than in the
infamous depression so widely talked about in farming circles
One of the thing we have learned is that what the consumer
pays m the supermarket is reflected in the live market only
when supermarket prices are low Demand and high prices in
the supermarket do not mean automatic good prices for
producers This is the fallacy of the checkoff program many
of us failed to see a decade ago. If the checkoff program did
create the demand that kept the consumer buying pork at
strong prices the value received at packer and supermarket
levels did not get passed down to the producer who pays the
checkoff Without the ability to insure that profits created by
any of the checkoff programs, which totals $659 million per
year reach the producers, they are paying to put themselves
out of business
One of the major forces that keep producers in slavery is
the lack of price discovery on animals when they are alive and
on food Most farmers don't know what they will be paid until
after the animal is on its way through the packing system
There isn’t much room for a farmer to negotiate a price at this
stage of the game
Saltirtlay, March 27
Pa. Beef Expo, State College, thru
March 29.
Bucks/Montgomeiy County Wool
Pool Annual Banquet, Mont
gomery County 4-H Center,
Creamery.
Dauphin County Farm Bureau
Spring Banquet Meeting, Hali
fax Ambulance and Rescue
Building, Halifax, 7 p.m.
Pa. Horse Farms Open House, var
iety of county locations.
Maryland Brown Swiss Breeders
Association Annual Meeting,
Dan Dee Family Restaurant,
Frederick, Md., 7 p.m.
Dairylea Regional Tour Meeting,
Holiday Inn, Middletown,
N.Y., 1 p.m.
Pa. Sheep and Wool Growers
Association Annual Member
ship Meeting, Grange in Center
Hall, 10 a.m..
Pa. Brown Swiss Association
Spring Meeting, Harrisburg
Hilton Hotel, Harrisburg, 11
LCI Annual Meeting and Confer
ence On Animal Health, Nash
ville, Tenn., thru April 1.
Keystone Farm Credit Stockhol
ders Meeting, Holiday Inn Con
ference Center, Fogelsville, 7
p.m.
Scouting Clinic, Logan Grange
Hall, Pleasant Gap, 10 a.m.-3
p.m.
Regional Computer Training, Lan
caster Farm and Home Center,
9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., also April
❖ Farm Calendar*
Internet Workshop For Beef Pro
ducers, York extension office, 7
p.m.-9;30 p.m.
3d Party Certification and Chain-
Of-Custody Workshop, Days
Inn, Reading, 6:30 pun.
Keystone Farm Credit Stockhol
ders Meeting, Yoder’s Restaur
ant, New Holland, 7 p.m.
York County Holstein and
Beshore Farms Bam Meeting,
Dale and Fred Rice, Ricecrest
Fanns, Chambersburg, noon.
Berks County Farm Bureau Farm
Management Seminar, Lees
port Livestock Market, Lees
port, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Wayne County 4-H Tractor Club
Farm Machinery Safety Certifi
cation Program, Wayne County
extension office, Honesdale, 8
p.m., also April 6, 13, 20, and
27.
The Pa. Food Industry: Strength
ening Partnerships For Growth,
Holiday Inn, Grantville, thru
April 1.
Conference On Revitalization And
Growth of Northeast Dairy
Farming, Marriott Hotel, Syra
cuse, N.Y., thru April 1.
3d Party Certification and Chain-
Of-Custody Workshop, Holi
day Inn, Dunmore Scranton-
East, 6:30 p.m.
Hay Producers Roundtable, Bums
Hall, Carroll County Ag Cen
ter, Westminster, Md., 10 am.
Dairylea Cooperative Conference
On Revitalization and Growth
of Northeast Dairy Farming,
Syracuse Marriott, East Syra
cuse, N.Y., thru April 1.
Lebanon County Conservation
District Biosolids Meeting,
Lebanon County Ag Center, 7
p.m.-9j.ra.
To Evaluate Alfalfa Fields
With warm weather arriving,
now is a good time to walk your
alfalfa fields to determine the
number of live alfalfa plants you
have m each field.
According to Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Agronomy Agent, the
number of healthy plants will
have a big impact on this year's
hay yields. To make this estimate,
use a piece of wire (an old coat
hanger works well) that is bent
into a square which measures one
foot on each side.
With this tool, the number of
healthy plants in one square foot
area may be determined by
randomly selecting several sites in
each field Check the whole field
not just the corners. Record the
number of healthy plants per
square foot Then determine the
average number of plants per
square foot and look at how much
your numbers vary from site to
site within the field.
To Decide Future of Alfalfa
Fields
How many alfalfa plants per
square foot are needed to have a
good chance of having a
profitable yield? That number will
vary, but guidelines commonly
discussed are based on the age of
the stand, reports Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Agronomy Agent. In
the first year after establishment,
while alfalfa plants are relatively
small, a larger number of plants
are needed A field several years
old will have larger crowns or
plants which will produce more
stems per plant, therefore less
plants are needed
Some guidelines are. 20 or
more plants per square foot in the
seeding year, 12 to 20 plants per
square foot m the second full year
of production and 7 or more
plants after that. This is based on
healthy plants To determine
healthy plants you need to remove
and check crowns for insect and
disease damage Another measure
is stems per square foot In
established stands you should
have 45 or more stems per square
foot
The best way to determine
when to rotate an established
alfalfa field is to look at yields
over the past several years, the
i'lmrsclav, April I
Spring Dairy Expo ’99, Ohio Expo
Center, Columbus, Ohio.
3d Party Certification and Chain-
Of-Custody Workshop, Penn
State Campus, Harrisburg, 6:30
p.m.
Milk Price Strategies Workshop,
Schoonovers Restaurant, Mid
dleburv Center. 1 p.m.-3 p.m.
Saturday. April 3
Ju-Vindale Invitational and Spring
(Turn to Page A3B)
number of plants per square foot
and the number of stems per
square foot at the beginning of
each season.
To Bring the Beach
to the Cows
A soft, sandy, shaded beached
can be a comfortable place to
recline even for cows, reports
Glenn shirk, Lancaster County
Extension Dairy Agent. Some
farmers are bringing the sand to
the cows and the cows like it 1
Bedding stalls with 6 to 8 inches
of clean, dry sand provides cows
with a clean, healthy and
comfortable place to rest.
Clean sand supports less
bacterial growth than organic
forms of bedding and reduce the
risk of disease. To keep the sand
clean and dry, the stalls neeed to
be well maintained. This requires
TALKING A GOOD GAME
March 28, 1999
Background Scripture:
John 4:1-42
Devotional Reading:
Revelation 7:13-17
Some of us would rather talk
Christianity than do it. It’s easi
er and doesn’t cost anything.
And most important of all, it can
become a substitute for the
doing of it.
Christ, however, makes us
choose one or the other.
That’s what he did to the
Samaritan woman whom he
encountered at the well of Jacob.
The conversation began on a
very elemental level. “Give me a
drink.” Jesus asked her. Simple
as it was, the request unsettled
her. He was a Jew and she a
Samaritan. Jews avoided all
contact with Samaritans, look
ing down upon them because of
historical, racial and religious
differences.
Actually, there was still
another barrier between them;
she was a woman. It was
unseemly for any conversation
between a man and a strange
woman. “How is it that you, a
Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman
of Samaria?” Furthermore, she
was not only a woman, but
marked locally as a woman of
loose sexual morals. Presumably
he did not know of her bad repu
tation
Instead of answering her
question, Jesus takes the initia
tive, saying that if she had
known who he was, she would
have been asking him for a
drink. “Sir” she protested, “you
have nothing to draw with, and
the well is deep; where do you
get that living water?” One sens
es a bit of sarcasm: “Are you
greater than our father Jacob
who gave us this well?” Once
again, Jesus shocked her’
“Every one who drinks of this
water will be thirsty again, but
whoever drinks of the water that
I shall give him will never
thirst.” Yes, he is greater than
Jacob. Is it in contempt that she
asks: “Sir, give me this water,
that I may not thirst, nor come
here to draw”?
Perhaps she thought she had
put him in his place, until he
said these fateful words: “Go,
call your husband and come
here ” I’m sure there was a
weakness in her voice as she
said, “I have no husband.” Did
about 40 pounds of sand per stall
per day Coarse sand and gravel
kicked out onto a concrete
walkway, may become embedded
m the sole of the hoof causing
abscesses and lameness. Thus, the
sand should be fine. Sand also
complicates manure handling
because it may settle out m
manure pits.
Thus, provisions need to be
made for separating it front
manure or for scooping or
dredging manure pits. Sand is also
abrasive and may cause excessive
wear on scraper blades, augers,
bearings, etc. In spite of these
challenges, many farmers say the
benefits outweigh the problems
Feather Prof, 's Footnote
"Champions are made h\
expecting more than others think
is possible."
she sense what was to be his
next reply? “You are right in say
ing T have no husband’; for you
have had five husbands, and he
whom you now have is not your
husband.”
At last the awful truth is out l
Although he was a stranger and
a Jew, he seemed to know all
about her. That is scary!
So, when we are in the pres
ence of someone who seems to
know too much about us, we try
to change the subject. Let’s talk
religion! “Sir, I perceive that you
are a prophet. Our fathers wor
shiped on this mountain; and
you say that in Jerusalem is the
place to worship.” If she could
get him going on this controver
sial subject, perhaps he would
forget about her unsavory, but
well-deserved reputation.
‘I AM HE!’
But Jesus says the day is
coming when true worship will
not depend upon being on the
right mountain. Unprepared for
that answer qnd, nervous, about
the direction in which it is lead
ing, she says, “Well, when the
Messiah comes, he will answer
this question.” We can almost
feel the deadly silence m which
his words are spoken: “7 who
speak to you am he!”
Just as the new .wine of the
gospel is superior to the purifi
cation of the old ntes (as at the
wedding at Ana), and the
gospel’s saving grace of God is
superior to the legalism of the
Pharisees (as in Nicodemus’s
visit by night), so the Father’s
“spirit and truth” will supersede
all the distinctions and quarrels
about the ‘right way 1 to do reli
gion.
When the disciples arrive
with provisions, they tell him,
“Rabbi, eat ” But he startles
them as he startled the woman,
saying “I have food to eat of
which you do not know ”
Misunderstanding him—as had
the wedding guests at Cana
Nicodemus, and the woman at
the well—they are confused
until he tells them: “My food is
to do the will of him who sent
me, and to accomplish his work"
In Christian discipleship as
in so much else, it is doing it, not
talking a good game that is
required of us.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor
Copyright 1999 by Lancaster Farming