AlO-lmcnter Fanning, Saturday, May 1, 1999
'iWfUirT Tlnt^ni
OPINION
Fairness, Sound Science
Farm Bureau last week told a congressional panel that the
only fair way to implement the Food Quality Protection Act
(FQPA) is to evaluate pesticides using real-world data and to
give researchers ample time to develop viable alternatives to
crop protection tools that may be wiped out by the law.
At first heralded by farmers, legislation promising to moder
nize the nation's food safety laws has now become growers’
worst nightmare thanks to the misguided enforcement by the
Environmental Protection Agency, said American Farm Bur
eau Federation President Dean Kleckner.
“In 1996, Farm Bureau members nationwide were urging
their members of Congress to pass FQPA,” Kleckner told a
House Agriculture subcommittee, “but they would have never
done so knowing what they know now,”
FQPA was intended to replace the outdated zero-tolerance
standard for measuring pesticide residues on food with a new
health-based standard reflecting modem science’s ability to de
tect chemicals at extremely low levels a move lauded by
agriculture and environmentalists alike.
But since the law’s passage, EPA has been harshly criticized
for side-stepping Congress’ original intent. Kleckner described
EPA’s handling of the implementation process as being riddled
with bad science and a disregard for accepted rule-making
practices.
One of Farm Bureau’s greatest concerns is that EPA has con
tinually rejected the use of real-world data in its efforts to re
evaluate the safety of commonly used farm chemicals. Instead,
the agency has relied heavily upon default assumptions about
exposure levels. For example, Kleckner said, EPA “assumes
that farmers use pesticides at maximum rates, on all acres, and
apply the maximum number of applications.”
The end result, he explained, is that “those types of assump
tions have very little resemblance to real-world exposure." In
one such case, EPA’s assessment of a pesticide used commonly
on apples appeared to be a serious health threat when default
assumptions were used, yet that same chemical was deemed
safe when realistic data were incorporated into the evaluation.
Kleckner said this gap between worst-case and real-world
data underscores the need for a stronger partnership between
EPA and the Agriculture Department. He called on lawmakers
to “clearly instruct EPA” to use its data call-in authority in or
der to obtain reliable information from farmers, registrants and
others.
“With real-world data, we can replace these worst-case as
sumptions, but it takes time and cooperation from EPA and
USD A,” said Kleckner.
Maryland Sheep and Wool Festi
val, Howard County Fair
grounds, West Friendship, Md.,
thru May 2.
State 4-H Forestry Day, Rockspr
ing, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Creating Habitat Using Native
Plants, Penn State Berks Cam-
19th Annual FARMER Banquet,
Hi 1 Hershe Hershr-
Lehigh County Ag Center, 9
a.m.-4 p.m.
Pasture Walk, Lowden Farm, Coal
Center, 7 p.m.
Fulton County Conservation Dis
trict Agribusiness Breakfast,
McConnellsburg American
Should Guide
* Farm Calendar ❖
Sheep Shearing School, Pat and
Chris O’Brien Farm, Amity, 8
a.m.-4 p.m., also May 7.
Lancaster/York Fruit Grower’s
Twilight Meeting, Masonic
Homes Orchards, Elizabeth-
N.Y. Hereford Breeders spring
sale, cooperative extension,
Monisville, N.Y., 12:30 p.m.
25th Annual Western Pa. Sheep
and Club Lamb Sale, Mercer
County 4-H Park, Mercer, 6:30
p.m.
Capitol Area Beekeeper Associa
tion Short Course In Beekeep
ing, Dauphin County Ag and
. Natural Resources Center,
Dauphin, 8 a.m.-S pan.
Eastern Shore Spring Show,
Queen Annes County 4-H Park,
Centreville, Md.
Forestry Workshop, George and
To Properly Plant Corn
One ot the most important
areas m corn production that the
tarmei has control over is
planting. According to Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Agronomy Agent,
planting may be divided into
several important areas These
include the date the crop is
planted, the depth the seed is
planted, the spacing between the
rows and the spacing of the plants
within the rows
A key factor to remember is
that a plant's production potential
is a function of photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is done in the
leaves of the plant Therefore, the
management system should strive
to have the maximum leaf surface
available on the day with the most
sunlight.
The day which has the
potential for the most sunlight is
June 20th, the longest day of the
year. Therefore it is necessary to
plant early, plant high populations
and plant at the ideal depth for
uniform and fast germination and
making sure that seeds are spaced
uniformly within the rows.
To Evaluate Starter
Fertilizer
Corn growers are aware of two
key factors associated with
fertilizer these days. First, it is
expensive Second, too much may
be bad tor the environment
According
Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Agronomy Agent, corn
growers need to weigh the
benefits of using a starter
fertih/ei when planting against
the financial and possible
negative impact Starter fertilizer
is usually most beneficial in cold,
wet soils Under these conditions
nutnents aie not always readily
available to small plants This is
especially true of immobile
nutrients like phosphorous
Deciding when to or not to
apply a starter fertilizer should be
based on weather conditions and
fertility level of the soil
Corn is most likely to show a
response to staitei fei tili/ei when
planted into cool soils and will
lemain cool based on the weathei
toiecasl In addition, coin is most
likely to show a lesponse to
staiiei fertilize! when soils aie
low in phosphorous
Soils with optimum to high
levels of phosphoious aie less
likely to show a yield response
Soils with an excessive level of
phosphorous, even undei cool
growing conditions, aie not very
likely to show a response
Joan Freeman Tree Farm, 8:30
Monday. Mav 1(1
(Turn to Pag* A 35)
Farmers who do use a starter
fertilizer, may receive the
maximum benefit when applying
them at the minimum rate their
equipment will allow unless the
soils are deficient in phosphorous
To Lower SCC Counts
The National Mastitis Council
(NMC) has proposed to lower the
legal limit for somatic cell count
(SCC) from 750,000 to 400,000
by January I, 2003 The average
United States SCC is around
360,000
However, 15 to 20 per cent ot
the United States herds could not
meet the 400,000 SCC level
today The NMC proposes
adopting a rolling 12 week
average SCC beginning January
1, 2000. The SCC will decrease
over the next three years until it
reaches 400,000 in 2003.
According to NMC, a healthy
WHERE’S THE GLORY?
May 2,1999
Background Scripture:
John 12:20-50
Devotional Reading:
Romans 5:1-11
When Jesus announced. The
hour has come for the Son of man
to be glorified,” (12:23). Fm sure
the disciples assumed that he
meant that the homage paid him
by the crowds on Palm Sunday
would be capped by some even
greater exhibition of God’s favor.
Isn’t that what one would expect if
they were to be “glorified?”
But they must have been puz
zled when he replied. Truly, tru
ly, I say to you, unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone, but if it dies, it
beats much fruit.” What does be
ing “glorified” have to do with a
seed dying and bearing “much
fruit?” The disciples must have
felt euphoric about the great re
ception along the Palm Sunday
toad, but now Jesus is sounding
doomed!
His next words are even more
portentous: “He who loves his life
loses it, and he who hates his life
in this world will keep it for eter
nal life. If any one serves me, he
must follow me; and where I am,
there shall my servant be also.”
What is Jesus suggesting about the
fate of those who follow him?
Surely being in the vanguard of
the Messiah is not meant to be a
hazardous association! Who
would join a Messiah who prom
ised, not security, but danger?
DANGER AHEAD?
If they listened carefully to
what Jesus said next, they would
realize that even the Messiah him
self would be endangered: “Now
is my soul troubled. And what
shall I say? ‘Father, save me from
this hour?' No, for this purpose I
have come to this hour," (12:27).
Is Jesus saying that this danger
ous situation which he is anticipat
ing is the way things are supposed
to go? Jesus has already said that
his disciples “must follow me.”
That is scary because it is obvious
that Jesus is headed in harm’s
way.
Ironically, their Master’s next
words arc: “Father, glorify thy
name.” Something veiy strange
follows: there was a great noise,
everyone would agree to that. But
what made that noise? “The crowd
cow’s SCC nearly always
averages less than 200,000. A
SCC of 400,000 means about 12 5
per cent of quarters in a herd are
infected. At 750,000, you will see
inflammation in about 25 per cent
of herd quarters.
Increased SCC impacts a dairy
farmer's profits Reduced milk
production. treatment costs,
discarded milk, premature culling
and lost milk quality bonuses are
some of the economic loses
associated with high SCC.
If you herd SCC is over
400,000, you need to look for
ways to reduce your SCC today.
Contact you're your veterinarian
or county extension agent for
ways to reduce your SCC.
Feather Prof's Footnote.
"Ability ma\ get you to the top,
but it takes character to keep sou
there " John Wooden
standing by heard it and said that it
had thundered. Others said, ‘An
angel has spoken to him’." So
some of them heard the answer to
Jesus’ prayer: “I have glorified it,
and I will glorify it again.”
Jesus explains to the disciples
that “This voice has come for your
sake, not for mine." In other
words, the road to the Messiah’s
glorification ran through the val
ley of the shadow of death as
must theirs as well. Glorification
seems entirely incompatible with
danger and death. Where’s the
glory in death? Jesus has already
explained that if something dies it
can yet, like a seed buried in the
earth, yield “much fruit." Some
thing good can come from this
dangerous path he is following:
only through death that we can
know eternal life.
THE COSMIC CROSS
But this is about more than just
one person’s death or even that of
his followers. The whole universe
will be affected. By his death Jc
siis will utterly defeat Satan, “the
ruler of this world” and his death
will reconcile all humanity; “.. .
I, when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men to myself*
(12:32). Read in this light, Jesus’
message is not really one of doom
and gloom, but of the glory of God
in Christ. As horrible as the cross
will be, it will form the bridge
whereby God is able to unloose
his love into the cosmos. “I have
come as light into the world,” says
Jesus, “that whoever believes in
me may not remain in darkness”
(12:46).
It is interesting, then, that hav
ing taught his disciples that he and
they must tread a dangerous path
to glorification, “. . . many even
of the authorities believed in him
but for fear of the Pharisees they
did not confess it, lest they should
be put out of the synagogue: for
they loved the praise of men more
than the praise of God” (12:42).
They wanted to play it safe, but
you can’t play it safe and follow
Jesus Christ You can have one or
the other, but not both.
Where’s the glory in danger and
death? Answer just on the other
side. Either way, playing it safe or
taking up a cross, it is a gamble.
Each of us has to decide on what
we will bet our lives.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enleipnse
William J. Burqess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 1999 by Lancaster Farming