AlO-Umcastef Farming, Saturday, June S, 1999
OPINION
First of all, there just aren’t many pictures of dairy farmers around
They’re too busy working their farms to take time out for photo sessions
Second, it's June - and June is Dairy Month - so they’re busier than ever
right now It is prime milk drinking season, you know
But picture or no picture, we still wanted to tip our hats to the men
and women responsible for the products that are part of our everyday lives
Now about the cow Since dairy farmers are such a hardworking lot
with little time to dillydally, they tend to speed through publications like
this pretty quickly So, to make sure they’d stop and read this, we chose
a photo of the one thing that always gets their attention
June is Dairy Month 0
Bucks-Montgomcry Wool Pool,
Delaware Valley College.
Clarksville Field Day, Ellicott
City, Md.
Antique Engine, Tractor, and Toy
Club Annual Show, Kempton
Community Center, thru June
6.
Centre County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Pleasant Gap Grange
Hall, Pleasant Gap, 7:30 p.m.
Lebanon County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Lebanon County Vo-
Tech Building, Lebanon.
Chester County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Cochranville Com
munity Center, Cochranville,
10:30 a.m.
Huntingdon County Dairy Prin
cess Pageant, Huntingdon Area
Fundamentals of Marketing, Penn
State Lancaster Greenfield
Center, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., thru June
Grazier Meeting, Allan Lynch
JP
why the cow?
From milk to butter' to cheese
Farm, Tuibotville, 7 p.m.
York County Beekeepers, York
4-H Center, in conjunction with
York County 4-H Strawberry
Roundup, judging begins 7
p.m.
Y2K Considerations hi Mercer
County, Mercer County
Cooperative Extension, 2
p jn.-4 pjn., also at Penn State
Shenango Complex, Sharon, 7
p.m.-9 p.m.
Pasture Walk, Wilmer Stoltzfoos
Farm, Gratz, 9 a.m.-l 1:30 a.m.
Second Agriculture Research
Symposium, Capitol East
Wing, Harrisburg, 10 a.m.-3
pm.
Stock Dogs In Livestock Manage
ment meeting, Allan Lynch
Farm, Turbotvillc.
Tulpehockcn Young Farmer Safe-
Roundup, Farm and Home Cen-
Farm, Halifax, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Managing Your Well and Septic
(Turn to Page All)
June Is Dairy Month
The time ot year we honor our
dairy tarmeis and the tine
products made from milk With
more people in our country
becoming two or three
generations removed from farms,
it becomes increasingly important
tor farmers to promote and
educate people about the
importance of their commodities,
their farm businesses, the
wholesomeness and nutritional
value of the food they produce.
This requires farmers to be
good neighbors. As our farming
operations grow, farmers need to
be more concerned about the
image they present in the
community. Thus, part of
promotion includes landscaping,
supporting community activities,
being sensitive to the environment
and knowing your neighbors.
For many people, the
impression of the dairy industry is
your farm. In addition to
supplying general industry
promotion programs, do not
forgo?’the many ways your farm
is promoting dairy products. Wear
your milk mustaches with pride!
To Be Safe
This spring has seen a rash of
farm accidents. At least one
farmer and one small child have
been killed and one farmer
seriously injured in tractor
accidents in Lancaster County this
year. Although some accidents
are out of our control, most
acccidents can be prevented. The
happen when we let our guard
down or take unnecessary risks.
Consider the following rules for
your farm
1
Never have small children
on a tractor.
Keep children away from
busy areas We do not
allow children to play on
roads or highways. Jeffrey
Stoltzfus, Eastern
Lancaster County School
District Adult Farmer
Instructor, observes many
farm driveways are busier
than many roads.
Keep power take off
(PTO) shields in place.
Replace them after
making repairs.
Make sure pesticides are
Stored away from children.
Talk about safety with
your family at least once a
week. Remember farm
safety pays. How much
would it cost you to hire
someone skilled enough to
make the decisions and do
the work you do on the
farm 7 It you could find
such a person, you
probably could not afford
to hire him or her
To Monitor Hay
According to Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Agronomy Agent,
bailing hay too green may cause
heating that could bum down the
hay storage facility.
Every year a barn usually
burns due to spontaneous
combustion caused by storing hay
too wet. Hay should not be stored
until the moisture content reaches
20 per cent or less. At higher
moisture levels, there is a greater
risk of a fire.
In addition, hay which is baled
above 20 per cent has a higher
risk of becoming moldy and
dusty. To be safe from fires,
inspect hay mows at least twice
each week during the harvest
THE GOOD EARTH
June 6,1999
Background Scripture:
Genesis 1:1 through 2:4a
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 104:24-35
Upon being told that God had
created the heavens and the
earth in six days, a little boy
asked his teacher: “What busi
ness had God been in since?”
Good question!
An there are a number of dif
ferent answers with which peo
ple reply. Some believe that God
has mostly been unemployed
since he finished creation.
Others would say that it is not
so much unemployment as
retirement. Still others believe
that God has been only part
time since he got the world run
ning like a good machine.
There are others who, like
myself, believe that God is still
in the same job he had millions
of years ago, that the Creation
was just the first phase of a
long-term project. Jesus himself
says: “My Father is working
5ti11...” (Jn 5:17) and many texts
in the Bible portray a creator
who is still creating, still nurtur
* ing his creation toward his pur
pose. I think God is still in the
same business.
The Genesis story of creation
convinces me of that. In the
ancient world it was believed by
many that the world was
brought into being by accident.
The story in Genesis 1, however,
indicates a world created, not by
accident, by by intention and
action: “Let there he light,”com
mands God, *and there was
light.”
Before the first fiat of cre
ation, all was “without form and
void, and darkness was upon the
face of the deep.” On the very
first day of creation, however,
was begun a process of bring
order out of the chaos. Every
decree of creation follows a well
devised plan and suggest a goal.
The God of Genesis-which
means “beginning”-has a plan
and a purpose.
TIME’S TREADMILL
Our whole modern idea of
“progress” stems from Genesis.
In antiquity, time was generally
conceived as being cyclical. Just
as there was an endless cycle of
seasons, many people believed
that time and existence are a
closed loop, without beginning or
ending. The God of Genesis,
however, gave the Hebrews a dif
ferent concept of time, a linear
one with a beginning and an
ending. They saw time moving
on an incline between Creation
season
Check for hot spots. Hot spots
should be checked for their exact
temperature using a thermometer.
If hay temperatures reach 150
degrees, there is a danger of fire
and a daily monitoring of hay
temperatures is recommended. If
temperatures reach 160 degrees,
monitoring should be at four
intervals.
Fire pockets can be expected if
the temperature of the hay reaches
175 degrees. You should notify
the local fire department to be on
standby and be ready to move
hay. If temperatures reach 185
fTiirn to Pago A3B)
and the fulfillment of God’s
plan.
Even though that is no longer
the novel idea that it once
seemed, there are still lots of
people who see the world as pur
poseless. That kind of view
makes life seem meaningless
and there are many who see the
world as a hostile place and time
as an enemy.
God’s plan begins with light;
“Let there be light.” Just as the
chaos was changed by God’s
order, so the darkness of the
chaos was transformed by light.
Light is one of the most endur
ing spiritual symbols in the
world. Light contends with and
is victorious over darkness.
Touched by the Spirit of God,
people are enlightened. In pro
claiming the coming of the
Messiah, Isaiah said, “The peo
ple who walked in darkness
have seen a great light...” (9-2)
and “Arise, shine, for your light
has come and the glory of the
Lord is risen upon you” (60:1) In
Jn 1, we read, “The light shines
in the darkness and the dark
ness has not overcome it”(l:5).
VERY GOOD!
Some people believe that the
world is essentially an evil
place. In contrast to this attitude
is the one we find Genesis. “And
God saw that the light was
good.” After each act of creation,
Genesis tells us, “And God saw
that it was good.” And following
his last act of creatiobj human
beings, both male and female,
God is even more pleased with
the world he has made; “And
behold, it was very good.”
That might come as a sur
prise to those who believe that
the human race is “just no good,”
Notice that we are to be created
in the divine image. While
human nature may be plagued
by demonic temptations, there is
always a divine flame that bums
within each of us. It is not
human nature that is to blame
but what we have done with it.
The same is true of the natural
world.
Note, too, that we are to have
dominion over the earth, but not
to abuse, conquer, or rape it in
the name of its own self-fulfill
ment. Our dominion over the
earth must be tempered by
God’s purpose in creating us: we
are to tend it like tenant farm
ers. It belongs, not to us, but to
God and we are at best, stew
ards of that Good Earth.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St. <■
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by-
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enteipnse
William J. Burqess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 1999 by Lancaster Farming