AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, September 4, 1999
Silo Fire Danger
Dry weather in many parts of Pennsylvania may be causing
an increased risk of tower silo fires from a lack of proper forage
moisture content and/or from poor fermentation of silage,
which in turn could lead to the production of greater amounts of
volatile gases that can ignite a silo fire.
Dennis Murphy, professor of agricultural engineering and a
farm safety expert in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sci
ences, explains that the moisture content for forages stored in a
silo should be between 45 and 65 percent. If the moisture con
tent falls below the 45 percent level, fire risk increases. He adds
that several gases, including hydrogen and methane, are by
products of fermenting silage.
“If excess gases are present, they could burst into flames if
exposed to a source of ignition, such as static electricity or
sparks created during the loading or blowing of silage.” Mur
phy warns. “Other potential ignition sources are bam lights or
other electrical equipment near or at the base of unloading
chutes.”
Murphy says farmers should take the following precautions
to help reduce the risk of silo fires:
—Test the moisture of the forage being ensiled.
—Water down silo unloading chutes.
—Provide plenty of ventilation around the silo, especially at
loading areas and up chutes/“Use a bam fan to keep extra oxy
gen moving up the silo chute,” advises Murphy. “This helps
prevent the generation of excess silo gases and dilutes the gases
present, keeping them from reaching explosive concentra
tions.”
—Clean out chaff and other debris from the silo chute and
from around the rungs or frame of chute doors.
Murphy says farmers also must remember that besides the
potential fire hazard, silo gases are toxic, especially in the first
48 to 60 hours after Ailing. “If you must enter the silo within
the first 48 to 60 hours, protect yourself by wearing a self-con
otained breathing apparatus,” he warns. “If you don’t have ac
cess to one, stay out of the silo.
“Dangerous levels of silo gas may be present for an addition
al two to three weeks,” he adds. ‘To enter without a self-con
tained breathing apparatus during this period, ventilate with the
silo blower. Open all doors, run the blower fan for 20 minutes
and leave it miming while you are in the silo. Enter only after
you have put on a respirator for toxic dust, and have a second
person with you to assist in an emergency.”
Please be careful.
Pennsylvania Holstein Northeast
Championship Show, Fair
grounds, Whitneyville, 10 a.m.
Juniata County Fair, Port Royal,
thru Sept 11.
Mon Valley 4-H Dairy Show, Fay
ette County Fairgrounds.
Northwest 4-H Dairy Show, Craw
ford County Fairgrounds,
Meadville.
Pioneer Labor Day, Old Bedford
Village, Bedford, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.,
Cambria County Fair, Ebensburg,
thru Sept 11.
Spartansburg Community Fair,
Ox Hill Community Fair, Water
ford, thru Sept. 11.
West Alexander Fair, West Ale
xander, thru Sept. 11.
Flemington N.J. Fair Open Dairy
Show, Fairgrounds, Fleming-
Claysburg Area Farm Show, Clay-
OPINION
sburg, thru Sept. 11.
Jamestown Communif
Fleetwood Grange Hall, 7 p.m.
Bellwood Antis Farm Show, Bell
wood, thru Sept. 11.
Luzerne County Fair, Dallas, thru
Sept. 12.
Pike County Ag Fair, Bushldll,
Pa. Yorkshire Summer Show and
Sale, Lebanon, thru Sept. 11.
Nittany Antique Machinery Asso
ciation Inc. of Central Pa. Red
Power Showdown, Penns Cave,
York Inter-State Fair, York, thru
Sept. 19,
Mason-Dixon Historical Society
Inc. 37th Annual Steam and
Gas Roundup Show, Carroll
County Farm Museum, thru
Sept. 12.
43d Annual Thurmo'nt and
Emmitsburg Community
Show, Catocdn JCgh School,
Ronald Hostetler
Fair,
To Plant Cover Crops
Cover crops act as a nutrient
bank, according to Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Agronomy Agent.
Cover crops are capable of using
the leftover nitrogen from the
previous crop season before it
leaches into the ground water.
If the corn silage crop did not
use all the nitrogen applied, it
leaves some unused nitrate
nitrogen m the soil profile. A
cover crop will capture that
nitrogen and use it for crop
growth.
In the spring when the cover
crop is killed with a herbicide or
plowed down, the nitrogen is
released back into the soil during
the growing season for the next
crop.
In addition, cover crops add
organic matter to the soil.
Whether the entire plant is left in
the field or just the roots, this
plant material adds organic matter
to them soil. Organic matter adds
water holding capacity to the soil.
Provides food for soil microbes,
improves soil structure and adds
to the soil ability to hold
nutrients. A little money for seed
and a little time to plant are small
costs to pay for the many returns
that cover crops provide.
To Plant Cover Crops
for Feed
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
Thurmont, Md., thru Sept. 12.
Community Drought Meetings,
Hustontown Fire Hall, 9
a.m.-10:30 a.m., McConnclls
burg Fire Hall, 10:30
a.m.-noon, Necdmore Fire
nerstone Forest Products, 9:30
a.m.
Farm-City Day, Herring Farms,
Farmington.
3d Annual Celebration of Farm
ing, Holcombe-Jimison Farms
tead Museum, Lambertville,
N.J., 10 a.m.-5 p.m., also Sept.
PennAg Industries Convention,
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Balti
more’s Inner Harbor, thru Sept.
14.
Poultry Health and Management
Seminar, Kreider's Restaurant,
Manheim, noon.
Green Township Community Fair,
Cookport, thru Sept 18.
Live Cattle Evaluation, Bycrly
Brothers Meats, Lewisburg,
Albion Area Fair, Albion, thru
Sept. 18.
Berlin Brothetsvallcy Community
Fair, Berlin, thru Sept 18.
Denver Community Fair, Denver,
thru Sept 18.
(Turn to Pag* A 39)
County Extension Agronomy
Agent, reminds us cover crops
may also provide additional
forage for livestock feed. If the
cover crop is harvested as a silage
crop, the nitrogen it captures from
the soil becomes a source of
protein when fed to ruminant
livestock.
When the cover crop is used to
produce silage, not only is the
nitrogen kept from leeching into
the environment, the silage grown
will replace purchased feeds at a
very small cost to the producer.
Cover crops offer the most
advantage when planted
imediately after removing corn
silage or tobacco.
To Invest in Assets
In a recent book review of the
book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by
Robert Kiyosaki, several
observations were made on the
differences on how middle class
people and rich people view
earning money.
WHERE’S YOUR HOLY
GROUND?
September 5,1999
Background Scripture:
Exodus 3
Devotional Reading:
Exodus 6:2-8
As I have said previously,
sometimes we do not encounter
God until we are down and out
and have nowhere else to turn like
Jacob, for instance, when he was
fleeing from the wrath of his bro
ther Esau. Joseph encountered
God although not for the first
time, if we count his youthful pro
phetic dreams when he was
languishing in Egyptian captivity.
Moses, however, encountered
God while he was uneventfully
“keeping the flock of his father-in
law, Jethro, the priest of Midian
...” (3:1). It was probably the
most tranquil period in Moses’
life. No more of the intrigues of
the Pharoah’s court No more run
ning to escape justice for killing
the Egyptian who persecuted his
fellow Hebrews. Life with Zipor
rah and Jethro out in the wilder
ness was so uncomplicated in
comparison with the life he had
previously lived.
I have encountered God in both
places: at the bottom of the pile
and in the quietness of the wilder
ness. That doesn’t mean that God
had not tried to speak with me
elsewhere and previously, but
only that I had not heard or
acknowledged him. In both an
guish and silence I have encount
ered the God who at last was able
to get my attention.
ATTENTION! ATTENTION!
The solitude of the wilderness
can play tricks on us. We may see,
hear and think things that would
not occur to us anywhere else.
This gives God a chance to get our
attention. In the case of Moses, it
was a desert bush that burned but
was not consumed. When we vis
ited St. Catherine’s monastery in
the Sinai desert a few years ago,
the monks showed us a desert
bush that bums without being con
sumed. It doesn’t matter to me,
however, if this was simply a lit
tle-known natural phenomenon, a
hallucination or a supernatural ex
perience. God was finally able to
get Moses’ attention.
Of course there was more to it
than that There was also Moses’
The thesis of the book is
middle class people work for
money and rich people have
money work for them. Most
people live their lives chasing
paychecks, pay raises and job
security. Kiyosaki says there are
no get rich quick schemes, but
learning the difference between
assets and liabilities is very
important.
Rich people acquire assets.
Middle class people acquire
liabilities, but they think they are
assets. An asset puts money into
your pocket. A liability takes
money out of your pocket.
Financial aptitude is what you do
with your money once you make
it, how you keep people from
taking it from you, how long you
keep it and how hard that money
works for you.
Feather Prof.'s Footnote: "If
you are not riding the wave of
change, you will find yourself
beneath it."
willingness to “turn aside and see
this great sight, why the bush is
not burnt” (3:3). Moses could
have reacted differently. He might
have persuaded himself that the
bush only appeared to be burning
and persuaded himself that what
he saw was not really happening.
Moses, however, did turn aside
to observe what was happening
and, when God called to him, he
replied “Here am I.” It is difficult
for us to encounter God unless we
are willing to turn aside to see
what God may be doing in our
midst, unless we are ready to an
swer, “Here I am.”
ON HOLY GROUND
Moses’ encounter with God
may have begun with no higher
motivation than curiosity, but it
soon became a sense of awe and
wonder. “Put off your shoes from
your feet, for the place on which
you are standing is holy ground.”
This nondescript spot of wilder
ness was a place where Moses
would encounter the Lord and he
needed to respond with reverence.
In ancient times fire was a
phenomenon through which God
sometimes revealed himself and
taking off one’s shoes was a sign
of reverence.
The message of that divine-hu
man encounter was both good
news and bad news. First, the
good news: God had heard the
prayers of his afflicted people and
he will redeem them from their
Egyptian captivity. And, second,
die bad news (at least for Moses):
he had chosen Moses as the instru
ment of that redemption. Moses’
overwhelming reaction to this bit
of news is that he is unworthy and
incapable of doing this job. He is
right, of course, he is NOT worthy
or up to this task. He doesn’t have
to be, for God promises: “But I
will be with you” (3:12).
The key here is not Moses’ self
sufficiency, but that of God.
Whatever Moses needs to be for
this task, God will provide (just as
in the story of Abraham and Isaac
God provided what was needed on
the mountaintop). God makes that
very same promise to us when he
calls us but first we must find
the place in our lives that is holy
ground.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.>
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by
Lancaster Farming. Inc.
A Stemman Enteiprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 1939 by Lancaster Farming