AlO-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, September 18, 1999
Responsible Science
Two prominent entomologists warn that recent studies on
the effects of genetically engineered crops have distorted the
debate about engineered crops and that this could have “pro
found consequences” for science and public policy.
The article, “False reports and the ears of men,” in the lat
est issue of “Nature Biotechnology,” is authored by Anthony
M. Shelton, professor of entomology at Cornell’s New York
State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Richard
T. Roush of the University of Adelaide, Australia. They urge
that the public should not be swayed “by laboratory reports,
that when looked at with a critical eye, may not have any
reality in the field or even in the laboratory.”
The first of the studies they comment on was led by John
E. Losey, Cornell assistant professor of entomology. This
study of the effect of “Bacillus thuringiensis” (Bt) com on the
monarch butterfly “can only be considered a preliminary
laboratory study,” they write.
In the May 20 issue of “Nature,” Losey and his colleagues
reported that pollen from commercial com, genetically engi
neered to produce a bacterial toxin to protect it against
European com borers, kills monarch butterfly larvae in lab
oratory tests. While Shelton and Roush note that this result
was expected under such laboratory test conditions, they
question whether this test was realistic.
“If I went to a movie and bought a hundred pounds of
salted popcorn because I like salted popcorn, and then I ate
those salted popcorn all at once, I’d probably die. Eating that
much salted popcorn simply is not a real-world situation,
but if I died it may be reported that salted popcorn was
lethal,” Shelton said in an interview. “The same thing holds
true for monarch butterflies and pollen. Scientists have a
duty to be incredibly responsible for developing realistic
studies. Scientists need to make assessments that are perti
nent to the real world.”
In the second study discussed in the article, researchers
at Kansas State University reported in “Science” that they
had discovered com borer resistance to Bt toxins. Shelton
and Roush question the methodology used in the study,
“including that the authors did not demonstrate that resis
tance was actually to the same Bt toxin as in the plant or
that the insects could survive on the Bt plant.” Even so, they
write, “this questionable laboratory study has generated
considerable debate over whether the present resistance
management policy should be overturned ”
In discussing the Cornell monarch butterfly report,
Shelton and Roush voice their surprise that a “previous and
more relevant and realistic study has been largely over
looked.” While the Cornell laboratory study showed high
mortality among monarch larvae that ingested genetically
engineered pollen, an lowa State University study by Laura
Hansen and John Obrycki showed low mortality even when
Monarch larvae were fed milkweed that had the highest lev
els of Bt pollen that would be encountered in the field.
Shelton and Roush note that it is unlikely that these high Bt
pollen levels would be encountered by the insects in the
field, and they say that “few entomologists or weed scientists
familiar with the butterflies or com production give cre
dence to the “Nature” article.”
Grazier Meeting, Penn State Uni
versity Haller Farm.
Producer Field Trip to Penn State
Haller Farm, meets at Comfort
Inn/Bonanza Restaurant at New
Columbia exit of Rt IS north of
1-80 at 8 a.m.
Southeast Regional Cattle Asso
caition Annual Farm Tour to
Maryland, Holloway Brother
Farm, Harford, Md., and Sha-
dow Springs Farm, Havre de
Grace, Md., leaves Chester 4-H
Center 7:30 a.m. and Herr
Angus 8:30 a.m.
Philadelphia Harvest Show, Horti-
OPINION
Park, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Ninth Annual Benefit Auction and
Bake Sale for the Clinic For
Special Children, Leola Pro
duce Auction, Leola, 8:30 a.m.
Lehigh Community Livestock
Roundup Sale, Schnecksville
Fairgrounds, 10 a.m.
PDPPS 43d Annual Pennsylvania
Dairy Princess Banquet and
Coronation, Sheraton hm, Har
risburg, milk punch reception
S;3O pjn., banquet 6:30 p.m.
Sustainable Forests Day, Gulyas
and Tilley Property, Ulster, 10
a.m.
Lancaster County Trust annual
caused many livestock and dairy
farmers to be facing feed
shortages for the coming winter.
There are still some emergency
options that can be pursued to
provide additional forage.
Small grains may be used for
supplemental forage production
according to Dr. Elwood Hatley,
Penn State Agronomist. The best
option for fall forage production
is spring oats. It may be used for
grazing or silage.
It may be seeded in early
September at three bushels per
acre. Usually no additional inputs
are required. Fertilizer application
is not likely to increase yields.
Feed oats may be used for seed
provided you check the
germination. To check
germination, take 100 seeds, place
them in a wet paper towel in a
plastic bag and put them in a
warm place. In a few days check
to see what percentage has
germjnated. If germination is less
than 90 percent, increase your
seeding rate accordingly or buy
seed oats.
To Plant Winter Grains For
Winter grains such as wheat,
barley or rye, may provide
grazing this fall or spring silage
production. Harvesting winter
grains as silage in the fall is
difficult because they lack stem
development. Harvesting for fall
silage may be improved by
mixing spring oats (2 bushels per
acre) with fall grain (1.5 bushels
per acre). Winter grains can
provide grazing in the fall or
spring without harming grain
yield as long as the plants are
allowed to go into winter with
two to three inches of growth and
the cattle are removed in the
spring prior to stem elongation.
All winter grains may be
x harvested for silage production in
the spring. Traditionally rye has
been the grain used most often for
forage production. It can be
planted the latest for erosion
control and forage production. It
does drop in forage quality faster
than the other grains. It must be
harvested in the boot stage prior
to head emergence.
Other winter grains may be
harvested later in maturity. Which
■airmouni
;r ai
To Plant Spring Oats For
Fall Forage
The drought of 1999 has
Forage
picnic, Dwight and Rosie Roh
rer Farm, Manheim, 1 p.m.-5
Complex, Harrisburg, thru
Sept. 23.
Beaver Community Fair, Beaver
Springs, thru Sept 26.
Lycoming Fall Crops Day, Gene
(Turn lo Page ASS)
winter grain is best for your
forage production will partly be
determined by which one is most
convenient for you to harvest in
the spring. Rye is normally
harvested for silage in late April,
barley in early May and wheat in
mid May.
To Cope With Stress
A crisis is an event that can
affect a family at any moment,
according to Debra Naumann,
Lancaster County Extension
Family Living Agent.
Whether it is an illness, death,
accident or weather related
problems, such as the recent
drought, families react in many
different ways to crisis. Some
break apart, while others not only
make it through, but grow
stronger as a result. Families that
grow stronger are often those who
have taken steps ahead of time to
develop their strengths. These
families are open and honest and
possess good communication
skills.
This means that family
members not only share feelings
about problems with each other,
but are able listen to each other
BIT
'lii.
ARE YOU A PROMISE
KEEPER?
September 19,1999
Background Scripture:
Exodus 19:1 through 20:21
Devotional Reading:
Deuteronomy 4:32-40
In the stories of Abraham,
Isaac. Jacob and Joseph, the basic
relationship between God and
these people is that of covenant
God and the people make an
agreement or a pact with each
other. God promises Abraham that
he and his descendants shall be his
people and he will be their God.
This is the covenant relationship
that is at the heart of their religion.
In Exodus 19 God spells out some
of the basics of this relationship/
We call these basics “the Ten
Commandments.”
Some of us have problems with
commandments. The very fact
that we are commanded to do this
or not to do that often motivates us
to resist and perhaps even defy
these commandments. From the
Garden of Eden onwards, God’s
children resisted him either pas
sively or actively or both. One
woman said she didn’t like the
Ten Commandments because they
gave people ideas! She’s right.
The very fact that God says ‘Thou
shalt not ...” motivates some
people to try out the very thing
God forbids.
GOD’S GRACIOUS ACTS
We often fail to realize that the
covenant between God and Israel
as well as between God and us
does not begin with command
ments. Before delivering them to
Moses, the Lord says to him, “You
have seen what I have done to the
Egyptians, and how I bore you on
eagles’ wings and brought you to
myself. ..” (19:4). The covenant
is always based upon what God
has already done for us. It is from
this context that he says: “Now,
therefore, if you will obey my
voice and keep my covenant, you
shall be my own possession
among all peoples ...” (5,6).
The starting place of our rela
tionship with God is not with what
he tells us be will do. but what he
has already done Cor us. There
came a time in my adult life when,
if my parents asked me to da
without offering instant solutions
or answers. These families are not
afraid to seek support outside the
immediate family. This could be
from other trusted family
members, friends, church or
community agencies. Families
with strong coping skills
recognize the importance of
spending time together in the
event of a crisis. While life may
be difficult, they gain strength by
developing a teamwork approach
to problem solving and by
spending time together laughing,
relaxing and playing. Those
families who cope well in the
event of a crisis are able to see a
crisis as an opportunity to become
stronger. By viewing the crisis as
a challenge rather than an event
that may level them, these
families take an active role in
making things better. This sense
of hope and optimism helps them
to go on even when things look
unbearable.
Feather Prof, 's Footnote:
"Unless you try to do something
beyond what you have already
mastered, you will never grow."
something, I did it, not so that they
would do something nice for me.
but because of what they had al
ready done for me many times
over. I knew I could never repay
the debt I owed them. Our rela
tionship with God is similar we
start off with an indebtedness we
can never pay back. What God has
done for us becomes our motiva
tion to keep our promises.
m
The Ten Commandments are
directly preceded by these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who
brought you out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bond
age. You shall have no other gods
before me” (20:1,2). We respond
to God’s saving us from our own
personal Egyptian servitude by
promising to follow and worship
no other gods. And so it is with
each of the commandments: they
provide a way of accepting what
God has done for us.
When we study the Ten Com
mandments, we find that God does
not command us to do or not do
this or that simply because he
wants us to toe the mark. Each
commandment tries to protect us
from the consequences that follow
the breaking of them.
So, these commandments are
not for his sake, but ours. If we
worship other gods, graven im
ages, take God’s name in vain,
violate the Sabbath, fail to honor
our parents, kill, commit adultery,
steal, bear false witness and let
ourselves be consumed by
covetousness, we are the losers,
not God. Our lives are enriched
when we keep our promises and
they are impoverished when we
do not.
So. God gives us the command
ments, not to restict us, but to en
i ich us and we keep our promises
C v the same reason. Being a disci
ple of Jesus Christ is based upon
vhat God has done for us and
kseping the promises we make to
him.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.-
Ephrata, PA 17522
-by
Lsmcaster Fanning, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
WHliam J. Burge** General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 1999 by Lancaster Farming
OUR ‘EGYPTIAN
SERVITUDE’