AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 27, 1999
As The Earthworm Turns
The tests currently used to detect old DDT and other
organic pollutants in the soil may overestimate the risk to
living organisms, according to Cornell University
researchers who say the real issue for government regula
tors at toxic cleanup sites should be “biological availability”
of aging toxins.
A report to be published in the Dec. 15 issue of the
American Chemical Society journal “Environmental Science
& Technology” finds new tests for this so-called “bioavail
ability” the amounts of toxins available to harm organ
isms to be a more realistic reflection of the potential harm
of organic pollutants to humans, animals, plants and ecosys
tems.
And the new tests of bioavailability meet “standards” set
by a living inhabitant of the soil, the common earthworm.
“Recent research has cast doubt on the validity of current
analytical nu thods for assessing the risk from organic pol
lutants in soils,” said Martin Alexander, Cornell’s Liberty
Hyde Bailey Professor of Soil Science and co-author, along
with research associates at Cornell, of the journal report.
“Current methods determine the total concentration of com
pounds, not the amounts that are actually available to do
harm. If we are not measuring the bioavailability, we are
overestimating sometimes appreciably the risk to bio
logical organisms.”
The Cornell study focused on soils that were contaminat
ed over the years with DDT and its derivatives DDE and
DDD, using two different procedures to determine bioavail
ability: solid-phase extraction with CIS membrane disks
and liquid-phase extraction with aqueous solutions contain
ing tetrahydrofuran.
To gauge the effects of chemical aging on bioavailability,
the researchers used soil that was treated with DDT 50
years ago in U.S. Department of Agriculture test plots in
Maryland, soil contaminated with DDT about 30 years ago
at a U.S. Navy weapons-testing site in Virginia, and uncont
aminated New York state soils, which the researchers delib
erately treated with DDT, DDE and DDD.
Age can be an important factor in bioavailability,
Alexander explains, because the compounds might be
sequestered in the soil and are less likely to be absorbed by
living organisms. The usual way of determining chemical
contamination, vigorous extraction methods, detected more
DDT, DDE and DDD in the soil samples as was expected
compared to the bioavailability.
Using bioavailability measurements, Alexander said,
“should permit better assessment of risk and allow more
meaningful decision-making at sites that require remedia
tion,”
I'
Saturday. NoM’inhcr 27
Susquehanna County Holstein
Association annual meeting.
United Methodist Church,
Montrose, noon.
Buckeye All Breeds Ewe Sale,
Kenton. Ohio,
Monday, No>emher 29
Tuesday. No%emhei' 30
Wednesday Dtctinbtr 1
Md. and Va. Milk Producers
Cooperative District Meeting,
Fulton Grange Hall, Wakefield,
Pa., noon.
Thursday. Di-ccmhcr 2
Future of Our Food and Farms,
Radisson Philadelphia Airport,
thru Dec. 3.
OPINION
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
lKtciiilht 3
York County Holstein Association
Annual Meeting, Shrewsbury
Fire Hall, Shrewsbury, 7 p.m.
(Turn to Pag* A3t)
Editor,
I am very discouraged, as a
dairy farmer to feel the price
crunch again. In your market
report last week, milk price
futures dropped to a new all
time low.
I get the feeling we are going
to see new all-time lows at the
Many farmers are buying hay
this winter and have found round
bales and big square bales to be a
good buy, according to Jeff
Stoltzfus, Eastern Lancaster
County School District Adult
Farmer Advisor. However these
big bales bring some extra
hazards
Make sure bales are stored in a
secure manner You do not want a
run away heifer or some playful
children start a bale rolling down
a hill. Small children can easily
be crushed if a bale moves. This
can be a particular hazard if the
bales are stacked. Large square
bales can also be dangerous.
A Chester County farmer was
killed last spring when a stack of
large square bales fell over and
crushed him. The hay had been
baled a little loose and the bottom
bale could not support the weight
of the upper two bales.
To Move Large Bales Safely
If you are handling large bales
with a front end loader, be careful
not to raise the bales too high.
Several people have been killed
when bales have rolled back on to
the tractor driver, reports Jeff
Stoltzfus, Eastern Lancaster
County School District Adult
Farmer Advisor.
Make sure the tractor is big
enough to handle the bale safely
Having a bale weighing over
1,000 pounds on the front of a
tractor will change the center of
gravity on a tractor and make it
easier to tip the tractor over.
Make suie children are not
playing in the area when you are
moving bales Round bales block
much of your forward vision
making it easy to run over
animals or children who move
into the area when you are not
looking
<•** ~
Consider the New York
farmer who was moving a large
round bale down a road The bale
blocked his view, so he decided to
drive along the side of the road,
just to be safe. However, the bale
CV'.
* Farm Forum ❖
~-sm
farm and never see an increase.
The market report on (TV)
said “you better be careful what
you wish for.”
Wish, what is a wish?
We have been dictated to so
long that, wish is all we can do.
The oil cartels have the cor-
To Be Safe With Round
Bales
» /, >,*•
■
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y f '
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(Turn to Page A 32)
kept the farmer from seeing the
police car that had stopped to
ticket a speeder To eryone's
surprise, the farmer drove up over
the police car Avoid surpnses
Be safe
To Clean Tools
Cleaning up tools and
equipment is an important
practice that should not be
ignored, according to Robert
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Agronomy Agent.
Proper cleanup of tools now will
THE PERENNIAL CHOICE
November 28,1999
Background Scripture:
Joshua 24
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 24:14-24
In 1887 at EI-Amarna, an
Egyptian peasant woman stum
bled across a store of 300 clay
tablets that she sold for the
equivalent of a dollar.
Eventually, another 240 tablets
were discovered there in what
had been the capital city of
Pharaoh Akhenaton. The tablets
were a spectacular archaeologi
cal find: A large collection of let
ters between Pharaohs Amenoiphis
II and Akhenaton and the gover
nors they appointed to rule in
Palestine.
A repeated pattern in these
540 letters is the obsequious
swearing of allegiance by the
governors to the pharaohs. In
letter 236 by Governor Abdu-
Heba we find this flowery obei
sance: “Your servant renews his
oath of loyalty to Pharaoh by
bowing seven times seven
times...” This oath established a
kind of covenant between the
Pharaoh and his officials.
The term covenant seems to
be growing in popularity with
ing the churches today. We speak
of the rite of baptism as a
covenant, as well as marriage
and any sort of binding agree
ment. In Old Testament times
the covenant signified a “coming
together” and “bonding.” The
English word covenant is
descended from the Old French
word covenant, a literal “coming
together.” It is related to the
French noun covenir meaning
“to agree.”
Beginning With Abraham
In the last few months we
have traced this concept from
the first expression of it from
God to Abraham, from Abraham
through Isaac, Jacob, and
Joseph to Moses, Joshua and the
twelve tribes of Israel. This term
speaks to us of God’s promises
regarding the future of Israel
and the Promised Land, as well
as of Israel’s promises to obey
God’s commandments.
Essentially, the covenant is
both a relationship and an
agreement. The Old Covenant
made through Moses estab
lished God as the Lord of Israel
and the Israelites as his children
selected for a particular mission.
In the New Testament we
encounter a New Covenant
(Testament) sealed by the sacri
fice of Jesus’s death. It is at the
Last Supper that Jesus first
utters this term: “This cup is the
new covenant in my blood” (Mk.
14:24.) The cup signified his
blood that sealed the new agree-
leave them in top shape and ready
when you want to use them again
Clean, oil and repair all hand
tools Sharpen all blades and
remove rust Equipment should be
cleaned of all plant material and
dirt. Replace worn spark plugs
and oil all necessary parts. Store
all tools m their proper place
indoors instead of outside where
they will rust over the winter
Feather Prof's Footnote:
"Think change - Adopt and thrive
or fall behind."
ment between God and his peo
ple, the new relationship exist
ing between them.
We tend to think of covenants
as once-and-done. But the
essence of the Christian’s life is
the continual renewal of our
covenant with God. The scene in
Joshua 24 is but one of the many
times when Israel was chal
lenged to renew the covenant
with the Lord. Seldom has it
been expressed so clearly and
concisely: “Now therefore fear
the Lord, and serve him in sin
cerity and faithfulness; put
away the gods which your
fathers served beyond the River,
and in Egypt, and serve the
Lord” (Joshua 24:14).
Whom You Will Serve
Joshua knows that people are
often swept along a wave of
enthusiasm and agree to
promises which they do not ful
fill. So he says, “And if you be
unwilling to serve the Lord,
choose this day whom you will
serve...” (4:15). I once had a
parishoner who refused each
year to make a financial com
mitment to the church. He said
the Old Testament teaches that
it is better not to make a com
mitment than to make one you
will not keep. I don’t think that
is what Joshua was offering his
hearers. He was calling for an
honest and open choice. It is up
to you, he was saying, “but as for
me and my house, we will serve
the Lord.”
The people, however, react
with great enthusiasm, assuring
him: “Far be it from us that we
should forsake the Lord, to serve
other gods; for it is the Lord who
brought us and our fathers up
from the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage...” (24:16,
17) Joshua responds with the
words that could have been mis
construed: “You qjpmot serve the
Lord; for he is a holy God; he is a
jealous God; he will not forgive
your transgressions or your
sins...” (24:19) Joshua is saying
that he doubts the people of
Israel can keep the covenant
and, if they do not keep it, they
will be the worse for it.
Fickle as the people of Israel
had proven themselves, on this
occasion they were of one mind.
The sternness of Joshua’s chal
lenge seemed to make them all
that more determined. “You are
witnesses against yourselves
that you have chosen the Lord,
to serve him,” said Joshua. The
people replied; “We are witness
es!”
And so are we all.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Gphrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Managing Editor
Copyright 1999 by Lancaster Farming