AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 2, 2000
OPINION
Ready To Give Up?
Agricultural economist Luther Tweeten, Ohio State University,
thinks the three member nations of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) should follow Europe by adopting its own
common currency.
According to Tweeten, common currency would help farmers in
Canada, Mexico, and the United States by easing the impact of fluc
tuating international currency rates that affect the value of products
sold in cross-border trade. Farming is already one of the riskiest
businesses due to unpredictable weather, pests and markets, and a
single currency would provide at least one aspect of stability.
“My proposal would reduce what we call ‘exchange rate risk’ in
agriculture,” Tweeten said. “It’s one of the instabilities in the mar
ket we wouldn’t have to put up with anymore. We could do away
with that if we had a common currency.”
Tweeten, who has argued the case to U.S. trade policymakers,
said that a common currency should be the next level for discussion
between the three nations, which formed the world’s second largest
free-trade zone in 1994, although there’s still more work to be done
on reducing trade barriers. “If France and Germany in the Europe
an Union (EU) can get together despite historical animosities that
run long and deep, I think surely we can get together,” the ag econ
omist said.
The EU, which is the largest free-trade zone, adopted a common
currency, the euro, on Jan. 1,1999. And talk of a common currency
is a hot topic among economists, business people and finance minis
ters in other parts of the world, thus dispelling the notion “it’s a rev
olutionary thing,” Tweeten said.
For example, this summer Ecuador boldly adopted the U.S. dollar
as its official currency as a step against hyperinflation; to stop de
valuation of the national currency, the sucre; and to promote foreign
investment in the South American nation.
A common currency is a great facilitator for trade and invest
ment, and I think ultimately it’s good for the world,” Tweeten said.
But we have questions. Would this inflate the dollar and offset
any gains in a lower exchange rate risk? Would this further get us
ready to give up our U.S. sovereignty in favor of one world govern
ment? Think about it.
Roundup Sale, at the Great
Allentown Fair, 3 p.m.
Mon Valley District Dairy
Show, Washington County
Fairgrounds, 9 a.m.
Northwest District Dairy Show,
Crawford County Fair
grounds, Meadville, 8:30 a.m.
Berks County Holstein Club
visit to Stoltzfus Family
Dairy, Somerset County,
leaves Fleetwood Grange at 7
a.m., returns 7:30 p.m.
Juniata County Fair, thru Sept.
9.
Cambria County F" : - ;hr>'
Sept. 9
Spartansburg Community Fair,
thruSept9^^^^^^
office closed.
Ox Hill Community Fair, thru
Sept. 9
Waterford Community Fair,
thru Sept. 9.
West Alexander Community
FaMjruSeptjJj^^^
Pasture Meeting, William
“Red” Whittaker Farm,
Berlin, 7 p.m.
Bellwood-Antis Farm Show,
thru Sept. 9
Claysburg Farm Show, thru
Sept. 9
Jamestown Community Fair,
thru Sept. 9
Twilight Meeting, Northumber
land County Conservation
District, J. Daniel Faus Farm,
6 p.m.
■ Farming
♦ Farm Calendar ♦
nj»^^CoinUjnPairrthr^
uzerne
10.
Grazing Alfalfa, Dick Packard,
East Troy.
Dairy Alliance Seminar Series,
Ramada Inn, State College.
Pike County Fair, thru Sept. 10.
Maximizing Grain Dollar In
Tough Times at the Tri-
County Agronomy Field Day,
Roger Kilbarger Farm,
Thornville, Ohio, 2:15 p.m.
Ohio Pork Industry’s Competi
tive Seminar 2000, Ohio State
University, Columbus, Ohio,
air, tl
I'hurmont and
Community Show, Catoctin
High School, Thurmont, Md.,
thru Sept. 10
Berks County Conservation
Tour, Agricultural Center, 9
a.m.
VorkFairJJhruSep^^_^^^
Adams County
Hollabaugh Brothers Orchard
Farm, Biglerville.
Veal 101, Penn State,
lege, thru Sept. 12.
Preferred Stock Shorthorn Sale,
McElhaney Stock Farm,
Hookstown.
Health Seminar, Kreider’s
Restaurant, Manheim, noon.
Green Township Community
Fair, thru Sent. Ifi
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County extension agronomy
agent, has observed some farm
ers beginning to cut com for si
lage.
This may be due for the need
of feed and fields are being
opened to supply this need or
being done based on the cal
endar.
Com silage harvest should be
delayed this year because many
fields were planted a little later
than normal. This means they
will mature later than normal.
In addition, the cool summer
weather and lower-than-normal
amounts of sunlight did not
promote the normal growth rate
for com.
Ephrata Area Young Farmers
Computer Class, Ephrata
High School, 7:30 p.m.
Serving Seminar Berks Ag
Center, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., 6 p.m.-
9 p.m.
Adams County Field Day, Dan
Winter’s Farm, McSherrys
town, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Denver Fair, Denver, thru Sept.
16.
Albion Area Fair, thru Sept. 16.
Berlin Brothersvalley Commu
nity Fair, thru Sept. 16.
Sinking Valley Fair, thru Sept.
16.
Family Farm Crisis Regional
Meeting, Holy Name Church
Small-Scale Manure Manage
ment Solutions, Central
Maryland Research and Edu
cation Center, Ellicott City,
Md., 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
Delmarva Breeder, Hatchery,
and Growout Conference,
Delmarva Conference Center,
Delmar, Md.
Natural Landscapes and Habi
tats Walk, Valley Forge Na
tionalParkjSpjn^^^^^
Adams County Farm Bureau
annual meeting, Gettysbrew,
Gettysburg.
North East Community Fair,
thruSept^6 i^^_BB _^^^
Grp^Freaenac^larT^Tnru
»t. 17
reat
Sept. 23.
“Do Trees Effect Community
Liability?” Dinner Meeting,
Best Western Inn, Hunt’s
Landing, Matamoras, 6:30
>tate
ZDOOMarylamo^wui^^esuv^
Farm Museum, Westminster,
Md., thru Sept. 17.
Pasture Walk, Don and Lugene
Chamberlain, Mainesburg, 10
a.m.-3 p.m.
To Delay Corn
Silage Harvest
Corn likes hot weather, includ
ing hot nights. This year we had
very little hot weather and al
most no hot nights.
We have lost slightly over a
week of growing degree days for
corn this summer. The loss of
growing degree days and later
planting could amount to nine or
more days delay in the maturing
of com.
Before starting to harvest corn
silage, each field should be
checked for maturity and mois
ture, according to Robert Ander
son, Lancaster County extension
agronomy agent.
Corn continues to add dry
matter content up until the time
the black layer is formed on the
kernel. When this happens, the
plant has reached maturity.
However, the moisture content
may still be too high to cut silage.
A simple way to estimate plant
moisture content is by checking
the kernel. At full dent the whole
plant moisture is about 74 per
cent. When the milk line is half
way, the whole plant moisture is
about 68 percent, a good time to
fill the silo.
Do not be in a hurry to fill silo
this year because you always fill
silo around Labor Day.
Check the plant maturity and
its moisture content before you
harvest. This will minimize the
amount juices running out of the
THE WILLING RESPONS!
Background Scripture:
Judges 4 through 5.
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 68:1-6.
When we read Judges, we
cannot help wondering why
these people never seemed to
learn. We can see them forsak
ing the Lord perhaps once, or
even a second time. But because
each time they “did what was
evil in the sight of the Lord,”
they suffered grievously and had
to beg the Lord to save them,
wouldn’t you think they would
eventually leam to straighten up
and fly right? They weren’t just
slow learners; they were essen
tially nonlearners.
Ah, but then maybe no more
than we. When Winston Chur
chill wrote “Triumph and Trag
edy,” the third volume in his
magnificent history of The Sec
ond World War, he described its
theme as “How The great De
mocracies Triumphed and so
Were able to Resume the Follies
Which Had so Nearly Cost
Them Their Life.”
Isn’t that the theme of just
about ever great crisis through
which we have come? And that
is true, not only of our societies,
but our lives as individuals.
We, too, come through one
scrape after another and then
quickly settle into doing what is
“evil in the sight of the Lord.”
What made the Lord so angry
with these people time and
again? Essentially, it was be
cause, “forgetting the Lord their
God ...,” they served the Baals
and the Asheroth of their neigh
bors. They did not say, Lord
God, we will not serve you any
longer. No, what they did was to
pretend to serve the Lord, but
base and fashion their lives on
the values and practices of their
pagan neighbors.
air,H
To Check Corn
For Maturity
Slow Learners!
silo while producing good quality
silage.
To Look At
Corn Cutting Height
A recent Pioneer Management
study looked at what happens
when you raise the cutting height
for com silage.
Tall corn plants have reduced
grain-to-stover ratios. Raising
the cutting height leaves more
stover and fiber in the field and
results in higher quality silage. It
also reduces yield.
So does it pay? The Pioneer
study indicated that for every six
inches of stalk left in the field,
yield is reduced by 1.2 tons per
acre. At the same time, quality is
improved by 0.6 percent (whole
plant digestibility).
These numbers can be con
verted to milk. For every six
inches of stalk left in the field,
you gain 72 pounds of milk per
ton in quality and lose 258
pounds of milk per acre in lost
yield.
If your corn yields 20 tons of
silage per acre, you will net 1,182
(1,440-258) pounds of milk per
acre by raising the cutting height
by six inches.
This may be a good year to
raise the cutter bar and improve
your silage quality, particularly if
you have a lot of low quality hay
to feed this year.
Feather Profs Footnote: “It
is one of the laws of our being
that only in seeking happiness
of others can we find our own. ”
Does life in this country, your
community, or your home reflect
the rule of Christ or the Baals
and Asheroths of today?
God Always Responded
Yet, no matter how often the
people of Israel forsook their
faith, God always responded to
their cries for help and sent them
someone to deliver them. For the
most part, that’s who the
“judges” are in this book.
In Judges 4 and 5, the savior
whom God sends is a surprise,
given the generally low status of
women in the Old Testament
and the ancient world. Deborah,
a woman upon whom God be
stowed the gift of prophecy,
would be the one who would be
God’s instrument. To be sure,
she enlisted a man, Barak, to
lead the armies, but without her
persuasiveness, Barak would
have done nothing. When God
called Deborah to assume this
most unusual role, she had a per
fect excuse. She could have pro
tested that I’m only a woman; no
man is going to listen to me.
We should be able to identify
with Deborah because when we
are called by God to do some
thing (and don’t think you are
not!), we have the same tempta
tions: Lord, you can’t mean me,
I’m only a youth; I’m too old; I
don’t have the skills; that’s not
my line; I can’t influence anyone,
and so on.
The difference. Judges tells us,
was that “the people offered
themselves willingly” (5:2b).
When God calls us. no matter
how ill-fitted we may think we
are for the task, he can use us if
we offer ourselves willingly.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Revievt Building
I E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
by-
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Sleinman Enterprise
William J Burgess General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming