AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 23, 2000
OPINION
Go To The Fair
We are in the middle of the special events season for farmers,
rural citizens, and everyone who enjoys the county fairs and other
showcase events for agriculture. Starting today, we have the busiest
fair week of the year.
For all the fans of beautiful dairy cows, the Pennsylvania All-
American Dairy Show begins this evening in Harrisburg with the
Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Pageant. And along with the dairy an
tiques show, the All-American includes both state and national
dairy shows of all breeds. This year, the numbers have increased so
much that officials of the show are laying claim to the largest dairy
show in the nation. The youth shows and events also provide a
major attraction.
And then there is Bloomsburg Fair in the central part of the state
that is likely the largest fair in Pennsylvania. In progress now, many
of the ag events are scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednes
day. If you want to really enjoy and Ag Fair, you will want to try
Bloomsburg Fair this year.
In Lancaster County, the West Lampeter Fair, and the Ephrata
Fair that surrounds Lancaster Farming’s office, also are staged this
week. And by week’s end, Morrison Cove Community Fair in Mar
tinsburg and Tri-Valley Community Fair at Hegins will begin the
next week of activity.
So, sometime in the next several weeks, you will want to go to a
farm show or fair close to where you live. We think you will be glad
Saturday, September 23
International Plastics Congress,
Hershey Lodge and Conven
tion Center, Hershey, thru
Sept. 27.
All American Dairy Show, Farm
Show Complex, Harrisburg,
thru Sept. 28.
Lancaster Farmland Trust Old-
Fashioned Farm Picnic,
Roman and Lucy Stoltzfoos,
Kinzers, 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Bloomsburg Fair, thru Sept. 30.
Ist Annual Fawn Grove Olde
Tyme Days Fall Gas Engine
and Garden Tractor Show,
Fawn Grove, thru Sept. 24.
Dairy Princess Pageant, Shera
ton Inn, Harrisburg, 5:30 p.m.
reception, 6:30 p.m. banquet,
8 p.m. coronation.
Romano 4-H Center Benefit
Auction, 4-H Center, Honey
Brook.
Sunday, September 24
Monday, September 25
Pa. State Council of Farm Or
ganizations Meeting, Capitol
Building, Harrisburg, 11 a.m.
Erola
EETS El
Pa. Holstein Fall Championship
Show, Farm Show Complex,
Harrisburg, 9 a.m.
Pa. Feeder Calf Roundup Tele-
Auction Sale.
Ephrata Fair, Ephrata, thru
Sept. 30.
Morrison Cove Community Fair,
thru Sept. 29.
Lebanon Family Health Services
Women’s Workshop Series,
Lebanon, 7 p.m.-8 p.m., also
Oct. 24 and Nov. 14.
Eastern National Holstein Sale,
Farm Show Complex, Harris
burg, 7 p.m.
West Lampeter Community
Fair, thru Sept. 29.
Eastern National Holstein Show,
Farm Show Complex, Harris
burg, 8 a.m.
rail ca
Tri-Valley Community Fair, thru
sJJ
* Farm Calendar *
Oct. 1.
Penn State’s Agroecology Day,
Penn State’s Agronomy Farm.
Composting Workshop, Farm
and Home Center, Lancaster,
9 a.m.-10:30 a.m., also Oct. 7
and Oct. 21.
21st Annual Falmouth Goat
Race, Falmouth, 10 a.m.
Mason-Dixon Fall Harvest Festi
val, Mason-Dixon Fair
grounds. Delta, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
National 4-H Week, thru Oct. 7.
Open Youth Schooling Horse
Show, Northampton County
4-H Center, Nazareth, 10 a.m.
Solanco Young Farmers Family
Picnic, Rick Brennaman
Farm.
East Central Pennsylvania Two-
Cylinder Club 6th Annual
Fall John Deere Antique
Tractor and Implement Show,
tractor pulls, St. Peter’s
Church, Macungie, 9 a.m.
Lebanon Valley Chamber of
Commerce Farm-City Tours,
1 p.m.-4 p.m.
MiWEI
Hollidaysburg Community Fair,
thru Oct. 5.
BRMBI
Pa. Retail Farm Market Associa
tion “Are You Crazy?” Bus
Trip, Columbia County.
Pasture Meeting, John and Dan
Ferko Farm, Central City, 1
p.m.
Keystone International Livestock
Expo, Farm Show Complex,
Harrisburg, thru Oct. 9
World Dairy Expo, Dane County
Expo Center, Madison, Wis.,
thru Oct. 8.
Getting Started In Farming
Seminar, Howard County,
Maryland Extension Office,
7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., also Oct.
11,18, and 25.
New Holland Farmers’ Fair, thru
Oct. 7.
(Turn to Page A3l)
Although haymaking condi
tions have not been ideal this
year, the total amount of forage
production from most alfalfa
stands has been significant.
Many alfalfa producers will
soon be completing fifth cutting
with total yield approaching 7
tons of dry matter per acre.
Fertility programs for alfalfa
fields should be reviewed at this
time of year. Producers should
topdress stands with any neces
sary nutrients before winter dor
mancy, reminds Paul Craig,
Capitol Region Extension agron
omy agent.
Fertility studies have shown
that one ton of dry matter of al-
HtllS
ANSWERING GOD’S PRAYERS
mm
No, that is not a misprint in
the title. I realize that we never
think of God “praying,” especial
ly to us! But if prayer is really
two-way communication, in a
sense is God not praying when
he calls to us, just as we are pray
ing when we call to him?
Might not God call us as much
as we call upon him?
A little boy sent to the store to
buy milk lost the money his
mother had given to pay for it.
As the boy sobbed, the town
atheist gloated: “If God loved
you, wouldn’t he send someone
to help you?”
“He did,” the little boy replied,
“but they didn’t listen to him!”
When God seems to permit
some tragic evil, the problem
may not be that God doesn’t
send someone to prevent or cor
rect it, but that he does and we
do not respond.
Whether you think of God’s
calls to us as prayers, the result is
the same all too often we fail
to respond because we don’t ex
pect to hear from him. We may
assume that communication with
God is essentially one way: us to
him. We may also believe that
God calls some people, but not
“ordinary people” like us.
Then, too, we may be so self
centered that we do not ever con
cern ourselves with what God
needs of us.
mm
To Look At
Fall Alfalfa
Fertility
Background Scripture:
1 Samuel 3; 7:3-14.
Devotional Reading:
Luke 12:35-40.
No Frequent Vision
We see this in the story of
falfa hay per acre removes 15-20
pounds of phosphorous and
45-60 pounds of potash. For a
5-ton per acre hay yield, the crop
would remove 100 pounds of
phosphorous and 300 pounds of
potash.
If not monitored, soil potash
levels may become depleted in
only a couple of years, resulting
in lower yields and reduced win
ter survival. The best method to
determine alfalfa topdress re
quirements is to use a soil test.
To Topdress
Alfalfa Fields
If soil tests call for topdressing
alfalfa fields with potash, the rec
ommended program to maintain
alfalfa production is to split pot
ash applications, according to
Paul Craig, Capitol Region Ex
tension agronomy agent.
Immediately following first
cutting and early fall are the best
times to apply potash to alfalfa
fields. By applying after first cut
ting, the farmer is providing nu
trients to the second and third
crops.
Applying nutrients early in the
fall allows the plant to enter the
winter dormancy period in op
timal fertility status. It is critical,
however, that fall fertilizers are
applied well in advance of fall'
dormancy and freezing soil con
ditions.
Avoid applications when soils
are soft early spring when in
jury to crowns is likely. Split ap
plications to avoid salt injury
and provide nutrients at opti
mum time periods. High rates
applied to wet forage may also
cause leaf injury. Also, apply
topdress as soon after harvest as
possible.
Samuel, the young apprentice
prophet serving Eli, the judge
and priest of Israel. It is a story
about spiritual darkness.
1 Samuel tells us that “the
word of the Lord was rare in
those days; there was no fre
quent vision” (3:1). Because of
Eli’s spiritual decline, the people
of Israel were not enlightened.
Symbolic of this spiritual dark
ness was Eli, “whose eyesight
had begun to grow dim, so that
he could not see...”
Yet, despite Eli’s spiritual and
physical dimness of vision, as
well as the moral darkness of his
household, “the lamp of God
had not yet gone 0ut...” For
young Samuel “was lying down
within the temple” _ and God
knew that Samuel had not yet
been corrupted by Eli.
Here, the analogy turns from
one of seeing to hearing: “Samu
el! Samuel!” God called. But be
cause Eli had never led him to
expect to hear God’s voice, Sam
uel thought it was Eli who was
calling. Even though he did not
know it was the Lord calling
him, Samuel was responsive
with a willingness to hear and
respond; “Here I am.”
Finally, when at last Eli real
ized the Lord was calling Samu
el, he counseled the boy, “Go, lie
down; and if he calls you, you
shall say, ‘Speak, for thy servant
hears’” (3:9). Until Eli told him
who was calling and how he
should respond, Samuel could
not enter into communication
with God.
I believe God calls each of us
and often. Sometimes the “call”
of God to us is ignored because
we don’t realize what that call
may sound, look, or feel like. We
need to help each other to dis
cern God’s call.
God’s Many Voices
Take a look around your life.
Are you quite certain that there
are no clues that God is calling
you?'
Maybe he speaks to you as an
Alfalfa absorbs most nutrients
from the top 6 to 8 inches of the
soil. Unlike nitrogen, phospho
rous and potassium move very
little through the soil. For this
reason, alfalfa fertility programs
must begin with optimum soil
fertility at establishment with
topdress applied to meet plant
removal rates.
To Check For
Harvest Losses
Two corn kernels or four soy
beans per square foot are equal
to a loss of one bushel per acre.
According to William McCol
lum, Pioneer Hi-Breed Interna
tional, one good way to de
termine your field harvesting loss
is to use a hula hoop. If you do
not have one, you may purchase
one at your local toy store.
To determine harvest loss,
check behind the combine using
your hula hoop. Count the num
ber of loose grains on the ground
within the hula hoop.
A 28-inch (2.33 foot) diameter
hula hoop has an area of 4.26
square feet. Every 8.5 corn ker
nels or 17 soybeans found within
the hula hoop equals one bushel
loss per acre.
Find where the loss is coming
from. Losses from the header will
be evenly distributed over the en
tire header width. Losses from
the separator will be concentrat
ed directly behind the combine.
Acceptable losses generally
range from two to three percent
for corn and three to five percent
for soybeans.
Feather Props Footnote:
“We must he the changes we
wish to see in the world. ”
Mahatma Ghandi
inner urge or conviction when
you read the scriptures or listen
to a sermon. Perhaps he speaks
to you through the beauty of na
ture or through the voice of a
friend or associate.
The very first time I can recall
that God called me to the minis
try was when my pastor told
someone else that he expected
that some day I would become a
minister. When those words were
reported to me, I thought it was
absurd. Later, however, I real
ized that God used thaf pastor’s
remarks to call me.
I have no doubt that God uses
people in your life to speak his
words to you. The reason we do
not hear or understand what
God says to us is that, unlike
Samuel, we seldom say, “Here I
am” or “Speak, for thy servant
hears.” That is, we rarely per
ceive when we do not think there
is anything to perceive. What we
wait for is a loud, disembodied
voice radiating from the heavens.
I am not saying God never uses
that voice, but that has so many
other voices with which to speak
to us.
Even Eli, from whom there
was “no frequent vision,” opened
himself to the Lord so that he
could advise young Samuel.
When Samuel told him that God
had pronounced judgment
against Eli and his family, he re
sponded with rare perception, “It
is the Lord; let him do what
seems good to him” (3:18).
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
William J Burgess General Manager
Everett R Newrswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming