AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 30. 2000
OPINION
Biotech Supports Agriculture
The news hit the national wire services this week. The govern
ment is investigating whether some taco shells produced in Mexico
from corn meal purchased from a Texas mill, which got the corn
from farmers in five states, may contain a variety of biotech corn
that isn’t approved by the FDA for human consumption. Tests by
an antibiotech environmental group were reported to find traces of
the corn in taco shells purchased in suburban Washington. This va
riety of corn is the only biotech crop that isn’t approved for human
consumption because a scientific panel that advises EPA was unable
to decide this summer whether the protein in the corn should be al
lowed in food.
So, this variety of corn should not be grown to be placed in
human food and farmers should not put it where it might get there.
Consumers have the right to know the food farmers produce is of
the best quality. On the other hand, biotechnology can improve the
nutritional quality and the quantity of our food supply. Used under
the proper restrictions, biotech food contains greater vitamin con
tent, removes compounds that cause allergic reactions, and produc
es meat, milk, and eggs with healthier qualities.
The world’s population will likely increase from six billion today
to nine billion by 2050. Biotechnology can play an important role in
alleviating hunger and malnutrition by making it possible to grow
more food with added nutrition, on the same or less land while also
sustaining the land’s ability to support continued farming.
Composnngvvm
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 Fes
tival, Mason-Dixon Fair
Week, thruCJ^T
national 4-h eekTtHruOct. ,
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.
Homo; ;br ~ Community Fa*'
lurg
laysl
PaTTmailFariTiMarket Associ-
ation “Are You Crazy?” Bus
Trip, Columbia County.
Pasture Meeting, John and Dan
Ferko Farm, Central City, 1
p.m.
eystone .nternationa. live
stock Expo, Farm Show Com
plex, Harrisburg, thru Oct. 9
World Dairy Expo, Dane
County Expo Center, Madi
son, 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.
Pasture Walk, Sal Nicosia,
Spring Mills, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.
Selling At Roadside Markets
Meeting, Seigworth’s Farm
Market, Brookville, 6 p.m.
Wildlife Management Confer-
♦ Farm Calendar ♦
ence, Nittany Lion Inn, Uni
versity Park, thru Oct. 8.
Mercer County Soybean Field
Day, Struthers Farm, Mercer,
1 p.m.
Wyoming County Sheep and
Wool Producers Annual
Meeting and Roast Lamb
Banquet, United Methodist
Church, Centermoreland,
SoutnJerseyFlowerGrowers
Association 12th Annual Fall
Trade Show, Salem County
Fairgrounds, Woodstown,
N.J.
Hereford Breeders Classic Sale,
Gettysburg.
Commercial Scale Chestnut
Production Field Day, Del
marvelous Chestnuts, Nancy
and Gary Petitt Orchard,
Townsend, Del., 3 p.m.-dusk.
National Apple Harvest Festi
val, South Mountain Fair
grounds, Arendtsville, also
Oct. Sand 14-15.
air,
Poultry Health
ment Seminar, Kreider Res
taurant, Manheim, noon.
Manheim Community Farm
SlhoWjthruOct^jT^^^^^
Dairylea Cooperative Annual
Meeting, Holiday Inn, Liver-
IjoohN^Y^thmOctJML^^^
Grazing Series For
Bankers, and Accountants,
Hotel Saxonburg, 9:30 a.m.-3
SStßL^TPaTNan^^fH^ -
ti .nnual t’a. .ationai lorse
Show, Farm Show Complex,
Harrisburg, thru Oct. 21.
Unionville Community Fair,
thru Oct. 14.
Grazing Series For Ag Lenders,
Bankers, and Accountants,
New Franklin Volunteer Fire
Company, New Franklin,
9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
(Turn to Page A 46)
To Increase
Farm Income
Farmers are faced with an
abundant crop that is worth very
little.
Even with a super yield this
year, many farmers will be hard
pressed to make the income
generated by the crop pay all the
expenses.
However, with the USDA
Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP),
income from crops may be in
creased even if the farmer feeds
the crop to his own livestock.
While final details have not
been approved, farmers will be
eligible for payments even if the
crop is harvested as silage.
There are a few requirements
for the payment. First, in simpli-
WRONG EXPECTATIONS
Background Scripture:
1 Samuel 9:1 through 10:27.
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 119:1-8.
There are two different cur
rents running through the Bibli
cal account of Saul becoming the
King of Israel. One of them is
clearly opposed to the idea of Is
rael having a king, as in 1 Sam.
8:4-22 and again in 10:17-27,
where God is represented as re
garding the people’s clamor for a
king as a rejection of himself.
The other point of view is equally
favorable to the idea, as in
9:15-17, when God tells Samuel
that he has chosen Saul to be
king so that “He shall save my
people from the hand of the Phil
istines.”
Many Biblical scholars believe
that two different written ac
counts are woven together in
these passages with the two
points of view remaining unhar
monized. Both sources attribute
their interpretations as coming
from God. In one source, source
A, God is favorable to both the
monarchy and Saul as king, and
in the other, source B, God is
negative and accepts the wish of
the people with great reluctance.
So which of these represents
the true will of God?
I believe that perhaps both do;
furthermore, God may be the
source of both, even though they
seem to be so in conflict. Often,
that is how it is in life. On any
issue there may be conflicting
perspectives. Many issues are not
black and white, right or wrong.
We have to sift through the posi
tives and negatives of various
ideas and proposals.
Frequently we can see that
fault is not always one-sided. Is
that the case here?
fled terms, the fanner must have
ownership of the crop from the
time of harvest until the LDP is
requested. Second, the farm
where the crop is grown must
have a conservation plan or have
requested a conservation plan.
To request a conservation
plan, the farmer needs to contact
the county conservation district
where the farm is located. In ad
dition, the farmer will be charged
a filing fee. According to the
Lancaster Farm Service Agency
office, that fee ranges between
$3O and $35 for most farmers.
To Learn
Details Of LDP
Farmers who grew corn, soy
beans, wheat, barley, and oats
and were not Production Flexi
bility Contract (PFC) farms also
known as the 7-year program are
eligible for Loan Deficiency Pay
ment (LDP).
Payment rates for LDP are
based on the date the crop was
sold or fed. The payment rate for
crops sold or fed this week was
wheat $0.90 per bushel, barley
$0.26 per bushel, oats $0.41 per
bushel, corn $0.38 per bushel,
and soybeans $0.75 per bushel.
If the com crop is harvested as
silage, the payment is calculated
using the value of 7 bushels of
com for each ton of silage. For
example, if the silage yield were
23.5 tons per acre, the com yield
would be 7 times 23.5 for a yield
of 164.5 bushels per acre.
At the current payment rate,
the payment for the com crop
would be $62.51 per acre of si-
Pros And Cons
There were definitely positive
aspects of having a king to reign
over them. The people wanted
and needed human leadership.
Perhaps judges were sufficient
for both spiritual and temporal
matters in the days when Israel
first arrived in Canaan. But now
they wanted a more centralized
authority, a kingdom instead of
a loose confederation of tribes.
There was something to be said
for that.
Our country was first gov
erned under the Articles of Con
federation, a much more decen
tralized and weaker form of
government than that which re
placed it under the Constitution.
Americans realized that they
would need a centralized gov
ernment and ever after we have
disagreed on just how strong
that centralized government
shall be. I believe there are co
gent arguments for both more
and less central government, for
larger and smaller government.
Despite the political slogans,
truth does not reside on one side
alone.
In the case of Israel, it is ap
parent that those who wanted a
king and a kingdom won out
eventually. Saul was made king
of Israel. But does that mean
that those who did not want a
king were entirely wrong? I
don’t think so. There are always
dangers as well as advantages in
a strong central government as
well as decentralized rule.
The U.S. Constitution was de
signed with a balance of powers.
From the very first days of our
republic we have struggled to
keep each of those powers from
becoming too dominant. One of
the most important issues in the
American Civil War was strug
gle between national power and
states’ rights. The war lasted
only four years, but the struggle
continues probably to the ev
erlasting advantage of our coun
try.
A Warning
In source A of 1 Samuel, God
lage grown. Take time now to
sign up for the LDP at your
Farm Service Agency office.
To Eat Properly
Each day one in 10 Americans
eats at least one meal alone.
Whether it is an adult having
a quick meal from fast food
drive-thru or a child microwav
ing macaroni and cheese, eating
alone has some problems, reports
Nancy Wiker, Lancaster County
extension family living agent.
Diets of people who eat alone
often fall short on nutrients. It is
not that they eat less nutritious
foods but that they tend to skip
meals or consume less food be
cause of preparation time.
For older adults, there is a di
rect link between loneliness and
lowered intake of calories, calci
um, and vitamin A. Children
who eat alone tend to eat poorer
quality meals than children who
dine with family.
Some suggestions if you are
eating alone:
• Do not skip breakfast.
• Serve a combination of pre
packaged foods with fresh foods.
• Purchase already cut fruits
and vegetables from the super
market salad bar if you cannot
use a large amount.
• If you are a senior citizen,
consider community meals where
you may socialize.
Whether you eat out or stay at
home, make mealtime a pleas
ant, important time of day.
Feather Prof’s Footnote:
“When you are through chang
ing, you are through. ”
is interpreted as being reluctant
to establish a monarchy and hav
ing Saul as the monarch. In
chapter 8, God asks Samuel to
spell out clearly the dangers of a
monarchy: .. you shall sol
emnly warn them, and show
them the way of the king who
shall reign over them” and Sam
uel paints a pretty bleak picture
(8:10-18). God also is interpreted
as telling Samuel, “... they have
not rejected you, but they have
rejected me from being king over
them” (8:7).
I see in this a warning to us all.
We have and will continue to
have to choose human leaders,
but the danger is that we will
give to them the homage that be
longs to God alone and expect
from them what only God can
give. The problem may not be so
much with the people wanting
leaders, but in virtually deifying
those leaders and demonizing
their opponents.
Is it not true that many Ameri
cans will go to the polls in No
vember, giving to the human
candidates the homage and ex
pectations that belong only to the
Lord? In choosing between the
presidential candidates, we are
choosing between two human be
ings and neither of them can
solve many of the problems we
expect them to solve and their
“solutions” to these problems
will still be human solutions.
In choosing one person to be
our President, you don’t have to
hate or disbelieve the other. Saul
was both a “good guy” and a
“bad guy.”
Aren’t we all?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
I E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming