AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 7, 2000
OPINION
Accountability Is Key
Agricultural commodity producers want some kind of account
ability most of the time.
While many large producer organizations are somewhat divided
over whether the current commodity checkoffs should continue or
not, one thing is certain: producers deserve accountability.
They want proof that the dollars deducted from the sale of the
items either at auction or at private sale are going to move that
product in the marketplace.
How can anyone blame them?
Since there was some controversy over the way USDA handled
the pork checkoff referendum, some groups, such as the Livestock
Marketing Association (LMA), do not believe the USDA should be
so heavy handed.
“It’s time to start treating American beef producers like citizens,
and not suspects,” said John Willis, LMA president.
Willis and the LMA were recently questioning why there would
be so many delays for the go-ahead beef checkoff vote in the time
when primaries, two conventions, and a Presidential election will
have passed. The question: do beef producers have the right to de
cide whether to keep spending their own money on the checkoff?
LMA already has its own petitions, submitted to the USDA in
November 1999.
As for the pork checkoff referendum, ballots won’t be counted
until Nov. 29, according to Kathy Heil of the Lancaster Farm Serv
ice Agency.
In the meantime, rather than trying to decide whether checkoffs
are necessary, what about real efforts about accountability? Are
there methods to prove where the money is going, and why?
South Jersey Flower Growers
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. 8 and 14-15.
Poultry Health and Manage
ment Seminar, Kreider Res
taurant, Manheim, noon.
Manheim Community Farm
ShowJhruOctD^^^^
Dairylea Cooperative Annual
Meeting, Holiday Inn, Liver
pool, N.Y., thru Oct. 11.
Atlantic Coast Veterinary Con
ference, Taj Mahal, Atlantic
City, N.J., thru Oct. 12.
Lycoming County Beekeepers
Association meeting, Mon
toursville Borough Building, 7
p.m.
Grazing Series For Ag Lenders,
Bankers, and Accountants,
Hotel Saxonburg, 9:30 a.m.-3
p.m.
SSuiTmuijuPjrNau^
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.
Schuylkill County Annual Ex
tension Meeting, Sacramento
♦ Farm Calendar ♦
Fire Company, Sacramento,
6:30 p.m.
Forest Management and Stew
ardship Program Series,
Rutgers Cooperative Exten
sion, Flemington, N.J., 7 p.m.-
9 p.m.
Dairy Science 101, Frederick
County Office of Maryland
Cooperative Extension, Fred
erick, 10 a.m.-noon, Thurs
days thru Nov. 16.
Dairy Farmers Meeting, Ronks
St^\d(jr*^c!^^
itatewide mowing reener
Conference, Penn Stater
Hotel and Conference Center,
State College, thru Oct. 14.
Uniontown Poultry and Farm
EORDC, Caldwell, Ohio.
Backyard Composting Work
shop, 4-H Building, Troy
Fairgrounds. 9 a.m.-noon.
LemgnCountjaJ^^
NationaTPoultry Waste Sympo
sium, Ocean City, Md., thru
EpnrataAreaYoungram
Mentoring Meeting, Ephrata
High School, 7:30 p.m.
Dillsburg Community Fair, thru
Oct. 21.
Field Walk Meeting, Jeff
Werner Farm, 10 a.m.-noon.
Pa. Breast Cancer Coalition,
Whitaker Center for Science
and Arts, thru Oct. 18.
Lancaster County 4-H Recogni
tion Night, Yoder’s Restau
rant, New Holland, 6:30 p.m.
Lycoming County Extension
annual meeting, Eldred
Township Fire Hall, Warrens
ville, 7 n.m.
Solanco Young Farmers meet
ing, Silage Corn Manage-
(Turn to Pag* A 42)
To Build Manure
Pit Barriers
Dr. Dennis Murphy, Penn
State professor of agricultural
and biological engineering, re
cently reported of a recent farm
fatality that was the result of a
tractor with a blade sliding into a
manure pit while scraping ma
nure.
The following safety precau
tions concerning tractors and
loaders and manure pits may
save lives and prevent this trage
dy from occurring on your farm.
A tractor or loader scraping or
dumping at a push off ramp
could slide over the edge of the
ramp. This might happen be
cause of operator error, mechani-
Background Scripture:
1 Samuel 15:10 through 16:13.
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 55:6-11.
To celebrate my 70th birthday,
earlier this year I committed my
self to reading the massive mas
terpiece by my seminary profes
sor, Reinhold Niebuhr, called
“The Nature and Destiny of
Man.”
In one of the numerous lists
inspired by the turn of the mill
ennium, it was voted one of the
most important of the 20th cen
tury.
One of its great themes is the
arrogance of human nature, not
in that we sin, but that we pre
sume that we are righteous. “The
whole burden of the prophetic
message, “Niebuhr writes, “is
that there is only one
God ... and that the sin of man
consists in the vanity by which
he imagines himself, his nations,
his cultures, his civilizations to be
divine.”
On another occasion he said
that “not much evil is done by
evil men; most of the evil is done
by good people who do not know
that they are not good.”
Is there any greater human ar
rogance than for us to assume
that God sees things pretty much
as we see them? This is the seat
of Saul’s failure he presumes
that God agrees with him! Of
course, he didn’t say it that way,
but that’s the way he acted.
Note the breezy confidence
with which he greets the angry
Samuel: “Blessed be you to the
Lord; I have performed the com
mandment of the Lord” (15:13).
He has blatantly disobeyed God’s
command, but he pretends that
what he did was just the oppo
cal failure, or simply a too slick
surface.
A machine that goes over the
edge into a pit or storage can re
sult in a fatal crushing, entrap
ment, or drowning of the opera
tor. Install a guardrail or safety
bar at the push-off point to pre
vent the tractor or skid loader
from sliding over the edge.
An additional safety measure,
especially if small children are on
the farm, would be to install a
chainlink gate in front of the
guardrail or safety bar. This gate
may also be topped with barbed
wire to discourage older children
from exploring the dangerous
manure pit.
To Understand
Types Of Immunity
Many vaccines are available in
killed and modified live form.
According to Chester Hughes,
Lancaster County extension live
stock agent, we must understand
how the different types of vac
cines work before we decide
which form to use.
There are two separate and
distinct parts of the immune sys
tem. The first is the humoral
(antibody) system and the second
is the cellular (cell-mediated) sys
tem. As a general statement,
when protecting against bacterial
pathogens (Clostridium and Pas
turella), we want to stimulate hu
moral immunity. When we are
protecting against viral patho
gens (IBR and BVD), we want to
stimulate cellular immunity.
So, when thinking about the
viral respiratory diseases such as
IBR, BVD Pl 3 and BRSV, cellu
lar immunity is most important.
site.
Tn Your Own Eyes”
In the midst of this great sales
pitch, Samuel shouts: “Stop! I
will tell you what the Lord said
to me this night” (15:16). Al
though God has called Saul, and
despite his promises to be with
him, Saul has continued to see
himself as the wrong man for the
job.
Samuel says: “Though you are
little in your own eyes, are you
not the head of the tribes of Isra
el?”
Saul’s failure was his willful
refusal to accept what God saw
in him. To cling doggedly to
such a diminished view of our
selves, despite God’s assurances,
is a sin, not humility.
Another example of the differ
ence between what Saul and
God saw is the king’s steadfast
dependence, not upon doing
God’s will, but in practicing ritu
als. His perception of what God
wanted of him was radically dif
ferent. Samuel challenges him:
“Has the Lord as great delight in
burnt offerings and sacrifices, as
in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice.”
That was not the first nor last
time in history when people have
chosen ritual instead of obedi
ence. Is it not still one of our
problems?
Saul becomes a pathetic char
acter here. Although he ac
knowledges his failure, “I have
sinned,” he goes on to make a
convenient and transparent ex
cuse: “I have transgressed the
commandment of the
Lord ... because I feared the
people and obeyed their voice”
(15:26). In other words, it is real
ly their fault. The leader has
been misled by his followers!
And now he expects that his
easy repentance will negate the
consequences.
Whose Voice?
Saul has made an all too com
mon and human error: he has
failed to see that Vox populi non
vox Dei “The voice of the peo
ple is not the voice of God.” In
his exposition of this passage in
The best option is to schedule
a meeting with your herd health
veterinarian so that person may
advise you on a vaccination pro
gram specific for your herd.
To Understand Vaccines
Chester Hughes, Lancaster
County extension livestock
agent, reminds farmers to under
stand the differences between
modified live and killed vaccines.
Killed vaccines do not stimu
late local immunity (example:
nasal cavity) at all and do not
stimulate or poorly stimulate cel
lular immunity. Killed vaccines
are very effective in stimulating
humoral (antibody) immunity.
Killed vaccines generally require
multiple doses (2-4 weeks apart)
to immunize.
One dose has no benefit at all.
The immunity stimulated by
killed vaccines is short-lived, re
quiring boosters every few
months to one year for mainte
nance.
Modified live vaccines provide
cellular and humoral immunity
that persists for years to life and
are the first choice for successful
immunization of young animals.
Modified live vaccines may
cause abortion in unprotected
pregnant animals. Modified live
vaccines are less expensive per
dose than killed products and re
quire fewer doses to adequately
immunize the animal.
Feather Prof’s Footnote:
“Many times the difference be
tween failure and success is
doing something nearly right
or doing it exactly right. ”
“The Interpreter’s Bible,” John
C. Schroeder says something
that jarred me: “The will of the
majority is not the divine oracle.
To operate a society by the will
of the majority has proven to be
a satisfactory way of government
in a democracy. But in history,
the majority is seldom right
some minority is. This the reason
why democracies, if they are to
survive, must always protect the
minorities. Some of them may be
the voice of God.”
Saul placed his confidence in a
poll of public opinion.
God then instructs Samuel to
go to Bethlehem where the
prophet is to anoint God’s choice
as Saul’s successor. When he
comes to Jesse’s family, as in
structed, he is amazed that God
does not seem to choose any of
Jesse’s sons. “Surely,” says Sam
uel, “the Lord’s anointed is be
fore him,” but God tells him,
“Do not look on his appearance
or on the height of his stature,
because I have rejected him; for
the Lord sees not as man sees;
man looks on the outward ap
pearance, but the Lord looks on
the heart” (16:7).
Learning that there is one son,
the youngest, David, who is not
present, Samuel sends for him.
And, when the young David ar
rives, the Lord says to Samuel,
“Arise, anoint him; for this is
he.” God has seen in David what
Samuel and others and even
we would not be likely to see.
There’s nothing wrong in not
being able to have God’s 20/20
vision; what is wrong is to pre
tend that our vision is 20/20, like
his.”
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
William J Burgess General Manager
Everett R Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming