Lancaster farming. (Lancaster, Pa., etc.) 1955-current, October 14, 2000, Image 10
AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 14, 2000 OPINION Be Careful, Or There’ll Be Consequences Insect resistance management. Corn growers are becoming ever more acquainted with this termi nology. They ought to be. Because if they don’t observe the proper kind of program, the high-technology corn that keeps bugs low and crop yields high could become a grower’s nightmare. In the section of Com Talk, published in this week’s issue of Lancaster Farming, Penn State entomologist (“insect expert”) Dennis Calvin provides some strategies to deal with new varieties of transgenic com. The new com has “stackable” genes meaning ways to deal with com rootworm and European com borer are built into the plant. For Pennsylvania growers, that amounts to 20 percent of com acres should be “non-Bt” corn to act as a refuge to deter resistance. However, corn varieties with a combination of com borer and rootworm traits could make managing them complex, because of the insects’ different life cycles. Researchers and the marketplace itself are going to have to work on ways together to come up with the best management strategies. It’s going to be touch-and-go until those strategies are worked out. The National Com Growers Association (NCGA) has set up an information site on the Web. Just go to their Website, www.ncga.com, and click on the left-hand icon under Insect Resis tance Management. We urge all corn growers to be careful in using those varieties. What with environmental concerns being the front-burning issue of today, only by acting wisely and responsibly can we continue to make biotechnology even more valuable. Biotech has brought us some great herbicide-tolerant com crops, too. According to Bob Hartzler of lowa State University, Australia faces some of the worst herbicide resistance problems in the world. As a result, they’ve launched a major research and extension pro gram called the Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative to address this issue. Why has this happened? Because of the mindset of growers, he noted, that herbicide resistance is something that can be dealt with after the fact rather than something to manage prior to emerging as a problem. If you read a paper published by the Initiative, according to them, growers “down under” believe in herbicide exploitation until resis tance develops. They’re not thinking about tomorrow, they just want the weed-free crops today. We have to think differently in this state and this country. Science could bring us com that could prosper in drought, ward off all insect pressure, and that you could spray once for weeds and forget it. All the while producing yields, perhaps, into the hundreds of bushels per acre. But that could all be 'ost unless these critical first few years of biotech are treated with respect and proper management is em ployed. EORDC, Caldwell, Ohio. Backyard Composting Work shop, 4-H Building, Troy I^airgroundSjS^j^^ Lemgl^ountj^per^ateTann Editor: Your opinion column (“Ac countability Is Key”) in the Oct. 7 issue was called to my atten tion by some local pork produc ers. Accountability to producers for the use of checkoff funds is something on which there is whole-hearted agreement. How ever, what is accountability in * Farm Calendar * ' /> Tour, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. York County 4-H Recognition Program, York County 4-H Na* : al Poultry Waste Sympo- fationai (Turn to Pag* A 36) ♦ Farm Forum ♦ the mind of the producer and what cost/benefit will be accept able? As an example, the following is a list of a few accountability items that are in place in the pork industry: • A board of directors is of which the members are elected by their peers • A producer board that makes decisions on the projects (Turn to Pago A 29) Corn may be damaged by cold weather anytime the tempera tures remain below 32 degrees for 4 to 5 hours or anytime the temperature drops to 28 degrees for only a few minutes, reported Robert Anderson, Lancaster County extension agronomy agent. The amount of yield loss is di rectly related to the stage of ma turity when the frost hits. The following are the expected yield losses based on corn matur ity when the killing frost hits: • Black layer formation: 0 percent yield loss • Hard dent: 5 percent yield loss • Dent: 9 percent yield loss • Soft dough: 15 percent yield loss DAVID’S LAMENT Background Scripture: 1 Samuel 31:1 through 2 Sam uel 1:27; 1 Chronicles 10. Devotional Reading: Psalms 77:1-9. You might think it strange that it is David who leads Israel in lamenting the death of Saul, Jonathan, and their soldiers on Mount GUboa. \ * „ Although David and Saul had once been close, Saul’s bitter jeal ousy of David had forced him to flee and hide for several years. Had Saul captured David it is likely he would have had him ex ecuted. %^zvr «•*, i - Still, Saul’s animosity did not seem to evoke the same response from David, who refused to take Saul’s life even when he had sev eral opportunities (1 Sam. 24,26). Perhaps David’s memories of their past friendship restrained. Maybe it was because of his strong friendship with Jonathan, Saul’s son. Another reason is suggested in 2 Samuel 1:14,16, when, questioning the Amelekite sojourner, David calls Saul “the Lord’s anointed.” Despite everything, the Lord’s choice of Saul as king was more important to David than the danger that Saul represented to him. Relationships between people are often strained and ruined be cause of the malign or careless acts of one or more of the per sons. Yet, often we ought not to write off these people. We need to remember the good times as well as the bad and try to rebuild the relationship on that basis. Sometimes, when people come To Look At Frosted Com • Late milk: 36 percent yield loss • Silking: 100 percent yield loss. As with grain yields of frosted com, silage yield will also be re duced, depending on the stage of maturity of the com plant when the killing frost occurs. The earlier the frost kills the plant, the lower the grain yield will be. In addition to low yields, frosted com that is not mature will have low grain test weight and will dry very slowly in the field. To Consider Ensiling Frosted Cora A frosted com crop may be salvaged for silage on many farms, according to Robert An derson, Lancaster County exten sion agronomy agent. When frosted com is put in the silo, the first concern is that com that has been killed by frost will appear dryer than com with similar maturity that has not been frosted. Several sunny days after a kill ing frost will cause com leaves to brown, giving the appearance of mature com. However, the stalk and ear will still contain a high percentage of moisture. Special care is needed to make sure that the whole plant moisture content is in the proper range for silage in the type of structure it will be stored in. For conventional upright silos the optimum moisture content for com silage is between 63 and 68 percent moisture. For a shal low trench, the moisture content increases to between 68 and 72 percent moisture and for sealed structure the moisture content to me for marital counseling, I find that they are focused only on the bad times in their mar riage, not the good ones. I often ask them to tell me about an ex perience when they felt good and positive about their mate. These recollections often trigger warm feelings that have been long for gotten. Some Good Things Saul’s death was tragic for several reasons. Despite all his failings, Saul had done some good things for Israel: “Ye daughters of Israel,” says David, “weep over Saul, who clothed you daintily in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold upon your ap parel” (2 Sam 1:24). For all his weaknesses, Saul had been a mighty military lead er:, “How are the mighty fallen!” (19,25). And, most important of all, Saul was the Lord’s anointed. It was doubly sad because, despite the Lord’s anointing, Saul had seldom risen to the occasion. His nagging self doubt was stronger than his trust in God, so that when he faced difficulties, he saw them not as challenges to be met but dangers from which he hid. So Saul never became the man he was created to become. Do we? David also expressed freely his own personal sorrow: “I am distressed for you, my bother, Jonathan” (1:26). Despite Saul’s bitterness against David, his son and David remained the best of friends. Jonathan’s loss was tragic because, unlike his father who brought his ruin upon him self, Jonathan died because of his intense loyalty to his father and family. Jonathan was loyal both to his father and family and David, his friend a standard all too uncommon today. In the American Revolution, Tom Paine wrote of the “sun shine patriots.” What about “sunshine friendships”? decreases to between 45 and 55 percent. A second problem could occur when the moisture content of the com is too low. If com is too dry for proper ensiling, consider add ing water to it at the silo. De pending on how dry the silage is, it takes between 50 and 75 pounds of water per ton of silage to increase the moisture content one percent. A gallon of water weighs about 8.3 pounds, therefore it takes between 6 and 9 gallons of water for each one percentage increase in moisture content. To Pick Up Farm Show Premium List The premium list for the 2001 Pennsylvania Farm Show is available at your county Penn State Cooperative Extension of fice. This year’s Farm Show will be Jan. 6-11. The premium list includes the rules for the show, classes, prizes, and entry deadlines. There are several divisions that have Nov. 2 deadlines, including dairy, live stock, poultry, and hay. Others have a Dec. 15 deadline. The premium list also has a tentative schedule of events. This year the Farm Show will be of fering $300,648 in premiums, an increase of about $26,000 more than the 2000 show. So pick up your premium list today. Make your entries and plans for the 2001 Pennsylvania Farm Show. Feather Prof’s Footnote: “We cannot change yesterday. We can only make the most of today and look with hope to ward tomorrow.” How Are The Mighty Fallen 2 Samuel 1:18 indicates that David’s poem of lamentation was preserved in the Book of Ja shar, an anthology of the early poems of Israel. Although we no longer have it today, in addition to this poem of David there are in the Old Testament (Josh. 10:13 and 1 Kings 8:13) two additional extracts from that book. That David’s poem was in clusion in the Book of Jashar is strong evidence that it is original with David, for in it there is a marked absence of religious feel ing. If editors had thought'it was not original with David, they probably would have not in cluded it in 2 Samuel. David is a strong man, but this strong man is able to do what many people cannot: he publicly expresses his grief— for Saul, for Jonathan, and for the nation. “David lamented with his lamen tation over Saul and Jonathan his son..(1:17). Apparently David’s country men did not think it unmanly or weak of him to grieve publicly for Saul and Jonathan. So why does that point of view not pre vail today? Why do we want to hide and play down our grief? David says that his lamenta tion “should be taught to the people.” Expressions of grief can be a learning experience for us, a chance for all of us to grow as David and the people of Israel did when they unashamedly grieved over their tragic loss. 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. Newswanger Editor Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming