AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 9, 2000
iSSMIsi
OPINION
Pigs Are Not People
According to Pigs Pen, the November newsletter of the
Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council (PPPC), a 300-pound
pig was boarded into the cabin of a Boeing 757 and flown
nonstop with 200 other passengers on a six-hour flight across
the country. The pig’s owner convinced the airline that the
animal was a therapeutic companion pet, like a guide dog for
the blind. Maybe a seeing eye pig, though we have never been
cognitive of such an animal before.
The chagrined airline spokesman confirmed that the pig
traveled, and officials said it would not happen again. An in
ternal incident report said owners claimed they had a doctor’s
note that required them to fly with the animal. The report
said the pig was described as a 13-pound pig and based on
this info, authorization was given.
Baggage charges were waived and the pig was seated on
the floor in the first row of first class. Reports vary on the ani
mal’s behavior during the flight. One report said the pig slept
most of the time and it wasn’t until the aircraft taxied into the
ground terminal that the porker acted up “madly run loose
through the aircraft and tried to enter the cockpit.”
It finally found refuge in the food galley, where it refused to
budge. Someone then lured the pig from the galley with food,
where the owners managed to drag it out of the aircraft and
into the jetway. There it left a mess of you-know-what.
It is left to the Associated Press to report a few days later
that the pig flying in first class was a Vietnamese potbellied
pig, a breed somewhat known for its use as pets. And the
owners deny that the pig behaved badly saying their pig did
not run around the plane’s isles or anywhere, for that matter.
We would smile at this story and forget it, except it serves
as another great example of why pig farmers and the general
public often do not agree on what is right treatment of pigs on
the farm. This story again brings to the forefront the growing
idea that pigs are people and they should be treated as hu
mans, including giving them first-class seats on an airplane.
We believe pigs are most comfortable being pigs. The first
class cabin on a flight to anywhere is luxury accommodations
for well-heeled humans. For pigs, it’s torture.
Lackawanna DHIA Banquet,
Green Grove Grange, 7:45
sium, Las Vegas, Nev., thru
Pa. State Council of Farm Or
ganizations Meeting, PDA
iiuilding^lmT^
Introduction to Spreadsheets,
Cumberland County exten
sion office, thru Dec. 13.
Solanco Young Farmer meeting,
Dairy Herd Management, So
lanco High School, 7 p.m.
Basic Dairy Farm Management
Workshop, Lancaster Farm
and Home Center, 10a .m.-
"2:30 p.m., also Dec. 15, same
times. Second Workshop Feb.
14 and 21, Farm and Home
Center, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Franklin County DHIA Ban
quet, Kauffman Community
2002 Crop Planning Workshop
and Pesticide Update, Hugo’s,
Washington County, 9:30
a.m.-3:20 p.m. and 7 p.m.-9
p.m.
Pennsylvania Dairy Stakehold
er’s Conference, Holiday Inn,
* Farm Calendar *
Grantville, thru Dec. 14.
Annual Winter Seminar, Dela
ware Veterinary Medical As
sociation, 8 a.m.
Delmarva Greenhouse Growers
Meeting, Delaware Coopera
tive Extension, Georgetown,
Del.
2000 Seed Council Annual
Meeting, Comfort Inn/Sher
wood Knoll Restaurant, Lan-
caster, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Passing On the Farm Workshop,
Schuylkill County Coopera
tive Extension, Pottsville, 9:30
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Asso
ciation awards banquet, Holi
_day Inn, Grantville, 6:15 p.m.
Meeting, Lemon Drop
Ag
School, Holiday Inn, Grant
ville.
Adams County Holstein Club
and DHIA Annual Meeting,
Harney Fire Hall, Harney,
Md.
Indiana County DHIA Banquet,
Hoss’s, 11 a.m.
SusquehaimaDHlTimeting,
Drever Hall. Montrose, noon.
(Turn to Pag* A4O)
To Test
Homegrown Feed
This past growing year has
been a welcome change from
last year’s drought.
The bams are full of feed.
This should bring a welcome
reduction in feed bills.
Do not let it become a re
duction in milk production as
well, reminds Jeff Stoltzfiis,
Eastern Lancaster County
School District adult farmer
adviser.
There has been a lot of re
search and discussion on the
feed quality and digestibility
of various com hybrids. In ad
dition, hay quality varies tre
mendously on the farm this
year.
Molds and mycotoxins are
also something you need to be
on the lookout for in wrapped
hay bales this year. Condi
tions were rarely ideal when
WHATSORT
OF GREETING?
Background Scripture:
Luke 1:26-38.
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 1:18-25.
“Hail, O favored one, the Lord
is with you!”
This was the angel Gabriel’s
proclamation to Mary in Naza
reth.
Note that she was cautious
and questioning as she should
have been. Luke tells us that “she
was greatly troubled at the say
ing, and considered in her mind
what sort of greeting this might
be” (1:28,28). Mary must have
wondered just how she was “fa
vored” and how and why “the
Lord is with you.”
About 40 years ago, in Nuern
burg, Germany, I was staying in
the guest room of the home of a
German lawyer and his wife.
Deeply troubled about a family
member, I fell into a deep sleep.
Some time later I was “awaken
ed” and became aware that there
was someone standing at the foot
of my bed. Although I could not
see the face in the darkness, I
“knew” it was Jesus Christ. Sud
denly, the bed began to vibrate
and a voice said, “Do not be
afraid; I am with you.”
Common sense tells me that
this was a dream and I was not
really “awake,” but my memory
tells me just the opposite. Yet in
the Bible God spoke with indi
viduals through dreams and the
Hebrews* often mad*e‘rio distinc-*
tion between dreams and “night
hay was made this year. If
cows drop production quickly,
change your hay source and
have your bales tested for my
cotoxins.
Farmers need to test their
forages often this year. Find
and use a good nutritionist.
Do not let a bumper crop of
homegrown feed turn into a
homegrown problem.
To Understand Erosion
Many factors are associated
with the amount of soil ero
sion a storm causes, reports
Robert Anderson, Lancaster
County extension agronomy
agent.
First, the impact of the fall
ing rain on the soil surface
will dislodge soil particles and
move them in a downhill di
rection caused by the splash
effect. Second, once the soil
particle is dislodged from the
soil surface by the falling rain
drop, any water flowing
across the surface will carry
the particle with it.
In addition, if the water is
flowing fast enough it will
also dislodge soil particles and
move them downslope. The
longer and steeper the hill, the
faster the water will move and
the more soil the water will
take with it.
To Control
Soil Erosion
The control of soil erosion
involves many factors, accord
ing to Robert Anderson, Lan
caster County extension
agronomy agent.
The first thing that may be
done to help reduce erosion is
to lessen the impact of the
falling raindrop. Many things
visions.” Like Mary, I, too, want
ed to know just “what sort of
greeting this might be.”
It dawned upon me that I was
promised, not that the cause of
my anxiety would go away, but
that I was not to fear because
God would be with me. I will
never know just what happened
that night, but I received a mes
sage I very much needed.
No Guarantee
Neither did Gabriel guarantee
her a peaceful, uneventful life as
the mother of the “Son of the
Most High.” He says, “Hail, O
favored one, the Lord is with
you” (Lk. 1:28). Mary was “fa
vored” by God and is promised
that he “is with you.” She was to
find that receiving the favor of
God does not necessarily guar
antee a life of everything coming
up roses. What is guaranteed is
the presence of God in the midst
of life’s anxious moments.
Gabriel was not put off be
cause Mary was troubled and
cautious. Instead, he proclaimed:
“And behold, you will conceive
in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall call his name
Jesus...” (1:31). Mary rightly
was confused by this pronounce
ment: “How can this be, since I
have no husband?”
His reply must have been just
as mystifying: “The Holy Spirit
will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will
overshadow you; therefore, the
child to be born will be called
holy, the Son of God” (1:35).
You and I probably have a
better understanding of Ga
briel’s message than Mary, for
we have heard the Christmas
story for as long as we can re
member. We know that Gabriel
was announcing a unique
divine/human encounter that
would change the world. We
also know, as Mary does not,
fhat th 6 Stbfy' continues Brt to a
cross on Golgotha and a tomb
will help reduce the impact of
the raindrop. Plants that are
growing have foliage that will
intercept the rain droplet and
remove much of the energy it
has accumulated falling from
the sky. The closer the foliage
is to the ground, the less im
pact energy the water will
have when it falls off the foli
age.
Another way to reduce the
energy of the falling drop is to
have some type of plant resi
due on the soil surface. In ad
dition, plants that have a lot
of roots near the surface will
help hold the soil particles in
place and make it harder for
the raindrop to dislodge it.
Once the impact of the falling
raindrop is reduced, the effect
of flowing water will need to
be kept under control.
The USDA Natural Re
sources and Conservation
Service has been using many
practices to accomplish this,
including terraces or diver
sions which shorten the length
of the slope that the water is
running down and waterways
which keep a plant material
barrier between the water and
the soil. In addition, contour
planting, no-till or reduced till
planting, and contour strips
have done a lot to reduce ero
sion caused by flowing water.
Often the most critical time
for erosion is the winter
months when crop cover is at
its minimum. Cover crops
and residue management are
two economical ways to pro
tect soil from erosion during
winter months.
Feather Profs FootnotH
“The single defining quality
of leaders is the capacity to
create and realize a vision. ”
from which God would raise up
his Son in victory. All Mary,
knew was the promise: “the Lorfb
is with you.” £
Nothing Impossible
Gabriel tells Mary of the mi
raculous experience of her “bar
ren” kinswoman Elizabeth, who
so late in life conceived a son.
Gabriel’s words drive home
the assurance of the Lord’s mes
sage to her: “For with God noth
ing will be impossible” (1:37).
God can break through all the
human and natural limitations.
It doesn’t matter whether you
call it a “miracle” or a phenome
non that we do not understand.
God’s purpose will be fulfilled.
So, not because she fully un
derstands just what Gabriel is
telling her, nor because she
knows just how it will all come to
be, but because she trusts God
she is willing to commit herself:
“Behold, I am the handmaid of
the Lord; let it be to me accord
ing to your word” (1:38). (“I am
the Lord’s servant; as you have
spoken, so be it” New English
Bible).
Perhaps today our response to
Gabriel would be: “Put that in
writing and I’ll have my lawyers
look it over.” But cautious and
questioning as she was, Mary put
herself in God’s hands. And so
can we: so be it!
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Slemman Enterprise
William J Burgess General Manager
Everett R. Newswanger Editor
Copyright 2000 by Lancaster Farming