ilO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 27,2001
A'
OPINION
A Valid Vote?
Penn State Lancaster County, through the work of agent Chet
Hughes, recently released commentary on the pork referendum con
ducted in the fall last year.
Recently Lancaster Farming reported that the referendum re
sulted in a rejection of the pork checkoff.
It’s interesting that, according to Hughes, some producer groups
disagree with the action and have filed for legal action against the
USDA. On Jan. 12 this year, the National Pork Producers Council,
Michigan Pork Producers Association, and some independent pro
ducers filed for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary in
junction, preserving the status quo and enjoining the termination of
the pork checkoff program until a “full and fair hearing has oc
curred.”
NPPC President Craig Jaroiimek claims that only one in seven
pork producers actually voted against the program and “the majori
ty of pork producers have not been heard from.”
In Pennsylvania, 286 votes were cast for termination of the check
off and 191 voted for continuance. Lancaster County, a prominent
pork production region, voted 35 for termination, 24 to continue. A
balanced vote for the county. Nevertheless, Hughes is careful to note
it was obvious that voter turnout was “sparse.”
Plenty of publicity about the referendum was published here and
in other newspapers. Yet still the voter turnout was sparse.
By the way: the injunction contends that USDA has acted unlaw
fully in holding a binding referendum despite having no legal au
thority to do so, Hughes noted. It further claims the referendum was
conducted in a manner filled with irregularities, which failed to
apply consistent standards, or to count all lawfully cast ballots.
Hughes notes: “does this all sound familiar?”
If the checkoff is canceled, producers can be affected in ways un
known. What happens now?
And for those producers who missed the vote if the educational
and research programs are affected in detrimental ways, don’t you
wish you had more say?
Fifth Annual Forest Landowner
Conference, Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College, Erie,
8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Bradford County Holstein Asso
ciation annual meeting, Bo
nanza Restaurant, Wysox,
11:30 a.m.
Northeast Organic Farming As
sociation of New Jersey
Annual Winter Conference,
Cook College Campus
Center, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, N.J., 8 a.m.-
5 p.m.
Beef Educational Evening,
Bernville Grange.
Adams County Corn Clinic,
York Springs Fire Hall, 8:30
NRAES Conference, Milking
Systems and Parlors, Radis
son, Camp Hill, also Jan. 31
and Feb. 1.
Solanco Young Farmer meeting,
Farm Business Management,
Solanco High School, 7 p.m.
Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegeta
ble Convention, Hershey
Lodge and Convention
Center, thru Feb. 1.
Cattle Feeders Day, Farm and
Home Center, Lancaster, 9:30
a.m.-3:15 p.m.
Capitol Region Soybean Man
agement School, Lebanon
Valley Ag Center, 9 a.m.-4
p.m.
Wine Grape Day at Mid-
Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable
Convention, Hershey Lodge
and Convention Center, 9
a.m.-4 p.m.
Quality Hay Marketing, Holiday
* Farm Calendar *
Inn, Phillipsburg, N.J., 9 a.m.-
4 p.m.
Berks County Crops Day, Berks
County Ag Center, Leesport,
9 a.m.
Mount Joy Farmers’ Coopera
tive annual meeting, Yoder’s
Restaurant, New Holland,
11:30 a.m.
Ephrata Area Young Farmer
luncheon meeting, Ephrata
High School, 11:45 a.m.-l
p.m.
Well-Plugging Program, Lion’s
Den, Sheffield, 7 p.m.
Perry County Extension annual
meeting, Messiah Lutheran
Church. Elliotsburg, 7 p.m.
Mount Joy Farmers’ Coopera
tive annual meeting, East
Fairview Church of the Breth-
ren, Manheim.
2001 Southwest Beef Manage
ment Workshop, Session 1,
Cedarbrook Golf Course,
Belle Vernon.
Symposium On Profitability,
Holiday Inn, Grantville.
Bucks-Montgomery Crops Day,
Family Heritage Restaurant,
Franconia.
Tioga County Dairy Day, Whit
neyville Fairgrounds, 9 a.m.-3
p.m.
Lancaster Chamber of Com
merce and Industry’s 2001
Farm Business Management
School, Leola Family Restau
rant, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Individual Farmer Nutrient
Management Certification
Training Workshops,
Vicksburg Community
Center, Vicksburg, also Feb.
7-8.
Fulton and Lebanon Valley
Farmers’ Bank Luncheon
Seminar, Lebanon Valley
(Turn to Page A3l)
To Look At
10 Keys Of
Profitable Dairying
According to Bradley Hilty,
Penn State Dairy Alliance senior
associate, by focusing on 10 key
management practices, dairy
producers can build a profitable
business and insure they will sur
vive the tough times and prosper
when times are good.
These 10 keys are:
1. Develop a strategic business
plan. Developing a plan forces
the farmer to look into the future
and visualize where they would
like to be in five to 10 years.
2. Control the controllables:
production, efficiency, and mar
keting. Develop a good market
ing strategy using the risk man
agement tools available.
3. Maximize forage quality
and feed a balanced ration.
DON’T BE STUPID!
Background Scripture:
Luke 16.
Devotional Reading:
Luke 12:15-21.
Ten years ago, Valere and I
were victims of pickpockets in
Lisbon, Portugal. Riding a street
car, we were packed tightly with
a number of passengers. When
we returned to our hotel, we
found that they had taken my
cash and Valere’s wallet in her
purse. At first we couldn’t believe
it.
Whoever stole Valere’s wallet
had managed what seemed an
impossible feat: they had gotten
up under her cape, somehow
under or through her jacket, and
into her purse that was closed
with a clasp. All the while we
were quite unaware. We couldn’t
help feeling that such bad people
could be so good at the bad they
were doing.
When we look at Luke
16:1-13, we find this a different
kind of parable than most. While
the parable of the Good Samari
tan is a story of a good example,
that of the Dishonest Steward is
not. The “rich man” in the para
ble is not God or Christ and the
follower of Jesus is not intended
to behave as the Dishonest Stew
ard did.
Sons Of Light
So this is not a parable of ex
ample but of analogy. They key
is in 16:8b: “for the sons of this
world are wiser in their own
generation than the sons of
light.”
The “sons if the world” are the
4. Insure cow comfort.
5. Information management:
know your cost of production.
Compare production costs and
figures for other key indicators to
those of the top 10 percent of
profitable dairies.
6. Implement a management
team. The team can help develop
strategies that will help improve
the profitability of the farm.
7. Make wise investments.
Analyze every investment to de
termine the return it will
generate. What is the payback
period? Large investments
should have a payback period of
7 to 8 years.
8. Do enterprise analysis.
9. Emphasize your strengths.
10. Manage your expenses. A
good benchmark is to manage
expenses (less interest and depre
ciation) to 65 percent of income.
To Control
Phosphorus Levels
Glenn Shirk, Lancaster Coun
ty extension dairy agent, reports
feeding phosphorus (P) at exces
sive levels increases feed costs
and contributes to excess buildup
of Pin the soil.
Farmers need to address this
situation by following the new
National Research Council
(NRC) guidelines for dietary P.
Many dairy farmers feed cows
more P than needed. For high
producing cows in early lacta
tion, the new NRC recommenda
tion for P is 0.38 percent com
pared to 0.48 percent in 1989.
Cows fed the lower rate for three
years showed normal bone
strength and P levels.
Lowering the dietary level of P
reduced P excretion and feed
worldly people who are dedi
cated to material rather than
spiritual values. The “sons of
light” are those who are not of
the world, but for a time live in
it. Ail too often they are inept in
living in the here and now, while
the “sons of the world,” like our
pickpockets, are often very good
at what they do. Frequently they
are more dedicated to their igno
ble ends than are the “sons of
light” to their spiritual ends.
All of Luke 16 is about the
right use of material wealth. Just
because we have a spiritual des
tiny doesn’t mean that the fol
lowers of Jesus can be indiffer
ent or negligent in the way that
they use material wealth. Al
though this world is not our final
destination, there is nothing that
says we have to be stupid in the
way we live while we are here.
Even when Jesus says, “And I
tell you, make friends for your
selves by means of unrighteous
mammon, so that when it fails
they may receive you into the
eternal habitations,” (16:9), he
not telling us to use our material
possessions to buy friends in the
material world, but to better
qualify ourselves for the life “in
the eternal habitations.”
Lovers Of Money
The follower of Jesus must
not love money itself, but he or
she should not fail to use it for
good purposes. “The Pharisees,
who were lovers of money, heard
all this,” Luke tells us. That is
the problem: loving money and
material wealth to the point that
it rules us rather than the other
way around.
“No servant can serve two
masters; for either he will hate
the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and
despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon”
(16:13). In these words Jesus
once again throws down the
challenge of radical discipleship:
serve him and him alone!
The Parable of the Rich Man
costs without adversely affecting
milk production or reproduction.
In the past, the level and avail
ability of P in feedstuffs was not
well defined.
Recent research indicates that
P in many feedstuffs is much
more available than originally
thought. On many farms and for
many cows, the forage portion of
the ration may supply all the P
cows need.
Consult your nutritionist for
advice on fine-tuning the P levels
of your rations.
To Look At
Dry Matter Intake
Good dry matter intake is the
key to good milk production,
according to Glenn Shirk, Lan
caster County extension dairy
agent.
If cows do not consume it,
they cannot convert it to milk. It
is that simple. Dry matter intake
may be affected greatly by mois
ture content of feeds, especially
high moisture feeds.
For example, if cows are being
fed 40 pounds of silage at 60 per
cent moisture (40 percent dry
matter), they are consuming 16
pounds of dry matter (40 pounds
times 0.4 equals 16). If the mois
ture jumps to 70 percent (30 per
cent dry matter) and feeding
rates are not adjusted, dry matter
intake drops to 12 pounds. At 2.5
pounds of milk per pound of dry
matter intake, this decrease in
dry matter intake will cause a
10-pound drop in milk produc
tion (4 times 2.5).
Feather Props Footnote:
“Progress is not where we
stand, but in what direction we
are moving. ”
and Lazarus (16:19-31) is anoth
er demonstration, this time by
bad example. The Rich Man was
apparently good at amassing and
keeping his wealth. The princi
ples by which he lived assured
him of a high old time here on
earth. Lazarus, by contrast, was
one of the “children of light.”
Actually, Lazarus presented the
Rich Man with an opportunity to
use his wealth for long-run secu
rity. But he passed up his
chance. In the long run, he paid
a terrible price for his worldly
stewardship.
In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s
Progress, we find this demon
strated in three characters.
Woridly-Wiseman is a “son of
darkness,” a man who, like the
dishonest steward, skillfully
feathered his earthly nest. He
planned for the future, but it was
the wrong future, a future out
side the Celestial City. Igno
rance, on the other hand, was a
Christian, but he had no zeal, no
zest for life, no involvement in
this world. Detached from the
world, he was amazed to find the
gates of the Celestial City closed
against him. Christian, however,
sought God with the same dedi
cation and energy with which
others seek wealth and success,
and the gates of the Celestial
City were opened to him.
Where is it written that the
followers of Jesus Christ have to
be inept at living in this world,
leaving it by default to the “sons
of darkness?”
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