AIQ-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 10,2001 OPINION The First Environmentalists Sometimes the general media considers farmers less than proactive. Food producers have been falsely criticized for so-called “hiding heads in the sand,” letting someone else confront the pressures put upon them by environmental groups, letting someone else distribute the message of the goodness of their products. But criticize no more! The Lebanon County Farm Bureau’s “Thank A Farmer” Cam paign seems like a great idea, one that was a long time coming. The campaign, which is described on our front page story this week, will reach radio listeners in the southeast and south central parts of the state. We at Lancaster Farming especially enjoy the statement made in one commercial: “Farmers have been called the ‘first environmental ists.’ THEY ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT ENVIRON MENTAL ISSUES IT IS HOW THEY MAKE THEIR LIV ING” (emphasis ours). Maybe other farming counties can take the first “proactive” steps to bring this message to the public before other groups present their own. Because that “other message” may not be as truthful or wel come. We welcome your ideas on this. Home flinburg High School. Northeast Forest Landowners Conference, Luzerne County Community College Confer ence Center, Nanticoke. Garden Wise, York Suburban High School, York, 8 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. Ohio Berry Growers’ School, Piketon Research and Exten sion Center, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Elk Auction, Majestic World Farms Auction, Blue Knob, phone (814) 643-2298. Livestock Awards Night, Dau phin County Agriculture and Natural Resources Center, 7 p.m. Grafting Wildlife Trees Work shop, Girard, and March 24, Findlay, N.Y., 1 p.m.-3:30 Dairy FeedmgEmployeemun ing For Managers, Lebanon County extension office, also March 19 and 26. Poultry Management and Health Seminar, Kreider’s Restaurant, Manheim, noon. Computer Workshops, Hun tingdon County extension office, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., thru March 13. Livestock Environmental Assur ance Program Training Ses sion, Ross County Service Center, Chillicothe, 9 a.m.- noon, and compost training, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Fruit School in Adams County, Muk^T^™^l^ihey iilker raining, »iers Brothers, Manheim. Solanco Young Farmers Meet ing, Alternative Livestock En terprises, Solanco High School, 7 p.m. Clinton County Dairy Day and DHIA awards, Restless Oaks, 10:30 a.m.-l p.m. Pork Quality Assurance Certifi cation, Lebanon County ex tension office, 1 p.m. Fumigation Update, Neshaminy Manor Center. Dairy Farm Employee Short Course, Agricultural Techni- cal Institute, Wooster, thru March 15. Christmas Tree Growers’ Meet- ing, Arena Restaurant, Bed- ford, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Soil Fertility Workshop, Penn State, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tractor Safety Course, Deer field Ag and Turf, Watson town, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., continues Tuesday evenings until April 24. Clarion Crops Day, Limestone Fire Hall, noon-3 p.m. North Central Vegetable Pro ducers Conference, Potter County extension office, Coudersport, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Midwest Poultry Convention, Touchstone Energy Place at River Centre, St. Paul, Minn., thru March 15. Dairy Feeding Systems Manage ment, Lebanon County exten sion office, also March 21. Conducted at Meadow Wood Farm, March 28. Somerset County Annual Meet ing, Berlin Community Build ing, Berlin, 7 p.m. Manure Management Work shop, Penn State, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Central Susquehanna Valley Turf and Ornamental Meet ing, Rooke Auditorium, Bucknell University, Lewis burg, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Berks County Conservation Dis trict meeting on Nutrient Management Act, Berks Ag Center, 9:30 a.m.-noon. North Central Agricultural Fi nancial Records Ratio and Benchmarks, Jefferson County extension office, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Mt. View Inn, Greensburg, 9 (Turn to Page A3B) To Respond To Deer Hunt Proposal The Pennsylvania Game Com mission seeks public comment on proposed changes to the state’s deer hunting regulations. “The goal of the proposed changes is to decrease the doe populations while increasing the percentage of mature bucks,” said Gary San Julian, professor of wildlife resources. The com mission will finalize their changes at their April 8 meeting. The deer population is as high as it ever has been, San Julian explained. “Each year 40,000 carcasses are picked up off the highways and probably that many more are hit and die in the woods and fields.” Deer-vehicle collisions cost lives and do tens of millions of dollars in damage. Deer are also responsible for about $75 million in damage to grain crops annually, according to San Julian. In addition, deer reduce the forests’ ability to re generate by eating young trees. The proposed changes include: • Starting the antlerless rifle season on the Saturday after CUT TO THE HEART! Background Scripture: Acts 2. Devotional Reading: John 3:5-8. About 30 years ago, Marcus Bach, who wrote more than a dozen books on spirituality, told me of an incident that occurred one day when he was serving as guest speaker in a standard brand-denomination church. For his text he had selected Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (KJV). He began to talk about his own spir itual breakthrough and experi ence of the Holy Spirit. “It startled the three hundred sedate church members out of their Sunday morning complacency,” he said, “and they looked up at me with astonished, unbelieving eyes.” After the service, the pastor of the church took him aside for what became a shouting match. The pastor accused him of of fending the sensibilities and in telligence of his congregation and Bach replied, “That’s the trouble with the church. Nobody wants to offend anybody. You preach what people want to hear. You never convict anybody of sin. You never challenge yourpeople with their need for Christ.” Eventually, they agreed to dis agree and the pastor ended with, “Come on, let’s go and eat.” (See Thanksgiving followed by a two week concurrent season for ant lered and antlerless deer, starting on Monday. • Changing the “private lands” tag so the hunters can apply for a second antlerless deer permit if available in a specific county. • Opening the muzzleloader “antlerless-only” season earlier (Oct. 18-20) and allowing hunt ers, disabled hunters, and active duty military personnel to use any sporting rifle to take does if they have the proper permits. Overall, the changes will in crease the doe season by 11 days. “We kill more than 80 percent of all the bucks in the population each hunting season,” San Julian explained. “The commission wants to see if starting the doe season on Sat urday will make the bucks more wary and not as easy a target. It is hoped that hunters who just want to put venison in the freezer will take advantage of the first day of doe season.” To comment on the deer hunt ing proposals, send written com ments to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, ATTN: Deer Sea son Comments, Bureau of In formation and Education, Harrisburg PA 17110-9797. To Evaluate The Dairy Fairness BID A pending dairy bill would provide a safety net for dairy farm families when market prices are low, according to a study by two dairy economists from Penn State’s College of Ag ricultural Sciences. The study also concludes that the bill pro vides greater support to small and medium-sized dairy farms. Kenneth Bailey, associate pro fessor of diary marketing and policy, and James Dunn, profes sor of agricultural economics, present these conclusions in Analysis of the Na tional Dairy Farmers Fairness Act of 2001” published last week. This legislation was proposed by Senators Rick Santomm of Marcus Bach, “The Inner Ecsta sy,” World Publishing Co., 1969). In one of my confirmation classes, a young man asked me why Pentecost happened “then” and not “now.” I’m not sure what I answered him, but I have come to realize that the Church can still experience Pentecost, al though not necessarily in the same way that the early disciples experienced it, nor even as some pentecostal churches experience it today. (I am not saying theirs is not a valid experience, only that the experience does not have to be the same for all Christians.) Conviction Of Sin I believe one reason that Pen tecost is not experienced by many Christians is that, as my friend Marcus put it, we “never convict anybody of sin.” Sin is not mentioned today. (I might mention your sins, but not mine!). In the weekly “religion” sec tion of the Dallas Morning News recently was an article by a pas tor who was writing about the apparent “fall from grace” of a certain public figure. I agree with all that she said, except that she used the word “indiscretion” for what the man had done. His act, I believe, was not that of commit ting an “indiscretion,” but a “sin.” He is no less forgivable for sinning than he would be for being indiscreet, but let’s call it by the right name. We weaken our sense of re sponsibility when we avoid the word. A mend once told me that she didn’t like the Christian pre occupation with “sin.” “We make mistakes,” she told me. “Our problem is usually not evil, but ignorance, and I don’t feel nearly so damned when I know that I have been ignorant instead of sinful.” But that is the problem: the initial need is not to feel unthreatened by what we have done or been, but to experi ence the pain of knowing that we have failed our Lord. Pennsylvania and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin to create a sliding scale of financial assistance for small and medium sized dairy operations. According to Bailey, the bill has two unique features. The size of the supplemental payment is tied to general market conditions and the bulk of the payments are targeted to small and medium sized dairy operations. This is beneficial to states such as Penn sylvania, which have many small family farms. The general payment rate of 50 cents per hundred pounds (CWT) is made when the annual average Class 111 price of milk is below $10.50 per hundredweight. The Class 111 price of milk aver aged about $9.74 per hundred weight in 2000. An additional payment of 30 cents per hun dredweight would be made under those conditions if the pro ducer did not expand production from the previous year. For a farm with 75 cows shipping 1.26 million pounds of milk annually, they would receive $6,290 if they expanded and $10,065 if they did not. The study shows the bill would provide lower levels of price pro tection when the markets are stronger. For example, if the Class 111 price rises to between $12.01 and $12.50 per hundred weight, the general payment rate would be 18 cents per hundred weight and the additional pay ment rate for not expanding is 14 cents per hundredweight. Under this scenario the example farm with 75 cows would receive $2,265 if they expanded and $4,026 if they aid not. The complete study is avail able on the World Wide Web at http://www.aers.psu.edu/ dairyoutlook/. Quote of the Week: “It gives me a deep, com forting sense that things seen are temporal and things unseen are eternal. ” Helen Keller (Helen was blind, deaf, and mute as a result of a childhood illness.) Then You Shall Receive In Acts 2, we are told, “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”’ (2:37,38). If the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not “cut to the heart” of you from time to time, you are not listening to the message! As the Psalmist puts it: “If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?” (Ps. 130:2). The answer is easy: none of us! We all need to be “cut to the heart”, not so that we can wallow in our sin, but that we can be freed of it, for the Psalmist as sures us, “But there is forgiv eness with thee...” As Peter told the throng at Pentecost, first seek the forgiv eness of your sins and then “you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Those who had been “cut to the heart” “received his word and were baptized...” The writer of Acts does not tell us how these new disciples expe rienced the power of the Holy Spirit, except that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teach ing and fellowship, to the break ing of bread and the prayers” (2:42). 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 Andy Andrews, Editor Copyright 2001 by Lancaster Farming
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers