AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 19,2001
OPINION
Another Potential Drought?
In the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Update
newsletter of March 30 this year, several Penn State College of Ag
Sciences water specialists point to the 1999 drought.
One big conclusion: the 1999 drought “caused major agricultural
losses throughout the state,” they wrote. “Crop losses statewide were
estimated at $1.3 billion, while economic loss from decreased milk
production was estimated at $1.5 billion.”
In that devastating, history-making year, stream flows reached re
cord low levels in nearly every corner. Groundwater levels reached re
cord lows. Mandatory water rationing began in many places. Dry
streams and aquatic habitat losses of the magnitude experienced in
1999 caused both immediate and long-term damage to fisheries and
aquatic resources.
David E. Hess, acting DEP secretary, noted in the excellent pam
phlet, “Water Is Life,” handed out at a recent groundwater symposi
um in Carlisle, that Pennsylvania has spent four of the last six years
in drought conditions, causing billions of dollars in agricultural losses.
Yet less than one half of one percent, Hess wrote in the booklet, of
the municipalities in Pennsylvania know their “water budget” how
much water they have available and how much they are using. Penn
sylvania’s State Water Plan has not been updated in 25 years.
Pennsylvania has a Water Rights Act that was adopted in 1939
that only covers a tiny percentage of water users, and lets everyone
else fend for themselves, noted Hess.
What of dire predictions that 2001 will be a repeat of the drought
year of 1999?
Paul Knight, state climatologist and meteorology instructor at
Penn State, spoke at the “Decisions: For the Real Beginning of the
21st Century” Conference in Allentown in January this year.
Knight noted a persistent cycle: 1990 was a wet year, 1991 dry;
1992 wet, 1993 dry; 1994 wet, 1995 dry; wet 1996, dry in 1997; wet in
1998, dry in 1999. Wet in 2000... get the picture?
What will 2001 bring?
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
Pa. Guild of CraftsmenSprmg
Craft Celebration, Richboro,
also May 20.
Keystone Klassic Llama Show,
Penn State Ag Arena, (724)
222-0828.
Basic Beekeeping Short Course,
Dauphin County Farm Con
ference Center and Apiary,
Hershey, noon-5 p.m.
Perry County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Lutheran Parish
House, New Bloomfield, 8
tMtMBim694^266L^^_ B
National
Ramada Inn and Conference
Center, Salisbury, Md., thru
May 24.
Lehigh Valley Horse Council
meeting and lecture, New
Tripoli, 7:30 p.m., (610) 759-
7985.
Horse Pasture Workshop, Lee
and Diane Simons, 7 p.m.
Log Grading Short Course, As
Arena, Penn State Campus,
(814)863-1113.
Water Resources Forum, Arena
Hotel. Bedford. 7 p.m.
12th Annual Divots For Degrees
Golf Tournament, Foxchase
Golf Club, Stevens, 7:30 a.m.
and 1 p.m., no rain date, (717)
651-5920.
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion meeting on foreign
animal diseases, NIER Build
ing, Mayfield, 1 p.m.-3 p.m.,
and West End Fire Hall,
Brodheadsville, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.,
(570)421-6430.
Westmoreland Woodland Im
provement Association Meet-
ing, Donohoe Center, 7 p.m.,
(724)668-7650.
Berks County Grazing Walk,
Shartlesville Road, Mohrs-
Pa. Veterinary Medical Associa
tion Spring Clinic, Penn State
Conference Center Hotel,
State College.
Public Forum on Water Re-
sources, Ramada Inn, Ed in-
boro.
Virginia Vineyard Meeting,
Linden Vineyards, 11 a.m.-l
Public Forum on w^t?lear^
field County Holiday Inn,
Dußois.
Devon Horse Show and Country
Fair, 8 a.m.-ll p.m., (610)
964-0550.
Tractor Safety Meeting, Susque
hanna County office building,
Susquehanna
ounty
Princess Pageant, St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church, Montrose,
7:30 p.m., (814) 694-260;.
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Craft Fair, Cummington,
Mass., (413) 625-2424.
Boer Goat Seminar and Sale,
Northeast Livestock Market
ing Cooperative, Blandford
Fairgrounds, Mass., (413)
774-7599.
York County Dairy Princess
Pageant, York County 4-H
Center, 7:30 p.m., (814) 694-
2661.
Clearfield County Dairy Prin
cess Pageant, Curwensville
Civic Center, Curwensville, 8
(Turn to Page A3B)
Recent dry weather spells po
tential trouble for weed control
in corn. Dry weather affects the
performance of both soil-applied
and postemergence herbicides.
All soil-applied herbicides re
quire rainfall to activate them for
effective weed control. In gener
al, rainfall is needed within 7-10
days after application or before
weed emergence.
The amount of rainfall needed
for good weed control is de
termined by the soil conditions,
the herbicide, and the type of
weed to be controlled. Usually x h
inch of rainfall is considered
minimum for effective weed con
trol. The less mobile products
such as Prowl, Atrazine, and
Scepter, and deeper germinating
weeds such as velvetleaf, rag
weed, cocklebur, and yellow nut
sedge, will require even more
rainfall for effective control.
If it has been more than 10
days since you applied your her
bicide and weeds are starting to
WHERE IS YOUR
‘MACEDONIA’?
Background Scripture:
Acts 16:6-40.
Devotional Reading:
r ater,
Phiiippians 1:3-11
As Acts tells it, there was no
grand strategy in the minds of
the earliest Christians. The
church in Jerusalem did not de
cide to mount a mission to the
rest of Judea, let alone to Asia
Minor and Europe.
The Jerusalem church began
as witnesses to the resurrection
of Jesus Christ gathered together
as a community of which Acts
tells us, “And day by day, at
tending the temple together and
breaking bread in their homes,
they partook of food with glad
and generous hearts, praising
God and having favor with all
the people.” (2:46,47).
It took persecution to move
the early Christians into mission!
On the day of the martyrdom of
Stephen, “a great persecution
arose against the church in Jeru
salem; and they were all scat
tered throughout the region of
Judea and Samaria...” (8:1b).
One of the Christian commu
nities that was founded by these
persecution-scattered brethren
airy
To Evaluate Corn
Weed Control
break through, there are several
options you should consider. The
first one is using a rotary hoe,
which is relatively quick and will
uproot germinating weeds in the
white root stage as well as incor
porate the herbicide.
Operate the rotary hoe within
the designed speed range of 5-15
mph. Higher speeds increase the
surface aggressiveness but reduce
penetration. Worn tips greatly
reduce performance, so they
should be replaced as needed.
Rotary hoes are very effective
but the crop needs to be planted
deeper than the germinating
weeds.
A second option is using a
postemergence herbicide if your
first treatment has failed. While
some “reachback” can be ex
pected on small annual weeds
when rain arrives, it is risky to
count on this for control.
If you decide to use a post-ap
plication, there are some factors
to consider. First, small annual
weeds are easier to control than
larger ones. Second, post herbi
cide performance is also affected
by dry weather, so study your ad
juvant options recommended
under dry conditions.
The third option is to plan on
getting out your cultivator or up
grading your cultivation equip
ment. In recent years, cultivation
technology has improved signifi
cantly. Everything from rolling
cultivators to electronic guidance
systems, which keep the tool cen
tered on the row, have greatly in
creased the efficiency of this an
cient task. Joining with another
producer to share equipment
costs may be a good option if ap
propriate sharing arrangements
can be worked out.
To Recycle Empty
Pesticide Containers
This year the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture will
again be collecting empty pesti-
was at Antioch, and it was from
here that Paul and Barnabas
began their missionary efforts
that established Christian con
gregations in parts of Asia
Minor.
God’s Next Move
Note that it is God, not the
disciples, who acts to extend the
reach of the gospel. God used the
persecution in Jerusalem to scat
ter Christians throughout Judea,
Samaria, and as far as Antioch.
He then used Paul, Barnabas,
and the Church at Antioch to
bring the gospel into Asia Minor.
He used the opposition of certain
Jews to get Paul and Barnabas
started on a mission to the Gen
tiles. What next would God do?
Next, God would use the hos
tility of Paul’s opponents in Asia
Minor and a dream in which
Paul would see and hear a Mace
donia calling: “Come over to Ma
cednoia and help us” (16:9). Re
membering our terminology of
several weeks ago, God used
Paul’s closed doors to open an
other door through which the
gospel could be carried from Asia
to Europe.
In this case, it would seem that
God was responsible for the
“closed doors” in Phyrgia, Gala
tia, and Mysia. He wanted Paul
to be receptive when he experi
enced this “night vision.” (This
term and “dream” were used in
terchangeably in New Testament
times and were regarded as
channels of God’s revelation.)
cide containers for recycling. The
program is available to all pesti
cide users. There are drop-off lo
cations available in most counties
and many counties have multiple
locations.
In order to drop off containers,
applicators must insure that the
containers are free of pesticides
both inside and outside. The con
tainers must be triple-rinsed or
pressure-rinsed.
All label booklets, plastic
sleeves, and caps should be re
moved. Only containers from
EPA registered agricultural,
structural, turf, forestry, and spe
cialty pest control products, as
well as containers from crop oils,
surfactants, and fertilizers will be
accepted. Only containers made
of #2HDPE plastic are accept
able.
After collection, the containers
are granulated into chips and re
cycled as a part of a program
sponsored by the Agricultural
Container Research Council. A
number of end uses for the re
cycled HOPE are being devel
oped, including fence posts,
pallets, speed bumps, marine pil
ings, and field drain tiles.
For more information and the
location of drop-off sites near
you, contact the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture at
(717)-705-5858, your local Penn
State Cooperative Extension of
fice, or the Penn State College of
Agricultural Sciences Website at
http://www.pested.psu.edu/
pdaprog.html.
After you have identified the
drop-off site nearest you, remem
ber to check with the site to veri
fy the schedule for receiving con
tainers.
Quote of the Week:
“/ do not pray for success.
I ask for faithfulness. ”
Mother Teresa
Luke’s ‘Philippi’?
Some scholars have contended
that Luke was from Philippi in
Macedonia.
When they reach Philippi,
Luke seems particularly proud of
this city which he styles “the
leading city of the district of Ma
cedonia.” (16:12).
It is interesting that immedi
ately after this vision of the Ma
cedonian call, the writer of Acts
slips into the pronoun “we.”
“And when he had seen the vi
sion, immediately we sought to
go to Macedonia, concluding that
God had called us to preach the
gospel to them” (16:10). It was at
this point in Troas that Luke
joined Paul.
The meaning of this passage,
however, is much more personal.
Each of us has a Macedonian
call of some kind to which we
need to respond. There is for
each of us a place or places in
our lives where we need to break
out and take a “continental”
next step.
You can find Paul’s “Macedo
nia” on the map. But the real
question is: Where is the Mace
donia to which God is calling
you?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Gphrata Review Building
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Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
William J Burgess General Manager
Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2001 by Lancaster Farming