AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 16, 2001
OPINION
Going Global
For one moment, if you think that the biggest ag issues are the spotlight of
debates exclusively in the western world (places such as U.S. or as far away as
the United Kingdom), think again.
If you enjoy Internet surfing, check out the National Agricultural Library
(www.nal.usda.gov/) and click on the left bar under “Ag Events Calendar” (or
go directly to the calendar by typing in www.agnic.org/mtg/2001.html).
It’s almost hard to believe how many different types of symposia and con
ferences are scheduled for a given month on a planetwide basis. And the
major issues in agriculture truly are global.
Along with the customary producer events (the Fifth International Peach
Symposium scheduled July 9-11 in Davis, Calif.), you also have the 12th In
ternational Congress on Photosynthesis, Aug. 18-23 in Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia.
Along with the Sixth International Congress on Plant Mitochondria Aug.
23-26 in Brisbane, you have the Physical Methods in Agriculture event Aug.
27-30 in Prague, Czech Republic.
There are standard items you’d expect to see. Such as the Central Veteri
nary Conference Aug. 25-28 in Kansas City, Mo. And the Biocycle Southeast
Conference, Composting and Organics Recycling The Soil and Water Con
nections, Aug. 27-29 in Atlanta, Ga.
There are 33 international items scheduled for August alone. It boggles the
mind!
No area of speculation about ag’s future is left undiscovered at these events.
Just last week was the Fourth International Workshop On Artificial Intelli
gence In Agriculture, June 6-8 in Budapest, Hungary. The applications of ar
tificial intelligence in agriculture, the conference focus, showcases the use of
“emerging technologies,” according to the write-up: “neural network, genetic
algorithms, fuzzy control, constraint satisfaction, and case-based reasoning.”
The workshop was conducted in the Hotel Eben at Budapest and on the
campus of the Szent Istvan University. The conference language was in Eng
lish, of course.
We at Lancaster Farming strive to keep our readers as up to date as possi
ble about farm events, conferences, and symposia. I suppose we have to be se
lective.
We just wonder: how many of our readers would like to know about neural
networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy control, constraint satisfaction, and case
based reasoning? I’m sure in some ways, large or small, they impact agricul
ture in any number of ways.
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
source Development Center,
Caldwell, Ohio, (740) 732-
2682 or (740) 432-9300.
Sheep Nutrition and Parasite
Control Talk, Sullivan
County, N.Y. Cooperative
Extension, Liberty, N.Y.,
(607)844-8367.
Sullivan County Dairy Princess
Pageant, Dushore, 7 p.m.
Crawford County Dairy Prin-
Editor;
As a dairy princess, I look forward
to June. This festive month marks
the beginning and ending of dairy
princesses reigns (as well as my own).
It also is Dairy Month.
If you are not familiar with the
dairy industry, you might be wonder
ing what the big deal is.
June is the month when the dairy
industry begins the summer season
by promoting their wholesome prod
ucts, not to mention saluting the
10,000 dairy farmers throughout
Pennsylvania for all of their hard
work and dedication to produce na
ture’s most perfect food, milk.
Because we live in a fast-paced so
ciety, we take for granted the small
things in life. For instance, can you
imagine a world of cereal without
milk, sundaes without ice cream, or
biscuits without butter? If you can’t,
make sure you thank the dairy farm
er.
Believe it or not, milk and dairy
cess Pageant, Twelve Apostles
Lutheran Church, Saeger
town, 8 p.m.
Third Annual Pennsylvania
Herb Festival, York Expo
Center, York, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Rodale Institute On Marketing
To Demand: Meeting The
Needs of Today’s Increasing
Aware Consumer, Kutztown,
16101683-8548.
lappy
(Turn to Page A 42)
❖ Farm Forum ❖
products just don’t appear at the gro
cery store for you to buy. Dairy farm
ers are dedicated to providing you
with safe, high-quality milk and
dairy products.
Their commitment to quality goes
beyond caring for their animals and
the land. This way of life has bem
passed down from generation to
generation. Farming is in their blood.
It’s a tradition that farmers want to
pass on to their children and grand
children.
I am honored to represent an in
dustry that works year-round to
make sure you have the most whole
some, high-quality dairy products
available. 1 am also very proud to say
that my family is one of the 60,000
farm families across that state to be
able to carry on the legacy my great
grandfather began in 1941.
Help support all dairy farmers by
consuming more dairy products.
Melinda Wolfe
Pennsylvania Dairy Princess
To Use The
Pre-Sidedress
Soil Nitrate Test (PSNT)
Providing the correct amount of
nitrogen for corn production is very
important. Applying too much nitro
gen wastes money and can contribute
to ground and surface water contam
ination.
If the available nitrogen is less
than needed by the crop, however,
yields will suffer. If the fields in ques
tion have a history of manure use,
the PSNT is an important tool to de
termine which fields should be side
dressed with nitrogen and which
have enough residual nitrogen.
With the high cost of nitrogen fer
tilizer this year and the low price of
corn, it is especially important to de
termine how much nitrogen is
needed by each field.
The PSNT was developed to help
answer this question. Research has
shown if the soil nitrate-N level is
above 21 ppm, there is little chance
of an economic response to adding
t*S
LIMPING
THROUGH LIFE
Background Scripture:
1 Kings 18.
Devotional Reading:
Joshua 24:14-18.
The story of the great contest be
tween Elijah and the prophets of
Baal on Mount Carmel has both four
important lessons for us and two
thorny issues.
I’ll begin with the first important
lesson: God sends prophets to disturb
us. When King Ahab sees the proph
et Elijah approaching him, he calls
out: “Is it you, you troubler of Isra
el?” (v. 17). As far as the king is con
cerned, Elijah is a troublemaker. In
the Old Testament there is an un
written theme: if you are enjoying
what the prophet is saying, you ei
ther don’t understand him or he is
not a prophet. There are prophetic
voices in our own time, I believe, but
these prophets are not, cannot be
popular.
The second important lesson is
that the trouble is not with the
prophet, but with those who hear the
prophet. Elijah replies to Ahab; “I
have not troubled Israel, but you
have, and you father’s house, because
you have forsaken the command-
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additional N to the field. At soil ni
trate-N levels below 21 ppm, side
dress nitrogen will be needed to ob
tain optimum yield. This test has
most value on fields with a signifi
cant contribution from organic N
sources, such as a history of manure
application or use of a forage legume
in the crop rotation.
This test is not useful on fields
where the primary nitrogen source is
from fertilizer.
The soil sample should be taken
when the com is 12 inches tall or at
least a week before planned sidedres
sing. Walk the field in a random pat
tern and take 10-20 cores to a
12-inch depth, if possible. If a
12-inch depth is not possible, then
take the samples as deeply as you
can. Avoid starter bands and other
atypical areas. Because of sampling
problems this test cannot be used on
fields that received injected fertilizer
or manure.
It is important to dry the sample
as quickly as possible. Crush the
cores and combine them into one
sample per field. Spread and dry the
samples in the sun or under a heat
lamp in a well-ventilated area. Send
the samples to a reputable lab for soil
nitrate-N analysis, or use a field test
kit for soil nitrate-N to determine the
nitrate-N level in the sample.
If the level is 21 ppm or higher, no
sidedress N is needed. If the level is
less than 21 ppm, use the worksheet
in the Agronomy Facts 17 publica
tion entitled “Pre-sidedress Soil Ni
trate Test for Com” to determine the
nitrogen rate needed. This publica
tion is available from your county ex
tension office and also on the Intern
et at http://www.agronomy.psu.edu/
Extension/Facts/agfactl7.pdf. The
worksheet can also be found in the
agronomy guide.
To Learn More
About Composting
Composting does provide possibili
ties for moving surplus manure off
ments of the Lord and followed the
Baals” (v. 18).
The comic-strip character Pogo
put it well: “We have met the enemy
and they are us!” God’s prophet is
not the enemy. We are our own
enemy and prophetic voices are sent
so that we can stop causing ourselves
trouble.
A Little Baal,
A Little Yahweh
The third important teaching is
actually the crux of this whole chap
ter: in your life you cannot mix a
little worship of Baal with a little
worship of God and still leave room
for God.
Elijah’s trouble with Ahab is that
the king seems to think that he can
accommodate both Baal and Yahweh
in his kingdom. “Let’s be tolerant,
here!” is probably his theme.
“There’s room for both.”
We know Ahab is wrong, yet we
often fail to apply that understand
ing to our own society. Our problem
is not with the worship of Baal, nor
even Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism,
whatever. The religion that is most
dangerous to Christianity today is
the secular religion of materialism/
consumerism that we try to embrace
with one hand while embracing
Christianity on the other. We honor
God but worship things.
Note that I have purposely used
the visual analogy of “embracing
with one hand” a virtual impossi
bility! You need two hands and two
arms to embrace anything and that is
what Elijah is saying: you cannot em
brace both Baal and Yahweh.
Elijah uses another analogy:
“limping through life.” When the
priests of Baal performed their ritu
als, they danced around the altar,
bending, leaping, and contorting
their bodies. Sarcastically, Elijah
calls it “limping” and he says that is
the farm to other users. It does take
significant effort, however, to pro
duce compost. Before venturing into
this alternative, it is important to be
come knowledgeable about the pro
cess.
The Department of Environmental
Protection in partnership with the
Pennsylvania Compost Association,
the Pennsylvania Association of Sus
tainable Agriculture, and the Profes
sional Recyclers of Pennsylvania
will conduct a free composting con
ference June 28. The event, entitled
“Growing Your Business: Compost
ing Strategies for Expanding Mar
kets,” will be at the Holiday Inn in
Grantville from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Acting DEP Secretary David E.
Hess will be among the featured
speakers as well as nationally known
recycling and composting expert
Nora Goldstein. Bob Rynk of the
U.S. Compost Council will also ad
dress the conference. The conference
will include presentations from the
Pennsylvania Department of Trans
portation and DEP’s Bureau of Min
ing, recycling initiatives, and private
industry perspectives on recycling or
ganic wastes. A panel discussion will
help business owners leam about new
markets for compost and how to
make their compost more compet
itive.
Although there is no charge to at
tend, preregistration is required. To
register visit DGP’s website at http;//
www.dep.state.pa.us/ and type in
“composting conference” at the di
rectLlNK box. For more informa
tion, contact Pamela Rosser at
(215)-772-0118.
Quote of the Week:
“Some of the Presidents were
great, and some of them weren't. I
can say that, because I wasn't one
of the great Presidents, but I had a
good time trying to be one, I can
tell you that. ”
Harry S. Truman
33rd President of the
United States
exactly what the people of Israel are
doing when they offer one foot to
Yahweh and another to Baal.
If The Lord Is God
So the fourth important lesson is
his challenge to them and to us:
“How long will you go limping with
two different opinions? If the Lord is
God, follow him; but if Baal, then
follow him” (v. 21).
Don’t keep sitting on a fence.
Make a choice and stick with it. As
Ralph Washington Sockman once
put it: “A mind may entertain a host
of different intellectual opinions and
scientific theories, but religion involv
es commitment.”
That brings me to the first of the
thorny issues v When the priests of
Baal have obviously failed to induce
their god to set fire to the offering on
their altar, Elijah prays that Yahweh
would do exactly that on the altar he
had built: “Then the fire of the Lord
fell, and consumed the burnt offer
ing ...” (v. 38).
Good for Elijah and good for the
Israelites who witnessed this, but
what about us? Are we to prove the
superiority of our God with similar
contests? Shall we invite people to
follow Jesus Christ only if we can
replicate Elijah’s spectacular? Is that
the only way or even the best way to
prove the God revealed in Jesus
Christ? Or is it in the lives that we
live?
And, in our certainty that the way
of Christ is the highest revelation of
God, shall we respond as Elijah did
on Carmel and slaughter the advo
cates of other religions?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 G. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
William J Burgess General Manager
Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2001 by Lancaster Farming