AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 13,2001 OPINION A Way Out Lou Moore, well-known and respected Penn State economist, noted that the “best efforts” were under way to avoid a recession. As of Oct. 2, there were six interest rate cuts (an eight-year low), consumer prices were low (only up 2.7 percent), unemployment stood at 4.9 percent (good historically), oil prices were stabilized and falling, the consumers kept the economy afloat, and gross domestic product was up 0.2 percent. “We had actually avoided a recession until the events of Sept. 11,” Moore noted. “Now I believe a recession is a certainty.” With the interest rate cut of Oct. 2, “the rates are the lowest in 40 years,” Moore noted. “This will help spur the economy, but it will take a while. Probably not until next year will we see any growth.” With all the events since that horrifying date of 9-11, the chaotic nature of the stock market, layoffs and “ripple effect,” Moore noted, even ag is affected. For the ag economy, there has been too much grain production, keeping prices down. Though the general ag economy still seems “un moved” by the Sept. 11 event, Moore noted, exports still remain slug gish, government supports are in question, and overall “farm income suffering,” for some, continues. Is there are a way out for agriculture? Perhaps the headway being made in establishing a Mid-Atlantic ethanol facility, or groups of fa cilities, could spur better com prices. But for our increasing depend ence on ag exports this may be on hold until the war is resolved. And the resolution of this war is unclear, though it seems certain, un fortunately, more innocent lives will be lost. / / * Farm Calendar ❖ Leesport, larvest raft thru Oct. 14, air, Fall Antique Tractor Pull, Mason-Dixon Fairgrounds, Delta. Pumpkin Chunkin and Fall Fes tival, York Expo Center, Farm and Natural Land Trust, York County, (717) 843-4411. Beef and Forage Day, Eastern Ohio Resource Development Center, Caldwell, Ohio, (740) 732-2682. Pa. Planning Association Con ference, Genetti’s Best West ern Hotel. Wyoming County Sheep and Wool Producers Association Annual Meeting, United Methodist Church, 6:30 p.m. Ohio State Tree Farm Program Tour, La whom Tree Farm, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Angus Association Fall Moun tain Classic Sale, Previous Mill Trail Farms, show 10:30 a.m., sale 1 p.m., (304) 472- 6828. Hedgeapple Farm Field Day, Buckeystown, Md. Pa. Guild of Craftsmen’s Fall State Craft Fest, and eval and certified appraiser, Oct. 13- 14, Tyler State Park, Rich- boro, noon-4 p.m. Northwest Pa. Sheep and Wool Growers’ Meeting, Woodcock Township Building, Mead il(^miJ724)6&Wl4l. Gath ering, Ag Progress Days Spe cial Events Building, Rockspring, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Equine Infectious Disease Sym posium For Veterinarians and Horse Owners, Loudoun Hos pital Center, Leesburg, Va., Dairy Success (MEDS) Work shop, consecutive Mondays, mm ww +u -mm mwn w Altoona, (888) 373-PADA. Berks County Extension Open House and Annual Meeting, Berks County Ag Center, Leesport, 3:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., (610)378-1327. Omoßeef and Forage Day, Eastern Ohio Resources De- velopment Center, Caldwell, Ohio, (740) 732-2682. Dillsburg Community Fair, thru Oct. 20. Lancaster 4-H Recognition Night, Four Seasons, Landis ville, 6:30 p.m. World Food Day Teleconfer ence, aired from Penn State Lycoming County, Montours- ville, noon-3 p.m. Public Briefing From PMMB, Majority Caucus Room 156 CB, 10 a.m.-ll:30 a.m. Ephrata Area Young Farmers 9th Grade Mentoring Meet ing, Ephrata High School, 7:30 p.m.. (7171721-9274. PastureV7mKr<^^^^->ve^ anyon stock Company, Jim and Beth Weaver. ADA District Meeting, Cha teaugay American Legion, Chateaugay, N.Y., 7:30 p.m. Penn State Animal Science Pro spective Students Open house, thru Oct. 18, (814) 863- 4198. Team Building Workshop, Cambria County extension office. 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Pa. Community F‘ ' ■ Con- orestry ference, Atherton Hotel, State College, thru Oct. 19. Maryland State Grange Session, thru Oct. 20. York County Agricultural Land Preservation Board informa tion meeting, County Annex Building, York, 7 p.m., (717) 840-7400. (Turn to Page A4l) wm mw To Participate In The National Pesticide Initiative Survey A survey of corn and apple growers is being conducted in Pennsylvania in October and No vember by the Pennsylvania Agri cultural Statistics Service, in coop eration with Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The 2001 Fruit Chemical Use Survey and 2001 Agricultural Resources Man agement Study will survey pesti cide use and pest management tac tics. According to Bill Hoffman, sen ior extension associate in Penn State’s Pest Management Informa tion Center, “It’s important that growers cooperate because this in formation could help protect the tools-the state’s growers depend on.” Approximately 200 apple grow ers and 200 com growers will re ceive letters telling them they have been selected for the survey. Sur vey personnel will call to set up a time to visit the farm or residence to conduct the interview. “Typically, the interview lasts an hour,” Hoffman said. “Producers THE LIMITS OF NEIGHBORLINESS Background Scripture: Luke 10:25-37. Devotional Reading: Deuteronomy 15:7-11. “And behold, a lawyer stood up to question him...” It is significant that this question was posed by someone who ap proached “eternal life” from a le galistic standpoint. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” It is a straightforward question, and Jesus gives him a straightforward question in return: “What is writ ten in the law? How do you read?” The lawyer’s answer should have been understood even by nonlegal minds: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus answered: “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” That could have been the end of it, but it wasn’t. “But he, desiring to justify him self, said to Jesus ‘And who is my neighbor?’” Jesus could have re plied, “What part of ‘neighbor’ don’t you understand?”, but the Lancaster Farming An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper • Keystone Awards 1993,1995 • PennAg Industries 1992 • PACD Media Award 1996 • Berks Ag-Busmess Council 2000 • Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the Northeast Farm Communicators rw •mr* wmm -*** wp tpa should have their seed, fertilizer, and/or pesticide records near at hand so the interview goes quickly and smoothly.” He emphasizes that all information from individual growers will remain confidential. “Also, for the first time, growers will receive one core pesticide cred it for responding to the survey,” he said. The USDA and the Environ mental Protection Agency will in clude survey data in a national da tabase of information on how agricultural chemicals are used, as well as the quantities used for spe cific crops. “The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 instituted much higher food safety standards related to pesticide residue,” Hoffman said. “Without good data, the EPA may assume farmers use more pesti cides than they actually do. This could lead to pesticides being banned or restricted unnecessari ly.” Hoffman also points out that information on usage patterns often influences manufacturers’ de cisions to submit a product for re registration and approval with reg ulatory agencies. State and national estimates of agricultural chemical use by the surveyed groups will be published in mid-2002. To Harvest Frost-Damaged Corn And Soybeans With the hard freeze this week, you may have some immature com or soybeans that were damaged. According to Bob Anderson, Lancaster County agronomy agent, com reaches maturity when the black layer is formed at the base of the kernel. In soybeans, maturity is reached when the bean pods are no longer green. At maturity, com is roughly 35 percent moisture and beans are between 18 and 20 per cent moisture. At maturity, neither crop will accumulate any more dry matter. Frost before maturity will reduce both quality and yields. Frost-damaged corn will have small and misshapen soft kernels. The incomplete development of the starch structure will cause a pithy kernel resulting in a high percent of kernel break during handling problem was not that the lawyer didn’t understand, but that he de sired “to justify himself.” “Justify” is a legal term and it helps us to re alize that this man wanted to prove his right to eternal life. In order to do that, he set out to limit his re sponsibility by trying to get a nar row definition of “neighbor.” What’s The Limit? Setting narrow limits to our re sponsibilities as Christians is a nor mal human reaction. The disciples also asked Jesus to set limits on forgiveness: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (Mt.18:21,22). A legalist would have interpreted Jesus’ an swer as setting a limit of 490 times or “seventy times seven.” Jesus does not set a limit, but expands it indefinitely. In his parable, he simi larly refuses to set limits. The grace of God, which we are called to em ulate, sets no limits. Think of some of the limits we may hold on to. A priest and a Lev ite passed by and they did not re spond to the victim. Their compas sion was limited to specific times and places and this was not one of them. Don’t condemn them too quickly: their reaction was the pop ular one. Helping a victim is often taboo in our world today. “Not getting involved” is a pop ular limit now, just as it was then. Other limits are the ethnic and religious identity of the next person along on this road: a Samaritan. Just as the Jew disdained being in contact with Samaritans, so it was expected that a Samaritan would have nothing to do with a Jew. But, in this case, the man acted not like a Samaritan, but as a child of God, a neighbor. (If it would help, and low-test weight (below 45 pounds per bushel). It will also re sult in low protein levels and low digestibility amino acid levels will be very variable. Managing frosted com appropri ately can help reduce yield losses and maintain the feeding value. But if the grain has already dried to or below 35 percent moisture, losses will be negligible even fol lowing a severe frost. If any green leaves remain after a frost, even leaves that are below the ear, the corn plant will continue live and mature and will increase in dry matter content. A good rule of thumb to remember let frosted com stand as long as there are green leaves and the ear has not formed the black layer. The best use of frosted com is animal feed. However, it should be tested so that the feeding program can be supplemented with addi tional protein and amino acids. In addition, fungi can present a prob lem with frosted com, so continue checking for fungi during storage. Expect storage time to be reduced by as much as 50 percent with frosted com. Frost-damaged soybeans will show green or elongated yellow beans that shrink to smaller than normal size after drying. Immature beans are difficult to extract oil from and the oil content is reduced. The best use of frosted soybeans is also for livestock feed. Processors will discount for green soybeans be cause the green color must be re fined out of the oil. Oil from imma ture beans often contains high levels of free fatty acids, which cause rancidity. Meal from imma ture beans will contain more resid ual oil than the normal 0.5 to 1.0 percent. Direct marketing from the field of frosted beans usually result in the highest discount for green beans. Cleaning and proper drying may improve the marketability of these beans. Quote of the Week: “A wise old owl sat in an oak, The more he heard the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard. Why aren’t we all like that wise old Bird?” William Bennett instead of “Samaritan” read “athe ist,” “Moslem,” “Hindu,” or “Hari Krishna.”) A Couple Went Down To Waco I have previously told this story here, but I will tell it again, be cause, like a parable, it has a timely point. A couple friends of ours was driving from Dallas to Waco, and on the way their car had a blowout. The husband was physi cally incapacitated and the woman did not know how to change a tire. As they were pondering this, a car stopped just ahead of theirs. Their momentary relief dissolved when the occupants of the car, two bearded, unkempt young .men, got out and started walking toward them. These men certainly were not within the limits Wherein they would expect or even look for help. To the couple’s surprise, how ever, the two young men changed their tire and, when offered “some thing for your trouble,” smiled and refused before driving away. “Would I have stopped and helped them?” the wife asked herself. The answer, she knew, was certainly “no, never.” After all, there are “reasonable” limits, aren’t there?. But Jesus made it very clear, both for the lawyer and for us, that there are no limits to neighborliness, because God himself sends his rain upon our just and unjust neighbors (Mt. 5:45). Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building 1 E. 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
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers