AIQ-Lancaster Farming. Saturday, October 20,2001
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OPINION
A Diligent But Optimistic Concern
Last week in the paper, on page A2B under the headline “FBI
Alerts Pesticide Dealers,” the FBI notified the state ag department of
the importance of reporting suspicious sales of or attempts to pur
chase and/or use pesticides.
We have been practically inundated with mail from all sorts of
places that are pointing out pesticide security tips (one from Colorado
State University) and how agribusinesses and farmers are urged to en
force security measures since the Sept. 11 attacks (including a news
release from the Ohio State University).
The Ohio State release of Oct. 5 noted that a “consortium of U.S.
organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency, is en
couraging individuals and businesses to enforce a variety of security
measures.”
In a release Oct. 11, the National Farmers Union proposes a biose
curity task force in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann M.
Veneman. This task force is to protect the nation’s food system, in
light of recent scares.
An article in our local newspaper pointed out that the emergency
management agencies sometimes receive “suspicious activity” reports.
What exactly IS suspicious activity? In some cases, just seeing lights
on late at a neighbor’s house, or unexpected vehicles show up in some
one’s driveway ... those kinds of things are a bit much and verge on
the paranoid.
1 think this is a time for many businesses that sell field treatments
of whatever type to keep a cautious, persistent eye out, to know and
recognize customers, and perhaps to thank those who are loyal and
obey the rules. But we worry about too much worry, when those con
cerns verge on paranoia.
These are difficult times, indeed, and the terrorist attacks have un
derlined the need for more information, concern, and cooperation
than any other time in our nation’s history.
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
New York State Sheep and
Wool Festival, Dutchess
County Fairgrounds, Rhine
beck, N.Y., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.,
(914)756-2323.
Adams County Holstein Club
Annual Meeting, Community
Fireball, York Springs, 6:30
p.m.
Pa. Brown Swiss Association
meeting, Bonanza Restau
rant, Carlisle, 11 a.m., (717)
993-8995.
Pa. State-Graded Feeder Cattle
Sale, Bedford Cattlemen’s As
sociation, Bedford County
Fairgrounds, 1 p.m.
Pa. State-Graded Feeder Cattle
Sale, Westmoreland County
Cattlemen’s Association,
Westmoreland County Fair
ijrounds 4 Greensbun»^^^^
unter
one
Show, Farm Show Complex,
(716)377-4986.
9th Annual N.E. Regional Natu
ral Colored Sheep Show, in
conjunction with New York
State Sheep and Wool Festi
val, Dutchess County Fair
grounds, Rhinebeck, N.Y.,
Pa. Economic Development As
sociation Fall Conference,
Nittany Lion Inn, University
Park, thru Oct. 24, (717) 441-
6047.
Lancaster County Poultry Ban
quet, Palm Court, Willow
Valley, 6:30 p.m., (717) 367-
1195, ext. 311.
Cambria County class on com
puter finance programs,
Cambria extension office,
Ebensburg, 6:30 p.m.-9:30
Miorbr 1 ■ MarkeP^X^^
id east . marketing Asso
ciation public hearing, Wads
worth, Ohio, 8:30 a.m.
Dairy Works Workshop, Qual
ity Inn, Chambersburg, 9:30
a.m.-3 p.m.. thru Oct. 24.
Human Resource Center for
Livestock Farm Managers,
Bucyrus Public Library, noon
-4 p.m., (419) 562-8731.
Ohio Woodland Steward Pro
gram, Ag Center, Fairfield
County, Ohio, also Oct. 26.
Northern Tier Dairy Improve
ment Tour, eight farms in
Bradford and Potter counties,
(814)793-3783.
Plasticulture and High Tunnels
Short Course, Gloucester
County office building, Clay
ton, N.J.
National Rural Policy Confer
ence, Renaissance Hotel,
Washington, D.C., (202) 408-
1273.
Second Annual Crop Insurance
Conference, Pennsylvania
Farm Show Building, Harris
burg, 4:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania Council of Coop
eratives Annual Meeting,
Penn Stater Conference
Center Hotel, 11 a.m., (717)
238-1044.
Managing Price Volatility Dairy
Workshop, Penn State Exten
sion, Lezelhouse Restaurant,
Chambersburg, 9:30 a.m.-3
p.m.
Berks County Farm Bureau
Clean and Green Ag Tax As
sessment meeting, Berks Ag
Center, 7:30 p.m., (610) 488-
6201.
New Jersey Cattle Health
Workshop, Larry Freeborn
Farm, North Tranquility,
N.J., 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.,
J9Wo9Bi^^
Ne\vX Cattle llealth
lorse
inal
Workshop, Woody Eachus
Farm, Woodstown, N.J.,
lersey
(Turn to Page 19}
To Conserve Water
The United States Geological
Survey, in cooperation with The
Pennsylvania Department of En
vironmental Protection, operates
observation wells across Pennsyl
vania to monitor groundwater
levels.
Of the 45 wells in Pennsylvania
in the network with data for Sep
tember, 22 are below normal and
two wells (in Lebanon and Mont
gomery counties) are at record
lows.
Many times when we experi
ence dry summers, heavy rains
related to hurricanes often pro
vide some recharge in the fall.
This year we have not received
any significant recharge from fall
storm systems. While we have
seen worse drought conditions in
the past, these low well levels re
mind us of the need to conserve
EXHAUSTING GOD
Background Scripture:
Luke 18:1-14.
Devotional Reading:
Genesis 32:22-30.
Valere and I maintain an inter
cessory prayer list that we lift up
to Goid at least once a day. At
times when, having prayed inter
cessorily in the morning, I won
der whether in my evening pray
ers I ought to repeat some of the
same concerns for which I have
already prayed. It has occurred
to me that, in offering the same
prayer twice in one day, I may
demonstrate a lack of trust in
God’s attention to the first pray
er?
So Luke 18:1-8 is a good re
minder to me that we need to al
ways to persevere in prayer. It is
not how often we pray for the
same thing, but how we pray.
That is what the parable of the
unjust judge is about. Jesus told
them a parable to encourage
them to “always pray and not
lose heart” (Lk 18:1). When in
doubt, he seems to be telling us,
pray too much rather than too
little. If you are going to err, do it
on the side of bold perseverance,
not timidity.
In his The Age of Faith, Will
Durant writes of a Spanish lad,
who, persuaded he is mentally
Lancaster Farming
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water whenever possible in our
operations.
This requires more than just
short-term responses to an imme
diate need. While these short
term responses are important,
your operation should be evaluat
ed to see what long-term changes
could be made to save water.
With an ever-growing popula
tion and a finite water supply,
water conservation is not just a
drought-year concern anymore.
To be successful in the future, we
all must do our part to efficiently
use this common resource.
To Practice Biosecurity
On Livestock Operations
Earlier this year the concern
for accidental introduction of
foot and mouth disease caused
the animal industry in this coun
try to review and improve biose
curity procedures on our farms.
Recent events in this country
have now caused an increased
awareness of the potential for a
bioterrorist attack on our food
supply.
The USDA has called for in
creased surveillance and report
ing of foreign animal diseases. It
is important that no potential
case of a foreign animal disease
be ignored, and even possible
hoaxes need to be treated as real
until proven otherwise.
Producers should check their
livestock regularly and immedi
ately report signs of unusual dis
ease to the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Agriculture, the USDA,
or their veterinarians. Prompt re
porting can make a significant
difference in our ability to quick
ly diagnose, control, and eradi
cate a disease. Signs to watch for
in livestock include sudden unex
plained deaths in a herd or flock,
sluggish, runs away from home.
On his way, the exhausted youth
sits down by a well and his eye is
caught by the deep furrow in a
stone at the edge. A passing maid
explains that the furrow was
worn by the attrition of the rope
that lowered and raised the buck
et. “If,” said Isadore to himself,
“by daily use the soft rope could
penetrate the stone, surely perse
verance could overcome the dull
ness of my brain.” He returned to
his father’s house and became the
learned Bishop of Seville.
Is God Reluctant?
This does not mean that we
persevere so that we can per
suade God to do what we ask. It
is not the reluctance of God that
we are trying to overcome in
prayer, but, like the Spanish lad,
the dullness of our own spirits.
Prayer doesn’t change God; it
changes us at least, if we stay at
it long enough to make a differ
ence. What happens when this
“dullness” begins to be overcome
in us? It gives God an opportuni
ty to enter into our lives.
Henry Ward Beecher said,
“Prayer is not the conquering of
God’s reluctance, but taking hold
of God’s willingness.” With that
“willingness,” God can answer
the purpose of our prayer, if not
the specifics of our request.
In the parable, please realize
that Jesus is not suggesting that
God is like that judge. Just the
opposite. He is saying that if an
unjust judge, who fears neither
God nor regards man, will even
tually respond to a persistent pe
titioner, then how much more
will a loving God respond to us?
God is infinitely more gracious
and loving than any human au
thority and his response can only
be more gracious and more lov
ing.
severe illness that affects multiple
animals in a herd or flock, blis
ters around an animal’s mouth,
nose, teats or hooves, unusual
ticks or maggots on the animals,
or central nervous system disor
ders.
Additionally, the USDA asks
producers to report suspicious ac
tivities, intruders, or circum
stances to local police or sheriffs
departments. License plate num
bers and descriptions of trespass
ers should be recorded if possible.
Suspicious cases can be report
ed to the PDA at (717) 772-2852
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and after
normal working hours to the
PDA at (717) 772-2852, or any
other main office phone number.
After-hours calls will be for
warded to a voice mailbox, and
instructions will be given for leav
ing an emergency message that
will cause the veterinarian on call
to be paged.
The USDA also has a 24-hour
phone number: (800) 601-9327.
Daytime calls can be made to the
USDA Harrisburg office at (717)
782-3442. Anyone reporting a
case should be prepared to pro
vide a description of the signs of
disease, the species and number
of animals involved, and the loca
tion of the animals.
When a suspicious case is re
ported, a trained foreign animal
disease diagnostician (FADD)
will be dispatched to the premises
to assess the situation, inspect the
animals, collect samples, post
quarantines, if appropriate, and
take additional steps to protect
animal and human health.
Quote Of The Week:
“Keep your face to the sun
shine and you cannot see the
shadows. ”
Helen Keller
Will Jesus
Find Faith?
Persistence in prayer doesn’t
wear down the reluctance of
God, but our own reluctance to
commit ourselves trustfully in his
hands. Persistence is the result of
faith, the kind of faith Jesus has
in mind when he asks: “... when
the Son of Man comes, will he
find faith on earth?” The expec
tation of easy and quick answers
to prayer is not evidence of faith
but sheer will. The task is not to
exert our will over that of God,
but surrender ourselves to his. To
“cry to him day and night”
means that we are not easily de
terred from our faith. So, our
“continual coming” is not an af
front to God but a confession of
faith.
But the perseverance of this
“continual coming” is motivated,
not by the arrogance of getting
from God what we want because
we are deserving, but by a genu
ine humility that has convinced
us that we are not worthy, but
dependent upon his grace. Per
sistence in prayer, therefore,
must be coupled with humility.
Otherwise our persistence may be
nothing but arrogance, an as
sumption that we can exhaust
God’s resolve.
Our problem is not that we ask
too much or too often of God, but
that we ask too little and too in
frequently. Our persistence can
not exhaust God, but our self
righteousness does. So, like the
tax collector, we must persevere
in our prayer, because we know
that we are sinners dependent
upon God’s mercy and willingly
commit ourselves to his grace.
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