AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 3,2001
OPINION
Crop Insurance: Consider It
We received notice Wednesday this week that U.S. Ag Secretary
Ann Veneman announced that farmers in nine counties in New York
are eligible for USDA emergency farm loans because of losses from
weather-related disasters.
Last issue, we reported on page A 44 that Pennsylvania Gov. Mark
Schweiker asked the USDA to aid farmers in 49 Pennsylvania coun
ties whose crops have been impacted by drought this summer.
Make the best of a poor situation and include some type of crop or
whole farm insurance in your marketing plans. They should be part of
operating procedures on your farm business.
On page 1 this week we emphasize the need for producers to sign
up for crop insurance, in light of droughts happening with every
other-year regularity.
In a letter sent Sept. 2S this year to Veneman from the Independent
Insurance Agents of Pennsylvania, based in Harrisburg, Vince
Phillips, government affairs, requested from the 113-year-old trade as
sociation that USDA expand the whole farm Adjusted Gross Revenue
(AGR) program to all of Pennsylvania, not just the six counties eligi
ble now. Phillips also requested the reauthorization of the additional
SO percent USDA cost-share program in effect this year. Phillips also
asked, on behalf of the agent association, to permit eligible crops to be
insured as part of the AGR package rather than insured individually
with only remaining crops eligible for AGR.
These are great ideas. Producers need all the protection they can
get. Let’s make this affordable, too.
Symposium On Textiles, Red
Men’s Hall, Green Lane, 8:30
a.m.-3:30 p.m., (610) 367-
8286.
Sheeposium, Vermont Sheep
Breeders Association, Ran
dolph, Vt., (802) 223-9971.
Bucks County Conservation
District, Chasing The Wild
Goose, Delaware Valley Col
lege, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Chester County Farm-City
Tour, Chester County Ag De
200w«andar^^
thruNov^l^rnTKiST-SWL
Lancaster Chamber of Com
merce 25th Annual Ag Indus
try Banquet, Willow Valley
and Palm Court, reception 5
p.m., dinner 6:30 p.m.
MEDS meeting, Altoona.
Pasteurizing Operators Work
shop, Atherton Hotel, State
College, thru Nov. 7, (814)
863-2959.
Beef 100, Update On Beef Safety
and Products For County
Agents and Ag Educators,
Farm and Home Center, Lan
caster. 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
tie Ri Work-
/airy ,attle . otation , orK
shop, Holiday Inn, Grantville,
9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., thru Nov. 7.
Pasture Walk, Clarion County
extension, Larry and Angel
Stone’s, Rimersburg, 1:30
p.m.
Penn State Golf Turf Confer
ence, Nittany Lion Inn, State
College, thru Nov. 8, (717)
238-4552.
Va. Cooperative Extension Sem
inar, Animal Waste To
Energy, New Market Com
munity Center, Shenandoah
and Rockingham County,
9:15 a.m.-2:50 p.m., (540) 564-
3080.
Cambria County Cooperative
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
Extension Annual Dinner,
United Church of Christ Edu-
cational Building, Ebensburg,
6:30 p.m.
Tri-State Dairy Management
Conference, Fort Wayne,
Ind., thru Nov. 8.
Pesticide Applicator School,
Ohio State University Learn
ing Center, Pikesville, Ohio, 1
p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Potato Variety Show and Tell,
Cornell University, 11:30
Eigntn'Si'aN^mal
ighti. .nnuai ationa -tee
Farmer Convention, Hershey
Lodge and Convention
Center, Hershey, thru Nov.
11,(814)797-5198.
Exploring Opportunities In Ag
riculture Classes, Carroll
County, Md. extension, also
Nov. 14, 15, and 20, 7 p.m.-9
p.m.
National Conversation On
Youth Development, Dau
phin County Ag and Natural
Resources Center, 5:30 p.m.-9
p.m. (includes dinner), (717)
921-8803.
Somerset County extension
annual meeting and banquet,
Masonic Temple, Somerset,
(814)445-8916.
Northampton County Holstein
DHIA Association Annual
Meeting, Christ Evangelical
Church, Stone Church, 7:30
p.m., (610) 498-2280.
Mosquito-Born Diseases, Lehigh
County extension, Lower Ma
cungie Township Community
Center, Macungie.
Pesticide Applicator School,
Ohio State University exten
sion, Ohio Ag R&D Center,
Wooster, Ohio, 1 p.m.-4:30
p.m.
Somerset County extension
annual meeting, Masonic
Temple, Somerset, (814) 445-
8911.
Greenhouse Conference and
Poinsettia/Pansy trials, Dela
(Turn to Page Al 6)
To Incorporate Crop
Rotations Into
Your Future Plans
Historically, crop rotation has been
an important part of cropping sys
tems. For a variety of reasons, crop
rotations have been used less in our
agricultural systems in recent years.
Scientific evidence, however, demon
strates that crop rotations increase
yields and provide numerous other
benefits. Mark Goodson, agronomy
agent in York County, provides the
following information about rota
tions.
Corn following soybeans will often
yield 5 to 20 percent more than con
tinuous corn on the same farm. Com
following a hay crop will yield as
much as or more than corn following
soybeans. Yield responses to crop ro
tation of 15 percent for soybeans and
10 percent for wheat are common.
Average yields of com compared
in various rotations at Rockspring
from 1990-1995 showed the following
results: Continuous corn averaged
122 bushels per acre, a corn/soybean
rotation averaged 141 bushels per
COMPENSATING
THE ALTRUISTIC
Background Scripture:
Matthew 5:1-16.
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 24.
The Mount of the Beatitudes on
the Sea of Galilee between Tiberias
and Capernaum is probably my fa
vorite spiritual spot in all the world.
It is both physically beautiful and
spiritually uplifting. It is traditionally
the site where Jesus delivered the
Sermon on the Mount.
I quite realize that Jesus may
never have set foot there but that
doesn’t diminish it one little bit. I
also realize that the so-called Sermon
on the Mount was probably not a ser
mon at all, but a series of teachings
which Jesus may have delivered all
at one time or on separate occasions.
Matthew tells us that, sitting down
on the mountain, Jesus began not to
preach, but “opened his mouth and
taught them, saying ....” (5:2). Even
Jesus’ seated posture is the proper
one for a teacher of Israel in Jesus’
time. The term, Sermon on the
Mount, is not mentioned in any of
the four gospels, but is a name that
came to be applied to this passage at
a much later time.
Lancaster Farming
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acre, and a four years of com then
four years of alfalfa rotation aver
aged 137.5 bushels per acre.
Additionally, crop rotations also
can decrease the cost of crop produc
tion. For example, corn following
soybeans can be produced with about
40 pounds per acre less nitrogen fer
tilizer and without a soil insecticide.
Therefore, corn planted after soy
beans will cost producers about $25
per acre less than continuous corn.
These yield increases and reduced
production costs can have a great ef
fect on overall profit.
Diseases such as gray leaf spot in
corn, take-all in wheat, and scleroti
nia in soybeans can be partially con
trolled with crop rotation. Where
these problems occur, the disease-re
duction benefits of crop rotations
should be considered in the profita
bility analysis.
Rotations also can help control in
sects and weeds. Western corn root
worm larvae are a problem when
corn was the previous crop. Corn
rootworm insecticide is only recom
mended in fields where com is plant
ed following com. Rotations with a
small grain can provide a late sum
mer or fall herbicide application op
portunity to control most perennial
weeds.
A well-planned rotation can con
tribute to the more efficient use of
plant nutrients. In a three-year corn/
alfalfa rotation, for example, manure
can be applied during the com rota
tion, resulting in efficient used of N
and often a buildup of soil P and K
levels. During the alfalfa phase of the
rotation, when manure is not ap
plied, the forage crop will utilize the
soil P and K levels that were built up
during the corn phase of the rotation.
This combination of nutrient man
agement and crop rotation can re
duce or eliminate the need for pur
chased fertilizer.
Sound crop rotations are often the
foundation of a profitable cropping
system. There are some initial costs
for implementing crop rotations,
such as extra equipment, but in the
final analysis these costs may be
more than overcome by the reduced
inputs, timeliness, and higher yields.
While I realize that some sermons
can teach us and some teachings may
inspire us, the purpose and methods
of preaching and teaching are gener
ally different and generally call for
different responses from us.
Many years ago, I came to what
was initially a disturbing discovery
about Matthew 5. One of the strong
themes that runs through the Ser
mon on the Mount as well as other
teachings of Jesus is the principle
that altruism giving without the
expectation of reward always
brings us some compensation. No
giving in the name and spirit of Jesus
Christ goes without reward. Virtually
nothing that Jesus asks us to be or do
does not give us something in return.
Meekness is rewarded with the in
heritance of the earth (5), giving
mercy results in receiving mercy (7),
“Rejoice and be glad, for your re
ward is great in heaven...” (12).
And so on.
Getting In Giving
So what is wrong with that? Noth
ing, except that I had thought that
the way of Jesus Christ meant total
self-sacrifice. But 1 have come to re
alize that I was wrong on both
counts.
Self-sacrifice can never be total
self-giving, even if our reward is sim
ply the knowledge that we have done
the right thing. Jesus himself was re
warded by God for his sacrifice on
the cross. So there is always some
“getting” in “giving,” for God has
designed the cosmos that way. Jesus’
teachings put “giving” and “getting”
on a much higher plane.
Followers of Jesus are promised
blessedness but what is it? The
Greek word which Matthew uses
here when used in pagan literature
denotes the highest stage of happi
ness and well-being. The comparable
Hebrew word means “how happy.”
For more information about the
benefits of crop rotation, ask for the
extension publication, “Crop Rota
tions and Conservation Tillage Series
Number One,” written by'Dr. Greg
Roth, Penn State associate professor
of agronomy. Additional information
is also available at the following
Website: http://
www.agronomy.psu.edu/Extension/
CT/CT.htm.
To Attend The
Future Of Food
And Farms Summit
The third annual Future of Our
Food and Farms Summit is sched
uled Nov. 29-30 at the Renaissance
Hotel-Philadelphia Airport. The
theme of this year’s conference is
“Spreading the Bounty, Safeguard
ing the Future.”
This year’s summit will include
four special events. First, four secre
taries of agriculture from Pennsylva
nia, Delaware, Maryland, and New
Jersey will keynote the opening ses
sion and will be facilitated by Rick
Foster, vice president of the W. K.
Kellogg Foundation.
Second, a pre-summit Hunger
Congress, put together by the Food
Resources Alliance (FRA) with in
vited state and federal legislators,
will highlight evolving public policies
impacting hunger in our region.
JoAnn Connelly, president of the
Greater Philadelphia Food Bank,
will moderate this session. Third,
Thursday’s dinner will feature locally
grown foods put together by some of
the region’s top chefs. Finally, with
this year’s summit will be the initia
tion of an annual award to be given
to the person, organization, or busi
ness that has done the most to benefit
the Mid-Atlantic food and farming
system.
For more information, visit the
Summit Website at www.foodfar
m.org or contact Meredith Stone at
the Farmers Market Trust, (215)
568-0830, ext. 10.
Quote Of The Week:
“He who permits himself to tell
a lie once finds it much easier to
do it a second time. ”
Thomas Jefferson
How happy are those who are poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
Living by the Beatitudes and the
Sermon on the Mount require a great
deal of self-denial, but each gives us
in return more than that is asked of
us. Walking the way of Jesus brings
us a blessedness and high happiness
that the world can neither match nor
take away from us.
Already Blessed
So, we give of ourselves because
the grace of God has already been
given us. We try to live as Jesus
taught, not to earn God’s blessings,
but out of gratitude for having al
ready received the promise of bless
ing.
Whatever we do in response to the
good news of Jesus Christ is done not
to amass merit for ourselves, but to
bear witness to the goodness of God.
“Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father who is
in heaven” (16). We witness to the
power of the gospel not so that we
may be blessed, but because we are
already blessed.
You have heard of the practice of
matching gifts: you give $lOO to a
cause and someone else will match
your gift with the same amount. But
God not only matches our giving, he
infinitely exceeds it. What this means
for us is that it is impossible for the
follower of Jesus Christ to give away
too much. For whatever we give, we
have received and will receive far
more of God’s blessings than we
could ever give away.
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