dO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 15,2001
A'
OPINION
Corporate Farms?
Environmentalists and anti-agriculturists are providing a lot of heat
to township planning committees regarding their so-called worries about
“corporations taking over agriculture.”
The idea that corporations are building complexes so that sharehold
ers can reap easy money simply isn’t true.
We point to a study, extracted from Country Focus and the Pennsyl
vania Farm Bureau, and reprinted in the December 2001 PennAg Jour
nal.
“Are Corporate Farms Taking Over Pennsylvania?” points to the en
suing debate: are “corporate farms” either “good” or “bad” for ag and
the environment? Do townships view large-scale agriculture as foe or
friend?
Bill Adams, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s director of natural re
sources, looked at 1997 Federal Census of Agriculture statistics. Classi
fying operations with at least $l,OOO in ag sales as farming operations,
the Census Bureau surveyed 45,457 ag operations in Pennsylvania cov
ering 7.1 million acres of farmland. Those surveyed were asked to iden
tify their operations as individual or family (sole proprietorship), part
nership, corporation, or other (trust, cooperative, or estate).
A total 0f40,176 respondents controlling 5.6 million acres of farmland
listed themselves as “individual or family operations.” Another 3,957 re
spondents, according to the Farm Bureau, controlling 1.1 million acres
classified themselves as partnerships. The “other category” was listed by
183 respondents with 47,727 acres.
Those who listed themselves as corporations accounted for 1,141 re
spondents. Of this number, 1,024 with 318,555 acres of farmland were
part of “family-held” corporations. The remaining 117 operations con
trolling 18,870 acres described themselves as “other than family held”
corporations.
Of these 117 operations, according to Farm Bureau, only seven listed
having more than 10 stockholders and the remaining 110 indicated they
had 10 or fewer stockholders.
Farm Bureau’s conclusion: the nonfamily held corporations account
ed for less than one quarter of one percent of the farmers in Pennsylva
nia, according to census figures.
The 1997 Census was compared to the 1978 Census. In 1978, there
was a total of 909 farming corporations. That amounted to an increase
of 232 corporate farm operations, 10 more per year, during a 20-year
span, “hardly evidence of a large shift toward corporate farms here in
Pennsylvania,” Adams noted.
It’s too bad that critics of large-scale, environmentally friendly farm
enterprises don’t see the facts. Ag is always the easy target, and targeted
far too many times.
B3HE
BCIA Consignment Bull and
Heifer Sale, Blackstone, Va.,
(540)231^1^^^^^
Co'' Sila*’ Clin ! ' Clan'-
orn jilage lime, larion
County Extension, Days Inn,
Meadville, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Also Dec. 18 at Mt. View Inn,
Greensburg.
Pesticide Update, Octoraro
Young Farmers Assoc., Vo-
Editor.
I have a suggestion to make I
think you should print on your
front page: “Farmers World’s
Most Important People,” be
cause not a single person can
live without food.
Allen R. Popjoy
Downington
Editor.
The environmental movement
is demanding, yet again, that we
ban atrazine. But atrazine, an
herbicide, is one of the safest
farm chemicals ever discovered
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
Ag Dept., Octoraro High
OSUOmoTSegum^
School, Bavarian Haus, Dre
sler, Ohio, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
(419) 592-0806, also Dec. 19
and 20 at other locations.
Corn Silage Clinic, Mt. View
Inn, Greensburg, Clarion
County Extension, 9:30 a.m.-
3:30 p.m.
4-H Tractor Safety Club, Leba
non County Ag Center, 7:30-
8:30 p.m.
(Turn to Page A 23)
❖ Farm Forum ❖
long-term sustainability of
human society.
Amazingly, despite all this,
the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) just issued a
skewed report that may be a pre
lude to an severely restricting
atrazine use.
What’s going on here?
I recently heard a senior EPA
staffer utter that old bromide,
“If we’re being criticized from
both sides, we’re probably
making the right decisions.”
But let’s suppose that one side
(Turn to Page Ail) .
To Be Aware Of
New Research On
Impact Of Bt Com
On Monarch Butterflies
Bt com is one of several genetical
ly engineered crops to come on to the
market in the last few years. These
crops have special properties that
make them especially useful for spe
cific purposes.
Bt com offers the ability to control
com borer and other pests without
the use of applied pesticides, since
this crop produces its own control
agent. The future usefulness of this
crop was called into question in 1999
when a small experiment indicated
the caterpillars of Monarch Butter
flies were harmed when they were
forced to feed on milkweed leaves
heavily dusted with pollen from Bt
com.
Now new research conducted by a
group of scientists coordinated by the
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS)/USDA indicates there is no
significant risk to monarch butter
flies from environmental exposure to
Bt com. This research was recently
published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences
(PNAS).
The concern focused on the pollen
of Bt corn because it, like any com
GUESS WHO’S
COMING!
Background Scripture:
Isaiah 40:1-11.
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 40:25-31.
Back in those days when there
was only radio, we listened intently
to the voices and our minds supplied
the mental images. Similarly, in
Isaiah 40:1-11, we read what is said,
but there is no description of the
time, place, or participants. There
are only voices.
Some scholars believe that the
scene is that of a familiar biblical
image, the Heavenly Council. Oth
ers believe that it is an assembly of
prophets. Perhaps further descrip
tive detail has been withheld so that
we may concentrate on the message.
There are four distinct voices. The
message of the first voice (40:1,2) is
one of grace: “comfort, comfort my
people.. Those listening are com
manded to proclaim the good news
that the time of suffering and pun
ishment are over. In 586 BC, the
people of Judah were carried away
into Babylonian exile. Separated
geographically from the Temple,
Lancaster Farming
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pollen, can blow onto milkweed
leaves, which ate the exclusive diet of
monarch caterpillars.
This recent research needed to an
swer two major questions to de
termine whether there was any actu
al risk to monarch caterpillars from
the Bt pollen. The questions were
how much Bt com pollen does it take
before there are any toxic effects on
caterpillars and what is the likeli
hood that caterpillars might be ex
posed to that much pollen?
The studies in this project showed
that monarch caterpillars have to be
exposed to pollen levels greater than
1,000 grains/cm 2 to show toxic ef
fects. Although caterpillars were
found to be present on milkweed
during the one to two weeks that pol
len is shed by com, com pollen levels
on milkweed leaves were found to
average only about 170 pollen
grains/cm 2 in com fields.
Reports from several field studies
show concentrations much lower
than this critical level even within the
cornfield. In Maryland, the highest
level of pollen deposition was inside
and at the edge of the com field,
where pollen was found at about 50
grains/cm 2 . In the Nebraska study,
pollen deposition ranged from 6
grains/cm 2 at the field edge to less
than 1 grain/cm 2 beyond 10 meters.
Samples collected from fields in On
tario immediately following the peri
od of peak pollen shed showed pollen
concentrations averaged 78 grains at
the field edge.
This new research demonstrates
that in actual practice in the field,
the Bt com is not a threat to the
Monarch butterfly. This is good news
since the earlier conclusion raised
questions about the usefulness of this
specific technology and also about
unexpected side effects of genetic en
gineering in general.
To Continue To
Conserve Water
On Dec. 5, Department of Envi
ronmental Protection (DEP) Secre
tary David E. Hess announced that
62 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are
now under a drought declaration as
conditions continue to worsen de
spite recent rain. Thirty-one counties
are now under a drought warning
and 31 counties are under a drought
watch.
A drought watch is the first of the
three drought stages under the state’s
they felt separated from their God.
Through their exile they longed to
return to Jerusalem and their God.
The emphasis here is not upon
the “warfare,” nor the “iniquity'’ of
the people, nor what they have had
to suffer; it is upon the fact that it is
now “ended”!
The second voice is a call to prep
aration (vs. 3-5): “In the wilderness,
prepare the way of the Lord, and
make straight in the desert a high
way for our G0d...” It is not so
much that they will return to God,
but that he is going to return to
them; he will lead the way: “And the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it togeth
er...”
Not For Comfort Only
While we all love the word of
comfort, many of us are less respon
sive to the call of preparation. As
George Adam Smith wrote: “We are
satisfied with the personal comfort
of our God; we are contented to be
forgiven and oh, mockery! left
alone. But the word of God will not
leave us alone, and not for comfort
only is it spoken.”
The third voice (6-8) proclaims
the steadfastness of Goa’s word;
“All flesh is grass, and all its beauty
is like the flower of the field... The
grass withers, the flower fades; but
the word of our God will stand for
ever.” It is hard for human beings to
realize that our earthly lives are so
transient. As we mature, however,
we begin to realize that death is even
more certain than taxes. As Reily of
radio’s “The Life of Riley” used to
say: “What a revoltin’ development
this is!” So our hope is based solely
upon the Lord, who, unlike his crea
tures, is eternal.
Most of us have lived long enough
to know that, although we must
learn to trust one another, in the
drought-operating plan. It calls for a
voluntary S-percent reduction of
nonessential water use. A drought
warning, the second stage, calls for a
10-percent to IS-percent voluntary
reduction in water consumption; and
a drought emergency, the third and
most severe stage, imposes mandato
ry restrictions on water use. The
drought emergency requires a decla
ration by Gov. Schweiker followed by
action by the Pennsylvania Emergen
cy Management Council.
“Groundwater levels are continu
ing to decline when they would nor
mally be increasing,” Hess said.
“Now we’re seeing streamflows drop
ping rapidly, reaching record-low
levels in some cases, particularly ih
the southcentral and eastern portions
of the state.
“We need significantly above-nor
mal precipitation over an extended
period of time in order for conditions
to improve,” Hess said. “It took sev
eral months to reach this point, and
it may take several months to recov
er.”
Twenty-two counties that previ
ously were on the drought watch list
were added to the drought warning
list. They are Bedford, Berks, Bucks,
Carbon, Columbia, Delaware, Ful
ton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lehigh,
Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Mon
tour, Northampton, Northumber
land, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill,
Snyder, Union, and Wayne.
Seven counties Fayette, Greerte,
Lackawanna, Luzerne, Somerset,
Susquehanna, and Wyoming are
being added to the drought watch list
which now totals 31 counties.
To Attend National
No-Till Conference
The 10th Annual National No-
Tillage Conference will be Jan. 9-12
in St. Louis, Mo. For details about
the conference, check out the exten
sive program online at the following
Website: www.lesspub.com/nntc. An
educational program especially for
spouses is offered.
The Mid-Atlantic No Till Confer
ence is coordinating bus transporta
tion from State College to the confer
ence. For more information, call
NRCS State Agronomist Joel Myers
at (717) 237-2220.
Quote Of The Week;
“It is a recession when your
neighbor loses his job; it’s a de
pression when you lose your own. ”
Harry S. Truman
long run we cannot put our full trust
in any human beinas) because all of
us are flawed, make mistakes, fail
and yes sin. We also learn that
we cannot even depend solely upon
ourselves. We fail ourselves as well
as others. That is why we can corn*
fortably trust only in God. As Rob
ert Browning has put it, “Before
man’s First and after man’s poof
Last, God operated and will oper
ate.” t
Everyone A Herald
The fourth voice is that of chal
lenge (9-11): “Get you up to a high
mountain, O Zion, herald of good th
dings... say to the cities of Judah',
‘Behold your God!”’ It is at this
point that the audience is expanded
to include all the people of Jerusa
lem. Everyone is to he a herald of
the coming of the Lord and pro
claim what that coming means. ,
Advent is not just a time for the
pastors and preachers to proclaim
the advent of God, but all of us. i
The God who comes is character!
ized in two different ways: the victo
rious Ruler of the world “Behok ,
the Lord God comes with might...’
and as the compassionate She] -
herd of his people “He will fee 1
his flock like a shepherd.” Isaial
presents God in aD his celestia
grandeur and in all his saving grao
as well. Both of these images are es
sential to our understand of the Goc
who comes to us.
Because the Lord has so fully re
vealed himself in Jesus Christ, w
no longer have to guess who is com
ing!
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
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Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Steinman Enterprise
William J. Burgas* Central Manager
Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2001 by Lancaster Farming