OPINION Burgeoning Population And Smart Growth Late last month the Lancaster County Planning Commission con ducted a special conference about smart growth at Millersville Univer sity. Several speakers had some alarming things to say about why we need smart growth. All communities need it. What is smart growth? In a nutshell, the concept embraces careful community planning. Houses shouldn’t be developed on whatever land comes available, sin gle units on what used to be the back-40, with no plans for the needs of a community. What about roads? What about parking, pedestrian right-of-ways, what about a sense of community and personality? In essence, proponents of smart growth view their ideas as antidotes to sprawl. Putting land-use-planning concepts into place works won ders. But common sense always dictates. While their plans are sound and good, common sense comes into play. Who is going to pay for this kind of thing? Somebody has to. Geoffrey Anderson, an EPA official, noted what he calls the “voracious” land consumption just in Pittsburgh and Phil adelphia alone. The population has remained the same or even de clined, yet the land use area rose 30 percent over the same period of time. Will Selman, senior planner with the Lancaster County Planning Commission, spoke about the smart growth initiative in Lancaster called “Envision.” Envision itself embraces smart growth, which limits development impacts on ag lands and ensures the viability of the farm industry. But what smart growth also does, he said, is cut down on those “disconnected, cookie-cutter neighborhoods that aren’t connected to the community.” Smart growth doesn’t limit choices. It perpetuates choice in an in telligent way. “We must do a better job of using our land,” noted Mark Hacken burg, registered landscape architect and owner and vice president of RGS Associates in Brownstown. He pointed to several projects using successful smart growth strategies, including Brighton in East Hemp field, the Highlands of Warwick in Lititz, Newport Square in Lititz Borough, and the Eagleview Project in Downingtown. Smart growth, which is simply smart planning, can be accomplish ed. With the growing population (one analyst noted there will be 60 million more people in America in 2020 than in the year 2000), we need it. Southwest Pa. Woodland Own ers’ Field Trip, (724) 627-6624. 4-H District VII Horse Camp 4-H Center, Bedford County Fairgrounds, Bedford, thru May 19. National Extension and Technol ogy Conference, Nittany Lion Inn, University Park, thru May 21, (814) 865-8301. Game of Logging I, Chainsaw Use and Safety for Beginners, Editor. Recently, the U.S. Senate passed the 2002 Farm BUI, modi fied in a bicameral conference committee, by a vote of 64-35. While there are a few favorable things the biU does accomplish for farming in America, Pennsyl vanians have little to be excited about in this legislation. Before I explain my opposition to the Farm Bill, which sets agri cultural priorities and policies for the next five years, let me high Larry Hutchins’ property, Knoxville, 8 a.m. Open 4-H Fun Show, Friendly Horsemen Arena, Denver, 10 a.m. Sunday, May 19 Adams County Ag Land Preser vation Celebration, Knad Her mansen Farm, York Springs, 2 p.m.-4 p.m., (717) 337-5859. Monday, May 20 (Turn to Page A 29) light the portions of this legisla tion to which I do agree. Farmland preservation, for ex ample, is an issue of particular and longstanding interest to me. In 1996, working with Senators Boxer and Leahy, I was success ful in securing a federal commit ment to preserve and maintain production on valuable farmland. The culmination of that effort was the preservation of 108,000 A' To Focus On Biosecurity On Poultry Farms The avian influenza (A. 1.) out break in Virginia continues to pose a threat to poultry operations in the re gion. As of this week, ISI farms had been quarantined and 143 farms were depopulated. Close to four mil lion birds have been destroyed in the effort to control the disease. Six counties in Virginia and two in North Carolina have been affected. Our regional poultry agent, Dr. Gregory Martin, offers the following specific steps we should be taking to prevent an outbreak in other areas of the Northeast. The first step is to limit traffic on poultry farms. Only approved people should be cleared for entry to farms and farmers should keep a log of visi tors. Fanners should severely limit or if possible eliminate contact with birds at other locations. Entry points to the poultry facilities should be se cured using locks if necessary. Man agers should ensure vermin controls are in place and maintained. All fa cilities need to be bird-proof. Work ers should stay in poultry houses only as long as needed to carry out' the task. Accessibility to the farm lo cation should be limited using a gate away from the farm buildings. Second, it is very important to maintain prqper sanitation. Opera tions should use all-in, all-out flock TIME FOR A COURSE CORRECTION? Background Scripture: Galatians 5:1-15. Devotional Reading: 1 John 2:7-17. At first glance, it would appear to us that Paul’s struggle with certain Christians over adherence to the Jewish law is, at best, interesting but not relevant to us today. Apparently, when Paul established the churches of Galatia, he preached a gospel of salvation by grace through faith. In his absence, how ever, it seems that some people, ei ther locals or outsiders, were able to convince them they must also live under the Jewish law, including cir cumcision. Today, neither circumci sion nor the Jewish law are issues among Christians. So Paul has noth ing to say on this to us, does he? Yes, he does. Although most of us confess salvation by grace through faith, many of us live as though we are actually saved by works. For many, God is a celestial Scorekeeper keeping a debit and credit running account on each of us that will ulti mately decide our residence for eter nity. It is hard to give up the mentali ty of salvation by the plusses that outweigh the minuses. Our plusses will never add up to a saving score. movement whenever possible. Use and maintain footbaths at each facili ty. All visitors to poultry farms should use a full suit of protective disposable outerwear. All vehicles en tering the facilities should be washed down with disinfectant. Mangers should make sure that equipment is cleaned and disinfected on a periodic basis. Use “downtime” as an oppor tunity to sanitize the housing units and make sure you are using the ap propriate sanitizer compound for the conditions and material to be sani tized. All workers should shower and change to clean clothes after a visit to another poultry facility or a meeting prior to return to farm. As much as it is possible, eliminate visits to other poultry facilities. The final steps in good sanitation are to properly dis pose of mortality and properly han dle manure. The third step in a vigilant biose curity program is to maintain bird health surveillance. This includes vaccination for protection of known viral diseases in the area. Managers should post sample bird mortality for clinical signs and maintain a blood sampling program for viral loads. At the onset of major disease symptoms, proper samples of birds and tissues should be sent to a nearby diagnostic laboratory. Martin has posted much valuable information related to this and other aspects of poultry production at his Website at http://www.personal. psu.edu/gpmlO/. To Be Diligent About Farm Safety, Especially With Our Children We are now in the busiest and most dangerous season on our farms. It is doubly important that we take time to practice farm safety when we are tempted to take shortcuts. This is especially true when our children are involved in our farm operations. Dr. Dennis Murphy, professor of agricultural engineering at Penn State, recommends that farm fami lies evaluate safety concerns for younger workefs this spring. In 2000, 22 percent of farm-related fatalities in Pennsylvania affected youth age 19 or younger. Murphy noted, “On a farm, work, living and recreation areas overlap. Children as young as two years of age often are exposed to operatingmachinery.” Agriculture is the state’s largest in dustry, with some 59,000 farms, of which about 90 percent are family owned. “Labor often is supplied by children, a spouse, and perhaps older Our Add-Ons Paul spells it out simply: “Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no ad vantage to you” (5:2). This is possibly in response to some who have asked why they can’t add being circum cised to their qualifications as Chris tians. No, Paul, it’s just a little some thing to add on. That’s our problem, too: we’re always “adding something on” to our discipleship a ritual, a creed, a set of standards. There is nothing wrong per se with these add ons, so long as they do not become le galistic means to winning God’s favor. The novelist Somerset Maughm recognized this same tendency in the discipline of creative writing: “It is the mark of an inexpert novelist to pose a powerful situation at the be ginning of his story, and then to fail to realize, or at least examine, the in evitable implication.” We begin our Christian lives well enough, but along the way we drift into some thing else and nothing is worse than thinking that what we have drifted into is where Christ leads us. Paul asks: “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?” (5:7). J.B. Phillips renders this as: “Who put you off course?” and Halford Luccock asks: “Why do we swerve from a brave beginning and go downhill?” Those are questions which each of us must ask ourselves. Have I stayed on course? Has my discipleship begun to slide downhill? Free To Serve Paul gives us a guideline in mak ing our self-assessments. “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one an other” (5:13). or temporary workers,” said Mur phy. “Farms are usually small opera tions that are not regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Ad ministration. The work often is done in a variety of conditions, ranging from extreme heat to extreme cold, in rain, sleet, snow or mud.’ A survey taken in New York found that most families stopped op erating their farm within five years of a fatal farm accident. “The after math of an accident can leave rela tives devastated, both emotionally and financially,” Murphy said. Na tional Safety Council statistics show that tractor rollover, truck-related in juries, machinery entanglements, and drowning are the leading causes of death for agricultural workers under age 25. Murphy said Penn State Coopera tive Extension offers many programs to teach younger workers about farm safety. Many of Pennsylvania’s 67 county cooperative extension offices hold farm safety camps on a regular basis. Other counties have instituted special programs aimed at younger workers, including a tractor driving safety course. “Make sure tasks are appropriate for a younger person,” Murphy said. “Pay particular attention to youths operating farm equipment, handling agricultural chemicals, and working with livestock.” Murphy pointed out that younger farm workers also are at risk when taking part in rural lei sure activities such as swimming or driving all-terrain vehicles. Murphy cites preventative mea sures recommended by the National Safety Council for young farm work ers. First, equip all tractors with a rollover protective structure and wear a seatbelt when operating trac tors. Never carry riders on tractors or equipment and never ride as a pas senger on a tractor or equipment. Maintain all farm vehicles and re view the operating manual before op erating any equipment. Parents and young workers should attend training on safe and healthy work practices. Finally, stay out of farm ponds and other bodies of water unless they are posted as safe swim ming areas. Always swim with at least one other person. Quote Of The Week; “Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people. ” George Bush In freeing us from the law, Jesus did not free us so we could be irre sponsible and indifferent. Free of the crushing weight of a salvation we cannot earn or deserve, we are free to love our neighbors as ourselves and not out of compulsion, but of eternal gratitude for God’s grace. Salvation by works was an imposi tion laid upon us, and salvation by grace makes good works a thankful privilege. Paul warns us that “For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor un circumcision is of any avail.. Just as circumcision does not help to save us, neither does the lack of it. It does not count either way. Neither does anything else that we do count to ward giving us more salvation debits than credits. I once knew a man who bitterly condemned Roman Catholic ritual, affirming that it could not save them. But, it seemed to me, he assumed that by not having ritual in his wor ship, he was earning spiritual Brown ie-points. Actually, this is not a difficult con cept. Paul puts it in the plainest lan guage: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”’ That’s the di rection in which you should be headed. 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 2002 by Lancaster Farming
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