OPINION
Good News For
Young Farmers, Ranchers
The Farm Bill is turning out to be good news not only for dairy producers,
ag preserve leaders, and conservationists, but also for young fanners and
ranchers.
According to Kathy Ruhf, project director with the Growing New Farmers
Program, “for the first time in USDA history, there is a beginning farmer and
rancher development program,” she wrote in a memo of May 18. “There are
other new provisions targeting new farmers and ranchers, in addition to re
forms to existing beginning farmer loan programs.”
These are some of the items she highlighted:
• Conservation Title, Sect. 1244. In essence, when carrying out any conser
vation programs under the Farm Bill, USDA may provide to beginning farm
ers and ranchers incentives to participate in the program to enhance long
term environmental stewardship.
• Sect. 2001, in the new Conservation Security Program, a standard cost
share contract for conservation practices on working lands does not exceed 75
percent. In the case of the beginning farmer/rancher, the cost-share can be up
to 90 percent. NRCS administers the program. That includes Sect. 2301, the
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (up to 90 percent cost-share).
• Sect. 7205. This is a little vague, but USDA calls this the “Initiative for
Future Agriculture and Food Systems” (IFAFS), an existing competitive
grants program to encourage “USDA to solicit and fund research and devel
opment of farm tenure, transfer, succession, finance, management, produc
tion, and marketing models and strategies that foster new farming and ranch
ing opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers.”
• Section 7405 calls for a Beginning Farmers and Rancher Development
Program to “provide training education, outreach and technical assistance
initiatives for beginning farmers or ranchers,” a competitive grants program.
Educational institutions, agencies, and nongovernmental organizations are el
igible.
There are other magnificent provisions for beginning and young farmers/
ranchers in the Farm Bill. For more information, contact Ruhf at gnf@umas
sextension.org.
Saturday, June 8
Field tour, Tom Sekal’s wood
land, Northwest Woodland
Association, Waterford, (814)
337-5678.
S.W. Pa. Woodland Owners’
Walk, Dan Dunmore’s tree
farm, (724) 852-2663.
Sunday, June 9
International Biotechnological
Convention and Exhibition,
Metro Toronto Convention
Center, Toronto, Canada, thru
June 12.
Woodswalk and Picnic at Ken
Cogan’s in McKean County,
North Central Woodland
Owners’ Association, (717)
484-2239.
Editor.
In letters to the state House of
Representatives last week, Penn
sylvania Farmers Union (PFU)
voiced its strong opposition to
Senate Bill 1413, which would
prevent municipalities from regu
lating factory farm operations.
Senate Bill 1413 will place an
extreme hardship on our family
farmers. The bill will undermine
the basic foundation and support
for family agriculture in Pennsyl
vania.
The bill would keep townships
from adopting policies that do
not correspond with state law. If
a township disregards state law,
an aggrieved farmer could collect
legal fees from the municipality
Monday, June 10
Poultry meeting, Kreider’s Res
taurant, Manheim, noon.
Global Positioning Systems and
Mapping training, Natural Re
sources Center, Adams Coun
ty, thru June 11. Also June
24-25, Franklin County exten
sion office and July 9-10, York
County 4-H Center.
4th Annual Mid-Atlantic Region
al Dairy Extension In-Service
Training, Woodland Inns and
Resort, Wilkes-Barre, (814)
863-3913.
Bug Camp for Kids, ASI Bldg.,
Penn State University Park,
thru June 13, (814) 865-4621.
(Turn to Page A 27)
for his lawsuit. PFU contends
that local officials may better rep
resent local needs than state laws.
Pennsylvania Farmers Union
encourages cooperation with
local officials. We trust them. We
share the same community with
them and need their support to
prosper. We also owe them our
respect not only as neighbors, but
as citizens. We, as taxpaying citi
zens, have the right to collectively
determine the environmental,
economic, and social direction of
our communities.
The bill disregards potential
environmental concerns. There
are water issues to address, and
(Turn to Page A 29)
To Use Bumble Bees
To Pollinate Greenhouse
Vegetable Crops
Cathy Thomas, from the Pennsylva
nia Department of Agriculture’s Inte
grated Pest Management Program,
suggests greenhouse vegetable growers
should consider using bumble bees for
pollination.
Proper pollination is needed for op
timal fruit set and production. In the
past, greenhouse tomato growers have
relied on manual pollination which can
be very time-consuming. Using bumble
bees for pollination is an effective alter
native and can completely replace
manual pollination.
In addition to saving on labor, bum
ble bee pollination has many advan
tages. These advantages include:
Bumble bees are active at low tem
peratures 41 degrees Fahrenheit (F)
and under windy and cloudy condi
tions; effective in greenhouses, high
tunnels, and in open air; and bumble
bee pollination results in higher yields
and large, high-quality fruit in crops
such as tomatoes, peppers, and blueber
ries.
Bumble bees are shipped to growers
in completely maintenance-free hives.
The hive has two flight openings. The
standard flight opening is used under
normal conditions. A tapered tube is at
tached to the second hole which creates
a lock-in system. When this valve is
open, the bumble bees can enter, but
are unable to get out. This is a conven
ient option if the hive needs to be re
moved from the greenhouse. The hives
are supplied with sugar water for the
total life expectancy of the hive, since
crops such as tomato have blossoms
that do not produce nectar.
Tomato blossoms require slight
movement for sufficient pollen from
the stamens to fall onto the stigma of
OF HOPE
AND HELP
Background Scripture:
Psalms 42-43.
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 43.
Let’s understand this from the begin
ning; the author of Psalm 42 is not just
having a “bad hair day.” In fact, he is
not just having a bad day. He is, as we
sometimes are, a person in chronic,
deep distress.
So he uses powerful and illustrative
words to tell us what is going on with
him: “As a hart longs for flowing
streams, so longs my soul for thee, O
God. My soul thirsts for God, for the
living God” (42:1,2).
This is not the thirst I feel because I
have been without anything to drink
for the past several hours. This is a rag
ing thirst that one experiences in long
hours in the desert. Prof. Samuel Terri
en renders this as “So panteth my soul
after thee, O God.” There is a sense of
deep desperation over one of the most
basic human needs. But instead of
water, the Psalmist acknowledges that
it is actually God that he needs and
seeks.
The Bottomless Void
The Psalmist recognizes what so
many of us find it almost impossible to
the flower. Bumble bees cause move
ment by hanging upside down on the
flower, fastening their jaws onto the
staminal tube, and then setting the
flower into vibration by activating their
flight muscles. This is called “buzz pol
lination.” These jaw marks will soon
appear as a brown discoloration on the
blossom, assuring the grower that flow
er has been visited and “set.”
Bumble bees are most active in the
morning and in the afternoon at tem
peratures between SO and 86 degrees F.
They function best at temperatures be
tween 59 and 77 degrees F. Bumble
bees can be used to pollinate other
crops such as peppers, cherry tomatoes,
eggplants, and blueberries.
Thomas suggests one should consid
er the following factors when using
bumble bee pollination. First, use pesti
cides selectively, since many of the tra
ditional classes of insecticides will have
a negative impact on the hive. Contact
a bumble bees distributor for specific
information about persistence and
compatibility of specific compounds.
Systemic pesticides (pesticides that are
absorbed through the roots) may dam
age the bumble bee population. Bumble
bees perform best when used with natu
ral enemies to control pests. Growers
should remove blue sticky cards from
the greenhouse since they may attract
the bumble bees. It is important to keep
ants away from the hive. Finally,
Thomas warns growers not to put orna
mental hanging baskets treated with
systemic insecticides in houses with
bumble bees.
Two informative Websites on this
topic are http://www.koppert.nl Kop
pert Biologicals, (734) 641-3763, Michi
gan and http://www.biobest.be Biobest
Biologicals, (303) 661-9546, Colorado.
For more information, contact Cathy
Thomas, Integrated Pest Management
Program, Bureau of Plant Industry/
Rm. 100, 2301 N. Cameron Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110, (717)-70S-5857,
e-mail c-cthomas@state.pa.us or
cet3@psu.edu.
To Learn About Turfgrass
And Agricultural Equipment
(TAE) Service Technician
Certificate Program
A program offered by Penn State’s
College of Agricultural Sciences will
help meet the needs of the turfgrass
and agricultural equipment industry
for highly qualified service technicians
to keep equipment in top condition.
The Turfgrass and Agricultural Equip
ment (TAE) Service Technician Certifi
cate program will create technicians for
this service area.
‘The turfgrass and agricultural
equipment industries report shortages
of qualified technicians wanting and
able to work in the industry,” said
Doug Schaufler, instructor in the de
partment of agricultural and biological
engineering. “The Engine and Equip
ment Council estimates a shortage of
30,000 qualified technicians.” Devel
oped with input from industry repre
sentatives, this two-year certificate pro-
discem: God is our deepest, most vital
need. Very often people who overin
dulge themselves with food, alcohol,
drugs, sex, status, or material wealth
are searching vainly for something to
fill that seemingly bottomless void in
side us.
We hunger or thirst but nothing ever
seems to satisfy that deep longing.
Blessed is the person who can discover:
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living
God.”
Note that the Psalmist is very specif
ic. He seeks not the God of ideas, ritu
als or reason, but the living God, the
God who can be experienced when
ideas, rituals, and reason fail. He cries;
“When shall I come and behold the
face of God?” He wants the real God,
not someone’s speculations. He wants
the God who can reassure him in the
face of those who taunt him: “Where is
your God?”
What is the “mess” in which the
Psalmist finds himself? Scholars specu
late that this is a man who, for some
reason or other, is in exile far away
from Jerusalem. The God he once ex
perienced in the Holy City he now calls
upon “from the land of Jordan and of
Hermon, from Mount Mizar” (43:6).
We don’t know where Mount Mizar
is, but Hermon is the snow-capped
mountain far to the north of Jerusalem.
Scholars also discern that this man
probably was a participant, perhaps
even a leader, in worship in Jerusa
lem’s temple. (See 43:4). They also say
that he is physically ill as well as home
sick.
What’s The Matter?
Yet, at that point when it seems he
can bear it no longer, he begins to rea
son with himself; “Why are you cast
down, O my soul, and why are you dis
quieted within me?” (43:5). I can so
easily identify with him here because
there are times when 1 ask myself,
“What’s the matter with you? Why are
you thinking this way?”
Often, it is then that 1 recognize that
it is the voice of God challenging me
as I am certain you have.
gram will be offered at the University
Park campus over a two-year sequence
of four eight-week sessions. The first
session starts in October 2002.
“Offering the TAB program in four
eight-week sessions each year allows in
dividuals to work in the turfgrass and
agricultural equipment industry when
not at school,” said Dr. James Hilton,
associate professor of agricultural engi
neering and education. Sessions will be
offered back-to-back. The fall session
runs from October through December,
and the spring session runs from Janu
ary through March 2003.
The first year curriculum includes
mathematics for turfgrass and agricul
tural service technicians, hydraulic ap
plications, engine technology, electrical
systems, computer basics and applica
tions, safe equipment transport and
shop practice, communications and
public relations, power transmission
applications, turfgrass and agricultural
equipment, and business concepts.
The following subjects will be cov
ered during the second year: electronic
applications, electrohydraulics and hy
drostatics, agronomy or turfgrass prin
ciples, machinery management for
turfgrass, written communications and
agriculture business applications, in
ventory management, agricultural
equipment operation, shop manage
ment, turfgrass and agricultural equip
ment operation, irrigation systems and
water management, power units, trac
tion and weight transfer and diagnos
tics, repair and maintenance. Optional
workshops may include welding and
metal working, plastics use and repair,
painting, inventory control, safety
management and other mechanical,
business, and management concepts.
The curriculum covers more than
just engines, hydraulics and electrical
systems, according to Hilton. It also in
cludes equipment operation and adjust
ment, plus computer, business, and
management skills to allow service
technicians to increase their contribu
tion and become an integrated part of a
successful business. “The TAE pro
gram format caters to those interested
in improving their careers and further
ing their education, but are not inter
ested in a conventional two- or four
year college degree,” said Schaufler.
“Classes meet eight weeks in the fall
and eight weeks in the spring for two
years, allowing students to participate
in on-the-job experience for the majori
ty of the year.”
For more information, contact Dr.
James W. Hilton by mail at-The Penn
sylvania State University, 232 Agricul
tural Engineering Building, University
Park, PA 16802; by phone at (814)
863-1817; or by e-mail at
jwh2@psu.edu. More can be learned
about the TAE program by visiting the
Website at http://www.age.psu.edu/
TAE.
Quote Of The Week:
“Leaders must be close enough to
relate to others, but far enough
ahead to motivate them. ”
John Maxwell
Because the Psalmist is willing to
pursue this question, he at last finds an
answer: “Hope in God; for I shall again
praise him, my help and my God.”
There are times when life crowds in
upon us and we realize the impotence
all those things society, technology,
theology, ourselves in which we
hoped, and are faced with surrendering
ourselves either to despair or to God. I
inevitably choose God, because al
though I have not yet beheld his “face,”
I have known him in other times and
found him my only hope.
Thus, while surrounded by nothing
but despairing circumstances, we can
lay claim on a future that looks back on
the help that God will give us. Faith is
living on the promise of God’s grace
that as yet we have not seen fulfilled,
but know in our hearts we will see. We
need to know that every landscape of
our existence is alive with the presence
of God.
The intrepid explorer. Sir John
Franklin, was shown maps of areas not
yet explored. Someone had written at
various places on the map, “Here be
dragons” and “Here be demons.” But
Franklin wrote at each place: “Here be
God.”
Our hope is not that the dragons and
demons are not real, but that God is
even more real.
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 2002 by Lancaster Farming