AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 3, 2002 OPINION Bringing The Farm Show ‘Back’ A lot of effort has been spent as well as a lot of money, to the tune of more than $B6 million to do what one anonymous reader be lieves is the impossible: bring farming “back” to the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg. You see, some critics have been harsh on the Farm Show. They be lieve that farmers don’t want to go to a farm event in the “city.” They prefer the countryside. They don’t want to spend money to park, to visit exhibits that have “nothing to do with farming,” and they don’t like the crowds. But the Farm Show Committee has addressed these issues and liter ally turned the tables on these concerns through brand-new construc tion and a brand-new outlook. It’s a whole new show, folks. It’s going to be a greater, bigger show. More importantly, the “farm” is “back,” as the saying goes, in “Farm Show.” (Truthfully, it has never really left. For our readers, with our exten sive coverage of livestock and rural living exhibits, the Farm Show has always maintained its tradition. Over the years, the appeal has been stretched to the urban folks unfortunately for many, it’s the only “agriculture” they ever see.) When has farming ever “left” the Farm Show? There are thousands who enjoy the swine, sheep, beef, dairy, horse, goat, and other animal livestock contests and exhibits. There are thousands who enjoy the farm product showcase “show of shows” annually, faithfully. For many, it’s truly a family affair. Lately, you’ve probably caught this “house ad” (shown below this editorial) about “building for the future.” It reflects Secretary of Agri culture Sam Hayes’ exclusive column in Lancaster Farming, and re minds us that the Farm Show truly is expanding, building, con structing a new future. Along with that, a few weeks ago, on page 1, we introduced the Farm Show 2003 Exhibitor Spotlight column. About every two weeks, and then more often as Farm Show approaches, we will profile the major Farm Show exhibitors give you a history of who they are and what they represent. In the future, as • developments occur, we’ll present the future the various committees have built a brand new, farm-oriented, farm friendly show. Nothing compares to it. The Farm Show in Harrisburg is where it all began. It has never left. It never will. Saturday, August 3 Northwest Holstein Championship Show, Stoneboro Fairgrounds, 9:30 a.m. Clinton County Fair, thru Aug. 10. Montgomery County 4-H Roundup, 4-H Center, Creamery. Pa. Sheep Field Day, Penn State Ag Arena, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., invitational Editor: It was a disgrace when dairy farmers opened their milk checks on July 25 and realized the price they received for milk they shipped for the first 15 days of July was only $10.09 per CWT (.86 cents per gal.) This price will be equal to prices paid to the dairy farmers about 20 years ago. Many dairy farmers are shak ing their heads in sheer disgust over milk prices and believe no one is doing anything about the low prices. Readington Farms, Whitehouse, N.J., agreed to pay Pennsylvania Farm Show 2003 ewe sale 2 p.m. Woodswatk at Ken Comstock’s proper ty in Potter County, (717) 484-2239. Howard County Maryland Fair, West Friendship, Md., thru Aug. 10, (410) 442-1022. Chester County 4-H Fair, Romano 4-H Center, Honeybrook, (610) (Turn to Page A 27) $ll, per CWT as the advance price to their dairy farmers. This advance price comes on the heels of dairy farmers receiv ing $12.38 per CWT for all their milk shipped in June 2002. How ever, the $12.38 represents the price paid to dairy farmers ship ping in the Boston, Mass. area. The further away a milk receiv ing plant is from Boston, the lower the dairy farmer’s price. For instance, a producer ship ping to a plant in Syracuse, N.Y. (Turn to Page A 22) To Evaluate Your Drought-Stressed Com And Make Alternative Plans Greg Roth, corn specialist in the Department of Crop and Soil Sci ence, reports the dry July in some areas, combined with temperatures in the 90s, has caused some of our state’s corn crop to begin to decline rapidly. Unfortunately, the dry weather in many areas has coincided with the most sensitive growth stages of covn late vegetative and early reproduc tive stages. This year, drought stress has been compounded by some of the poor soil conditions that resulted from wet conditions at planting, soil compaction, or flooded areas in some fields. The Capitol Region Agronomy team members advise there are sever al things that should be done now. The condition and yield potential of the crop should be assessed. Dairy and livestock producers may want to collect a forage sample to assess DO YOU WANT TO GET GOD MAD? Background Scripture: Proverbs 6:6-15. Devotional Reading: Proverbs 6:16-35. In a recent personality profile in our local newspaper, the interviewee was asked to name his “pet peeves.” I remember thinking that I’d rather know the things that are guaranteed to make him angry, rather than just peeved. For example, I get angry when I hear people saying that poor people “probably deserve to be poor” when someone drives down our street with their radio blasting loud enough to be heard all over the block, when people throw their smokes or garbage any where but in the waste receptacle, and when people lie, cheat and steal, calling it “good business” or “just politics.” Those items tell you some thing about me. Whether the concept of God hat ing anything or anyone stands up theologically as in Proverbs 6:18: “There are six things which the Lord hates...” but “displeasing God” is probably too understated on the other side. So let’s work with this passage for, in understanding what God hates, we learn something of what God is like. Lancaster Farming An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper • Keystone Awards 1993,1995 • PennAg Industries 1992 • PACD Media Award 1996 • Berks Ag-Business Council 2000 • Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the Northeast Farm Communicators moisture, forage quality, and nitrate levels. Grain farmers may want to begin identifying ways to market their crop as silage. All producers should check with their crop insurance or Farm Service Agency representative before har vesting the crop. The increased use of crop insurance in the state should help producers weather this drought better than past droughts. Dairy and livestock producers should begin to assess their crops’ yield potential and winter feed inven tories and explore opportunities for purchasing com silage, western hay, or other forages if necessary. An esti mate of wet (70 percent moisture) si lage yield is about 1 ton per foot of height of com without ears or poorly pollinated ears. This estimate may be on the high side for very short (1-3 foot tall) crops. Corn growers can estimate the grain yield of com fields once polli nation is complete using a simple procedure. Knowing yields in ad vance may help growers in the mar keting of the crop or in estimating how much additional feed will need to be purchased because of the dry weather this year. First estimate the plant population in each field by counting the number of plants in 1/1000 of an acre. With 30-inch rows, that distance is 17 feet 5 inches. Then harvest every fifth ear and determine the average number of kernels per ear. Multiply the number of kernels per ear times the number of plants per acre and then divide by 90,000. For this estimate to be accu rate, make the check in several loca tions in each field. Dry conditions throughout the grain fill period could result in small kernels and a lower yield than estimated. Com often has a remarkable abili ty to recover, so don’t be in a hurry to pull the plug. As we learned in previous droughts, though, there is a point of no return where the best op tion is to harvest the crop for silage and consider alternative crops. If the Compare Your List If you haven’t already read that passage or committed it to memo ry! try to predict what six things in the world that stir God to what in human beings we call “anger.” (Ac tually, it is seven things: “ ... seven which are an abomination to him” this formula, “for six ... and for seven ...” is a rhetorical form com mon in Semitic poetry). When you finish your list, compare it with the list in Proverbs 6. Unlike mine, God’s list does not include blaring radios or litterers. But it does include 1. haughty eyes, 2. a lying tongue, 3. hands that shed innocent blood, 4. a heart that de vises wicked plans, 5. feet that make haste to run to evil, 6. a false witness who breathes out lies, and 7. a man who sows discord among others” (6:17). That’s probably the short list of a much longer one, but it is a good place to start. Note that five of these things are pictured in terms of parts of the human body: eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet. As Holland W. Schloerb writes in The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 4, “None of these organs is hateful in itself; the divine disapproval arises when the individual uses his eyes to flaunt his haughtiness...” The same is true of the tongue, hands, heart and feet, just it is with any of the gifts that God gives us: money, sex, athletic, artistic and sci entific talents, emotions, and so forth. What concerns God is what we do with these things. Haughty Eyes You may have surprised or even puzzled by the one on “haughty eyes.” Why do these eyes stir God’s anger? they probably wouldn’t ap pear on any of our lists! But, if we re member that “haughty” means “dis dainfully proud, snobbish; arrogant,” we see that the sin, here, is pride, a sin many of us seldom consider. We tend to think of it as an annoy ing personality characteristic, rather corn has tasseled and leaves cease to unroll at night and the tops start to brown out, the plants are probably not going to recover. If half the leaves were dead or dying it would be a good candidate for evaluating for silage harvest. Drought-stressed corn is frequent ly wetter than it looks, so be sure to monitor moisture during harvest. It can also be high in nitrates, which can cause some problems in the feed ration, but can also result in deadly yellowish brown silo gas. Be extreme ly careful around storage facilities with drought-stressed corn silage. For more details on managing corn in a drought, check out the fact sheet “Managing Drought Stressed Corn” on Penn State’s Com and Soybean Management Webpage at http://www.agronomy.psu.edu/ Extension/CornManagement/ default.html. To Harvest Your Alfalfa On A Normal Schedule Mark Goodson, capital region agronomy agent, reports the primary criteria influencing the decision to harvest drought-stressed alfalfa should be the cost of harvesting and the value of the forage. The alfalfa plants may look weak and severely stressed during a drought; however, harvesting at the stage of plant development when you would normally harvest is recom mended as long as adequate alfalfa is present to justify the cost of harvest ing. The plant, even though it may be very short, will already have stored more than enough root carbohy drates to insure survival if the drought persists or insure regrowth if sufficient rains remove the drought conditions. Quote Of The Week: “/ do not know anyone who has got or gotten to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. ” Margaret Thatcher than a sin. But that is not the biblical view. In fact, the “original sin” of Adam and Eve in the Garden was not sexuality, as often assumed, but pride stirred when the serpent as sured Eve that, if they ate the forbid den fruit, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Much of the sin cataloged in the Bible stems from arrogant pride and it is listed among the “Seven Deadly Sins.” “Hubris” is another term for this sin, as well as “being full of your self.” Proverbs 6:20-24 reminds us of two truths often forgotten. The first is a reminder that parents do have some thing to teach us even though teens may doubt that! “My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teach ing ” (6:20,21). God’s wrath is stirred when we ignore our parents’ teachings. Secondly, he reminds par ents that they have something to teach. Many assume they have noth ing to pass on, but Proverbs reminds us that this is a duty for all parents. Although Proverbs’ writer doesn’t say so, he probably includes 6:24-35, on sexual morality, in the expanded list of things that anger God. Adul tery is equated with thievery (v. 30) and labeled as self-destructive (v. 32). The most graphic warning is verse 27: “Can a man carry fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?” Can we? 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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