AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 10, 2002
OPINION
Common sense. There’s an old
saying that “common sense is not so
common.” But I saw that in Jay
Irwin, who brought a pragmatic apti
tude, a dynamism of practical
thought and procedure, to agricul
ture.
I will miss that refreshing attitude.
When the industry was in near
panic, as it had been during the terri
ble avian influenza crisis of 1983-84,
Jay worked to calm the industry
down and to help solve the problem.
Jay passed away recently at the
age of 76. Jay was the county exten
sion director when I began at Lan
caster Farming more than a dozen
years ago.
Jay, a Landisville resident, really
kept most of his heart in Happy Val
ley. I can't recall a time when a com
ment or two wasn’t made about
Coach Joe-Pa, the Nittany Lions
football team, and what chances
Penn State had against Nebraska.
I knew Jay because I ate lunch
with him most times during the very
many Penn State-sponsored poultry
health and management conferences A „
at Kreider’s Restaurant in Manheim. jrlgC.llf IVLCTIIUI
Football and the Lions were at every
lunch. No one could ever doubt how dedicated Jay was to the Lions and Lan
caster County agriculture, almost in equal measure.
I remember speaking to Jay at the Farm and Home Center during the last
serious avian influenza (A. 1.) outbreak in the region in the late ’9os. By then,
Jay had a disposition that was positive about control. Never any panic. He
was always there to answer our questions. He respected the press and knew
how important they were. And he made sure we not only got the facts, he
pointed us in the right direction. As an agent, he was a true mentor for exten
sion agriculture, for industry, and for the press.
(This was late ’9os, mind you, long after he had retired. But that’s the thing
about Jay he never retired! You can get the man out of agriculture, but you
can’t get agriculture out of the man. Besides, I would remind him at the
Kreider lunches, in his retirement, after dedicating his life to agriculture, what
else was he going to do?)
Jay Irwin also contributed a lot to Lancaster Farming directly. He wrote
the Now Is the Time column on this page when he began as county extension
director for Lancaster in 1981 until he retired in 1991. And we have his first
column, dated when we announced he was director on March 28,1981, about
how it was time “to check ventilation systems.” Jay wrote, “This is a good
time to go through your buildings and clean the fan blades, louvers, and
screens.” That advice is still pertinent.
Jay’s u<st Now Is the Time column was dated May 4, 1991, when he “bid
farewell -- time for a change.” He mentioned that he had passed his 65th
birthday, j Schwartz became director and took over duties at the column.
But Jay noteu that he wasn’t totally retiring because he accepted a temporary
duty assignment with USDA extension and Penn State’s program to serve as
adviser with a team going to Poland from June 2-Nov. 29,1991.
Jay’s pragmatic, no-nonsense, common-sense approach to handling the
challenges of agriculture persisted even in those columns, and he spoke about
maintaining that positive attitude right to the end of the column in May 1991,
mentioning how computers would improve farm efficiency and the benefits to
everyone about incorporating integrated pest management (IPM) strategies.
He stayed at the forefront of knowledge about these issues.
Even to the last. Jay maintained that approach, contributing where he
could at the Kreider meetings and the many places agriculture took him.
Even at the end, he was learning about ag developments it’s a lifelong pro
cess with other county agents in Savannah, Ga.
Leon Ressler, county extension director, noted Jay “was active until his last
day.” I think Jay wanted it that way. I think he wants us all in agriculture to
take that to heart, to continue to learn, to continue to make agriculture pros
per.
Goodbye, agent... mentor. And friend.
Saturday, August 10
Aug. 17.
„ Al _ _ . Kutztown Fair Holstein Show,
South Central Holstein Champi- Fairgrounds.
onship Show, Fairgrounds, Maryland State Grange Picnic,
Shippensburg, 9:30 a.m.
Washington County Fair, thru (Turn to Page A4O)
Editor.
Recently there has been a lot of
attention given to a House Bill
that would impose tariff rate
quotas on Milk Protein Concen
trate (MPC). H.R. 1786 is typical
Jay Irwin
1926-2002
❖ Farm Calendar ♦
❖ Farm Forum ❖
of dairy “fixes” that issue forth
from the bowels of politics.
The first and most dangerous
aspect of this bill is that it grants
(Turn to Page A4l)
Agriculture lost a loyal friend with
the passing of Lancaster County Ex
tension Director Emeritus Jay Irwin.
Jay’s quiet and steady leadership
earned him deep respect across the
agriculture community. He began his
extension career in Lancaster County
in 1967 after spending IS years man
aging Farm Bureau cooperatives in
Indiana, Venango, and Westmore
land counties.
Jay earned his bachelor’s degree in
agriculture economics from Penn
State in 1949 after serving in the
Navy on a submarine in the South
Pacific during World War 11. His in
terest in agriculture economics led
him to keep statistics to plot farming
trends. He used this information in
guiding farmers to making wise deci
sions and assisted farm families with
financial planning. As the livestock
production intensified in the county,
Jay sought ways for farmers to man
age their manure with environ
mentally sound methods.
Jay worked closely with the poul
try industry and provided training in
all aspects of production. His leader
ship was especially critical when the
region was struck with a disastrous
avian influenza outbreak in
1983-1984. When the disease was
first diagnosed in the county in the
ON ‘WISING UP’
Background Scripture:
Proverbs 3 through 4.
Devotional Reading:
Proverbs 3:1-8.
I don’t know whether “wise up” is
still in the popular vocabulary.
Maybe it is no longer “cool,” but it
wasn’t many decades ago that it was
a popular, if somewhat rude, invita
tion to get smart. Regardless of how
you say it, “wising up” is a very good
thing.
We are living in “The Information
Age” with mass access to tremendous
stores of data through computers.
We also have “smart cards,” “smart
bombs,” and other technological
“smart” devices. So, who needs prov
erbs or wisdom?
All of us, I believe, need wisdom,
and getting information per se is not
the same as getting wisdom. Data
can help us in making judgments
and decisions, but all the data in the
world cannot keep us from unwise
actions.
- - . {■
***' s*
For example: how many people
who have all the data they need on
the harmful effects of smoking con
tinue to smoke? Or how many people
* K
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To Remember Jay Irwin
spring of 1983, Jay went to work to
help the county’s 700 producers slow
the spread of the disease. He urged
producers to tighten sanity ion pro
cedures and taught them how to do
so. He began seminars to teach veter
inarians how to diagnose and combat
the disease.
When the disease reached epidem
ic proportions in the fall of 1983, the
county was placed under quarantine
and the state and federal avian influ
enza task force arrived to enforce the
quarantine and depopulate infected
flocks. Jay provided crucial liaison
between the task force and the com
munity. He met with producers to ex
plain the importance of strict quar
antine and to help them accept the
task force’s work. In all, the county’s
producers lost 16 million birds.
Jay’s commitment went beyond
the job to caring for the families in
volved. Within one year the industry
was back to full production in spite
of some predictions it would take
three years to recover. Jay’s work in
combating the epidemic was recog
nized in 1985 when he was awarded
the Distinguished Service Award
from USDA.
Jay remained actively involved in
agriculture throughout his retire
ment, and it was a pleasure to inter
act within him at many events over
his retirement years. He became my
mentor and I appreciated his counsel
and support. I could always go to
him for advice.
I will always remember the day in
November of 2000 when he came to
see me to encourage me to apply for
the position of county extension di
rector. I appreciated that although
he strongly encouraged me to apply,
he also said if I didn’t believe I
should, he would understand. This
was an example of his gentle leader
ship style.
I enjoyed seeing him almost week
ly when he came to attend the Lan
caster Rotary Club meeting. He was
an avid Penn State football fan and 1
enjoying discussing our prospects
with him. He felt we had a chance to
beat Nebraska in September.
Besides his interest in agriculture,
he also was active in his church, Be
thany Presbyterian in Lancaster.
Over the years he served as elder,
deacon, trustee, Sunday School
teacher, and served on the worship
committee. He was a dedicated fami
ly man and celebrated 54 years of
who have all the data they need on
the catastrophic dangers of global
warming continue to treat God’s cre
ation as an expendable resource?
Wisdom consists of knowing what to
do with the data and doing it.
Wisdom: God’s Gift
The Book of Proverbs is classified
as wisdom literature, one of the five
types of writing found in the Old
Testament, along with history, law,
devotions, and prophecy. Although it
is the single largest depository of wis
dom writing in the Old Testament, it
also can be found in other Old Testa
ment books and even in the New
Testament. The Beatitudes, for ex
ample, are a kind of wisdom writing
and in Matt. 11:19, Jesus says, “wis
dom is justified by her children.”
In John 1:1, the evangelist’s use of
the Greek word “logos” (the word) is
related to the concept of God's wis
dom. Scholars identify 16 “wisdom
parables” of Jesus, and Paul regards
wisdom vvas one of the “gifts of the
Spirit.”
There are two kinds of wisdom
writings in the Bible: practical/
utilitarian and theoretical/
speculative. Earliest and most preva
lent are the practical and utilitarian
types of wisdom. This is wisdom that
proposes to teach us how to live our
daily lives. Most of the passages from
which we will be studying Proverbs
are of that type.
There is a problem we must con
front at the very start of our study of
Proverbs, for it would appear that
those who value and live by wisdom
will receive tangible benefits. Among
these benefits are “Length of days
and years of life and abundant wel
fare ” (3:2), “ ... favor and good
repute in the sight of God and man”
(3:4), “ ... healing to your flesh and
refreshment to your bones” (3:8),
“barns ... filled with plenty
marriage to Betty in April. He loved
interacting with his five daughters
and their families, which included 11
grandchildren.
Jay will he sorely missed by many.
To Plan To Attend
Ag Progress Days
With The Whole Family
From building character to build
ing a bank account, from reading
skills to sanitary skills, parents and
children who visit the Family Learn
ing Hub at Penn State’s 2002 Ag Pro
gress Days Aug. 20-22 will find a
wealth of fun and information.
Located on Main Street between
West Bth and 9th streets at the Rus
sell E. Larson Agricultural Research
Center at Rockspring, the area in
cludes the Family Room building,
the ImAGination Station, the Family
Animal Learning Center, and Shave
r’s Creek Environmental Center.
The theme in the Family Room is
“Healthy Foods, Healthy Families,”
according to Marilyn Furry, Penn
State associate professor of agricul
tural and extension education. “We
present the latest research and high
priority extension programs,” she
said, “but they’re in contexts that are
fun and engaging for children. We’re
addressing important issues for
Pennsylvania today. But they’re
wrapped up in fun activities like a
treasure hunt, guessing the totals in a
piggy bank, and ‘fishing’ for saving
tips.”
Of course there will also be more
than 3SO exhibitors, crop production
information, field machinery demon
strations, and animal exhibits. Be
cause of concerns over the possible
transmission of foot-and-mouth dis
ease and other foreign animal dis
eases, visitors who have been over
seas within two weeks of attending
Ag Progress Days are asked not to
visit the event’s live-animal exhibit
areas.
Penn State’s Ag Progress Days is
conducted at the Russell E. Larson
Agricultural Research Center at
Rockspring, nine miles southwest of
State College on Rt. 45. Hours are 9
a.m. to S p.m. on Tuesday; 9 a.m. to
8 p.m. on Wednesday; and 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. on Thursday. Admission and
parking are free.
Quote of The Week;
“Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted, ”
< -w *** Jesus (Matthew 5:4)
and... vats... bursting with wine”
(3:10), guidance and protection
(3:23-26).
Practical Benefits
What about those claims? Accord
ing to several recent surveys and
polls, religious people are healthier,
happier, and more successful than
the average person who is not reli
gious. Couples who pray together
have more satisfactory, intimate
lives. But while those benefits are ex
perienced by large numbers of peo
ple, we know for a certainty that reli
gious convictions and practice may
also bring persecution, suffering, and
even death.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the clear
est reminder that following him may
lead to a cross, as most of his apostles
discovered.
Neither should we conclude, as did
the friends of Job, that illness is a
sign that we have sinned against
God, that a person who lives a long
life is necessarily a good person, or
that a rich person is so blessed be
cause he or she walked by spiritual
wisdom.
Living by wisdom and insight does
greatly enrich both our lives and
those of our neighbors, and we can
experience for ourselves the wisdom
of him or her who discovered:
“ ‘Happy is the man who finds wis
dom, and the man who gets under
standing, for the gain from it is better
than gain from silver and its profit
better than gold” (3:13,14).
I’m not sure the world has “wised
up” to that even now.
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