AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 24, 2002
OPINION
Conservation Program Threatened
Guest Editorial By Read Smith
President, National Association Of Conservation Districts
An excellent program that will help farmers implement conservation mea
sures on their land is at risk.
The Conservation Security Program (CSP) was included in the 2002 Farm
Bill, which was signed into law by President Bush earlier this year. It was to
allocate $2 billion, most of it in incentive payments, to encourage conservation
practices on cropland, grazing lands, and forest lands.
CSP was intended to be a nationwide program, open to any farmer large or
small who wanted to make environmental improvements on his or her farm.
Now the agriculture appropriations committee of the U.S. House of Repre
sentatives wants to water down the CSP and turn it into a pilot program,
limited to only a few farms in one state, lowa. This would be a major setback
to growers and to the environment.
The reasons to adopt CSP are as sound today as they were in May when
both houses of Congress agreed it should be part of the new Farm Bill. CSP is
a major recognition that working farmlands are a critical factor in the envi
ronmental and ecological equation. Other farm programs, such as Conserva
tion Reserve, take sensitive land out of production, but this new program ad
dresses conservation on the millions of acres that remain in production.
Farmers have long recognized that the practices they employ on their land
can have either a positive or a negative impact on the environment. The way
we handle waste and manage soil erosion can have a major effect on commu
nity watersheds. For many years, soil and water conservation districts and the
Natural Resource Conservation Service have worked with growers to develop
and implement techniques that minimize the impact of producing food and
fiber.
Many growers have implemented nutrient and pest management plans.
Others have planted buffer strips along streams or established trees to firm up
riverbanks. Still others are planting winter cover crops or establishing grass
waterways. Every year, thousands of new acres are converted to direct seed
ing, which can reduce soil loss by 90 percent or more and provide food and
habitat for wildlife.
Farmers have done this on their own, even though it has meant a major
commitment of time to learn new practices, money to purchase new equip
ment, and land diverted from productive use. CSP will ensure that growers
who have made the commitment will stay the course and it will provide incen
tives for other farms to incorporate similar improvements.
CSP also provides an avenue for the nonfarming community to support the
environmental improvements that are sought by our society as a whole, in
cluding cleaner water, less erosion of topsoil, and a better environment for
wildlife. When car manufacturers were told to improve gas mileage and re
duce emissions, they were able to pass on their costs. When power plants were
told to reduce their air emissions, those costs were included on utility bills.
Farm field runoff is in the spotlight now, but farmers have no way to pass
on their costs, a reality that is reflected in the CSP cost-sharing incentives.
Erosion and runoff are serious environmental issues. Sedimentation impairs
more miles of stream than any other water pollutant in the U.S. It chokes out
aquatic life, spoils streams for recreation, and poses difficult problems for
water treatment facilities. When soil particles wash off fields, they can carry
manure, pesticides, and fertilizer with them.
In recent years, agriculture has made major improvements in reducing top
soil loss. CSP is a way to expand that improvement. CSP is a benefit for grow
ers, it is a benefit for the environment, and it benefits society as a whole. It is a
program that will work if Congress will give it a chance.
Read Smith is a wheat and livestock producer from Washington state, and
president of the National Association of Conservation Districts.
Saturday. August 24
4-H Regional Horse Show, Berks
County Show Grounds.
Ohio: Livestock and Forage Pest
Management School, Eastern
Ohio Resource Center, Cald
well, Ohio, (740) 732-2682.
4-H Livestock Sale, Harford Fair
grounds, noon.
Tree Identification Workshop,
Cornplanter State Forest
Headquarters off Rt. 36, near
How To Reach Us
To address a letter to the editor:
• By fax: (717) 733-6058
• By regular mail:
Editor, Lancaster Farming
P.O. Box 609,1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
• By e-mail:
farming@lancncws.infl.net
Please note: Include your full
name, return address, and
phone number on the letter.
Lancaster Farming reserves the
right to edit the letter to fit and
is not responsible for returning
unsolicited mail.
Tionesta, 9 a.m.-noon, (814)
723-0262.
Sunday, August 25
Indiana County Fair, thru Aug.
31.
West End Fair, thru Aug. 31.
Monday, August 26
Ohio Manure Science Review
2002, Auglaize County Fair
grounds, Wapakoneta, Ohio,
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., (419)
738-2219.
Dairy Day at New York State
Fair, 8:30 a.m. registration.
Dairy Outlook Teleconference
with Dr. Ken Bailey, various
locations.
DOPP Training, extension office,
Towanda, 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday, August 27
Big Knob Grange Fair, thru Aug.
31.
Allentown Fair, thru Sept. 2.
Greene-Dreher Sterling Fair,
thru Sept. 2.
Centre County Holstein Show,
Centre HaU Fairgrounds, 1
p.m.
■Agriculture Field Day at Virginia
(Turn to Page A 25)
To Take Stock
Of Your Silage,
Forage Inventories
Will you have enough silage and
other forages to carry you through to
the next harvest season? Lancaster
Dairy Agent Glenn Shirk suggests
you check your current inventories,
anticipate your yields for this year,
and determine if you will have suffi
cient quantities.
Many corn fields that were planted
for grain will be salvaged as silage
because of poor ear development and
poor pollination. If these fields do
produce grain, it could have lighter
bushel weights and lower feed value
because of severe drought stress.
Poor kernel development could also
result in lower feed value of silage;
according to some tests, its feeding
value may only be 91 percent of that
of normal-eared silage.
Com with no ears can have fairly
good feed value because a lot of its
nutrients are retained in the stalk,
and even though fiber levels may be
higher, it can sometimes be more di
gestible. On the other hand, if the
com becomes too dry and starts
“burning up” its nutrient reserves in
a desperate effort to survive, its feed
THE POVERTY
OF WEALTH
Background Scripture:
Proverbs 19;17; 22:1-4, 8,9, 16,
22,23; 23:10,11.
Devotional Reading:
Proverbs 19;l-8.
By the time you go to bed this eve
ning, 35,000 poor children through
out the world will have died in this
24-hour period. Thirty-five thousand
died yesterday and another 35,000
will die tomorrow. In our own coun
try, more than IS million children
live in poverty and nine million lack
basic health care.
In the 1990 s we celebrated “the
victory of capitalism over commun
ism.” Yet, as Professor Joerg Rieger
reminds us, since this “victory,” pov
erty levels in both faraway places
and at home have mushroomed
alarmingly. The victory celebration
was premature. Not only are the poor
“still with us,” but there are so many
more of them.
Concurrent with the growth of
worldwide poverty has been a dra
matic change in the way we think
and speak about the poor. Many
today blame the poor for their pover
ty. The helpless and indolent are all
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
value might only be 66 percent or less
of that of more normal silage.
So, as you try to determine the
value of silage, consider moisture,
kernel development, ear develop
ment, harvesting, and transportation
costs and other problems such as
spoilage, nitrates, etc. Also remember
that this year’s silage may not pack
as well. That increases the risk of
spoilage and it means silos will hold
less tonnage; silos will get empty
more quickly, so you may need to
“put up” some extra silage in bags
and other storage facilities.
To Care For Next
Year’s Strawberry Crop
Late August and Early September
is when strawberries set their fruit
buds for next year’s crop. In the con
ventional production system, they
also produce additional runners dur
ing this period as well. There are sev
eral steps you can take to maximize
the potential of next years crop.
First, you need to irrigate to relieve
drought stress on the plants. Since
water is short through this dry
weather, you may be tempted to skip
the strawberries since there is no fruit
in the field at this time. This would
be a serious mistake and will reduce
the potential of next year’s crop. Irri
gation will relieve the water stress,
which will put the plants in a good
condition to produce fruit buds.
A number of growers experienced
a mediocre crop this spring. When
discussing this with these producers,
I learned they did not irrigate last
fall. This certainly contributed to the
less-than-desirable crop this spring.
The other step you should take
now is the second application of ni
trogen. You should have fertilized
with about 40 pounds of actual nitro
gen per acre in early July at renova
tion. If you did that, you should now
add an additional 20 pounds of nitro
gen per acre to give the plants anoth
er boost. If you did not fertilize at
renovation, then add 40 pounds of
nitrogen per acre now. Irrigate to in
corporate the fertilizer.
If the current dry weather persists,
continue to irrigate through Septem
ber. When the temperatures drop in
the fall, strawberries resume vigorous
growth and it is important to remove
poured together into one category
and judged to deserve their poverty.
A Question Of ‘Worth’
Even many of those who believe in
ministering to the poor assume that
we ought to limit this ministry to
those who are “worthy.” That is a
self-serving attitude because it pro
vides us with comfortable limits of
benevolence. Whatever you and I
have been given is gift of grace.
Whatever we give to others is also a
matter of grace. It is all grace!
In all the Bible I do not think you
will And any suggestion that we are
called to minister only to those who
are worthy. In Proverbs 17:5, when
the sage says, “He who mocks the
poor insults his Maker,” he does not
add “unless they deserve it”! In Prov.
19:7, when he says “He who is kind
to the poor lends to the Lord, and he
will repay him for his deed,” the
question of whether these poor are
worthy is never raised. In 21:13,
when the sage warns, “He who closes
his ear to the cry of the poor will
himself cry out and not be heard,” he
does not modify it with “unless the
poor deserve their poverty.”
In all, there are 35 references to
the “poor” in the Book of Proverbs,
more than in any other book of the
Bible, although copious references
are also found in the Psalms, the pro
phetic books and the New Testa
ment. This theme runs through the
Bible from beginning to end.
Although many of us today close
our eyes and ears to the plight of the
poor, the Bible presents the ministry
to the poor, not as an elective for
Christians, but an imperative at the
very heart of the Good News of Jesus
Christ. There can be no room in
Christian discipleship for what Ste
phen Vincent Benet called “the arro
gance of the rich an arrogance so
the water stress to enable the plants
to produce next year’s buds and run
ners.
To Update Your Acreage,
Base, And Yield Records
With The Farm Service Agency
Commodity producers have until
Aug. 31, 2002 to verify and update
records on planted and prevented
planted acres filed with the Farm
Service Agency, according to Rich
ard Pallman, Pennsylvania state ex
ecutive director, FSA. Nonparticipat
ing producers who do not have an
existing Production Flexibility Con
tract (PFC) contract with FSA also
have until Aug. 31 to report acreage
and provide verifiable documenta
tion of prior year plantings if they
want to participate in all farm pro
grams for the 2002 through 2007
crop years.
“Reviewing, verifying, and updat
ing bases and yields may be the most
important thing we ask producers to
do this year,” said Alarie Fleming,
program section chief of-the FSA
state office. “The information we
have on file must be correct in order
for producers to receive accurate di
rect and counter-cyclical payments in
the future.”
To assist, FSA is sending letters to
producers across the country asking
for their updates. The letter includes
a summary acreage history report
showing 2002 PFC crops and con
tract acreage along with acreage his
tory by crop for each of the years
1998 through 2001 for covered com
modities. Included are planted acres
and/or acres prevented from being
planted for 1998 through 2001.
If the information in the letter is
correct, and changes are not neces
sary, the producer does nothing. If
the information is not correct, a pro
ducer should visit the local FSA of
fices before the Aug. 31 deadline and
provide verifiable documentation of
planted and/or prevented planted
acreage and yields. Verifiable docu
mentation may include seed receipts,
production records, and crop insur
ance records.
Quote Of The Week:
“You can’t hold a man down
without staying down with him. ”
Booker T. Washington
vast and unconscious that it seems
like a natural force.”
The World Of Things
I am concerned today for both the
poor and all the rest of us, whether
we are middle class, affluent, or
wealthy. Our problem is not only that
we ignore the plight of the poor
and even blame them for it but
that we are so enamored of the world
of things that our own souls are in
jeopardy.
As Henry van Dyke once warned
us, “Remember, what you possess in
the world will be found at the day of
your death to belong to someone else,
but what you are will be yours forev
er.”
Actually, if we are affluent (and
who among us would admit that we
are?), we are impoverished in a way
we might not suspect. The sage tells
us, “He who loves pleasure will be a
poor man; he who loves wine and oil
will not be rich” (21:17). Further
more, Erich Hoffer observes that
“Our frustration is greater when we
have much and want more when we
have nothing and want some. We are
less dissatisfied when we lack many
things than when we seem to lack
but one thing.” While the poor per
son is in danger of starvation, we are
in danger of damnation!
The writer of Proverbs promises
us, “He who is kind to the poor lends
to the Lord, and he will repay him
for his deed” (19:17). And he who is
not kind to the poor will learn what
it means to be afflicted with the pov
erty of wealth.
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. Burges* General Manager
Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2002 by Lancaster Farming