AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 23, 2002
OPINION
Support SB 1413
Editor's note for all Guest Editorials; Please keep in mind that the
opinions of the writers don’t necessarily agree with the editor’s. For the
benefit of our diverse readership, we strive to provide a balance of opin
ion in Lancaster Farming.
Somehow we have reached the point where a few townships have decided it
suitable to adopt a local ordinance that defies statewide public policy and
threatens the future of farming in the commonwealth. When one strips away
the misleading (or uniformed) statements about agriculture by those advocat
ing unrestricted local control of farming, we get to basic questions that Penn
sylvania’s farm families are asking our neighbors (as well as our state law
makers). Questions such as:
• We have responsibly worked with lawmakers to adopt some of the most
stringent and progressive laws and environmental safeguards for agriculture
in the nation (such as the Nutrient Management Act). When did it become
OK for a few township officials to declare these state laws null and void, and
impose their own version of regulations and limitations on agriculture?
• Farm families have nowhere to go for relief. The ordinances can be over
turned in court (and have been), but farmers don’t have the tens of thousands
of dollars for the legal battles. When did it become OK to expect farm families
to bear the cost of ensuring compliance with state law by localities?
• Many sons and daughters of farmers want to continue in agriculture, but
they need the potential for a decent living, which often requires expansion of
the farm. What’s the chance they will choose a future in agriculture if a local
ordinance means they can’t grow their enterprise?
• Pennsylvanians have spoken loudly and clearly about the need to pre
serve farmland and the rural character of the state. How is that achieved
without preserving family farms?
• Agriculture, the state’s largest single industry, not only provides fresh
products of high quality, but also generates substantial employment for other
business and industry. Do Pennsylvanians agree with the few local officials
who are promoting a patchwork of policies and predicaments across the com
monwealth for farming? Shouldn’t these laws be dealt with uniformly at the
state level?
Legislation (Senate Bill 1413) that addresses this dilemma for farm families
earlier passed the state Senate. Its provisions are simple. Municipalities are re
minded that they can’t pass ordinances that are contrary to existing laws and
overall best interests of the commonwealth, or otherwise discriminate against
agriculture. Courts may require townships to pay the legal costs of a farmer’s
challenge to an ordinance if the court finds that the township officials knew
their action was illegal. Likewise, courts may require farmers to pay legal fees
if a lawsuit is found to be frivolous.
The legislation is languishing in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
as the General Assembly nears adjournment. Pennsylvanians can stand up
with our farm families by calling your state Representative today to urge pas
sage of Senate Bill 1413
Saturday, November 23
Susquehanna County Farm City
Feast and annual meeting,
Mountain View High School,
Editor.
The Pennsylvania House of Repre
sentatives should just let SB 1413 die.
It is bad legislation. We don’t need it.
We already have a Right To Farm
Law in Pennsylvania. It’s a good law.
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@lancnews.infl.net
Please note: Include your full
! name, return address, and
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Guest Editorial By
Guy F. Donaldson, President
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
* -
7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 24
i 5
❖ Farm Forum ❖
,T ‘ •
It’s not broken, so why “fix it?”
Like so many other laws already
on the books, the Right To Farm
Law just needs to be enforced. If
some townships are violating the
state Right to Farm Law, the Penn
sylvania Department of Agriculture
should haul them into court and sue
their pants off.
Our rights as farmers include re
sponsibilities as good citizens. The
fact that we have a Right To Farm
Law does not give us a blank check
to do whatever we want on our land.
We are still bound by the same com
munity standards that we expect our
neighbors to abide by.
My family raises vegetables in Le
high County, where builders pay up
to $BO,OOO an acre for land and have
waiting lists for homes costing
$400,000 to $600,000. With that kind
of building and business boom, local
governments might bend over back
ward to accommodate builders.
They’re not. Why? They know
„. ~ , ft l i r PJ t 9 Page A27)_, . ,
(Turn to Page A 26)
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To Use Biological
Fungicides In Greenhouse
Vegetable And
Floriculture Crops
Cathy Thomas, with the Pennsyl
vania Department of Agriculture’s
Integrated Pest Management Pro
gram, reports diseases in greenhouse
vegetables and floriculture crops can
be managed effectively with biologi
cal fungicides (biofungicides).
A biofungicide is composed of ben
eficial microorganisms, such as spe
cialized fungi and bacteria that at
tack and control plant pathogens and
the diseases they cause. These spe
cialized fungi and bacteria are micro
organisms that normally inhabit
most soils. Biofungicides can be a vi
able alternative to chemical fungi
cides and can be used as part of an
integrated disease management pro
gram to reduce the risk of pathogens
developing resistance to traditional
chemical based fungicides.
An example of a widely used com
mercial biofungicide in the green
house industry is Trichoderma harzi
anum (TH) strain T-22 (Plantshield).
TH protects plant roots from patho
gens such as Pythium, Rhizoctonia,
Fusarium, Sclerotinia, and Thielavi
opsis. TH will also suppress foliar
diseases such as Botrytis and pow
dery mildew.
To optimize the effectiveness of
TH or any other biofungicide, apply
before the onset of disease develop
ment (preventative treatment) since
A HEART
TRANSPLANT
Background Scripture:
Ezekiel 36 through 37.
Devotional Reading;
Jeremiah 32:36-41.
We sometime make the mistake of
thinking that grace is the invention
of the New Testament. Although the
English word “grace” occurs only six
times in the Old Testament, God’s
grace is often present there. Ezekiel
36 is just one of those places where
we find grace in the Old Testament.
“Thus says the Lord God: it is not
for your sake, O house of Israel, that
I am about to act, but for the sake of
my holy name, which you have pro
faned among the nations t 0...”
(36:22). God will restore Israel, but
not because they deserve it. They
cannot afford God’s justice, for it will
keep them in captivity.
What God is going to do for these
people, whose forbears repeatedly vi
olated this covenant, is nothing short
of a miracle. “For I will take you
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they will not “cure” preexisting path
ogens. Early application of the bio
fungicide protects the roots against
bad fungi, allowing for better devel
opment of root hairs. Always use bio
fungicides in conjunction with stan
dard disease cultural controls
including sanitation, and weekly
scouting.
There are four mechanisms by
which a biofungicide controls other
microorganisms. The first of these
mechanisms is direct competition.
Before root infection can' occur, path
ogens must gain access to the zone
closely associated with the root called
the rhizosphere. A biofungicide
“shields” the root by growing a de
fensive barrier around the roots, thus
preventing the harmful fungi from
attacking the root.
The second mechanism is antibio
sis. The biofungicide produces a
chemical compound such as an anti
biotic or other toxin that kills the tar
get organism.
Predation or parasitism of the tar
get organism occurs when the bio
fungicide attacks and feeds on the
pathogen. For this mechanism to be
effective, the biofungicide must be
present in the rhizosphere at the
same time or before the pathogen ap
pears.
The fourth mechanism is induced
resistance to the host plant and this
occurs when the biofungicide triggers
the plant to turn on its own defense
mechanisms.
Biofungicides like chemical fungi
cides must be registered by the EPA.
Growers must read and follow the
label to determine if the intended use
has been approved. Always read the
label. A few examples of biofungi
cides used in the greenhouse industry
include AQIO, Companion, Mycos
top, Plantshield, Bioworks, and Soil
gard. A list of commercially available
biological fungicide products can be
found at this Website, www.oardc.o
hio-state.edu/apsbcc/productlist.htm.
For more information, contact Cathy
Thomas at (717) 705-5857.
To Participate In A
Study Of Deer
Hunter Movement
Sproul State Forest again will be
the focus of a joint study of deer
hunter movement and behavior this
fall by Penn State’s College of Agri
cultural Sciences, the Pennsylvania
Bureau of Forestry, and the Pennsyl
vania Game Commission.
Starting on Saturday, Nov. 30, and
Sunday, Dec. 1, researchers and stu
dents from Penn State and Bureau of
from the nations, and gather youf
rom all the countries, and bring you
into your own land.” (vs. 24,25).
What a deal!
Undeserved Mercy
Their “abominable deeds” broke
the old Sinai covenant. Now God is
making make a new covenant with
them, a new relationship between
God and Israel. They cannot make
themselves clean. Only God can do
that: “ 1 will sprinkle clean water
upon you and you shall be clean
from all your uncleanness...” (v.
25). That is grace something given
to us, although we don’t deserve it.
Something we can’t do for ourselves.
Grace, however free and unde
served, is not cheap. God is not
downplaying one bit what the people
have done. He is not saying, “Don’t
worry, it doesn’t matter.” The sins of
Israel mattered a great deal to God!
As he outlines their sins, it is appar
ent that these sins were not little
pranks and failings he could over
look,. but willful disobedience which
he could not and did not ignore.
Grace is not just an indulgent pat
on the head, but requires repentance
on our part: “Then you will remem
ber your evil ways, and your deeds
that were not good; and you will
loathe yourselves for your iniquities
and your abominable deeds Be
ashamed and confounded for your
ways, O house of Israel” (vs. 31,32)
If we do not have the capacity to
be “ashamed and confounded” by
our ways, we will be unable to experi
ence his grace. It is a free gift, but the
ticket by which we claim this free gift
is our own remorse.
Forestry personnel will be visiting
campsites in Sproul State Forest to
solicit participation in the study. As
was the case last year ( researchers
will ask hunters to carry global posi
tioning satellite units and mark maps
to learn how hunters move through
and use habitat.
Similarly, on Monday morning,
Dec. 2, through Wednesday, Dec. 4,
researchers will stop hunters entering
the forest to ask them to carry GPS
units or to mark maps indicating
their hunting activities during the
day. Stations along Rt. 144 west of
Renovo, near Beech Creek Road and
near State Line Road on the western
side of the forest will be open from
before dawn until after dark.
“Last year the research teams en
joyed great cooperation from the
hunters using the Sproul,” said Jim
Finley, project team leader from
Penn State. “It only takes a couple of
minutes to receive instruction on
using the GPS units and convey in
formation to the team, and every co
operating hunter will have his or her
name entered into this year’s draw
ing for three Garmin GPS units used
in the study.
“We continue to analyze last
year’s data from the GPS and maps
as well as the survey sent to hunters
who used Sproul State Forest last
year for hunting,” said Finley.
“We’ve learned that hunters use the
forest in different ways. Some hunt
ers travel long distances through di
verse habitats, while others tend to
find one spot and stay put. Do differ
ent hunting styles yield different suc
cess? This is the question that we will
focus on this year. We hope that
hunters will continue to support the
project.”
The Penn State research is aimed
- at providing information to better
understand how hunters use large
forested areas such as Sproul State
Forest. The data hunters provide,
Finley points out, will move the
state’s deer and habitat management
program into the national spotlight.
“No other researchers anywhere in
the country are using the type of
technology that this project uses and
no other studies have enjoyed coop
eration like we’ve received from the
Sproul hunters,” he said. For more
information about this study, contact
Finley at (814) 863-0401.
Quote Of The Week:
“We have always held to the
hope, the belief, the conviction that
there is a better life, a better world,
beyond the horizon. ”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Beyond Forgiveness
The free gift of grace does not stop
with forgiveness: “A new heart I will
give you, and a new spirit I will put
within you; and I will take out of
your flesh the heart of stone and give
you a heart of flesh” (v. 26).
Ezekiel signals here a significant
change in God’s relationship with his
people. The commandments of the
original covenant at Sinai were writ
ten on stone tablets. But the com
mandments never seemed to be
translated from the stone tablets to
the hearts of the people. It wasn’t
that they didn’t understand these
laws, but that they did not take them
into their hearts of “stone.”
So, although the old covenant was
with the whole nation and would
continue to be so, by his spirit the
new covenant would also be estab
lished with each individual. A heart
of stone cannot change, but a heart
of flesh can. It was not enough for
God’s commandments to be written
on stone; they needed to be written
on human hearts as well. This new
and intimate relationship with God is
also a gift of grace. By themselves
they cannot achieve it, but “I will put
my spirit within you, and cause you
to walk in my statutes and be careful
to observe my ordinances” (v. 27).
Medical heart transplants have
saved many, many lives. Spiritual
heart transplants have saved and will
save trillions of souls. Will yours be
among them?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
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Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2002 by Lancaster Farming