AlO-LancaSter Farming, Saturday, January 4, 2003
OPINION
2002: What To
Make Of It
For many producers, last year will go down as one of the worst.
In southeast Pennsylvania, we had the worst drought since the Dust
Bowl years of the 19305.
If that wasn’t bad enough, milk prices went to the basement and stayed
there. They show little sign of recovery.
Unless you agreed to take on debt, it was hard to be able to farm as
many family members decided to come home. Herds and other operations
increased in size to accommodate the multifamily enterprise.
There were the swords of Damocles over all our heads, from the threats
of foot and mouth disease and food production bioterror to West Nile
Virus, and closer to home, with all our families, the constant threats of
anthrax and similar frights in the age terror on America.
At Lancaster Farming, we were occupied with the development of the
greatest indoor ag showcase of all time: the new construction and vast
renovations taking place at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg that
will affect production agriculture in the decades to come. That work is
highlighted with a special section, Farm Show Showcase, this issue.
For Lancaster Farming, 2002 was a good year. We came out with sev
eral new sections, including Boarder & Trainer and Farm Show Show
case. We introduced several new columns, including Basically Farming
and Del Val Bits. We even took the time to put out a full-color daily
newspaper at the National Holstein Convention in Atlantic City during
the summer.
Needless to say, we were busy.
We only hope you read last week’s in-depth review of the year in agri
culture by Michelle Kunjappu, staff writer. That certainly provides in
sight into what a “roller-coaster” year 2002 has been for agriculture.
But what worries us the most: how will farming thrive if most commo
dities still barely remain profitable? The control of retail outlets for farm
products falls into fewer and fewer hands, putting even more pressure on
the local producer. What’s to become of the farmer and landowner in
2003?
The coming year has several new, exciting, and unique projects in store
for us. You will see some new activity and some different introductions to
these pages in the year to come.
Meanwhile, we wish the best of success in your farm enterprise in 2003
Saturday, January 4
Vineyard Establishment and
Winemaking Seminar, Linden
Vineyards, Linden, Va., 10:30
a.m.-4 p.m., (540) 364-1997.
Sunday, January 5
Monday, January 6
Ice Cream Short Course, Nittany
Lion Inn, University Park,
Editor.
After two years of intensive
revelation regarding the improp
er use of imported milk protein
concentrate (MPC) by many
cheese makers, dairy farmers
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.infi.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.
thru Jan. 16, (814) 863-2959.
Farm BUI Workshop, Snyder
County Extension Office,
County Courthouse, 7 p.m.-9
p.m., (570) 837-4252.
Octorara Young Farmers dairy
meeting, Vo-Ag Dept, of high
school, 7:30 p.m.
(Turn to Page A 33)
may soon see action taken
against some cheese manufactur
ers.
Information taken from the In
ternet reveals that the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) sent
a warning letter to Kraft Foods,
indicating the agency had in
spected three of Kraft’s cheese
plants and found that Kraft was
illegally using MPC in making
some of their products.
Pro-Ag and other advocacy
groups across the country have
been hollering “foul play” re
garding Kraft and other cheese
companies using the imported
MPC.
The FDA letter clearly informs
Kraft that milk protein concen
trate is not listed in Section
133.173 (d) as one of the optional
(Turn to Page A 35)
To Take Your Family
To The Pennsylvania
Farm Show
Don’t miss this year’s new and ex
panded Pennsylvania Farm Show
that will be bigger and better than
ever. This year’s show has been ex
panded from six to eight days and
will be taking place in the newly ren
ovated and greatly enlarged complex.
Penn State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences will take advantage of the
broader stage to show off what it has
to offer students.
As usual, the college will play a big
role in the annual showcase of the
state’s number-one industry agri
culture Jan. 11-18. Visitors will see
evidence of Penn State’s involvement
in virtually every area of the sprawl
ing complex.
Throughout the Farm Show, more
than 100 Penn State faculty and ex
tension educators will assist with
livestock and commodity judging for
everything from dairy cattle to maple
syrup to mushrooms. Their duties in
clude weighing in animals, handling
entry registration, and answering
questions from the public.
The college’s exhibit and the horti
culture department’s display side
by side in a new location in the Main
Exhibit Hall have been revamped.
The college booth is focused on re
cruiting students by showing the di
verse curricula available. The horti-
ONE THING
MISSING
Background Scripture:
Mark 10:17-27.
Devotional Reading:
1 Timothy 6:6-19.
In college I was a member of the
Army ROTC. One day our company
was assembled in a large hall, four of
us to a table. On each table was a SO
caliber machine gun and our assign
ment was to disassemble it and then
put it back together again.
I decided to play a joke on my col
leagues at the next table. I filched a
small piece of the their machine gun.
Although small in size, without this
piece they could not get their gun
back together. My tablemates and I
could hardly stifle our laughs as we
heard them fuss and fume over their
machine gun. There must have been
SO parts in all, but the one piece I
had taken was the key to getting it
all together.
That can serve as a kind of parable
for all people in general and Chris
tians in particular. People may accu
mulate lots of things, material and
nonmaterial, but stiU find something
is missing in their lives, so that they
cannot satisfyingly put those lives to-
Lancaster Farming
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• Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the
Northeast Farm Communicators
culture display will include an “Ask
the Experts” forum where visitors
can get their home and garden ques
tions answered by horticulture spe
cialists, master gardeners, and exten
sion agents.
The Penn State 4-H display in the
Family Living Complex will tell the
story of what it is like to be a 4-H
member. Current 4-H members will
be there to talk to youths about join
ing the organization and 4-H alumni
are encouraged to stop by, say hello,
and sign up to receive a newsletter.
At the college’s exhibit, the public
can learn about a variety of pro
grams and talk to faculty and cur
rent students about their academic
experiences. The College of Agricul
tural Sciences has the largest schol
arship program at the university, and
staff will be on hand to talk with pro
spective students about admission to
Penn State, financial aid and schol
arships, changing location to main
campus, and any other questions
about student life at Penn State.
Also featured will be the Penn
State Pullers, Vi-scale competition
tractors designed and built by agri
cultural engineering students, hands
on activity tables with interactive ex
periments, and games involving ev
erything from wildlife to animal sci
ences to food science to horticulture
and crops and soils. The public is en
couraged to take a few minutes to
relax and watch the continuously
playing videos about international
study opportunities offered by the
college and about Ag Progress Days,
one of the largest outdoor agricultur
al shows in the East.
Information about all majors will
be available, and visitors will have
opportunities to talk one-on-one to
college officials and ask questions
about financial aid, academic pro
grams, and cooperative extension.
The Farm Show complex is locat
ed on Cameron Street, just off of exit
67 of Rt. 81. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9
p.m. from Saturday, Jan. 11 through
Friday, Jan. 17; and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
on Saturday, Jan. 18. Admission is
free and parking is $5 per vehicle,
which includes shuttle bus service
from the off-site lots.
For more information,
visit the Web at
http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/
and click on the Farm Show 2003
link.
gether. I believe it was St. Augustine
who said that at everyone’s heart
there is “a God-shaped blank,” a
void that only God can fill.
‘Good Teacher’
A man ran up and knelt before
Jesus, asking, “Good Teacher, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?”
(Mk. 10:17). Some of those who
asked Jesus questions did so, not to
learn from him, but to put him on
the spot. But this man knelt before
Jesus, showing reverence, calling him
“Good Teacher,” and indicating that
he was quite sincere.
As he often does, Jesus replies with
a question: “Why do you call me
good? No one is good but God alone”
(v. 18). Some scholars argue whether
Jesus’ words indicate something con
trary to the righteousness that Chris
tians ascribe to him. But this humble,
unassuming response is the natural
attitude of a pious and devout Jew of
this day.
“You know the commandments,”
Jesus continues, and the man quickly
replies, “Teacher, all of these I have
observed from my youth” (v. 20).
This may sound somewhat auda
cious, but in Jesus’ day rabbis
thought it quite possible for a man to
keep the whole law. So is Jesus im
plying that eternal life is the reward
of those who keep God’s command
ments? No, I think Jesus is leading
him to a higher understanding and,
in fact, is challenging him: “You lack
one thing; go, sell what you have,
and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven; and come,
follow me.”
Owned By Possessions
Unfortunately, this sincere man
went away with a fallen countenance
because Ills great possessions owned
him and were more precious than
eternal life. Had he stayed, he would
To Make Decisions About
Programs In The
2002 Farm Bill
The slower work schedule in the
winter months provides a good op
portunity for farmers to evaluate
their interest in many programs in
the 2002 Farm Bill.
Richard Pallman, state executive
director of the Pennsylvania Farm
Service Agency, reports “the legisla
tion created many new initiatives,
reauthorized popular existing pro
grams, and established record levels
of government funding for farmland
conservation.” He also suggests “this
translates into a lot of thinking for
farmers to do, and a lot of work for
county-level U.S. Department of Ag
riculture staff. With the passage of
the 2002 Farm Bill, the USDA can
do more than we ever have before to
help Pennsylvania’s producers. But
these decisions are very important,
they can’t be made lightly.”
The Direct and Countercyclical
Program is the hallmark program of
the new Farm Bill. It provides for
payments to eligible producers of
covered commodities, including feed
grains, wheat, soybeans, and other
oilseeds for the 2002 through 2007
crop years. A major feature of the
new law allows producers the option
of updating their historical bases and
yields. These bases and yields will be
used to determine program benefits
for the 2002-2007 crop years, or the
life of the Farm Bill.
Landowners and operators have
until April 1, 2003, to select base
acreage and yield options that will
then be used for the duration of the
Farm Bill. They have until June 2,
2003, to sign up for the direct and
countercyclical program. Direct pay
ments for covered commodities are
made, regardless of market prices, to
producers who have established crop
bases and payment yields. Counter
cyclical payments are issued only if
effective prices are less than the tar
get prices set in the 2002 Farm Bill.
Pallman said he and his counter
parts across the country are bracing
for a brisk sign-up pace in the spring,
and are urging farmers to contact
their FSA offices as soon as possible.
“We just want people to understand
that there’s a lot of information to di
gest, and the earlier they contact us,
the more help we can be to them,” he
said..
Quote Of The Week:
“The best way to predict the fu
ture is to invent it. ”
have heard Jesus say, “How hard it
will be for those who have riches to
enter the kingdom of God!” and the
startled disciples’ response: “Then
who can be saved?” Jesus’ answer in
dicates not that people are saved be
cause of their worthiness, but by the
grace of God “With men it is im
possible; but not with God; for all
things are possible with him” (v. 27).
AU of the commandments he kept
so faithfully could not earn him
God’s gift of eternal life. Neither can
a wealth which, in fact, can keep us
from it.
Our local grocery store puts our
purchases in plastic bags with large
handles, enabling me to carry a large
number of them from the car to the
back door. Most often, I can get to
the back door, but not through it. I
have to put something down. Isn’t
that what Jesus is saying? It is virtu
ally impossible to enter the kingdom
if your arms and your life are loaded
with things. You’ve got to put some
thing down to get inside.
He was a fine, respectable young
man and Jesus loved him. But,
though he faithfully kept the com
mandments, the most important
thing of all was lacking, total com
mitment of himself to God. Respect
ability and good works were not
enough. Unwilling to give up his pos
sessions, he demonstrated all too
clearly that they came first, and God
second. He could not receive God’s
grace without laying down his
wealth.
Take a look at your own life: what
do you need to lay down?
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 2003 by Lancaster Farming
Alan Kay