AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 18, 2003
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OPINION
Sam
We have a new secretary of agri
culture.
That’s great news. We wish the
new secretary much success in that
challenging endeavor.
But I want to remind the fine folks
who read this paper that for the past
many years, we’ve been blessed with
a great man.
We’ve heard various names for
what we refer now as “outgoing sec
retary,” a true gentleman of agricul
ture. We’ve s6en “The Honorable
Sam Hayes.” We’ve seen “Coach
Hayes” from (outgoing) Gov. Mark
Schweiker. I’ve always called him
“Secretary Hayes,” simply out of re
spect for who he is and what he does.
But those who read his letters see the indelible signature of “Sam.”
But we all know what his massive signature implies: a man obsessed with
advancing Pennsylvania agriculture.
Sam Hayes (outgoing)
Pennsylvania Secretary of
Agriculture
First and foremost, I believe Secretary Hayes Sam has been the finest ag
secretary this state has ever seen. Why? Well, look at this partial list of his ac
complishments as reported during Agro 2003:
• With the aid of the General Assembly, and with key support from vari
ous groups, including Farm Show Director Dennis Grumbine and staff, Hayes
was able to help allocate $9O million for the most major additions and renova
tions to the State Farm Show Complex since the first Farm Show budding
went up more than 70 years ago. Hayes also was instrumental in the develop
ment of the Livestock Evaluation Center near Rockspring and the PDA
Greenhouse.
• On the original conference committee for the Pennsylvania Farmland
Preservation Program, Hayes was instrumental in making Pennsylvania the
leader in the nation for preserved acres, making Pennsylvania a model pro
gram for the entire country.
• Hayes was instrumental in developing the biosecurity plan for agribusi
ness, far ahead of most other states. This is part of his boundless enthusiasm
and tireless promotion of agriculture in the state
• During the
drought of 1999,
Hayes was able to
help crop insur
ance programs
that have become
national models.
The total amount
exceeds $275 mil
lion, overtaking
the mere $lOO mil
lion a few years
ago
What Secretary
Hayes has done far
exceeds what any
body should expect
from an excellent
secretary of agri
culture. He is now
part of what we
are and what we
will share in
generations to
come in this state.
We salute
Coach Hayes. I
sincerely thank
Secretary Hayes
for all he has done
for our state, for
our institution,
and for our read
ers.
Cornell Sheep and Goat Market
ing Summit, Cornell Sheep
Farm, Harford, N.Y., in con-
junction with Quinterly Cor
nell Sheep Farm Field Day,
(607) 255-2851.
Pa. Purebred Dairy Cattle Asso
ciation Judging School, Pa.
Farm Show Complex, Harris
burg^9a.m >r (514)234-0364.
Thanks!
A.. i. <*».
\ ❖ Farm Calendar ❖
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New Jersey Holstein-Friesian As
sociation annual meeting, Am
well Fire Hall, Ringoes, N.J.,
2:30 p.m., (908) 479-4633.
Monday, January 20
New Holland Vegetable Growers’
Day, Yoder’s Restaurant, New
Holland, (717) 394-6851.
(Turn to Page A 37)
To Attend The
Lancaster County Cooperative
Extension Association
Annual Meeting
For a winter evening of warm fel
lowship, an opportunity to enjoy a
variety of the county’s foods, enjoy a
top-quality concert, and to learn
about Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion programs, plan to attend the
Lancaster County Cooperative Ex
tension Association Annual Meeting
Jan. 30.
The meeting will be conducted at
the Farm and Home Center in Lan
caster. The evening will begin with a
social hour from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. with
food provided by various vendors
and commodity groups. As usual, the
food will be excellent and plentiful.
Dinner music will be provided by
Erin, Amber, and Lindsey Sensing,
talented 4-H’ers. At 7 p.m. we will
begin the business meeting with in
troductions, staff program updates,
and an election for our board of di
rectors. At 8 p.m. we will be treated
to a concert by the McCaskey Gospel
choir, which is well known for its ex
cellent programs.
The meeting will conclude with a
Penn State report by regional direc
tor Michelle Rodgers and awards
QUID EST VERITAS?
Background Scripture:
John 18:31-38; 19:12-16a.
Devotional Reading:
I Timothy 2:1-6.
In his native language, Latin, Pon
tius Pilate asked Jesus that immortal
question, “Quid est veritas?”—“What
is truth?” It would appear from John
18:37,38 that Pilate received no an
swer from Jesus, for, as soon as he
asks, John goes on to say, “After he
said this, he went out to the Jews
again ”
I believe, however, that Jesus an
swered this question before Pilate
even asked it. When Pilate asked,
“Are you the King of the Jews?”,
Jesus tried to avoid the semantics
trap, explaining that his “kingship is
not of this world” (18:36). But Pilate
persists and Jesus says, “For this I
was bom, and for this I have come
into the world, to bear witness to the
truth.”
Jesus has already indicated that
truth is not something you have, but
what you are and do. He does not
have in his human brain all the
knowledge and truth of the universe,
but he is the truth in that he leads us
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
and recognitions. A separate chil
dren’s program will be provided in
the downstairs meeting room during
the business meeting.
Tickets for the evening are $4 for
adults and $2 for children ages 6-12,
a real bargain! Call the Lancaster
County Extension office for more in
formation and for tickets, (717)
394-6851.
To Enroll In Whole
Farm Revenue
Insurance Plans
Jayson Harper, professor of agri
cultural economics at Penn State, re
minds us the sign-up deadline is Jan.
31 for the whole-farm revenue insur
ance plans AGR and AGR-Lite.
There is a lot of interest in these crop
insurance plans, so it is important to
make an appointment with a crop in
surance agent soon.
When you meet with the agent,
you will need copies of your 1997,
1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 1040
Schedule Fs in order to apply for
coverage.
AGR-Lite is available statewide
and AGR is available in 14 counties
(Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Craw
ford, Erie, Fayette, Lackawanna,
Lancaster, Lehigh, Monroe, North
ampton, Schuylkill, Westmoreland,
and York). Fact sheets and other in
formation on AGR and AGR-Lite
can be found on the Pennsylvania
Crop Insurance Education Website:
http://cropins.aers.psu.edu. The 2003
version of “Crop Insurance for Penn
sylvania Field Crops,” “Crop Insur
ance for Pennsylvania Vegetable
Crops,” and “Crop Insurance for
Pennsylvania Fruit Crops” are avail
able on the Website.
Crop insurance is a valuable risk
management tool that allows farmers
to insure against losses because of
adverse weather conditions, fire, in
sects, disease, irrigation water supply
failure, and wildlife. Crop insurance
is federally subsidized and is sold by
private crop insurance agents. Dur
ing 1997-2001, Pennsylvania farmers
with crop insurance were paid $61.7
million for crop losses and received
$4.32 for crop losses for every $1 they
paid in premiums.
Crop insurance is increasingly
being adopted by farmers for risk
to God, the source of all truth. In
Christianity’s earliest days, his fol
lowers were concerned not with sys
tematizing the ideas of Jesus, but fol
lowing the example of their Lord.
The truth was demonstrated in their
lives individually and corporately.
Jesus had said, not understand me,
but follow me!
Little Box Of Brains
For one thing, completely compre
hending the truth may be impossible
because we can apprehend, but not
comprehend it with our finite minds.
In one of H.G. Wells’ works, a Bish
op converses with an angel and says,
“You can tell me the truth.” The
angel gently grasps the Bishop’s head
in his hands, and the Bishop asks,
“Bui can this hold it?” “Not with this
little box of brains,” says the angel.
“You could as soon make a meal of
the stars and pack them into your
belly. You haven’t the things to do it
with inside this.”
The Bishop is not unique, for none
of us have the mental equipment to
entertain in ourselves the hill truth.
“Where were you when I laid the
foundation of the earth?” God chal
lenged Job, “ Tell me, if you have un
derstanding” (Job 38:4). Job then un
derstands his human limitation and
answers: “ ... I have uttered what I
did not understand, things too won
derful for me, which I did not know”
(42:3b). Instead of finding answers to
his questions, he finds God: “I had
heard of thee by the hearing of the
ear, but now my eye sees thee” (42:5).
Jesus told Pilate that his purpose
in coming to the world was to “bear
witness to the truth.” The way in
which Jesus conducted himself be
fore Pilate was a witness to the truth
of God. The whole drama from the
management. In 2002 there was a 20
percent increase in the number of
crop insurance policies sold (14,603
for 2002 vs. 12,218 for 2001). The
covered acreage increased from
977,000 acres to 1.16 million acres
this past year (a 19 percent increase).
A minimum level of crop insur
ance called CAT insurance is avail
able to all farmers regardless of size
at no premium cost (all premiums
are paid by the federal government).
Higher levels of crop insurance (buy
up protection) are also federally sub
sidized, with farmers paying only
33-62 percent of the actual cost of the
insurance (depending on the level of
coverage selected).
The commonwealth of Pennsylva
nia is a strong supporter of crop in
surance and has allocated fluids
since 2000 to help farmers buy crop
insurance. This money will be used to
pay the $lOO policy application fee
for CAT insurance and the $3O ap
plication fee for buyup protection.
An additional 10 percent of the total
cost of buyup protection will also be
paid by the state, so Pennsylvania
farmers pay only 23-52 percent of the
actual cost of this coverage (a 16-30
percent discount). The end result is
that CAT insurance is free and
buyup protection is discounted in
Pennsylvania.
Multiperil crop insurance is avail
able for at least one commodity in
every county in Pennsylvania; a total
of 22 crops are represented across the
state.. Whole-farm Adjusted Gross
Revenue (AGR) insurance is avail
able in 14 counties and AGR-Lite
(for farmers with revenue protection
needs of $lOO,OOO or less) is available
statewide in 2003. For more informa
tion, contact Jayson Harper at (814)
863-8638 or e-mailjharper@psu.edu.
Quote of the Week:
“Cultivators of the earth are the
most valuable citizens. They are
the most vigorous, the most inde
pendent, the most virtuous, and
they are tied to their country and
wedded to its liberty and interests
by the most lasting bonds. As long,
therefore, as they can find employ
ment in this line, I would not con
vert them into mariners, artisans,
or anything else. ”
Thomas Jefferson
to John Jay, 1785
Praetorium to the hill of Calvary was
a pageant of the truth of God
through the witness of Jesus Christ.
Truth’s ‘Companion’
We are never further from the
truth then when we think of it as
something to be possessed. 1 have it
and I will let you have it! But, like
Jesus, we need instead to point peo
ple to God so that they may experi
ence the truth, not in lofty human
ideas but in the experience of God’s
eternal source of truth.
Charles Caleb Colton once said
that “The greatest friend of truth is
time, her greatest enemy is prejudice,
and her constant companion is hu
mility.” This is what so unsettled
Pontius Pilate when Jesus stood be
fore him. Humbly, Jesus embodied
the truth.
Some years ago an Old Testament
scholar wrote a book in which he ex
pounded a radical theory on the au
thorship of the book of Isaiah. He ad
mitted that he dreaded the criticism
that was sure to follow, but he said,
“There is a worse fate than being
misunderstood; it is to be to truth a
timid friend.” Jesus was a humble,
but not timid, friend of truth. Pilate
asked, “What is truth?” and Jesus
showed him:
“From the cowardice that shrinks
from new truth, from the laziness
that is content with half-truths, from
the arrogance that thinks it knows
all truth, O God of Truth, deliver
us.”
(An ancient prayer)
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 2003 by Lancaster Farming
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