AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 1,2003
OPINION
The Full Farmer
The English philosopher Sir Francis Bacon once noted, “Reading
maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact
man.”
In other words, if you want to know what you’re talking about,
you’d better be well read on the subject. And those that are well read
can be counted on to know a bit about history and have the so-called
“well of information” to prove it.
With that in mind, a couple of years ago we began a column enti
tled Farm Shelf, which pointed out good books for farmers to read
and enjoy. The column continues to be a source of education and fun,
especially to those of us who read and write about books of interest to
farmers.
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation, in a letter
last month, noted that, in a joint program with the National Educa
tion Association, the Read Across America Program celebrates the
joys of reading, and honors well-known children’s author Dr. Seuss
(Theodor Geisel) as well. Geisel’s birthday is on March 2. The official
Read Across America celebration is March 3, this coming Monday.
Read Across America is established to demonstrate the importance
of reading. Reading is the essence of good writing and good business.
The best farmers are also the most well read.
Farming should be a lifelong learning enterprise, and many good
books have been written by and about farmers on the lifestyle and
business choice that continues to change and grow.
Good books are our guides and inspiration. They convey the success
and heartaches sometimes found in our industry. But they also pass
along the wit and wisdom garnered from experience the farmers
themselves share.
Let’s make Read Across America Day this coming Monday an im
portant one for our industry.
Saturday, March 1
Maryland Grape Growers’ Associa
tion annual meeting, University
of Maryland, Howard County
Fairgrounds, West Friendship,
Md., (301) 432-2767.
New and Beginning Farm Work
shop, Grantville, 8 a.m.-4:30
p.m., (717) 664-7077.
Northeast Regional Christmas
Tree Growers’ Meeting, Genetti
Lodge and Conference Center,
Hazleton, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.,
Editor:
It’s unfortunate that Lancas
ter Farmer chose to bash “green
banking” rather than welcome it.
(Editorial, Feb. 15).
How To Reach Us
To addicss a letter to the editor
•By tax (717)733-6058
• By regular mail -
Editor, Lancaster Farming
P.O. Box 609, 1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
• By e-mail
farming Crf'lancnews. infi.net
Please note Include youi lull
name ictuin addiess. and
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is not icsponsihle loi ictuinmg
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* Farm Calendar ❖
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(570) 325-2788.
Woodland Owners Conference,
Penn’s Inn, Alvin C. Bush Stu
dent Center on campus of Pa.
College of Technology, William
sport, 8:30 a.m., (570) 265-2896.
Northeast Forest Landowners Con
ference, Luzerne County Com
munity College Conference
Center, Nanticoke, 825-1701.
Holstein Club Annual meeting,
Basil Leaf Restaurant, Mon-
(Turn to Page A 34)
❖ Farm Forum ❖
Green banking programs are
offering new sources of reduced
cost credit to producers who meet
certain environmental standards.
What’s so distasteful about that
carrot? It surely beats a stick.
Over and over, I hear produc
ers complain about escalating
regulatory and consumer expec
tations, and ask who is going to
help them pay for their increased
costs.
When the community offers to
help with these costs, whether
through lower-cost credit, public
funding for conservation pro
grams, or market premiums for
production systems like organic,
and grass-based livestock, farm
ers need to pay attention.
Farmers already accept that
they will be paid for production
(Turn to Page A 35)
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To Upgrade Your
Crop Insurance Coverage
This week, USD A Secretary Ann
Veneman announced a very signifi
cant increase in the cost share for
crop insurance premiums of up to 50
percent. The 2003 Targeted States
Crop Insurance Financial Assistance
Program will be available in 15
states. The eligible states are Con
necticut, Delaware, Maine, Mary
land, Massachusetts, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah,
Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyo
ming.
The effect of this additional dis
count is that producers can often in
crease their level of coverage/
protection two or three levels (that is,
65 percent up to 75 percent or 80
percent) for the same amount of net
premium cost as they had initially
budgeted.
This will benefit producers in two
ways. First, they will have much
more and better protection in the
event of a crop loss. Second, if they
have a good crop, they will add a
nice premium credit to the premium
account that will help reduce premi
um costs in the long run. With this
additional support, producers are
IMMEDIATELY!
Background Scripture:
Mark 1:1-45.
Devotional Reading:
Luke 4:14-21
The New Testament scholar,
Edgar J. Goodspeed, said that one
should begin to read the Bible by
reading first the Gospel of Mark and,
second, reading Mark at one sitting.
So often, we approach the Bible in
bits and pieces and, valuable as that
may be, we also lose something if we
do not also get the big picture.
As another Bible scholar, Dwight
E. Stevenson, puts it, “Mark is so
simple that a child can understand it
and so powerful that dictators cannot
reckon with it; so brief that it can be
read in the time required to glance
through the evening newspaper, and
so searching that a man will spend
his whole life trying to live up to it.”
If you read the Gospel of Mark
from chapter one through 16, there is
one word that appears 41 times, on
the average of more than twice in
each chapter. That word is “immedi
ately,” and it appears nine times in
Lancaster Farming
An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper
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Northeast Farm C'ommunicatois
only paying about 20 cents per dollar
of gross premium.
It is important to be aware, how
ever, that the enrollment deadline is
March IS. If you already have crop
insurance, contact your agent
promptly to upgrade your coverage if
you are interested. If you do not have
crop insurance, this additional sup
port adds to the reasons why you
should use this risk management
tool. If you need help in finding your
local crop insurance agents, contact
your local Farm Service Agency of
fice and they can supply you with a
list of agents.
To Prune Backyard
Fruit Trees
The winter wonderland around us
makes it seem like spring is far away.
But the calendar reminds us that a
season change is near.
Dr. Tim Elkner, horticulture agent
in Lancaster County, reminds us the
end of winter is a good time to prune
your fruit trees. The primary purpose
of pruning young fruit trees is to de
velop a framework for maximum
fruit production later in the tree’s
life. Once that’s accomplished, prun
ing focuses on increasing light pene
tration into the tree, removing less
productive wood, and maintaining
the crown of the tree in an efficient,
stable form.
There are two general types of
pruning cuts employed: heading cuts,
which are used to reduce or maintain
tree size, and thinning cuts, which
are used to remove entire branches.
Visualize a tree as seen from above
without its leaves. Branches radiate
from the trunk much like the spokes
of a wheel. To allow the sunlight
needed for proper fruit development
and coloration to enter the center of
the tree and to make harvest easier,
some of these “spokes” may need to
be thinned out.
Consider these items as you work
around the spokes or “scaffold”
branches of a tree. First, remove
suckers or watersprouts, which are
those yigorous non-fruiting shoots
that often appear at the base of graft
ed trees or in crotches and sites of
previ<H|s pruning cuts. Then remove
or head back to healthy side
branches any stubs or broken
branch that will invite insect and
disease .problems. Third, remove
Mark f alone. (“Immediately” ap
pears 14 times in Matthew, 12 times
in Luke, and only twice in John.)
This word is very characteristic in
Mark, not only in his use of it, but in
the general tone of the gospel itself.
There is a continuing sense of imme
diacy.
Get Ready!
This is apparent in the very first
three verses: “The beginning of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. As it is written in Isaiah the
prophet, ‘Behold, I send my messen
ger before thy face, who shall prepare
the way; the voice of one crying in
the wilderness: Prepare the way of
the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
(Mk 1:1-3). Mark doesn’t fool
around, but gets right to the heart of
the matter: get ready!
In 1961 there was a James Cagney
film, “One, Two, Three!” The dia
logue and action moved at an accel
erated pace that left the viewers
breathless. That’s the way it is in
Mark. He covers the baptism of Jesus
in three verses and the temptation in
the wilderness in one. And, when
Jesus begins his ministry, it is with
that same sense of crisis: “The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is
at hand; repent, and believe in the
gospel” (1:14,15).
Why this breathless urgency? I
think the reason is that Mark be
lieves that the gospel message was
urgent. Jesus is not someone people
can sit and ponder endlessly. “The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.” No more wait
ing! It’s is arriving now! If you want
to be part of it, do not wait to make
your commitment.
downward-growing branches since
they develop few fruit buds and only
serve to shade more productive
branches. Next, head back or remove
the less productive of two rubbing
branches since rubbing injury invites
problems. Finally, remove any interi
or branches that are of low produc
tivity. These branches are also shad
ing more productive branches below
them. ,
Backyard fruit trees are rarely
overpruned. The inexperienced back
yard orchardist is often timid about
making cuts. As long as pruning is
not accomplished by topping or
shearing the tree, it will almost al
ways benefit the tree’s growth and
production.
A common question related to
pruning is whether cuts made during
pruning trees in the yard should be
coated. Prior to the mid-19705, it was
standard practice to coat all pruning
wounds with an asphalt-based paint
or dressing. These materials have
since fallen out of favor after re
search proved they do not prevent
decay in wood and in some cases ac
tually stall the wound response and
protect wood-rotting fungi. In short,
make the proper pruning cut and let
the tree handle the rest.
To Be Counted In
The U.S. Agricultural Census
Thus far, reported numbers for the
U.S. agricultural census shows re
turns are down in the Northeast.
This is a problem because the census
will direct how USDA resources are
allocated and fewer farms mean
fewer dollars for our region.
Report forms will be accepted
through June 2003 as the USD A re
views and summarizes the data. If
you are not counted, your industry
will not be properly represented. If
you still have your census form, fill it
out and send it in. If you did not re
ceive a Census report form, you can
call (888) 424-7828 to get a copy.
Your answers are completely confi
dential, exempt from disclosure
under the Freedom of Information
Act, and cannot be subpoenaed in a
court of law.
Quote Of The Week:
“My great concern is not wheth
er or not you have failed, but
whether you are content with your
failure. ”
Abraham Lincoln
Who’s Sorry Now?
Just as the timing is immediate in
Mark, so the response sought is re
markably simple: “Repent, and be
lieve in the gospel.” To repent means
more than being sorry for one’s sins.
The word in New Testament Greek
is “metanoia,” and it signifies a com
plete change of mind, a new direction
of will, and an altered purpose in life.
Repent is a call to transformation.
There is no time in our lives when we
are perfect, when we do not have
good reason to repent and let our
lives be transformed again!
The other challenge is to “believe
in the gospel.” This does not mean a
mere mental acceptance of the good
news, but a conviction so strong and
commanding that we once again
begin to be the persons Christ has
called us to be. Someone has said
that Christ became what we are, so
that we might become what he is. So
long as we have fallen short of the
stature of Jesus Christ and who
hasn’t? there is a need for repen
tance and radical recommitment to
the good news of Jesus Christ. Imme
diately! not later.
When Jesus had gone into the syn
agogue in Capernaum and healed a
“man with an unclean spirit,” the
spirit cried out, “What have you to
do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have
you come to destroy us? 1 know who
you are, the Holy One of God.”
(1:23,24). Think of it, the evil spirits
recognized Jesus as “The Holy One
of God” and immediately they re
sponded to him. Are we not to do the
same?
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by —
Lancaster Farming, Inc
A Steinman Enterprise
Wiliam J Burgess General Manager
Andy Andrews Editor
Copyright 2003 by Lancaster Farming