AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 8, 2003 ***** OPINION Allow Hunters? We received information via e-mail the other day about a new in come and stewardship opportunity via a Website, www.permissionto hunt.com. As a hunter, you could simply log onto the Website, input what you’d like to hunt, in a location you’d like to hunt, and farmers would simply be listed for those who’d allow you to do so. With their permis sion, of course. We went to the Website and we quote a fair warning they give those who are looking for such a service: Hunting private land should be regarded as a privilege, not a “right." To earn this privilege, it is best to approach the landowner prior to season’s opening day to ask for your Permission To Hunt. Considerate hunters need to help maintain our proud heritage and hunter ethics. Show the landowner that you. • Have respect for the land. • Exhibit good hunter ethics. • Appreciate the use of their land by saying “thank you. ” In an ideal world, this would all be well and good. But farmers would be wise to understand the pitfalls of such an idea. You could, for instance, talk to Carl W. Grub of Sunset Hollow Farm in Hanover. Grub, who owns a 175-acre farm in York County, would be the first to caution farmers: don’t do it. If you allow hunters on your land, you could be begging for potential problems. Grub claims to be struggling with an incident involving hunters on his land. While we don’t want to proffer any kind of detail, suffice it to say that farmers really need to think long and hard about allowing people io hunt their lands, especially in this litigation-happy society. There are legal concerns, too, and dealing with agencies can be a real head ache. Saturday, March 8 Farm Family Appreciation Cele bration, Hamburg Field House, Hamburg, (610) 378-1327. Professional Shearing School, Cornell Sheep Farm, Harford, N.Y., 8 a.m.-5 p.m., thru March 9, (320) 587-6094. York Garden Wise, York Subur ban High School, York, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., (717) 840-7908. Pa. Forestry Association annual dinner, Genetti Hotel and Convention Center, William sport, (717) 766-5371. Beekeeping Workshop, Wayne County Visitors Center, Hon esdale, 10:30 a.m.-I:30 p.m. Pruning Hardwood Trees Work shop, Western Maryland Re search and Education Center, Keedysville, Md., 1 p.m.-3 p.m., (301) 972-0848. “On the Farm” Exhibition, Chandler Gallery, Randolph, Vt., thru March 9, 10 a.m.- noon, (802) 728-9878. Building Your Own Greenhouse, Merck Forest and Farmland Center, Rupert, Vt., 10 a.m.-l How To Reach Us To addiess a Ictlei to the editor. • Bv tax (717)733-6058 • icgulai mail Editor, Lancaster Farming P.O. Box 609, 1 E. Main St. Ephrata, PA 17522 • B\ c-mail farming®'lancneHS.infi.net Please note Include youi lull name lelum adcliess. and phone nuinhei on the lellei iMiicaster harming lesenes ihe light to edit the lellei to In and is not tesponsthle lot letuimng unsolicited mail \ * V I ❖ Farm Calendar ❖ p.m., (802) 394-7836. Organic Biodynamic Orchard Management Workshop Se ries, Threshold Farm, Clave rack, N.Y., 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Also Saturday, May 24 and Satur day, Oct. 4. Sunday, March 9 FFA State Legislative Leadership Conference, Harrisburg, thru March 11. Monday, March 10 Franklin County Pesticide Up date, extension office, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. and 7 p.m.-9 p.m., (717) 263-9226. Pa. Farm Link Passing On the Farm Workshop, Lewistown, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m., (717) 664-7077. Arbor Care Workshops, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., thru March 14. Regional Corn and Soybean Day, Clark Mills United Methodist Church, Clark Mills, (814) 333-7460. Hardwood Lumber Grading, Penn State’s Ag Arena, thru March 13,(814) 863-1113. Lancaster County Family Dairy Day, Lancaster Farm and Home Center, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., (717) 394-6851. Act 6 Nutrient Management Cer tification and Plan Writing Seminars for Farmers, Berks County Ag Center, Leesport, 9 a.m.-3;30 p.m. Also march 12, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and March 18, 9 a.m.-noon. Tuesday, March 11 Workshop on Insect Monitoring, Adams County Extension of fice. Spreadsheets II class, Franklin (Turn to Page A3O) To Market Products Via The Internet USD A has produced a publication designed to assist agricultural pro ducers in marketing their products via the Internet. “How To Direct Market Farm Products On the In ternet” provides basic information to farm direct marketers who are inter ested in selling their products online or using a Website to publicize their farm or products. “For agricultural producers, the Internet can help solve problems of time, distance, and location in mar keting their products,” said A.J. Yates, administrator of USDA's Ag ricultural Marketing Service. “We are working to provide the tools to help level the playing field for agri culture and rural communities by providing technological solutions and technological support.” Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Ve neman also recently announced that USDA will expand efforts to bring farmers, rural residents, and busi nesses greater access to improved tel ecommunication technology through the financing of more than $1 4 bil lion in loan and loan guarantees to rural telecommunications providers. The number of Internet users shopping online has skyrocketed in RAISING THE ROOF! Background Scripture; Mark 2:1 through 3:6. Devotional Reading: Luke 15:1-7. Two groups of people stand out in these early chapters of Mark, one of them negatively. These were the Pharisees, a religious party dedicated to applying the law to daily life. It was a worthy goal, but they went off in the wrong direction. Applying the law superlegalistically, they missed its purpose to enrich human life under God. For example, when Jesus was heal ing the paralytic (2:3-12), instead of praising God for this wonderful work, they called it “blasphemy” when he said, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” ‘Who can forgive sins but God alone?,” they protest, caring more for their interpretation of the law than they did for the paralyzed man. Whenever you care more about your theology than a good work done in the name of God, you, not others, are likely to be the blaspheme! l Another example is their reaction when Jesus was seen “eating with sinners and tax collectors.” Because Lancaster Farming An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper • PDA hi 'end of Agnculturo Award, 2003 • iseystone Awaids 1995, 1995 • PennAg Industries 1992 • PAC'D Media Award 1990 • Berks Ag-Busmess Count il 2000 • Ret ogni/cd lor photo excellence throughout the yeats by the Northeast larm Commumt Mots recent years. Ot the estimated 168 million Internet users 16 years of age and older in the U.S., approximately half say they shop online. Because of this rapidly growing trend, many farm direct marketers are turning to online marketing to increase their customer base. The publication addresses issues to be considered before adopting the Web as a marketing tool, as well as tips on how to research the Internet market, set up a Website, and mar ket products on the Web. References, largely from the Internei itself, are cited to enable producers to under take additional research. •How To Direct Market Farm Products On the Internet" is avail able m print and on the Internet at www.ams.usda gov/ tmd SB sb.htm. For more inform ation or to obtain a copy of the publi cation, contact Errol Bragg, USDA AMS TMP MSB. Room 2646 S, Stop 0269, 1400 Independence Ave„ SW, Washington, DC 20250, (202) 720 8317, fax (202) 690 0031, or e-mail Errol.Bragg@usda.gov. To Sign Up For The Farmers Market Nutrition Program Agriculture Secretary Designee Dennis C Wolff lias announced to Pennsylvania growers that sign up for the Farmers Market Nutrition Program is under way. “The Farmers Market Nutrition Program is a great partnership be tween those who grow Pennsylvania fruits and vegetables and those who need them,” said Wolff. “This is a great direct marketing opportunity for Pennsylvania farmers Since the introduction of this program, many farmers have launched or expanded their retail operations, providing ad ditional income to their farm opera tion." The Farmers Market Nutrition Program provides coupons to eligible recipients to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from approved grow ers at one of Pennsylvania’s farmers markets or roadside stands. Growers interested in participating in the 2003 program must own or lease farmland in Pennsylvania where they produce and sell more than $l,OOO of agricultural products. Growers who participated in the the tax collectors worked for the Ro mans, they were considered the worst kind of sinners. But they forgot that all of us are “sinners,” not just those who violate our religious rules. If they didn’t like the sinful company Jesus kept, they really didn’t like the company God keeps. Compassion Or Legalism? They criticized Jesus because he didn’t fast. They criticized him be cause on the Sabbath day he and his disciples had plucked grain to feed themselves. The attacked him be cause he dared on the Sabbath to heal a man with a withered hand. Their devotion to the law was taking the place of compassion for the needs of fellow human beings. We do not often see Jesus angry, but here we do: “And he looked around them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart...” (v. 3:5). Notice, he is angry, not with their poor theology, but their lack of com passion. How plainly he puts it: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” Even this failed to reach these hard ened hearts, for they “went out, and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to de stroy him.” There is a second, much more ad mirable group. We don’t know their names and they were not part of any organized faction. We only know that there were four of them. Perhaps the only thing they had in common was their concern for a paralyzed man. They might not know much about Jesus, but they believed he could help their friend. 2002 program received notices from the Department of Agriculture’s Bu reau of Food Distribution. For any other farmer interested in participat ing in the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, contact the Bureau of Food Distribution at (800) 468-2433. The program will begin on June 1, 2003 and continue until Nov. 30, 2003. The Farmers Market Nutrition Program provides coupons to eligible Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) recipients and qualified sen iors to purchase fresh fruits and veg etables from more than 625 approved vendors in Pennsylvania. In 2002, more than $5 million in state and federal funds were available tor the WIC and seniors programs. WIC mothers and children ages 2 to 5 can receive $2O in coupons. The Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program was launched in 1998 for older Pennsylvanians. In 2002, the Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program was offered statewide. Last year, qualifying seniors received $2O in coupons. More than 96,000 seniors redeemed more than $2.2 million in coupons in 2002. To Attend The Lancaster County Dairy Day The Lancaster County Dairy Day postponed in February because of the Presidents’ Da\ snowstorm has been rescheduled