AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 31,2003
OPINION
What Will Slots Do To/For Pa.?
Probably one of the most divisive issues not only in agriculture but
in the general economy is how to solve the $2 billion budget deficit
faced by Pennsylvania. Some of our legislators believe the state needs
slots (apparently, the argument goes, Pennsylvania residents gamble
out of state to the tune of about $3 billion a year) or to raise the sales
tax.
Gov. Ed Rendell, according to analysts, stands to generate about
$7BO million in 2004 from slot machines if the licenses can get to the
right people. There is talk about simply giving them away. (Some crit
ics say: Why not sell the licenses and generate income that way?) In
the end, there is going to be an onslaught of opposition from groups
who traditionally don’t favor these sorts of things.
Rendell had some interesting ideas when he decided “vice taxes”
could pick up the deficit tab or stand in place of property taxes. Per
haps those who don’t smoke or drink could care less and think those
are the only things that should get taxed in the first place. At this
point, however, we don’t favor cutbacks to state educational institu
tions and don’t want to see our kids in school suffer as a result of
nothing being decided.
In addition, other methods are desperately needed to replace our
outmoded and unfair property tax system.
Recently, we received a news release from the Pennsylvania Tour
ism and Lodging Association (PTLA) that supports slots at state race
tracks. PTLA’s 800 members announced that they support legislation
to legalize slot machines at Pennsylvania’s horse racing tracks.
The reason: the state needs to “enhance its competitive advantage
in providing a quality tourism product and experience compared to
competing destinations,” noted Barry Wickes, PTLA president. PTLA
believes slots will increase jobs and revenue to the state.
However, critics point out: What about the inevitable gambling
debts and bankruptcy court that having slots will entail? Do tourists
come to Pennsylvania and the historic counties to see this kind of
thing? Does Lancaster County want to be the next Atlantic City?
In 2001, Pennsylvania was the fifth most visited state in both leisure
and business, according to PTLA. Travel was up in 2002. Slots may
attract more visitors. Maybe Pennsylvania may gain visitors, but we
believe it will have lost what made it special and separate from the
rest of the general consumer-driven, strip-mall, vice-exploited public.
Saturday, May 31
Penn State Garden Forum, Uni
versity Park, Penn State Uni
versity, (814) 863-0918.
North Star Prospect, Clinton
County Fairgrounds, (570)
321-5653.
Composting Seminar, North
brook Orchard, West Chester,
10 a.m., (610) 696-3500. Also
Editor:
At a time when prices paid to
area dairy farmers have dropped
to the 1976-1977 era, me would
think that the U.S. Congress
would step in and take corrective
How To Reach Us
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Editor, Lancaster Farming
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Ephrata, PA 17522
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Pete’s Produce, Westtown, 1
p.m. o
Sunday, June 1
Rabbit Show, Penn State Ag
Arena, (814) 863-0835.
New York State Dairy Foods,
Inc. and Pa. Assoc, of Milk
Dealers combined conference.
(Turn to Page A 29)
measures.
Since April 1, 1981, when con
gress and former President Rea
gan, prevented an upward ad
justment on the support price of
manufactured milk products,
dairy farmer’s prices have
bounced around like a yo-yo,
usually on the downward swing.
Subsequent action taken by
congress ince 1981 has cost tax
payers billions of dollars and
usually their actions meant lower
prices to dairy farmers. There are
three things congress has never
tried:
1. Pricing milk on the dairy
farmer’s cost of production.
2. A true milk supply manage
ment program.
3. Giving dairy farmers a fair
share of the retail market price.
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA),
(Turn to Page A 27)
To Wait For Proper
Soil Conditions To
Finish Cora Planting
Although Pennsylvania farmers
got a good start on com planting this
spring (more than 40 percent com
plete by mid-May), recent rainy
weather has caused planting to fall
behind average. Gregory Roth, Penn
State associate professor of agrono
my, advises farmers not to panic, but
to follow a few simple tips in ap
proaching later plantings this year.
“Yield losses are not that great due
to later planting,” Roth said. “In
fact, sometimes when planting has
been completed quickly in recent
years, we’ve had low yields, so farm
ers should wait until soil conditions
are right. Weather patterns should
grow more summerlike as the jet
stream begins its retreat during the
next few weeks.”
When soils finally dry out after
wet-weather planting, Roth said, fur
row sidewall compaction can hamper
com growth. So farmers shouldn’t
panic and begin planting in inappro
priate conditions.
Roth has several other tips for
dealing with the wet weather as well.
First, don’t delay planting because of
tillage or spreading fertilizer. Consid
er no-till planting and sidedressing of
fertilizer. One should also consider
THE EXILE
Background Scripture:
Ezra 1.
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 52:7-12,
Beth, her daughter, and son-in-law
are estranged. The son-in-law has
told Beth she is never welcome in his
house again ever!
Turner and his wife, Anita, live to
gether in the same house, but they
each go their own way and they are
husband and wife in name only
there is a wide gulf between them.
Vickie has been recuperating from
a rare ailment for almost a whole
year. Her job and her office have
been given to someone else and,
while she has been welcomed back, it
is not the same.
Art wanders the city streets, holing
up in a warm alley at night and
scrounging food from the leftovers of
other people. Once a successful mer
chant, he succumbed to the escape of
alcoholism.
All of the above have something in
common: they are all in exile.
According to my dictionary, it means
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using Bt hybrids. Recent research
has shown com planted later in May
or in early June often encounters
more second-generation corn borer
damage and has a more consistent
yield response to Bt than earlier
planted com.
Reconsider the use of starter fertil
izer on later planted com. Starter
benefits are generally small on many
manured soils and they decline as
planting is delayed. Plant the seed
1.5 to 2 inches deep. Shallow com
planting is more risky later in the
season when conditions in the seed
zone can quickly change to hot, dry,
and cloddy.
To Evaluate Direct
Cutting Of Barley
For Ensiling
Dairy and livestock producers suf
fering from the effects of two consec
utive years of poor forage production
are looking for alternative forage
supplies to meet forage and feed
needs until the 2003 corn silage crop
is harvested.
Penn State Capitol Region agrono
my agent Paul Craig reports one al
ternative that is being considered in
many areas is direct cutting of barley
for ensiling. In some areas last year,
custom harvesters modified existing
forage harvesters to speed up this
process. Early users have reported
highly acceptable feed production
and now others are looking into this
alternative.
What is direct cut barley? It is bar
ley that is harvested with a small
grain head mounted on a forage
chopper and then placed in a silo or
trench. Cutting height is about 6
inches and there is no wilting of the
crop. Harvest is at the proper mois
ture level for different silo types.
Farmers with trenches should shoot
for 65 to 70 percent, upright silos at
63-68 percent, and sealed silos at
55-60 percent. This is usually around
the soft dough stage, when milky
kernels can be easily crushed in your
fingertips. Moisture monitoring and
determination is critical. Yields
range from 3 to 4 tons/acre of dry
matter.
Unlike rye which rapidly increases
its level of indigestible fiber and lig
nin after heading, wheat, oats, and
barley actually produce more energy
and protein per acre after the crop is
headed. In studies at Kansas and
prolonged separation from one’s
home or country. People may be sent
into exile, but many of us, like the
prodigal son, manage it without any
help.
Into Captivity
In 722 BC, the Assyrians devastat
ed Israel. Most of the captors were
carried off to Assyria and no one
knows what happened to them. By
the sixth century BC, the Assyrians
had been superseded by the Baby
lonians, both situated in today’s Iraq.
In 598 BC the Babylonians overran
Judah and many of the people were
carried into captivity. This was espe
cially hard for the exiles, because
their religion had been totally cen
tered in the Jerusalem temple, which
lay in ruins.
It was in the Babylonian exile,
however, that their religion showed
its adaptability. Bereft of the temple,
the exiles focused on the scriptures
which were collected, edited, and dis
tributed among the exiles. Then, in
the middle of the sixth century BC,
the Babylonian Empire eventually
gave way to another, Persia (today’s
Iran), under the leadership of Cyrus.
Jewish messianic hopes began to rise
and Cyrus was sometimes regarded
by the Jews as a messiah (“anointed
one”) by whom Israel would be re
stored. (See Isaiah 45:1; Daniel 9:26).
Cyrus, unlike his predecessors, fol
lowed a policy of tolerance and wis
dom. In 536 BC. “. the Lord
stirred up toe spirit of Cyrus king of
Persia so that he made a proclama
tion throughout all his kingdom ”
(Ezra 1:1.) Cyrus also encouraged
them to return to their homeland so
that the temple might be rebuilt. And
Mississippi State, barley was rated
the best choice because of higher
grain yields and good digestibility. In
general, barley silage quality is good,
with energy levels slightly lower than
corn silage (TDN 64 percent vs. 69
percent for corn silage) and a protein
level slightly higher (9-11 percent vs.
8 percent for corn silage). Stage of
maturity, variety, fertility, and har
vest management can greatly affect
forage quality. Everyone recom
mends using forage testing to ensure
its proper substitution in a ration.
Small grains mature much faster
than com silage. The proper harvest
window will be very narrow, at most
3 to 6 days, depending on weather.
This requires close monitoring of the
crop, coordination with harvesters,
and large capacity equipment. Be
cause of hollow stems, a shorter cut,
often 3 /s inch, is recommended. How
ever, to optimize fiber in the silage,
do not overchop. Good packing,
rapid fill, and prevention of air ex
change are especially important this
time of year because of warmer sum
mer temperatures.
Producers with larger acreage may
choose to start harvesting earlier, but
harvesting silage too wet results in
the loss of plant nutrients and pro
duces undesirable, unpalatable, high
butyric acid silage. Harvesting too
dry causes oxygen to be trapped in
the silage, prolonging the aerobic
phase of fermentation and results in
a poorly fermented product. Some
have suggested mixing higher mois
ture alfalfa haylage with barley silage
that’s too dry. Either way, monitor
ing moisture is critical.
Harvesting barley as silage also
provides an opportunity for earlier
double cropping. This usually leads
to higher corn silage yields. Dr. Greg
Roth at Penn State estimates that
planting corn silage following barley
silage harvest in our region would
yield about 83 percent compared to
full-season corn silage. Waiting until
grain harvest, yields were only 65
percent.
Quote Of The Week:
“This isn’t a Keynesian recovery
produced by big-spending bureau
crats. Instead, the recovery was
created by the incentives of tax rate
reductions, which shifted resources
away from government back to
American producers, savers, and
investors. ”
—President Ronald Reagan (1984)
he backed up his invitation with the
provision of funds for that purpose.
Making Changes
When we experience exile, like the
Jews, we can adapt our faith to meet
the challenge of change in our cir
cumstances. When you can’t change
the conditions that surround you,
you can change the way you react to
them.
Take a look at your own life. Are
you in exile and, if so, what changes
do you need to make in order to
maintain your faith?
Secondly, often the possibility to
return from exile appears in an unex
pected form or place. God continues
to send us people like Cyrus who
present us with the opportunity to
end our exile.
Third, when we have the opportu
nity to end our exile, we must grasp
it. We must seize the chance to be
reconciled with someone, to undo the
harm we have done or that has been
done to us, to return humbly to that
which we have neglected.
God permits us to make the deci
sions that lead us into exile, but it is
his will that we return. “Then rose
up the heads of the fathers’ houses of
Judah and Benjamin, and the priests
and the Levites, every one whose
spirit God had stirred ” (1:5).
It happened there with them, and
it can happen here with us. But first,
an exile has to realize that he or she
is an exile
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