AlO-Lancaster farming;' Saturday, July 5, 2003 '
OPINION
Editor’s note for all Guest Editorials: Please keep in mind that
the opinions of the writers don’t necessarily agree with the edit
or’s. For the benefit of our diverse readership, we strive to provide
a balance of opinion in Lancaster Farming.
A Fair Perspective
Editor’s Note: It’s fair season. The following text is a complete
reprint from the 1956 Fair Dealer, relating the text of a Speech
President Abraham Lincoln gave in 1859 to the Wisconsin State
Agriculture Society in Milwaukee, Wis.
Fairs of agriculture are useful in more ways than one. They bring us
together, and thereby make us better acquainted and better friends
than we otherwise would be. From the first appearance of man upon
the earth down to very recent times, the words “stranger” and
“enemy” were quite or almost synonymous.
Long after civilized nations had defined robbery and murder as
high crimes, and had fixed severe punishments to them, when prac
ticed among and upon their own people respectively, it was deemed
no offense but even meritorious to rob and murder and enslave strang
ers, whether as nations or as individuals. Even yet, this has not totally
disappeared. ,
The man of the highest moral cultivation, in spite of all which ab
stract principal can do, likes him whom he does know much better
than him whom he does not know. To correct the evils, great and
small which springs from want of sympathy and from positive enmity
among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest
functions of civilization.
To this end our agricultural fairs contribute in no small degree.
They render more pleasant, and stronger, and more durable the bond
Saturday, July 5
Md. Guernsey, Milking Short
horn Field Days, Buzzard’s
Luck Auction, (301) 898-8881.
Bark Peelers’ Convention, Pa.
Lumber Museum, Rt. 6 be
tween Galeton and Couders
port, thru July 6, (814)
435-2652.
New Jersey Holstein Summer
Picnic, Norz Hill Farm Grove,
River Road, near Flemington,
N.J., noon, (908) 369-8586.
Editor:
Fanners and ranchers did not
fare well in the House Appropria
tions Committee’s FY-04 agricul
ture appropriations bill. Com-
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@lancasterfarming.com
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.
Guest Editorial By
President Abraham Lincoln
(Turn to Page A3l)
Vermont Agricultural Museum
Field Days, thru July 6, (802)
728-5274.
Sunday, July 6
Derry Twp. Ag Fair, Westmore
land County, thru July 12,
(724) 694-2175.
Conservation Leadership School
for Ages 15-18, thru July 12,
(814) 865-8301.
pared to last year, the bill cuts
$B7O million in discretionary
spending and $6 million in man
datory spending for key agricul
ture programs such as conserva
tin, renewable energy, agriculture
credit, and research.
In addition, it includes lan
guage to prohibit the secretary of
agriculture from continuing writ
ing-rules for mandatory country
of-origin labeling for beef, pork,
lamb, or fish. It is simply uncon
ceivable that an attack on coun
try-of-origin meat labeling would
be attempted at a time of height
ened concerns from America’s
consumers and trading partners
about the origin of our meat.
Following the recent “mad
cow’’ case in Canada, our num
ber one and number three beef
(Turn to Page A 29)
(Turn to Page A3l)
To Appreciate The
Advantages Of Living
In The Northeastern
United States
I just returned from a trip with my
family visiting the national parks in
several northwestern states. My son
mentioned that he learned to appreci
ate how good we have it in Pennsylva
nia on this trip.
First he noted that gasoline prices
are lower at home than in any of the
states we visited. Second, Pennsylvania
is green! Most of the Northwest is arid,
where water access and availability is a
real challenge. White too much rainfall
has tended to cause problems this year
in agriculture, a visit to an arid area
puts things in perspective. My son also
noted that white we “live in the coun
try,” we still have easy access to the
conveniences of urban areas.
1 would add we also have relatively
easy access to the population centers,
which are huge markets for our agri
cultural products. So white we can get
frustrated at times with the challenges
we all face, sometimes travel to another
area helps us appreciate the good
things we have.
To Control
Summer Mastitis
With the higher temperatures that
are finally here, summer mastitis flare-
A GOOD WORK
Background Scripture:
Nehemiah 1 through 2.
Devotional Reading;
Isaiah 26:1-9.
Wouldn’t it wonderful is your local
newspaper would cany just one page
entitled “Good News”? It would serve
as a kind of antidote for ail the bad
news that fills our printed media. An
other idea would be to try to strike
some balance on the front page be
tween good news and bad news. But, of
course, bad news sells papers good
news doesn’t. Even television produc
tions like “Sixty Minutes” are written
on the evidence that reports of bad
deeds will always bring in more viewers
than stories on good works.
Yet, if you look for them, you can
find quite a bit of news about good
works, even though they may be buried
beneath the obituaries.
Aldersgate, the Sunday school class
we attend at First United Methodist
Church in Dallas, Texas, is composed
of senior citizens who spend much of
their available energy and time doing
good, If often unrecognized, works of
compassion and caring. This includes a
fine band that plays “gigs” for all kinds
of occasions, donating their fees to
some of the good works to which the
Lancaster Farming
An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper
• PDA Friend of Agriculture Award, 2003
• Keystone Awards 1993,1995 • PennAg Industries 1992
• PACD Media Award 1996 • Berks Ag-Busmess Council 2000
• Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the
Northeast Farm Communicators
ups will usually increase. Lancaster
County Dairy Agent Beth Grove points
out that increased infections are often
caused by increased bacteria numbers
higher temperatures allow environ
mental bacteria to multiply rapidly.
Cows are highly susceptible to infection
If their teats come in contact with high
numbers of bacteria, particularly when
they are under heat stress. Summer
flies can cause extra problems with in
fection, as will cattle seeking wet, shady
spots, ponds, and slow-moving streams.
There are a number of management
steps that can be taken to help control
summer mastitis. There is very little we
can do to control temperatures, but
bacteria need food and moisture in ad
dition to heat to thrive. This is why it is
important in the summer to scrape
often and remove manure (bacteria
food) from cow holding areas. Since
milk is also a food source, teat dipping
is important to kill bacteria at the teat
end. Keeping cows well-bedded and
stalls clean and dry is also vital to sum
mer mastitis control.
Keep cattle out of shady, wet spots,
ponds, and areas of wet bedding. Not
only will this reduce environmental in
fections, but can prevent diseases such
as Lepto from gaining a foothold in the
herd. Provide plenty of fresh water for
cows during the summer months.
In addition to spreading
flies will cause cows to bunch up and
increase heat stress. Since flies can
spread certain types of mastitis from
cow to cow, use fly control to limit
udder exposure. Be careful to use an
approved product for lactating cows in
the milking herd.
If cows spend extended time on pas
ture, consider a portable shade. If you
do not already have tunnel or natural
ventilation, contemplate one of these
systems to reduce heat stress for the
herd. For more information on ventila
tion and heat stress abatement, contact
your local extension agent for guide
lines.
To Understand New
Federal CAFO Rules
New Federal Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operation (CAFO) rules were
put into effect in April of this year.
These new rules were the result of a
long process.
The federal Clean Water Act of 1972
established a comprehensive program
to protect water quality through a per
mit program for “point” sources of
water pollution. The USEPA created
class contributes. These people are in
volved in good works both inside and
outside the church.
Yet, as many good works as we can
find, we live in a world that needs more
and more of them. That means that
these opportunities to help lift and heal
other people are never exhausted. If
you haven’t found any, either you are a
hermit living in the wilderness or you
just are not opening your eyes and ears.
The Good Work Begins
The Book of Nehemiah is the story
of a people who are challenged to do a
good work and, under the right leader
ship, they rose up to meet it. The story
opens in Susa of Elam, the winter capi
tal of the kings of Persia. The month is
Chislev, comparable to our November-
December.
Some of the Jews carried off into
exile by the Babylonians are living
there and one of them, Nehemiah, is a
palace servant of Artaxerxes. His is a
very responsible, trusted position, cup
bearer to the king, which means that he
sampled every cup of wine that the
king drank. Nehemiah was trusted to
protect him from poisoning.
Some Jews from Jerusalem came to
Susa, perhaps to ask for help. Nehemi
ah hears their tale of woe: those not
carried into captivity are merely surviv
ing in a Jerusalem vulnerable to con
tempt and attack. The good work be
gins, as it usually does, with Nehemiah
not only listening to their plight but
caring about it even though he and his
fellow exiles lived in comparative secu
rity and prosperity a far distance from
Jerusalem. This is transcendent caring,
reaching beyond one’s own situation
and interests. He listened to their plight
and the seeds of the good work were
planted.
Nehemiah’s next reaction was to
enter into a period of prayer and fast
ing so that he might be open and re
sponsive to God. Fasting is not much
two rules in the 1970 s that affected ani
mal agriculture. One of these created
The National Pollution Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit
program, which defined farms needing
a discharge permit as CAFOs. The sec
ond rule created the Effluent Limita
tions Guidelines (ELGs), which set
technology and performance require
ments for CAFOs.
States were charged with implement
ing NPDES permitting. While 45
states, including Pennsylvania, took re
sponsibility for this program, the pro
gress in implementation was criticized
as slow and ineffective in protecting
water quality from the pollution contri
butions of a changing animal agricul
tural sector. Nationally, permitting was
found to be inequitable in terms of re
gional and state differences and the an
imal species included in the program.
A Natural Resources Defense Council
lawsuit was filed against USEPA for
failing to adequately implement the
law. It led to a court order requiring the
agency to revise and update the federal
CAFO rules by December 2002.
To help farmers understand how
these changes will impact them, Penn
State Cooperative Extension has devel
oped a new publication entitled “New
Federal CAFO Rules: Which Pennsyl
vania Livestock And Poultry Opera
tions Will Be Affected?” The free
7-page guide will help farmers and citi
zens understand which livestock and
poultry operations are likely to be af
fected by new water quality regulations
from the U.S. Environmental Protec
tion Agency (EPA).
The guide explains why EPA revised
the federal CAFO rules, highlights the
major changes to the rules, outlines the
process for incorporating the new rules
into the current state CAFO program,
and provides guidance to Pennsylvania
producers to help them determine if
they will need a permit and how they
may be affected. It also includes a list
of educational resources.
For those with .Internet access, the
publication is available oh the Penn
State Nutrient and Water Policy Web
site at http://agenvpolicy.aers.psu.edu.
For hard copies of the publication, call
the Publications Distribution Center,
(814) 865-6713, or send written request
to the Publications Distribution Center,
The Pennsylvania State University, 112
Agricultural Administration Building,
University Park, PA 16802.
Quote Of The Week;
“Well begun is half done. ”
practiced today, but it is a fine disci
pline, for it helps us to get rid of that
which has the power to be an impedi
ment between ourselves and God. In
fact, beyond fasting, we need to regu
larly recognize and get rid of that
which keeps us from being in commu
nion with God.
Plain Talk
Whenever we are moved by compas
sion to seek God’s counsel, we usually
end up doing what Nehemiah did: he
faced the king and told him plainly
what was needed. That is where many
of us bail out we find it difficult to
confront people so that we may com
municate with them about die good
work that needs to be done. Nehemiah
didn’t beat around the bush he told it
as it was.
Nehemiah decided to go to Jerusa
lem to rebuild the city’s walls, but it
was a project too big for just one man.
So, he takes the facts to the Jews in
captivity. He tells them of the situation
in Jerusalem, the scorn and dangers
from its neighbors. He also tells them of
the king’s encouragement and the as
surance given by God. Too often we
may try to enlist people for good works
without sharing with them all the facts.
Nehemiah does not rebuild the walls
of Jerusalem by himself, but he is the
one who challenges and inspires the
people to do so. So we come to the final
step in beginning the good work: “And
they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’ So
they strengthened their hands for the
good work.” They committed them
selves.
That’s how he did it. How will you
do the good work that lies so close at
hand?
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
Aristotle