AlO-Lancaster
■arming,
OPINION
Milk Imports Up 331 Percent
Guess Where? From Canada
These figures just in from Ken Bailey (see his full report starting
page Al 6 this week).
• The U.S. imported 7.3 million liters of milk and cream (1-6 per
cent butterfat) in all of 2002. But imports just through May of 2003
were 4.8 billion liters, up 331 percent relative to the same months a
year ago. Guess where most of this liquid milk is coming from? Nine
ty-eight percent is from Canada.
• Most cheese that enters the U.S. is under a broad category called
“cheese, except fresh.” This is everything that isn’t fresh, grated, pro
cessed, or “blue-vein.” Most cheese is carefully regulated by the TRQ
(tariff rate quota). During the first five months of 2003, we imported
cheese in this category from 45 countries. The most surprising coun
tries of origin were Columbia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Egypt, El Salva
dor, Jamaica, Jordan, Nicaragua, Philippines, Russian Federation,
Syria, and Turkey. “I’m sure it’s ail of the very highest quality,” Bai
ley noted. Imports of food preparations (fat blends) were up 31.4 per
cent (over quota). Why? How could this happen?
• Chapter 4 MPC (milk protein concentrates) imports are up just
42 percent so far this year (18,620 metric tons). Imports from New
Zealand alone are up 85 percent (14,717 metric tons in 2003). Imports
from Poland, a very small player, are up 758 percent (472 metric tons
in 2003).
• Chapter 35 MPC imports are up 137 percent so far this year to
4,474 metric tons. Imports are way up from Australia. In fact, they ac
count for nearly half our import levels. So far this year we’ve seen
MPC imports from interesting places such as Belarus, China, and Lat
via.
Bailey noted we import a lot of casein from around the world. Total
casein imports in 2002 were 57,519 metric tons. So far this year, we’ve
imported 29,209 metric tons, up 30 percent from the same five months
(Turn to Page A 42)
Saturday, July 26
Lebanon Area Fair, Fairgrounds,
thru Aug. 2.
S.W. Pa. Holstein Championship
Show, Uniontown Fairgrounds,
Uniontown, 10 a.m.
Carroll County 4-H Fair, Fair
grounds, thru Aug. 2, (717)
273-3795.
National Farm Transition Network
meeting and conference, Inn at
Essex, Essex, Vt., thru July 30,
(802)656-0233.
Frederick Montgomery Holstein
Editor:
In light of recent action by the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), NSIA, Inc., of
Palmyra emphasizes the impor-
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. .
ajgusi
Field Day, Frederick County
Fairgrounds.
Master Gardener Field Day and Ad
vanced Training, Southeast Re
search and Extension Center,
Landisville, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.,
(717) 921-8803.
Northwest Pa. Cattleman’s Picnic
Beef, Forage, Grazing Field Day,
McKean Angus Farm, Mercer,
9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., (724)
662-3141.
(Turn to Page A4l)
tance to all farmers and growers
of keeping accurate and up-to
date records of pesticide pur
chases, storage locations and in
ventories, field applications, and
worker protection notifications.
It has been reported that on
June 3 the EPA Agency proposed
its largest Worker Protection
Safety misuse penalty in its histo
ry, as it issued administrative
complaints against five Colorado
growers. It argued that the grow
ers had violated the Federal In-
secticide, Fungicide, and Roden
ticide Acts (FIFRA) and the
Worker Protection Standards
(WPS). “The EPA appears to be
prioritizing environmental penal
ities” said Marty Campfield,
NSIA, Inc. president. “What was
once a ‘slap on the wrist’ can now
(Turn to Page A 42)
To Put Ag Progress
Days On Your Schedule
Ag Progress Days, Pennsylvania’s
largest outdoor agricultural exposi
tion, will be held this year Aug.
19-21. This educational and fun
event is*a great opportunity for a
family trip before school begins.
Sponsored by Penn State’s College
of Agricultural Sciences, the event is
conducted at the Russell E. Larson
Agricultural Research Center in
Rockspring, nine miles southwest of
State College on Rt. 45.
Special exhibits, with the theme
“Seeing the Forest for the Trees,”
will showcase research and educa
tional programs to develop and
maintain healthy tree species,
promote better woodlot manage
ment, and support a vigorous forest
products industry. Majors and ca
reers in forest resources also will be
highlighted.
“We strive to plan an event that
reflects the diversity of the college’s
programs,” said Bob Oberheim, Ag
Progress Days manager. “Our
themed exhibits, combined with
many of the traditional activities that
we offer each year, ensure that virtu
% WHEN EAGLES
FLY
Background Scripture:
Obadiah.
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 43:1-7.
I’ll have to admit that, the first
time I read Obadiah, I found little if
anything suggestive for either teach
ing or preaching. But, upon closer
examination and study, I discovered
that there is some strong medicine
here for Christians of the 21st cen
tury.
Of ail Israel’s neighbors, Edom
easily won the prize as “the most
hated.” Lying southeast of Israel, it
was founded by Esau, Jacob’s twin
brother. Instead of that link making
for amity between the two nations, it
seemed to spawn hostility and ha
tred.
The situation between Israel and
Edom is analogous to the one be
tween Israel and Palestine today
both caught in an endless cycle of
hate and retaliation. Obadiah may be
2600 years old and ancient, but the
situation is all too contemporary.
Obadiah was referring not only to
their longstanding animosity, but a
most recent occurrence when, in 587
8.C., Edom not only gloated over Is
Lancaster Farming
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ally anyone can find something of in
terest at Ag Progress Days.”
More than 350 commercial exhibi
tors will display the latest goods and
services. Interactive displays, guided
tours, and workshops will show how
research and educational programs
are addressing important issues, safe
guarding our food supply and the en
vironment, and helping to improve
the efficiency and profitability of ag
riculture and related industries.
Faculty and extension staff from
the college will be on hand to answer
questions and provide information
on crops and soils; dairy, livestock,
and equine production; conservation
practices; integrated pest manage
ment; woodlot management; farm
safety; and home gardening and
lawn care.
Other activities planned for this
year’s event include a skid steer
rodeo and several new tours, includ
ing a tour of the Pennsylvania De
partment of Agriculture’s new Ani
mal Evaluation Laboratory, which
recently was completed near the Ag
Progress Days site. Field demonstra
tions will feature hay mowing, hay
rakes and tedders, baling, bale han
dling, conservation tillage, and ma
nure application to reduce odor and
preserve residue cover.
Also planned are family living ex
hibits and demonstrations; a com
maze; cut flower beds and exhibits;
storytelling; an equine program, in
cluding special American Quarter
Horse Association exhibitions; live
animal displays; a tree-climbing ad
venture; a museum of antique farm
and home implements; and a wide
variety of food booths.
Ag Progress Days hours are 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Aug. 19, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Aug. 20, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug.
21. Admission and parking are free.
For more information, call (800)
PSU-1010 toll-free from July 14 to
Aug. 21 or visit the Ag Progress Days
Website at http://apd.cas.psu.edu.
To Consult A
New Website For
Beef Production Information
Beef producers can consult a new
interactive Website developed by
Penn State’s College of Agricultural
rael’s fall to Babylon, but acted as a
Babylonian ally and then looted their
defeated neighbors. Edom will suffer
for being such a bad neighbor:
“Though you soar aloft like the
eagle, though your nest is set among
the stars, thence I will bring you
down, says the Lord.” (v. 4).
As You Have Done
This will happen because, contrary
to what the Edomites believed, the
Lord is God, not only of Israel, but of
all nations. “For the day of the Lord
is upon all nations. As you have
done, it shall be done to you ...”
(v. 15). As Israel paid dearly for its
sins, so would Edom and all others.
What goes around will eventually
come around.
So what does this mean? For one
thing, it reminds us that, contrary to
what many Christians believe, we
stand before God, not only as indi
viduals, but as nations, too. Israel
and Edom suffered, not only because
of the sins of individuals, but because
of the sins of both nations. Many of
us were quick to hail what we per
ceived as God’s judgment upon the
nation of Iraq. Obadiah reminds us
that God’s judgment will fall upon us
as well. And no one or no nation is
quite so susceptible to the judgment
of God than the one that believes
that it has nothing for which to be
judged.
Edom paid deeply for its perfidy.
Sometime during the end of the sixth
or beginning of the fifth century
8.C., they were pushed from their
homeland by Arab invaders who
eventually founded the Nabataean
kingdom, forcing the Edomites into
the Negeb desert. In time, the Edo
mites became known as Idumaea.
(Herod the Great, who was king of
the Jews in the time of Jesus, was an
Idumaean.)
Sciences for help in scheduling rou
tine management activities for their
herds, guidance in keeping thorough
records, timely business tips, and in
formation about beef-related events.
The calendar is a joint effort of
Penn State, Purdue University, and
the University of Kentucky, devel
oped from a print-version manage
ment calendar that is produced an
nually by the University of
Kentucky. State advisory committees
worked under the direction of a state
coordinator to develop the calendar
components appropriate for each
specific location. Penn State beef spe
cialist John Comerford served as
coordinator for Pennsylvania.
By asking producers a series of
questions about desired calving
dates, breeding methods and wean
ing ages, the Website utilizes stan
dard gestation periods to recommend
a custom schedule for management
of the beef herd. “We ask producers
for information such as their name,
state, and e-mail address so they can
establish an account with password
protection, which allows them to visit
time after time and use their inform
ation confidentially,” said Karen
Vines, distance education coordina
tor in the dairy and animal science
department.
“The calendar is being revised to
include a feature that will allow us to
send monthly e-mail reminders to
users reminding them of the manage
ment activities, beef-related activities
schedule, and their personal dates for
that month,” she said.
Long-term goals for future devel
opment of the Website include the
addition of performance and quality
assurance records. The site also may
grow to assist producers in meeting
the requirements of proposed COOL
(Country of Origin Labeling) legisla
tion. In the future, the interactive
beef calendar also may serve as a re
minder to producers to record treat
ment records and provide a conven
ient site for future reference and
analysis of herd performance.
Quote Of The Week:
“The highest compliment lead
ers can receive is the one that is
given by the people'who work for
them.”
Alfred North once
wrote: “The fact of the instability of
evil is the moral order of the world.”
Obadiah reminds uS that this “moral
order” is not some thing, but Qod
himself.
We sometimes say that “history is
on the side of..this or that. The
Lord is the God who rules history
and it is he who opposes ruthless
force and social injustice. When we
are unbrotherly toward other na
tions, it is really God with whom we
are dealing ultimately. No matter
how smug we may be in our unrigh
teousness, God is not deceived and
he is not disinterested.
Following the terrible tragedy of
9/11, several TV preachers suggested
that this was God’s judgment upon
our nation. They were quickly cen
sured. Yet, while I disagreed with
their conclusions, I thought perhaps
in their own way they were remind
ing us that our nation also stands
under God’s judgment especially
since we have held ourselves out to
be a Christian nation.
To say that we may have deserved
what happened is outrageous, but
must we conclude that nothing in our
society will attract God’s negative
judgment? Do love, nlXSkWl.jus
tice reign in our landJ‘Jbr%ioney
and raw power?
As a boy, I loved Stephen Deca
tur’s motto: “Our country!.. .may
she always be in the right; but our
country, right or wrong.” Studying
the scriptures, however, I have found
that true patriotism is achieved when
we give our first and full allegiance
to God and that means having the
courage and faith to acknowledge
when our country is wrong.
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. Burgas* Qanaral Manager
Andy Andrawa, Editor
i
Copyright 2003 by Lancaster Farming
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