AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 9, 2003
OPINION
Law And Relationships
What was it that Poor Richard (Ben Franklin) noted; the only
things certain in life are death and taxes? Could he have meant death
and “legislation”?
Fanners are forever caught up in the complexity of farming in an
urbanized world. But how many of you understand the laws and the
relationships built before those state and township regulations were
enacted?
More than ever before, township officials are attempting to dictate
exactly where to farm, how to farm, and why. So it’s time for Lancas
ter Farming to introduce a new column by John Bell, counsel, gov
ernmental affairs with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, called “Law of
the Land.” The column appears for the first time on page 1 this issue.
Bell’s column will provide an update into the potential legal prob
lems and benefits that may arise in the course of everyday agriculture.
The June 2003 issue of Agri Marketing Magazine includes a story
about “CRMs.” CRM stands for customer relationship management.
What is farming and industry more about, anymore, than relation
ships? In this world where anybody’s past can come up as a result of
an Internet search, there is little to hide.
In the case of business and CRM, the buzzword simply denotes
keeping data on exactly what customers by and why. That “relation
ship” the CRM owners have on the data is similar to the local farm
store when they know what kind of feed and supplies customers are
looking for, and what they’re willing to pay. It should be the same
kind of relationship farmers have about what kind of decisions are
going to be made by the different personalities down at the township
office and throughout the corridors at the capitol.
Bell is scheduled, on a quarterly basis, to provide some updates and
insight into developing legislative issues. But remember, the column in
no way is a substitute for professional legal advice.
These, as the Chinese saying goes, could be considered “interesting
times” indeed.
Saturday, August 9
South Central Pa. Holstein Champi
onship Show, Fairgrounds, Ship
pensburg, 9:30 a.m.
Washington County Ag Fair, thru
Aug. 16,(724) 225-7718.
Composting Seminar, Romano, 4-H
Center, Honey Brook, 10 a.m.,
(610)696-3500.
Tioga County Holstein Show, Fair
grounds, Whitneyville, 9 a.m.
Gardeners Selects Open House and
Tour, Rudy Park, York, 9 a.m.-l
p.m., (717) 840-7408.
Chester County 4-H Dairy Show,
Romano Center, near Honey
Brook, 9:30 a.m.
Blueberry Festival, Bradford County
Jr. Holstein Club, Crawford
Farm, Windham, 8 p.m., (570)
265-2896.
Sunday, August 10
Potato Association of America Annu
al Meeting, Spokane, Wash., thru
Aug. 14, (800) 325-4000.
Garrett County, Maryland Fair,
McHenry, Md., thru Aug. 16,
(301) 387-5408.
Bullskin Twp. Community Fair,
Fayette County, (724) 887-3986.
Erie County Fair, Wattsburg, (814)
739-2232.
Huntingdon County Fair, Hunting
don, (814) 643-4452.
McKean County Fair, Smethport,
- (814)887-5361.
Chester County 4-H Horse Show,
Romano Center, near Honey
Brook, 8 a.m.
Monday, August 11
Dayton Fair, thru Aug. 16, (814)
257-8332.
Kutztown Fair, thru Aug. 16, (610)
683-7696.
Lawrence County Fair, (724)
654-7745.
Montour-Delong Community Fair,
thru Aug. 16, (570) 437-2176.
Queen Anne County Maryland
■v --
❖ Farm Calendar ❖
s - >j>
County Fair, Fairgrounds, (410)
758-0267.
Ohio Pumpkin Field Day, Western
Branch of Ohio R & D Center,
4-6 p.m., (937)454-5002.
Tuesday, August 12
Pike County Fair, thru Aug. 17.
New York Organic Crops and Soils
Field Day, Jordan Hall, New
York State Ag Experiment Sta
tion, Geneva, (607) 255-5439.
Bradford County Junior Holstein
Club annual Blueberry Festival,
Crawford Dairy Farm, Windham,
7:30 p.m., (570)265-2896.
Grazing Walk in Berks County,
Greener Pastures Farm, Shartles
ville, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., (610)
378-1327.
Huntingdon County Holstein Show,
Fairgrounds, 9:30 a.m.
Chester County Holstein Field Day,
Samuel Matthews Farm, Chester
Pasture Walk, Sherman Haas, Re
bersburg.
Middletown Grange Fair, thru Aug.
17.
Thresherman’s Reunion (Rough &
Tumble Engines), Route 30, thru
Aug. 16.
Ohio Turfgrass Research Field Day,
Columbus, Ohio, 8:30 a.m.-2:30
p.m., (800) 510-5296.
PAW Summer Walk Around, Stew
art Vineyard, Stewartstown, 8
a.m.-5 p.m.
Ohio Soil and Water Field Night,
Vanmeter Farm, Piketon, Ohio, 6
p.m.-9 p.m., (614) 294-4900.
Kutztown Fair Holstein Show, Fair
grounds, Kutztown.
Maryland Small Fruit Tree Twilight
Meeting, Catoctin Mountain Or
chard, 6 p.m., (301) 432-2767, ext.
315.
Land Use and Property Values meet
ing, Berks County Ag Center,
(Turn to Page A 33)
To Apply For
The Century
Farm Designation
The Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture is accepting applications
for the Century Farm Program. To
qualify the farm must be owned by
the same family for 100 consecutive
years to the date of the application.
A family member must live on the
farm on a permanent basis. Addi
tionally, the farm must consist of at
least 10 acres of the original holdings
or gross more than $l,OOO annually
from the sale of farm products. This
program honors the family farm and
the rural traditions of Pennsylvania
that are important for the continued
growth of the commonwealth.
For applicants in Lancaster Coun
ty, information about the program,
applications, and assistance in filling
out the application may be obtained
from the Lancaster County Coopera
tive Extension Office at (717)
394-6851. Century Farm nominees
from Lancaster County whose appli
cations are processed by Oct. 1 will
be honored at the Lancaster County
Farm-City Ag-Chamber Banquet on
Nov. 24.
r <
BAD NEWS
AND GOOD NEWS
Background Scripture:
Joel 1 through 2.
Devotional Reading:
Acts 2:14-23.
I have never witnessed a truly seri
ous natural disaster. We read about
them and see images of them on TV,
but unless we have personally experi
enced one of them, it is difficult to re
ally identify with them.
The prophetic occasion for Joel is
an unprecedented plague of locusts
that engulfed the land of Israel, de
vouring its plant life and plunging
the nation into a dangerous famine.
We can hardly appreciate just how
devastating they can be. Joel paints a
picture of the tragic extent: “What
the cutting locust left, the swarming
locust has eaten. What the swarming
locust left, the hopping locust has
eaten, and what the hopping locust
has left, the destroying locust has
eaten” (1:4).
Our society has become so techno
logical society that we forget about
our dependence upon the living
earth. We need to be reminded from
time to time that milk actually origi-
Lancaster Farming
An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper
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• Keystone Awards 1993,1995 • PennAg Industries 1992
• PACD Media Award 1996 • Berks Ag-Business Council 2000
• Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the
Northeast Farm Communicators
For Century Farm applicants in
other counties, applications and as
sistance can be obtained directly
from the Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture at (717) 787-5085. The
application is also available on the
Pennsylvania Department of Agri
culture Website (www.agriculture.s
tate.pa.us).
To Prevent Fly
Problems In Livestock
Production Using IPM
Much of the livestock industry in
Pennsylvania is located near urban
residents who do not appreciate hav
ing flies in their backyard and
homes. During the summer months,
homeowners spend a lot of their time
outdoors and the reproduction rate
of flies is the highest. This makes
management efforts to control flies
very crucial to good neighbor rela
tions.
Regional poultry agent Gregory
Martin points out that integrated
pest management or IPM is not real
ly a new concept. Farmers who have
adopted IPM controls in their crops
have been successful at controlling
insect pests while reducing the over
all cost of pest control. Livestock pro
ducers too can use this program as
well to help both in reducing the
amounts of chemicals used to control
insects while timing the use of spray
ing and other control methods to op
timize their effects in reducing fly
populations. The cornerstone of this
approach is to use best management
practices (BMPs) on the farm that
actually helps keep populations from
growing out of hand.
A key feature of fly IPM on the
farm is the use of scouting to de
termine the types of flies and number
of flies present. “Spec” cards are 3 x
5 inch white cards that can be hung
throughout the livestock building to
help determine fly outbreaks. Fly
spec counts that reach more than SO
on one half of the card are consid
ered high counts. These cards should
be changed weekly and tallied so that
fly numbers can be monitored on the
farm on a constant basis.
The use of sticky tape exposed for
short durations also can be used to
nates in cows, not pasteboard car
tons, and green beans did not germi
nate and grow in our freezers.
Dwight E. Stevenson says that “If a
plague like that pictured in Joel
should assail America, the people of
our cities would be starving in a few
weeks.”
Dependent Upon God
Joel used this devastating plague
to get their attention with the bad
and good news of God. Disaster im
presses upon us the fact of our de
pendence. This is particularly sober
ing to us because we think we are
quite independent of God. Disasters
help us to realize that we are not as
self-sufficient as we assume. Our ar
rogant pride is humbled by this real
ization. Joel shocks them into ac
knowledging their dependence upon
God.
Joel is also uses this occasion to re
mind people that God is their judge.
This should not be so startling for
any of us but it often is. When
things are going well for us either as
individuals or nations we forget
about God’s judgment because we
think it is intended for others, not us.
We assume that God is as satisfied
with us as we are! When we are most
self-satisfied, our arrogant pride is al
most unimaginable.
In Joel 3:2, Joel speaks of the “val
ley of Jehoshaphat.” This is not a
real place but an allegory of God’s
judgment for the name means “Yah
weh has judged.” All of us will have
to journey through a valley of Jeho
shaphat, because we ignore sin’s
long-term consequences, especially
when it seems that we have quietly
gotten away with them.
Rend Your Hearts
So Joel makes an impassioned
plea for repentance: “Yet even now,”
determine fly counts as well as the
type of flies that are in the area.
Controlling the environment is
crucial to the success of a Livestock
IPM program. Flies that do not have
food or water resources will quickly
die out or move on. Since most feed
stocks contain some form of protein,
there are many potential feeding sites
on a farm. By controlling water and
feed spillage along with drying the
manure or litter, managers can go a
long way toward fly control. Other
areas to watch are the compost areas
and feed bins near livestock housing.
Manure and bedding should be
handled in a way which helps reduce
fly numbers prior to spreading. Tarp
ing manure piles for 14 days prior to
spreading and the use of stacking
sheds to lower moisture content have
been successful in poultry operations.
Spread materials according to your
nutrient management plans and try
to get the manure into the growing
zone. Spot check the fields to de
termine if successful incorporation of
the materials has been achieved.
When it is time for fly population
control, try to match the severity of
the cure to the level of the population
encountered. At times a “knock
down” spray may be called for, while
with lower populations, natural in
sect predators could be used.
With flies in the household/back
yard, it is important to read and use
controls appropriate to the location.
Fly traps are very effective in catch
ing insects but are best used 30-50
feet away from the house to help
draw them away. Fly electrocution
devices are best used in closed hous
ing (“zappers”). With any controls,
please read, understand and follow
all instructions that come with your
fly control sprays and devices.
Good IPM doesn’t require extraor
dinary efforts, but you will get out of
it what you put into it. As with all
other management programs on the
farm, the better you are at it the
more it pays in the long run.
Quote Of The Week:
“Leadership; the art of getting
someone else to do what you want
done became he wants to do it. ”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
says the Lord, “return to me with all
your heart, with.fasting, with weep
ing, and with mourning; and rend
your hearts and not your garments’”
(2:12-13).
What God demands is sincere re
pentance, not just rituals and empty
words. It is easy to say “I’m sorry,”
(well, not for everyone), but it is a lot
harder to repent because repentance
may involve words, but it goes a long
way beyond. “Return to the Lord,
your God, for he is gracious and mer
ciful, slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love ” (v.l3b).
Joel’s good news is that the Day of
the Lord will mean three important
changes in the world. First, there will
be a renewal of nature; “The thresh
ing floors shall be full of grain, the
vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will restore to you the years which
the swarming locusts has eaten ”
(2:24,25). Secondly, the human spirit
will also be renewed. This will be a
spiritual renewal: “And it shall come
to pass afterward that I will pour out
my spirit on all flesh; your sons and
daughter shall prophesy, your old
men shall dream dreams, and your
young men shall see visions ”
(2:28).
Finally, there will be the advent of
international justice. Human beings
always forget or overlook the fact
that God is passionately concerned
with justice. “Let the nations bestir
themselves. And come up to the val
ley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit
to judge all the nations round about”
(3:12) If we will respond to it, God’s
good news is always infinitely better
than his bad news is bad.
Lancaster Farming
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A Stemman Enterprise
William J. Burgess General Manager
Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2003 by Lancaster Farming