Newspaper Page Text
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. APRIL 20. 2017 — PAGE 5A
Opinions
Free speech should
never be shut down
Dear Editor:
President Trump and his
fledgling administration have
taken, some might say gen
erated, an enormous amount
of criticism both from the
media and ordinary voters.
To his supporters, attacks on
the president’s demeanor, his
policies, cabinet picks, and all
the rest must surely feel per
sonal, suggesting to them a
level of unfairness and exag
geration on the part of the
media.
Supporters of president
Obama felt much the same
way as they witnessed an
endless stream of bombast
and indignation from the
likes of Fox News and then
Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell.
The fact is that criticism of
one’s party, political stance,
values, and overall guiding
principles is hard to take,
no matter which side of the
political divide it happens to
be coming from. Republicans
feel attacked and so do
Democrats, and to each
group, the attackers are not
only wrong, they are often
vicious in their methods.
Anybody who cares about
our country’s direction and
leadership has felt the same
sting of angry criticism from
one party or the other.
As painful as political criti
cism can be, we should wish
for nothing less, for our con
tinuing success as a demo
cratic republic depends on
free speech and government
transparency. Both sides are
equally skilled practitioners
of exaggeration and hyper
bole, but time to worry is not
when your favorite candidate
is being maligned for this or
that grievous, unprecedented
error. What should worry us
is when everybody starts get
ting in line because they are
forced to do so by an undem
ocratic, secretive, or authori
tarian government.
Yes, a bit of civility in our
political debate would be
nice, but as a Democrat and
concerned citizen, I worry
more about keeping govern
ment transparent than about
the opposition exercising its
right to free speech.
Sincerely,
Michael Hill
Comer
Ms. Axon cares
about her students
Dear Editor:
Here in Madison county high school there are many teachers
who stand out to be appreciated. One of those teachers would be
Ms. Jonie Axon.
Ms. Axon is a very outgoing person inside and out. She can play
around with you and make you laugh in class, but she also knows
when it is time to get serious. She doesn’t tolerate disrespect from
anyone and that is just one of the many things I respect about her.
She also helps me mess with Coach Davis which is just an added
bonus.
Ms. Axon also shared her love with me when my mother was
in the hospital, which was an admirable moment for me, and let
me see how much she actually cares about her students. Although
she may have a hard exterior she has a soft interior that I will never
forget.
“A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches a heart” —
author unknown
I just want to say thank you Ms. Axon. You are greatly appre
ciated.
Sincerely,
Emerald Prather
Buffington
• • • continued from page 4A
sion’s hard lessons?
In the medical world, Mylan ran up the price of emergency
Epipens last year for no apparent reason other than greed, leading
to a Congressional hearing.
Over at Fox News, Roger Ailes was ousted over sexual harass
ment allegations and the cable network’s star, Bill O’Reilly is
also facing accusations of sexual harassment to the point where
advertisers are fleeing his show.
What’s going on here?
Well, nothing really new.
For all its posturing, the business community is no more inno
cent of human foibles than any other segment of our society.
Greed, exploitation, abuse and a shortage of common sense can
be found anywhere.
Which may not be a good sign for our current government.
Trump has surrounded himself with business leaders in an effort
to upend government as we know it. His campaign was in part
focused on building a booming economy by getting rid of reg
ulations and “doing deals” with other nations and by pressuring
American businesses from going offshore.
But what if those deals are just as corrupt or self-serving as the
regulations and deals they are supposed to replace? What if we are
just looking to trade one set of problems for another?
Businesses are usually pretty secretive. They want to protect
their intellectual capital and trade secrets.
That secretive attitude is now translating into government where
the Trump Administration is embracing less transparency. Trump
himself refuses to release his tax returns; we don’t know if he has
conflicts of interest as president or not.
And Trump’s open assault on environmental regulations raises
some very disturbing issues. Those who remember what big cities
smelled like in the 1970s before pollution controls know what I’m
talking about.
Secrecy in government is a bad thing. One of the major things
that separates the U.S. from many other nations is that the level
of our public corruption is much less. Our openness helps curtail
the massive amount of public corruption that exists in many other
places around the world.
But corruption grows in darkness and the shifting toward
increased secrecy in our government institutions is a bad sign.
Under-the-table deal-making and the lack of openness will, over
time, make our government more corrupt. It’s inevitable.
Free enterprise is the best, most robust economic system in the
world. But it’s not perfect and there is a role for government in
regulating the excesses of market greed and stupidity.
You have to wonder, however, just where that balance will be
found under an administration that is aggressively hyper-busi
ness?
Government is not a business and the two should not be con
fused.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of Mainstreet Newspapers. He
can be reached at mike@rnainstreetnews.com.
Summer annual forages could help in a pinch
Summer annual grasses are
important forage crops in the
Southeast. They have a signif
icant fit in our forage systems
to fill in the summer forage
gap in the Fescue Belt and as
an emergency forage crop for
dry summers or bare ground.
They also fit well in situations
where perennial warm sea
son grasses are not desired or
do not fit the circumstances.
With this past year’s drought,
and a precipitation outlook that
is not very promising, recom
mending renovation of ber-
mudagrass pastures with more
bermudagrass is a hard one to
make. Annual grasses just
might help out in a pinch. But
choosing the right species and
variety can be an important
decision.
There are at least 10 dif
ferent summer annual grasses
that could be used as forage
crops in Georgia. In general,
these summer annuals do not
make good hay crops in our
environment because of their
slow drying rate. However, a
few of these species play a
role as a grazing and/or silage
option and are recommended
for use. Those recommended
species are divided into two
categories: 1) pearl millet and
2) the sorghum family.
Pearl Millet originated in
Africa and is the most widely
planted summer annual grass
in Georgia. This tall growing,
erect annual grass produces
several stems from a central
plant. It tillers out more aggres
sively and generally recovers
more rapidly after grazing than
those in the sorghum family.
Consequently, pearl millet is
generally the best choice for
grazing.
By Adam Speir
Millet produces good quali
ty grazing from June through
August. If properly grazed to
avoid advanced maturity stag
es, the range of total digest
ible nutrients (TDN) can be
expected to be 52-58 percent,
while crude protein (CP) will
range from eight-to-11 per
cent. Millet planted in spring
should be ready for grazing
30 - 40 days after planting and
should be productive for 80 to
110 days. However, most of
the production will be during
the first 60 days of the life of
the stand. The grazing supply
can be more stable over the
summer by making three-to-
four plantings staggered by
about two weeks each. Well-
fertilized millet should carry
three to four stacker cattle
or two to three mature cows
per acre during the first 60
days. Lower the stocking rates
during the last part of the graz
ing season to compensate for
the reduced growth rate and
lower quality.
Pearl millet is also less vari
able from year to year. During
the last 10 years, the average
yield of pearl millet in the vari
ety trials in Griffin and Tifton
was approximately 9,000 and
16,000 lbs. per acre, respec
tively. Generally, pearl millet
holds up better under drought
stress than the other species.
All of the summer annuals
have the potential to accumu
late nitrates. However, pearl
millet does not have the added
risk of prussic acid toxicity
whereas those in the sorghum
family do have that risk.
Those species in the sor
ghum family that are com
monly used in Georgia include
forage sorghum, sudangrass,
and the sorghum x sudangrass
hybrids. These species are
generally better choices when
the crop is planned for silage
(e.g., baled silage, bagged
silage, bunker/pit silage, etc.),
but the sudangrasses and sor
ghum x sudangrass hybrids
can also be used for grazing.
Members of the sorghum
family generally produce
more tonnage than pearl mil
let, except during prolonged
drought. Sorghum x sudan
grass hybrids in the variety
trials in Griffin and Tifton
during the last 10 years aver
aged yields of approximately
10,200 and 16,600 lbs. per
acre, respectively. In both loca
tions, the year-to-year vari
ability was approximately 35
percent, which is substantially
more variable than pearl millet
and likely due to an increased
susceptibility to drought.
Members of the sorghum
family generally produce for
age that is slightly higher in
nutritive value (TDN ~53 - 60
percent and CP of 9 - 15 per
cent). Forage sorghum really
only works well as a chopped
silage product. If baled silage
is desired, sudangrass and sor
ghum x sudangrass hybrids
work very well. These species
produce relatively little grain,
so it is generally best to har
vest them before the seed head
fully develops. You should also
look for brown mid-rib (BMR)
varieties of sorghum or sor
ghum x sudangrass hybrids,
especially in grazing uses, as
these have a higher digestibili
ty and lower lignin concentra
tions than other varieties.
Photoperiod-sensitive sor
ghum x sudan and forage
sorghum cultivars are avail
able. These varieties are
capable of sustaining more
consistent growth over a lon
ger-growing season because
they remain in a vegetative
stage late into September. This
trait may negate or lessen the
need for staggered plantings.
Otherwise, these varieties are
generally managed (planted,
fertilized, etc.) in the same way
as conventional cultivars.
New varieties of warm-sea
son annual grasses are released
periodically, so it is important
to examine the yield compar
ison trials in UGA’s Statewide
Variety Trial Program. The
most recent recommendations
for our summer annual forages
out of Griffin include:
Pearl Millet: Southern States
(SS635 DF and SS 1562M
BMR) and UGA (Tifleaf 3).
Sorghum x Sudangrass:
Alta Seeds (AS9302) and
Gayland Ward (Nutra-King
BMR and Sweet Six BMR
Dry Stalk)
You can find the entire list
of variety trial data, includ
ing data from our Tifton trials,
by contacting our office or by
going online at www.swvt.
uga.edu.
Adam Speir is Madison
County Cooperative Extension
Agent for agriculture and nat
ural resources.
Can’t thank Mrs. Embry enough for her impact on me
Dear Editor:
I’ve had many great
teachers in my 11 years
in the Madison County
School System.
However, one teacher
that was extremely influen
tial for me was Mrs. Angie
Embry. Mrs. Embry was
my reading and language
arts teacher in fourth grade
at Danielsville Elementary
School. She was constantly
motivating me to do my
best and to keep expanding
my skills. She made learn
ing easier by making it fun.
She taught us silly, little
songs to remember what
verbs or contractions are,
and I can still recite some
of them to this day.
During the eighth grade
CRCT, I had a question
about helping verbs, and
I sang the song to help
me get the right answer.
I still use the things that
Mrs. Embry taught me on
a daily basis, and I couldn’t
thank her enough for her
impact on my life. She
always encouraged me to
go a step further and not
just settle for mediocrity.
I’m so thankful for Mrs.
Embry and all of the other
great teachers that I’ve sat
under over the years; I owe
them for shaping me into
the person and student that
I am today.
Sincerely,
Emily Bartlett
Piedmont Athens Regional cordially invites
you to attend our
Ribbon Cutting
Showcasing the new
Oconee Health Campus
April 26,2017 • 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Special Guest: UGA Head Football Coach Kirby Smart
1305 Jennings Mill Road • Watkinsville, GA 30677