Farm Life

Willie Nelson is tired of Farm Aid.Nor is he the only one. "I think that Neil agrees with me," he says, referring to Farm Aid co-founder Neil Young. "We're sick and tired of Farm Aid. We don't think there should have been the first one, much less that we should have to still be doing it years later."Unfortunately, he can't quit just yet. Because even after 14 years of fund- and consciousness-raising by some of the biggest names in pop music, American farmers are still struggling. So Nelson and Young are gearing up for Farm Aid 15, which takes place today at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Va.Inspired by an offhand remark Bob Dylan made at a benefit for African famine victims, Live Aid -- "Wouldn't it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?"

4-H teaches values, 'real world of farming'From: Robert J. RynarzewskiWoodbineMs. Rona L. Hankin's response ["Reader questions youth's priorities," Aug. 23, Readers Write] to your article on the 4-H livestock auction ["Raising livestock for slaughter pays off for young businessmen," [Aug. 16, The Howard County Sun] upset me also.There they go again, those people in Columbia that do not understand or try to understand the real world of farming or what the real world of family values are.No!

Just two years after the Revolutionary War, Richard Hope began clearing chestnut trees from a 120-acre tract just outside of what is now Jarrettsville. It was 1783 and Hope was establishing his family farm. There were about 13,000 residents in what would later become Harford County, according to county historical documents. Most of the Indians, including the Susquehannocks, had been driven out of the region by a government policy of extinction. Wolves were considered a bigger threat to farmers and livestock.

DELTA, Pa. -- Mark and Diane Thomas were accustomed to farm life when they moved from Maryland into a charming 1830s log home on 19 acres. But in the two years since then - as Diane suffered headaches and a persistent skin infection and her husband and two children struggled with diarrhea and other digestive problems - they began to suspect that their health problems were caused by the hog farm next door. And they grew further alarmed when the farm announced plans this year to expand from 450 pigs to 4,400.

At the farm where we live now in Northern Baltimore county, the early morning view from the side porch is wonderful. The sun has been rising between 5:30 and 6, accompanied by a soft mist rising from the dew-covered pastures where the horses are kept. And the sounds of a working horse farm begin. A cock crows. Two farm hands, Charlie and his brother Fred, walk out to the stables to begin their murmured coaxing of the thoroughbreds. A stallion is in one barn. Charlie brings a mare or two by to see whether they are interested.

HAGERSTOWN -- The first time Harvey Wilder expected to strike gold was 1943, when he patented a large-scale pantograph."That was a great invention," he says of the flexible metal arms that would have enabled billboard painters to copy big pictures from small ones."

Kevin Hickey revealed last night that he had accepted the Orioles' offer to pitch for their Double A Hagerstown farm club.The 35-year-old lefthander, who was bitter after being released a week ago, decided to go to Hagerstown after passing through waivers and getting no other big-league offers."

If you want a refreshing view of autumn, stop by the 18th Century Market Fair at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Learn how to hook a rug or turn wood on the carpenter's lathe. No one will go hungry with all of the meat pies, roasted chicken, cheese, sausage, tarts, lemonade, beer, wine and fish house punch you could ask for. The Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run is at 6310 Georgetown Pike in McLean, Va. Admission is $5 for adults, $2.50 for children 3-15 and senior citizens.

Joan and David Hagan photograph our yesterdays before they vanish completely into the past. The farms and the countryside are slipping from view. The real estate developers pave over paradise and put up the future.In "The Farm: An American Living Portrait," the Hagans have put a hold on time. Slipping their cameras across the countrysides of several states, their book of photos captures not only wintry farmhouses whose creaky bones you can hear moaning up from the pages, but faces out of Norman Rockwell and landscapes that look like symphonies set to color.

Eight-year-old Jason Vanisko admitted he was a little sad about selling his 1,708-pound steer, Michael, at the 4-H livestock sale at the Howard County Fair. He had raised the animal for more than a year, bottle-feeding it when it was a calf. "I'm sad to let it go," he said. But he was happy to auction his lamb, a 122-pounder named George. "I'm not sad to sell my lamb," said the Ellicott City resident. "It's mean. It head-butts me, and it tries to get away." Jason's emotions about the animals didn't change anything.