Pa. Ag Dept. Announces Research Project Grants
Pennsylvania Secretary of
Agriculture Jim McHale an
nounced that contracts for 15
new agricultural research
projects totaling $280,000 have
been signed this fiscal year, with
several of them aimed at im
proving marketing services for
farmers.
McHale said a total of 24
research projects are underway
for fiscal year 1972-73, nine of
which are being continued from
the previous year. The projects,
funded in part by an annual
appropriation of about $400,000
from harness racing proceeds,
are conducted primarily with
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facilities at Pennsylvania State
University, the University of
Pennsylvania and the state
Department of'Agriculture.
“We have some innovative
projects this year which I hope
will lead to farmers getting a
larger share of the retail food
dollar,” said McHale. “We want
to streamline marketing
procedures so that farm produce
gets to consumer outlets more
directly and efficiently.
Marketing has been one phase of
agriculture that has been ignored
too long,” McHale added.
The secretary singled out four
projects that should be of direct
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benefit to farm income:
“Researching Opportunities for
Improving and Expanding Direct
Marketing by Agricultural
Producers and Processors,”
contracted with Penn State
University; “Regional
Agricultural Commodity Trade
and Service Center Feasibility
Study,” with Department of
Agriculture; “Feasibility Study
for Milk Surplus Plants in
western Pennsylvania,” Penn
State University; and “A
Marketing Study, Certification
Program, and Development of
Production Procedures for
Organic Farmers in Penn
sylvania,” Penn State Univer
sity.
McHale said he has stressed
that project proposals show how
they relate to improving farm
income. “I am pleased that Penn
State and other institutions with
fine research facilities have
cooperated so well in revamping
their research priorities,” said
McHale.
“Farm parity now stands at
about 71 percent, the lowest since
depression days, which indicates
that production costs have been
outstripping gains in gross
receipts,” McHale explained. “If
marketing efficiency had kept
pace with production efficiency,
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farm income could have in
creased dramatically during the
past 20 years.”
McHale added that the em
phasis on marketing in no way
conflicts with the department’s
traditional concern with farm
production. Two other new
projects, for example, are the
“Control of Corn Stalk Rot” and
“Control of Potato Verticillium
Wilt,” both contracted with Penn
State University.
“Eliminating corn stalk rot and
potato wilt clearly will increase
production of these crops,” said
McHale. “We do recognize that
crops lost to disease obviously
hurt a farmer’s income and we
certainly want research directed
at these kinds of problems.”
McHale said he was especially
pleased with the marketing
projects because they should
result in better products for
consumers as well as increased
income for Pennsylvania far
mers.
One problem that has plagued
Pennsylvania farmers is the
concentration of retail food
distribution in fewer and larger
firms. McHale contends these
firms increasingly turn to large
growers outside the state to
purchase perishable produce.
“As a result of drastic change
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 28,1972
in the food retailing market
structure during the past 40
years,” said McHale,
“marketing opportunities for
Pennsylvania agricultural
products other than fluid milk,
poultry, eggs and apples have
been sharply curtailed.”
McHale also noted that the
marketing margin for fresh
foods moving through con
ventional channels ranges bet
ween 30 and 70 percent of the
retail price. “There are in
dications,” said McHale, “that
the marketing margin can be
substantially narrowed by direct
selling operations giving the
farmer a greater share of the
food dollar. Farmers are only
getting 39 cents of the consumer
dollar now, an increase of only
one cent in ten years,” McHale
added.
McHale said the direct
marketing project will study the
concept of a statewide network of
publicly owned outlets that would
be leased and operated by local
marketing corporations. These
corporations would be directed
by a board made up of local
agricultural producers,
processors and consumers.
The Regional Agricultural
Commodity Trade and Service
Center project also concerns
direct market outlets but will
consider the development of
balanced rural communities
Agri-Centers. Studies will be
made on fostering the growth of
agricultural related facilities
such as processing and
packaging firms near prime
agricultural land which together
with farming can be the
economic base of planned rural
communities.
McHale said the project to
study the feasibility of building a
plant to process and bottle milk in
western Pennsylvania stemmed
from meetings with dairymen
earlier this year
Such a plant, said McHale,
should encourage the regulation
of milk supply in the western part
of the state which for years has
suffered spring surpluses and fall
shortages.
The research project to protect
organic food producers, said
McHale, is another example of
improving the link between
farmers and consumers.
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don’t like you or your or
ganization.
We may have missed it in
the rush. Or maybe yotf for
got to tell us.
Either way, we’d like to
extend our farm community
service to you.
!■© get on tne Farm Calen
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9