A44—Lancaster Famine, Saturday, July 26, £9BO
Biggest, best Ag Progress Days next month »
living programs, and youth
activities.
The threatre tent, a
popular change of pace, will
feature musical en
tertainment each mid-day.
Presentations on everything
from home horticulture to
home safety will be
scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. A small tent nearby will
offer puppet shows and play
activities for young show
visitors.
UNIVERSITY PARK -
Final preparations are
underway to accommodate
the more than 15,000 visitors
a day expected at Penn
State’s Rock Springs
Research Center next
month.
Farmland remains prime asset
HARRISBURG -
“Homes, highways and
other urban expansion
development are replacing
our nation’s best farmland at
the rate of 1 million acres a
year,” said Graham T.
Munkittnck, State Con
servationist for the USDA,
Soil Conservation Service,
headquartered here.
‘ ‘Another 2 million acres of
lesser quality farmland
surrenders to the bulldozers
every 12 months,” he added.
“This serious threat to our
food and fiber resource is
meeting some local op
position. But much more
action is needed to protect
the nearly 19 million acres of
important farmland we still
have in the 13 northeastern
states.”
According to Munkittnck,
some economic experts say
we should write off the
agricultural industry m the
northeast. Yet, it is in
teresting to note that acre
for acre the northeastern
states have a higher per
centage of prime farmland
than many larger midwest
and western states. In fact,
some northeastern states
have more total prune farm
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“All indications are that
this year’s annual
Agricultural Progress Days
will be the biggest and best
ever,” says Joseph
Harrington, Penn State
agronomy professor and
general chairman of the
in Northeast says SCS
acres than their larger
western counterparts, he
points out.
“These facts and several
others are pointed out m a
recent USDA Agricultural
Land Study,” said
Munkittnck.
“They indicate that we do
not have a valuable farm
industry in the northeast and
that we do need to keep our
best farmland in
agriculture. Otherwise, our
standard of living will suffer
within a generation.”
The National Agricultural
Land Study found that
Pennsylvania is losing
128,000 acres of farmland per
year. Of this amount, 42,000
acres are top quality far
mland. If the present rate of
loss continues, this State
could be without farmland
early m the coming century.
The land study indicates
that Pennsylvania has more
prune farmland than Oregon
and Washington combined,
while New York has nearly
as much as both of those
west coast states.
Maryland and New Jersey
each have more acres of
important farmland than
found in Montana, Arizona,
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three-day event.
“It’s more than a day in
the sun,” says Dr.
Harrington. Educational
displays and commercial
exhibits from Canada and
the eastern United States are
growing in numbers and
Nevada, Utah or New
Mexico. They have nearly as
much important farmland as
Florida, in spite of the fact
that Florida has three times
more total acres than
Maryland and New Jersey.
Massachusetts, with only
8.257 square miles of land,
has as much important
farmland as New Mexico,
with 121,666 square miles of
land.
California, with 158,693
square miles of land and 7.8
million acres of important
farmland, is considered one
of our great agricultural
states. Yet, five of the
smaller northeastern
states—Maryland, Delawa
re, New Jersey, Connecticut
and Rhode Island, plus
Virginia with just about
half the total land area, have
the same amount of im
portant farmland.
“The point I want to make
is that we still have a lot of
prune farmland here in the
northeast, but we need to
protect it and keep it in our
food and fiber production,”
says Munkittnck. “With our
dense urban population
areas, we must expand our
towns and cities, but we
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quality, providing a strong
regional reputation for the
event.
Again this year, visitors
will see alternative energy
systems and the technology
for using them.
Harrington says
should develop them on less
productive land. Once our
best farmland is covered
with urban developments,
it’s gone forever.”
25* ]
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systems include wood
burning and forest im
provement methods, solar
methods for heating
buildings and drying crops
from gardens to commercial
farms, and improved ef
ficiency of farm-size
methane and gasohol
digesters operating on gram
and crop residues.
“A record number of
commercial exhibitors will
display goods and services
for agriculture,” points out
Harrington. About 225
commercial companies will
be exhibiting about $2O
million m products. “Some
of the world’s most
sophisticated farm equip
ment will be displayed,”
adds Harrington.
Featured exhibits include
energy and resource ef
ficient animal and crop
production. Back again will
be the special exhibits and
working demonstrations in
the areas of on-farm waste
disposal, soil and water
conservation, and safety.
The midway area will
focus on held equipment,
farm supplies, seeds, fer
tilizers, silos, farm
chemicals, and other farm
and home supphes.
Also on display will be
chain saws, lawn and garden
equipment, sprayers, hor
ticulture exhibits, family
that
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FOR MORE INFORMATION. CONTACT:
The 1980 Agricultural
Progress Days will be held
August 19-21 at the Rock
Springs Agricultural
Research Center, located
nine miles west of State
College on Route 45 from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m.
Ag Progress Days is
sponsored by Penn State’s
College of Agriculture iff
cooperation with machinery
companies and numerous
agricultural associations
and agencies and is an of
ficial part of Penn State’s
125th anniversary
celebration.
The road to Rock Springs
began even before last
year’s Progress Days were
over and has become one of
the largest outdoor activities
m the East. Dr. Harrington
emphasizes that the ac
tivities are planned to be of
interest to both the rural and
urban visitor.
_ 71 •
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