Dl4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 26,1983
Smith cites contributions
of Lackawanna ag
SCRANTON - Dr. Samuel H.
Smith, dean of Penn State's
College of Agriculture and director
of the Penn State Cooperative
Extension Service was the
featured speaker at the annual
meeting of the Lackawanna
County Extension Service. Dr.
Smith spoke on “A New Com
mitment to an Old Partnership”
and the importance of agriculture
in the county.
The partnership to which he
referred is the county, state, and
federal partnership of the
Cooperative Extension Service. It
is also the partnership which links
the resources of the land grant
university at Penn State to the
people of Pennsylvania.
Like any public organization,
Extension needs to constantly
adjust and change to meet the
changing needs of the people it
serves.
“I have been telling people
across the state something that I
firmly believe and that is both
agriculture and colleges of
agriculture are in a period of
transition,” said Dr. Smith. “As
we continue to develop new
knowledge and new technology, we
must get it into the pipelines to the
users as quickly and efficiently as
possible.”
Dr. Smith commended the
Lackawanna County Com
missioners for providing more
than |24,000 in county funding for
Extension in 1962. If housing and
other extra services provided are
included, this amount would be
closer to |50,000.
The amount of federal and state
dollars that came from Penn State
to support Lackawanna Extension
programs totaled $138,799 in the
fiscal period ending June 30 of this
year.
Lackawanna’s agricultural
operation includes 400 productive
farms that brought in cash receipts
of more than $l2 million last year.
Dairy products brought in slightly
more than $4.2 million of this total
and meat animal products added
another $4.1 million.
Lackawanna County has many
Lackawanna Extension
Sam Smith, Dean of the College of Agriculture at Penn State, presented certificates of
recognition for cooperation in the Extension program at the annual meeting of the
Lackawanna County Cooperative Extension Association.
First row, left to right, are Fred Eckel, Schultzville; Audrey Naylor, Factoryville; Dr.
Smith and Tom Jurchak, County Extension Director.
Second row, Keith Eckel, Schultzville; Wilfred Richards, Dalton; Roy Thompson,
Newton; James Schrig, Dalton; Doug Eckel, Schultzville; Richard Pallman, Newton;
William Schlosser, Clarks Summit; and Brian Pallman, Newton.
Dr. Samuel H. Smith
businesses that are considered ag
related. They provide agriculture
with goods and services, process,
transport or distribute ag products
and generally add to the economy
of the county.
The lumber industry is a good
example. Over sixty percent of the
land area is forested. People do not
generally consider forest products
part of the ‘‘agricultural
economy” but these are county
products that result in income and
employment for Lackawanna
County.
Dr. Smith pointed out that the
lumber and wood products in
dustry is comprised of 24
establishments employing 412
people.
“Local support for Extension
projects has been outstanding in
this county,” said Dr. Smith.
“Your adult leaders have in
creased 25 percent and 4-H
enrollment has doubled over the
past few years. Fertilization and
variety programs saved farmers
$43,000 during the 1963 growing
season^
With the introduction of new
hybrid varieties and the expansion
of production, Lackawanna County
has become a center of distribution
for tomato plants. This year over
six million transplants provided
gross sales of nearly $250,000.
Dr. Smith talked about some of
the trends which are developing in
agriculture.
“I believe that despite some
temporary setbacks as a result of
the general economic recession,
some overproduction in dairy
products, and the drought this
year, there is strong evidence for
continued growth of Pennsylvania
agriculture,” said Dr. Smith.
Pennsylvania has the fastest
growing livestock and poultry
industry in the Northeastern states
at the present time.
Pennsylvania also leads the
Northeast in food processing and
manufacturing and plays a major
roll in food distribution.
Pennsylvania export markets
are also growing. Pennsylvania’s
agricultural exports reached a
record $565 million in 1962, up from
$3OO million in 1978. Approximatley
4.5 percent of the state’s
agricultural and food products
were exported last year.
It is generally recognized that a
major reason for U.S.
agriculture’s amazing success is
its technological base. At the heart
of this base are the research and
educational programs of landgrant
universities, such as Penn State.
There is a concern at the
national level that Extension
improveds what is called the
“technology transfer network” of
the USDA/Land-Grant System.
The dean explained that Penn
sylvania is moving ahead on plans
to use computers to collect and
relay information swiftly between
researcher, Extension workers,
and clientele groups.
Penn State will be asking, in
fiscal 1964-85, for $1.9 million
through Penn State’s operational
budget request to the state
legislature to purchase the
necessary hardware and software
to establish an Extension Com
puter Network in Pennsylvania.
Penn State has been selected as
the site of a Northeast Computer
Institute serving agriculture and
Extension in 11 participating
(Turn to Page Dl6)
honored
See your nearest
HOLLAND
Dealer for Dependable
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Service:
Additon. PA
Addisonfarm and
Industrial
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US Rt 40, P 0 Box 1
Addison, Pa
814-395-3521
Alexandria. PA
Clapper Farm
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Star Route
814-669-4465
Annville. PA
B H M Farm
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RD 1
717 867 2211
lavertown.
B4R Farm
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RD 1, Box 217 A
717 658 7024
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Paul Shovers, Inc
35 East Willow Street
717 243 2686
Chambersburg, PA
Implement, Inc
RD 1
717 263 4103
lavidsburg, PA
George N Gross, Inc
R D 2, Dover PA
717 292 1673
Elizabethtown. PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc
Rt 283 Rheem's Exit
717 367 1319
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C Paul Ford & Son
RD 1
814 652 2051
Gettysburg, PA
Yinglmg Implements
RD 9
717 359-4848
Greencastle. PA
Meyers
Implement's Inc
400 N Antrim Way
717 597 2176
Halifax, PA
Sweigard Bros
R D 3, Box 13
717 896 3414
Hamburg, PA
Shartlesville
Farm Service
R D 1, Box 170
215 488 1025
Honey Brook. PA
Dependable Motor Co
East Main Street
215-273-3131
215 273-3737
Norman D Clark
& Son, Inc
Honey Grove, PA
717 734 3682
Hughesville, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc
103 Cemetery Street
717 584-2106
Lancaster. Pi
L H Brubaker, Inc
350 Strasburg Pike
717 397 5179
Lititz. PA
Roy A Brubaker
700 Woodcrest Av
717 626 7766
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Paul Shovers, Inc
Loysville, PA
717-789 3117
Lynnport, PA
Kermit K Kistler, Inc
Lynnport, PA
215-298 2011
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Forshey's, Inc
110 Forshey St
814 793 3791
Mill Hall. PA
Paul A Dotterer
RD 1
717 726 3471
New Holland. PA
ABC Groff, Inc
110 South Railroad
717 354-4191
New Park. Pi
M4R Equipment Inc
P 0 Box 16
717 993 2511
Oley, PA
C J Wonsidler Bros
RD 2
215 987 6257
Palm, PA
Wentz Farm
Supplies, Inc
Rt 29
215 679 7164
Pitman. PA
Marlin W Schrettler
Pitman, PA
717 648 1120
Pleasant Gap, Pi
Brooks Ford Tractor
W College Ave
814 359 2751
'ville, PA
luarr
C E Wiley & Son, Inc
101 South Lime Street
717 786 2895
Rmgtown. PA
Rmgtown Farm
Equipment
Rmgtown, PA
717 889 3184
Silverdale. PA
I G Sales
Box 149
215 257 5135
Tamaqua. PA
Charles S Snyder Inc
R D 3
717 386 5945
Troy, PA
The Warner Co
For You The Farmer
Troy PA
/!/ 29/ 2141
West Chester. Pi
M S Yearsley & Son
114-116 East
Market Street
215-696 2990
West Grove. PA
S G Lewis & Son, Inc
R D 2, Box 66
215-869-2214
Churchville. MD
Walter G Coale, Inc
2849-53
Churchville Rd
301 734 7722
Rising Sun, MD
Ag Ind
Equipment Co , Inc
1207 Telegraph Rd
301 398-6132
301-658-5568
215 869 3542
Washu
ton. NJ
Frank Rymon & Sons
201-689 1464
Woodstown. N.
Owen Supply Co
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308