VOL. 32 No. 30
Governor
Proclaims
Dairy Month
Editor’s Note: Governor Casey
proclaimed June Dairy Month this
week in Harrisburg. Lancaster
Farming will do this next week
with a special issue. The text of the
Governor’s proclamation follows.
You will need to wait a week for
our special tribute.
Pennsylvania’s dairy industry
makes a vital contribution to the
state’s economy while its products
help to insure all citizen’s health
and vitality.
Nearly 14,000 dairy fanners are
responsible for the well-being of
this key industry with large capital
investments in some 720,000 dairy
cows. Last year the com
monwealth’s dairy farms and 220
milk processing plants produced
nearly 10 billion pounds of milk
establishing Pennsylvania as the
fifth leading milk-producing state
in the nation. Milk production
alone contributed over $1.3 billion
to our econmoy. Indeed milk is the
state’s official beverage.
Also, Pennsylvania milk serves
as the basic ingredient in many
other wholesome foods, which are
important to the state. The com
monwealth ranks second
Farmers And Forests May-
Benefit From Manure Project
BY JACK HUBLEY
NEW HOLLAND - If, as ex
perts say, livestock manure
contains a wealth of nutrients, then
Lancaster County is blessed with
an embarrassment of riches. The
■tale’s leading county in dairy,
keef, hog, poultry and egg
production, Lancaster also pumps
out more than five million tons of
manure annually, or enough to
fertilize 349,000 acres of cropland.
The problem is that Lancaster
County has only 330,000 cropland
•ores, of which some 53,000 acres
*re used to grow alfalfa. Prac
tically speaking, that means the
I Opportunities For College
Ag Graduates Exceeds Supply
BY SUZANNE KEENE
AND MARTHA J. GEHRINGER
UTITZ Although the media
“Js been painting a grim picture of
®*ag economy, this year’s college
jjhjduates with agriculture
*?rees face a rosy future in the
Iw market.
, The job situation in agriculture
excellent,” reports Dr. Glenn
■*»erson, acting associate dean of
y'culture at the University of
Jwyland. “A great number of
are finding jobs in their
vecialty ” Even though farmers
a hard time, the rest of
culture is thriving and jobs are
liable, he said.
Governor Casey
nationally in the production of ice
cream, milk sherbet and frozen
dairy products; fourth in Italian
variety cheese; fifth in butter and
ice milk; and sixth in the
manufacture of all varieties of
cheese. This food group provides
all citizens with a valuable source
of nature’s most important
ingredients such as calcium,
protein, and riboflavin. In ad
ftifmn, yearly 40,000 Penn
sylvanians are employed in the
mdnil&ftbre and processing of
these dairy products.
In recognition of our great dairy
industry, I, Robert P f’asey,
(Turn to Page A 39)
county is 72,000 acres short of
being able to spread its “wealth”
at recommended rates.
So what’s a farmer to do with his
surplus? The answer to that
question ifcay be no farther away
than the nearest woodlot, ac
cording to Tim Breneisen, of the
Lancaster County Conservation
District. Not only is 17 percent of
Pennsylvania under trees, says
Breneisen, but much of Penn’s
Woods is actually adjacent to
cropland, making it a convenient
repository for livestock manure.
Since much of this forestland is low
in nutrients, it follows that manure
College officials estimate that 75
to 90 percent of this year’s college
of ag graduates will find jobs in
their area of expertise. Delaware
Valley College reported that 100
percent of their 1986 ag graduates
who entered the job market within
six months of graduation are
currently employed or enrolled in
graduate school.
Other schools report similar
success, with Penn State
University estimating 75 to 90
percent placement within three
months of graduation and a
significantly higher percentage at
six months.
(Turn to PageA22)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 30,1987
Guernsey Breeders Convene
BY BETH NESBIT
Indiana Co. Correspondent
PITTSBURGH - In the hustle of
America’s most livable city last
weekend, the American Guernsey
Cattle Gub was holding its 110th
annual convention in the Sheraton
Hotel at Station Square. The
convention was highlighted by the
National Convention and Heifer
Sale on Saturday evening.
Convention-goers and spectators
gathered in the Sheraton’s grand
ballroom to witness the selling of
31 quality Guernsey animals.
These animals averaged $2,175.
The first lot to enter the sale ruig
was Yellow Creek Fayette Boone-
ET. Consigned by Truman Weaver
of Yellow Creek Farm, Goshen,
Ind., the bull was born Sept. 2,1986.
The Dutch Mill Telestars Fayette
son sold for a final bid of $10,500 to
a syndicate representing Tri-State
Breeders.
A full sister to Yellow Creek
Fayette Boone-ET commanded the
top bid for the females. Yellow
Creek Fayette Brook-ET was also
bred and consigned by Weaver.
She sold for $8,250 to Jerry
Emrich, Plain City, Ohio, and
Michael Hurst and Truman
Weaver of Goshen, Ind.
Boone and Brook are the
(Turn to Page A2B)
could boost timber production,
Breneisen points out.
With the help of the Department
of Environmental Resources’
Bureau of Forestry, the district
plans to put these theories to the
test beginning June 22, when
they’ll be spraying liquid hog
manure on a series of forested test
(Turn to Page A 35)
Dennis Roland (left) and his father Amos pull tobacco plants from their beds on the family
farm near Landisville. A tobacco farmer for 38 years, Amos Roland decided to cut his Type 41
tobacco acreage by 40 percent this year in light of weakening demand for chewing tobacco.
Welcoming the 1987 National Guernsey Queen Sheri
Kohler (left) is Pennsylvania Guernsey Queen Tina Yaple.
Prospects May Improve
For Tobacco Growers
BY JACK HUBLEY
Following anemic prices for the
1986 tobacco crop, planting is off to
a slow start in Lancaster County.
“Definitely we’re going to be cut
back in acreage,” says Lancaster
County Extension director Jay
Irwin.
Tobacco proved to be a hot item
m 1986, when a newly organized
auction system brought buyers and
sellers together at a central
location for the first time in 40
years, and prices for the Maryland
Type 609 tobacco grown here
averaged $1.15 per pound.
But one year later dreams for an
even better season went up in
smoke, with 609 averaging only 45'
to 50 cents. Most sources attributed
the drop in price to two factors:
poorer quality tobacco and a glut
Four Sections
of cheap, government-owned
hurley tobacco left over from the
1983 growing season that soaked un
demand for the Pennsylvania n op
Poorer quality was definitely a
factor, according to John Yocum, a
tobacco expert at Penn State’s
Southeast Research Farm located
in Landisville. “Our tobacco here
at the station was one of the
poorest crops we’ve had in a long
time,” says Yocum, noting that
wind and hail storms shredded
much of the leaf.
Two other factors that combined
to lower quality were an etch virus
that caused a bum-type injury and
air pollution. Yocum said ozone
and sulfur dioxide are the two air
pollutants that spotted leaves at
the station.
(Turn to Page A2l)
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