Whither Goes Pennsylvania
Agriculture?
BY ALVI O. VOIGHT
Penn State
Professor Of Ag Economics
Statistics are
dull, uninter
esting and fuzzy.
Right? Wrong. If
statistics are gen-
erated by official
reliable govern-
ment agencies
such as our Pennsylvania Agricul
tural Statistics Service (formerly
known as Crop Reporting) and our
Census of Agriculture (the U.S.
Department of Commerce), such
statistics are the most reliable and
trustworthy anywhere. Sure
they’re not perfect but, then, you
and I aren’t perfect either.
Statistics help us understand
what has happened, what is hap
pening and they give us some good
clues as to what might happen in
the future. Statistics can even help
us understand the why of what is
going on, and, naturally, statistics
help us in our farming and personal
decision-making.
Statistics help generate facts and
knowledge that we hear about and
read about and, consciously or not,
sift in our minds along with our
individual and collective experi
ences and observations. It’s get
ting more and more difficult to
make correct decisions by relying
mostly on our own (limited) and
others (biased) experience and
observations because we arc only a
tiny part of what’s going on, and
because quite a lot of the signific
ant factors in decision-making are
beyond our control and outside of
our influence.
Recent Pennsylvania
Doings
Looking at Pennsylvania from a
big picture standpoint (no details
Model 2910
Model 6005
With ThM* Participating
or specifics within the crops and
livestock subcategories) the fol
lowing page was swiped from our
PA Agricultural Statistics Service
“1986 Crops and Livestock Annu
al Summary.” It is page 57. (Get
your copy from PASS, 2301 North
Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA
17110-9408 or phone
717-787-3904).
First off, notice that all com
modities increased in value from
$3,012 billion cash receipts in
1983 to $3,090 billion cash
receipts in 1984 to $3,150 billion
cash receipts in 1985. Pennsylva
nia’s cash receipts from agricultur
al products increased a little each
year. We emphasized the accom
panying table’s value is not net
income or is not total value but just
the cash receipts value from agri
cultural product sales.
Further, notice a decline in cash
receipts’ value of livestock pro
ducts from 1983 to 1985, and, a
decline in the share of livestock
products (73.8 percent to 69.3 per
cent). On the other side of the coin,
crops’ cash receipts and share of
the total increased from 1983 to
1985 (26.2 percent to 30.7 per
cent). Where were the biggest
crops’ cash receipts’ gains? Com
topped the list (2.7 percent to 5.6
percent) and next was greenhouse/
nursery (7.2 percent to 8.8 percent)
followed by apples (1.4 percent to
1.9 percent).
All of the foregoing is merely a
brief (three-year overview slice of
goings- on, or, trends. Other statis
tics and studies put the “meat on
the bones” and help farmers and
others decide what has been going
on, is going on, and what the future
might hold for them.
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PENNSYLVANIA: CASH RECEIPTS FROM SALE OR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FROM FARMS BY COMMODITIES. 1963-1965^
Cf nility
ALL COMMODITIES
LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS
MEAT ANIMALS
Cattle/Calves
Hogs
Sheep/Larabs
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Milk Wholesale
Milk Retail
POULTRY AND EGGS
Eggs
Broilers
Turkeys
Chickens, Farm
MISCELLANEOUS LIVESTOCK 38,229
Wool
Other Livestock
CROPS
FOOD GRAINS
Wheat
Rye
FEED CROPS
Corn
Hay
Oats
Barley
TOBACCO
OIL CROPS
VEGETABLES
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Corn, Sweet
Beans. Snap
Miscellaneous
Vegetables
FRUITS AND NUTS
Apples
Peaches
Grapes
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Miscellaneous
Fruits ( Nuts
ALL OTHER CROPS
Greenhouse/Nursery
Mushrooms
Other Field Crops
Percentages may not be accurate to 0.1 in last dig
Less than 0.05 percent.
KEN CLUGSTON VERNON 3EIBEL
(717) 665-6775 (717) 665-2782
CRAFT-BELT
CONSTRUCTION INC.
FARM-HOME BUILDING-
R.D. #2 MANHEIM, PA.
PH: (717) 665-4372
BUILDING & REMODELING FOR
dairy residential
SWINE POLE BUILDINGS
BEEF STORAGE
1983
Percent Of ■ w ,
Total : ya,ue
Value
Percent Thous. Do I s
Thous. Pols
3,012,316
100.0
73.8
2,222,559
431,942
310,882
118,363
14.3
10.3
3.9
2,697
1,330,863
1,262,100
68,763
44.2
41.9
2.3
14.0
7.7
3.9
2.0
421,525
230,838
117,833
60,724
12,130
37,938
1.3
26.2
789,757
23,790
23,028
762
164,403
81,889
70,112
9,051
3,351
20,436
23,409
70,258
29,256
16,279
10,103
1,568
13,052
81,949
41,818
15,590
10,596
5,810
5,048
687
2,400
405,512
216,130
187,305
2,077
13.5
7.2
6.2
,|*w
Lancaster Farming Saturday, June 25, 1988*09
1984
• Percent Of ’
: Total :
Percent Thous. Pols
100.0
,090,
72.6
14.3
9.8
4.3
,027
,157
,701
,953
,503
,242,
441,
303,
133,'
42.3
40.5
1.8
1.305
1,250
14.5
8.3
3.9
2.1
448
255,
121
64
46
848
23
22
27.4
160.809
66,533
82,689
5,944
5,643
21,219
30,284
80,193
31,108
17,020
15,477
2,822
3.900
443,822
244,434
196,488
2.900
14.4
7.9
6.4
•cause of method of machine computation
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Gutter Grates With
Recessed Bars
Pleasant View Welding
Honey Brook, R#4, Box 44, Pa. 19344
Phone (215) 273-2480.
Call Between 7:00 & 8:00 AM
1965
Percent Of
Total
Value
Percent
3,149,980
2,183,827
399,582
294,681
102.086
100.0
69.3
12.7
9.4
3.2
2.815
1,311,305
1,251,705
41.6
39.7
1.9
13.2
6.9
59,600
417.155
218,808
123.294
67,450
7,603
55,785
55,500
1.8
30.7
966,153
25,359
24,610
256.523
176,429
68,136
7.301
4,657
20,984
29,561
77,704
28,229
16,093
13,880
3,196
16,306
88,794
59,360
9,739
7,375
3,473
2,206
641
6,000
467,228
277,720
185,758
3,750
14.8
8.8
5.9