The Shape Of Things To Come
BY PAT PURCELL
LANCASTER More roads,
more houses, more people. High
land costs, zoning restrictions, air
and water pollution. Labor shor
tages, manure disposal problems
and a growing suburbia.
Will there be any room left for
farming in Lancaster County? If
so, what kind of farming? Will
dairy, swine and poultry opera
tions be replaced by vegetable
cropping, Christmas trees or aqua
culture farms?
With or without a crystal ball the
future is impossible to predict. But
all members of the county’s farm
ing community agree that changes
are a sure bet. Changes which will
challenge the best farm managers
and financial wizards in the agri
cultural industry.
‘The Future of Lancaster Coun
ty Agriculture” will bring together
LANCASTER A tobacco
management meeting will be held
on Wednesday, January 4,1989 at
the Lancaster County Farm and
Home Center from 11:00 a.m. to
3:15 p.m. The meeting is spon
sored by Penn State Extension and
will be held in the basement meet
ing room. All interested tobacco
growers are invited to attend.
A variety of interesting topics
related to tobacco management
PDA Licensing
Poultry Dealers,
HARRISBURG The Penn
sylvania Department of Agricul
ture is now licensing poultry deal
ers and, haulers under a new law
prevent the spread of
poultry diseases.
State Agriculture Secretary
Boyd E. Wolff said today that
licenses must be obtained by Janu
ary 1 in order to comply with pro
visions of the law signed by Gov.
Robert P. Casey on October 23.
The law requires the depart
ment to establish and enforce stan
dards of cleanliness for dealers’
facilities and vehicles that trans
port live poultry. Dealers and
transporters must also keep
records of transactions and the
movement of live birds.
Dealers and transporters who
have not applied for licenses
should contact the department’s
Bureau of Animal Industry
through the toll-free number,
800/AG-PENNA.
The fee is $25 for a poultry
dealer’s license and $25 for each
vehicle or conveyance used in the
transportation of live poultry. Out
of-state haulers who transport
birds in or out of Pennsylvania are
also required to license vehicles.
Dealers are those who buy.
Farming’s Future
farmers, bankers, and educators in
the county to discuss some of the
challenges which lie ahead for
farmers.
The conference is scheduled for
Wednesday, January 5, 7:30 to
9:30 p.m. at the Lancaster Farm
and Home Center and is free to the
public. Contact the Lancaster
County Extension Office for more
information, (717) 394-6851.
• Ron T, Bailey, the Lancaster
County Planning Commission
director will start the conference
by discussing what effects the
county’s physical and population
changes will have on the agricul
tural industry. Shifts in the popula
tion will mean more changes in the
road system and more zoning
regulations.
• Ken Rutt, Master Farmer from
Quarryville will deal with many
Tobacco Meeting, Show At
will be discussed. Controlling
tobacco pests is always a problem,
Steve Fisher from FMC and Jeff
Middleton from Ciba-Geigy will
be discussing the products that
FMC and Ciba-Geigy have to
assist tobacco growers with the
control of the many pests. The
Tobacco Outlook-Pa., National,
and World will be discussed by
Vemer Grise, U.S.D.A. Economic
Research Service. Mr. Grise traces
Haulers
receive, sell, exchange or transfer
live poultry. Licenses are not
required for butchers or proces
sors who receive live poultry for
immediate slaughter, since the
law’s purpose is to curb the spread
of disease in live birds, Wolff said.
The term “transporters” is
defined as those who use an auto
mobile, truck, trailer, wagon or
other vehicle to transport live
poultry on public highways in the
state. Licenses are not required for
a vehicle used exclusively on a
farm or on adjoining farms that
constitute a single operation.
The term poultry refers to a
wide range of birds - chickens,
ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons,
chukars, guineas, exotic fowl and
game birds raised in captivity.
“It’s the department’s obliga
tion to keep Pennsylvania free of
poultry diseases in order to protect
the consumer and the industry,”
Wolff said.
Many experts in the poultry
industry regard the use of dirty
crates and conveyances in moving
poultry and unsanitary conditions
in dealers’ facilities as factors in
spreading avian diseases, Wolff
said.
In
sensitive issues many farmers are
already confronting. Rutt will dis
cuss high land costs, farmland pre
servation, air and water pollution,
manure/waste disposal, water
quality, labor shortage, OSHA and
DER regulations and their effect
on farming.
• Richard Smith from Lancaster
Production Credit will present
from the banker’s point of view the
future of specific farm enterprises
in the county such as vegetables,
fruit, agronomic crops, aquacul
ture and also the future of contract
farming. Smith discusses the pos
sibility of more horticulture opera
tions, more side businesses and
less conventional farming
enterprises.
• Fred Seipt, Master Fanner
from Montgomery County will
focus on changes for the farmer,
when and how. Living next door to
tobacco markets throughout the
world along with monitoring the
planting and harvesting of worlds
tobacco crops. John Yocum, Penn
State Extension will be on the
program discussing several topics
in tobacco management. Claude
McKee, University of Maryland,
Tobacco Specialist will be dis
cussing Fertilizer Programs to
Improve Tobacco Quality. Claude
and John Yocum have been
researching the relationship
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Lancaster County
Farm Center
between fertility and tobacco
quality for several years and have
some interesting data to share with
growers,
The program will have pesti
cide update training credits
assigned.
In addition to the Tobacco
Management Meeting, the Lan
caster County Tobacco Show will
be held at the same time. The
tobacco show has both Open Clas-
Tractors
• 22 horsepower water-cooled
diesel
• 2-wheel drive
• Low maintenance
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LWWMttf Firming, Saturday, ,D«ctn*j*r 3t. 1988-A37,
suburbia, Seipt has dealt with the
issues more farmers will be facing
soon such as proper manure dis
posal and complications of
increased traffic. Seipt will also
discuss a variety of sideline
businesses and direct marketing
for Christmas trees, pumpkins and
also for selling manure.
• Don Robinson, an experienced
vocational-agricultural educator
from the New Holland area,
Robinson will discuss what it will
take to be successful in farming in
the 1990’s and beyond. What size
farm, farming enterprises and side
busisnesses have the most poten
tial in the county to survive in the
’9os and more on direct marketing.
Each 40-minute session will be
followed by 10 minutes of ques
tions and answers. The conference
will adjourn at 9:30 p.m. followed
by light refreshments.
L 82202
ses and FFA Classes for Pennsyl
vania Type 41 and Pennsylvania
Smoking Type Tobacco (Normal
ly referred to as Maryland Tobac
co by local growers). Anyone who
would like to enter an exhibit in
the show should contact Bob
Anderson, Lancaster County
Extension Office for more details.
Lunch will be on your own at
one of the local restaurants from
approximately 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
or bring a lunch along.
• 4-wheel drive
• 22 horsepower fuel-efficient diesel
• Live, high capacity hydraulic
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• Category 1,3-pomt hitch