VOL 34 No. 13
lowa Congressman Featured
At York Ag Dinner
BY JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
YORK Farmers can expect a
little more and a little less in the
future from the government,
according to lowa congressman
Fred Grandy.
Rep. Grandy was the featured
speaker at the second Agriculture
Recognition Banquet, hosted at
Wisehaven Hall by the York Area
Chamber of Commerce. Best
known to the American public as
“Gopher” on the popular televi-
Penn-Jersey Expo Puts
Excitement Back Into Farming
BY PAT PURCELL
ALLENTOWN (Lehigh)
The Penn-Jersey Exposition deliv
ered the enthusiasm of a hot July
revival meeting at their annual
event held in Allentown on Wed
nesday. All that waft i&issing was
the tent for the 150 dairy farmers
and agbusiness people. And will
all the fervor of a traveling revival
preacher, each speaker made sure
no one was dozing off in the back
pew.
Managment was the day’s ser
mon. And if the spirited delivery
did not ignite a spark enthusiasm
in each farmer, well, maybe they
shouldn’t be in farming.
The key word for the day was
opportunity.
Opportunity.
The definition of an opportunity
according to the dictionary is a
favorable or advantageous combi-
Deer eat crops In the fields in summer and ransack com cribs In winter.
igiSfiasi®.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 4,1989
sion show “Love Boat,” he is serv
ing his second term as a republi
can congressman representing 23
lowa counties.
A member of the House Agri
culture Committee, Rep. Grandy
predicted that farmers will see less
of government subsidies and sup
ports, and more governmental and
legislative involvement of farmers
in environmental issues. He sug
gested that recent agriculture
“pocketbook” programs have
focused too heavily on commodity
nation of circumstances. And
according to the speakers at Penn-
farmers have plenty of
opptwtwjlles.
heifers weighing
instead of 1,200
.pounds at breeding time. That’s an
<ipportunity. Heifers freshening at
29 months. That’s an opportunity.
Milk production of 4S-head of
Holsteins levels off at 18,000
pounds. That’s an opportunity.
Leveling off at 16,000 pounds,
now that’s a real opportunity.
If you are like most farmers you
shake your head to adjust your
hearing because they sound like
problems and not a favorable set of
circumstances. And yes, you have
a lot of them.
Gordon Conklin, editor of
American Agriculturalist, made
several valuble points during his
speech but none as important as his
Deer Cause Major Crop Damage In Western PA
prices and not enough on common
sense stewardship of the soils.
The lowa ag leader cited sever
al reasons why Congress may
hedge on writing a new Farm Bill
for 1990, when the five-year 1985
legislation runs out
“Exports are up, the ag eco
nomy is turning up, and ‘if it ain’t
broke why fix it’” said Grandy of
the Farm Bill issue. Budget auster
ity. improved trade oudook, and
eight members of the Senate Ag
(Turn to Pag* A 32)
closing one.
He showed farmers a sign which
read'
OPPORTUNITY IS
NOWHERE
And most fanners chuckled and
shook their heads in agreement
“This is the way most of you feel
about fanning," said Conklin. “But
(Turn to Pago A 26)
Lancaster Farmland Trust
Releases Trustee List
LANCASTER Daniel C.
Herr, President of the Lancaster
Farmland Trust, a non-profit, pri
vate sector farmland preservation
organization this week released
the organization’s 1989 Board of
Trustees list. The 22 member
Board includes as officers: Daniel
BEDFORD Each year, hundreds of acres of Bedford County farmland are being
destroyed, not by insects or drought, but by the Pennsylvania Whitetailed deer.
‘They run in pockets all through the county,” says W. Clair Koontz, a Morrison’s Cove
farmer. “They follow the ridges along the mountain ranges. And, each year, the deer popu
lation seems to be increasing.”
Koontz who farms more than 300 acres of ground in the Texas Comer area of Bedford
County lost nearly $lO,OOO in crops last year due to the deer. “We lost a lot raofe from deer
damage than we did from the drought,” Koontz continues.
‘There are fanners in this direction who are just giving up,” Koontz says. In order to
help the situation, Koontz put up a sign this year welcoming doe hunters.
“We had a good many responses,” he says. “And, we didn’t have one problem with any
of the hunters... we never have. We have never posted our land.”
Direj tly across the Snake Spring Valley Mountain from Koontz is Dutch Comer. There,
Landy Henry farms a total of 850 acres on 14 different farms.
“Certain farms are worse than others,” Henry points out. “Some of our land is near the
state game lands or posted land and deer aren’t dumb, they know this a good place to stay.”
Henry and his three sons have had permission from the Game Commission to shoot deer
for a number of years. "But, it doesn’t seem to do much good,” he admits. “When you
shoot one, a dozen more come to the funeral.”
Henry says he sometimes counts as high as 40 deer in one field before dark.
“It’s a.well known fact,” Henry says, “that a single rat can eat $25 worth of grain per
year. Considering the difference in size, 1 wonder how much one deer can eat?”
Henry plants ISO acres of soybeans and the last four or ftfe years, the deer have eaten
most of them.
He’s been mowing hay and watching deer eating con out of the field while it is still in
tassle. “The drought this year didn’t help,” Henry adds. “There was less in the woods for
(Turn to Pago A4O)
Pve Sections
The Earl Brown family of Loganvllle was named Farm
Family of the Year by the York Chamber of Commerce. Sea
ted Is Margaret Brown, and standing from left are her hus
band Earl, son Stan and his wife Nona and grandson Scott.
Fed CHUtt Prices
To Remain Strong
BY LISA RISSER
LANCASTER—“The price for
fed cattle will remain strong
C. Herr, President, an attorney
with the firm of Herr and Low;
Marilyn W. Lewis, Vice Presi
dent, Chairman of the Board of
American Water Works Company
Inc. and a member of the Advisory
Board of the Shelter for Abused
(Turn to Pago A 36)
BY LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
504 Per Copy
throughout the year because the
numbers aren’t there,” predicted
H. Louis Moore, ag economist for
Penn State. Addressing cattlemen
at the Cattle Feeders Day here,
Moore added ‘There will be $.BO
cattle later this spring for some
week, but it may cost you $.Bl to
feed. I think prices in the Pennsyl
vania market will be $.73 to $.79
for the year.”
Moore projected that beef pro
duction will be down S percent in
1989, however, carcass weights
will be up. ‘The weight per steer is
(Turn to Pan* ASI)
$lO.OO Per Year