Farm Calendar . W (ContUiwd from Pago A 10) I \, M:i\ 5 Bucks-Montgomery Sheep Shear ing School, Hidden Meadow Farm, Souderton, 5 p.m.-8:30 p.m.; repeats May 6. North Orwell Program and Lunc heon, North Orwell Communi ty Hall, 9:30 a.m. S.E. Pa. twilight fruit growers meeting, Ontelaunee Orchards, tur Gardens, Del. 4-H Tractor Safety, Bradford County Extension Office, 7-9 p.m. Bucks-Montgomery Sheep Shear ing School, Hidden Meadow Farm, Souderton, 5 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Nutrient Management Informa tional meeeting. Senate Ag Cr-- •! East W tion Members’ Meeting “Wood Utilization,” Stoll Resource Pesticide licensing exam, Adams Co. extension office, 8:30 a.m. Fiesta de Llama Show and Sale, Port Jervis, New York, through Franklin/Cumberland County Dairy Awareness Day, Gro- Lain Farm, Shippensburg, 11:30 a.m.-l p.m. Smul.n, M;n 10 U,i|)|>\ Mother's l)a\! Poultry Management and Health Seminar, Shamokin Dam, 6 p.m. Pa. Association of Dairy Sanita rians and Dairy Laboratory Analysts Conference, J.O. Keller Conference Center, Penn State, thru May 13. 4-H Tractor Safety, Bradford County Extension office, 7-9 p.m. Spring Homemakers’ Day, Rut gers Cooperative Extension Center, Flemington, NJ., 9:30 Orchard meeting for fruit growers, Adams Co. Extension Office, 6:30 p.m. 4-H Tractor Safety, Bradford County Extension Office, 7-9 p.m. Ag Issues Forum, Willow Valley, 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m. Pesticide test, Schuylkill Co. extension office, 9 a.m.-noon. Estate Planning Workshop, North ampton Community College, Bethlehem, 8:15 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Penn State Program Keeps UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) A Penn State program has helped keep Pennsylvania milk fresher and may save producers, merchants and consumers millions of dollars. "Fluid milk samples from Pen nsylvania milk processing plants in 1991 remained fresh longer than ever before," said Sidney E. Bar nard, professor of food science in Penn State's College of Agricultur al Sciences. The results of a 2-year study in the college's Department of Food Science prompted the Pennsylva nia Department of Agriculture (PDA) last August to extend "sell by" dating of fluid milk in the state from a maximum of 10 to 12 days after processing. "Sell by" dates of perishable foods usually are set by processors to achieve proper rotation during distribution and imply that pro ducts are best if used by that date. However, PDA strictly regulates "sell by" dates for fluid milk to Farm Forum (ContlniMd from Pago AID) more favorably to but, apparently the N.D.B. is either lacking this element or they are blinded by their high salaries, which could be said of a high percent of politi cians in this country. Let’s wake up and get the gov ernment out of agriculture. We need to take control of advertising and pricing our own product. We have too much overhead with very assure consumers that store purchased milk in Pennsylvania will remain good until the indi cated date, if properly handled. "Over the course of two studies, we obtained more than 500 sam ples from processing plants with out prior notice and held them for up to 14 days at 43 degrees F, the maximum regulatory storage temperature,” Barnard said. "Ninety-six percent of 185 sam ples collected from March to July 1991, retained acceptable flavor and quality for 12 or more days. "In a follow-up study conducted from September to December 1991, more than 87 percent of 243 samples from 46 processing plants remained acceptable for at least 12 days at 45 degrees F." Pennsylvania is one of the few states with a "sell by" dating reg ulation for fluid milk and is only the second state in which proces sors have demonstrated that their milk would keep longer before seeking an extension. little result, typical government. Farmers are the backbone of the country and the economy. If the small farms across the country go out of business and just a few large ones are left in one area, think of the consequences in times of natural disasters such as drought and flood which we have experienced in the last few years. George Schmid Piermont, New Hampshire UncMUr Farming, artwfcy, Hay % 1992-All Milk Fresher Barnard credits Pennsylvania milk's longer shelf life to a series of programs aimed at educating dairy processing plant workers. Starting in 1990, Barnard, in cooperation with PDA and industry technical representatives, conducted train ing sessions for management, pro cessing employees, pasteurizer operators and quality assurance personnel at 54 plants. "We presented the latest proce dures and practices to extend milk's keeping quality at employee meetings, and in some cases demonstrated these techniques to employees at processing plants," Barnard said. "Some brands of milk stayed fresh up to five days longer as a result of adopting ideal sanitation practices and processing procedures. 'The benefits of a longer shelf life for fluid milk to consumers, distributors, processors and dairy producers could exceed a million dollars each month," Barnard said. "Processors will need to make fewer deliveries, while stores won't have to return as much milk. Consumers won't have to run to the store for fresh milk as often. Some processors want to demonstrate that milk will keep for 14 days, which would provide additional savings." These studies were supported by the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program, Allied Milk Producer's Cooperative, the Pennsylvania Association of Milk Dealers and individual contributions from Pen nsylvania and out-of-state milk dealers.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers