016192 1299 v PERIODICALS DIVISION L-JU fl T PENNSYLVANIA STATE UN 1 VERS lIV 11 ~ mm W 209 PATTEE LIBRARY ■■■l A UNIVERSITY PARK PA 16802-1802 _TS_ 3 <ll iTTOTiBKEi^ Vol. 40 No. 27 National Officers Share Enthusiasm For FFA Program LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Farming Staff HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.) Six of the nation’s brightest and most articulate teens gave vibrant testimony to the advantages of par ticipating in FFA recendy. The six are national FFA offic ers who presented a leadership workshop for Milton Hershey School students. The three-day workshop -offered a glimpse into the opportunities and growth the FFA team experienced through their FFA involvement. “It’s the greatest experience of my life and something that could be yours,” Travis Hagen told the SO students who were selected to attend the pilot program. It was the first time the national FFA officers presented the work shop. for which they developed the curriculum. This pilot program will be fine-tuned and presented to state officers across the U.S. as the national officers spend 320 days on Environmental Regs, Consumer Groups Challenge Poultry Producers ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Fanning Staff MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.) Heavy government regulations in countries such as The Netherlands have made it tougher to produce poultry products. As a result, edu cators and industry personnel have had to forge viable working rela tionships to help solve the ensuing Keith and Helen Matter stand at the entrance to Sternum Maeter Potatoes Inc., their Schuylkill County family farm buaineae. 60e Per Copy the road and log 150,000 air miles fulfilling their year-long term. Each national officer worked with a team member to present workshops. The topics varied from the structure of FFA’s founding 68 years ago to issues confronting agriculture today. The national FFA officers are headed by president Corey Flour noy from Chicago. As an urban student, Corey’s interest in agricul ture was sparked in 1988 when he decided to attend the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. “I attended the school because it was strong in math and science, not because I was interested in ag,” Corey said. “But every student at the school is involved in FFA. I was motivated to participate by teachers who were excited about opportunities available through the program.” That enthusiasm was conta gious. Corey’s interest in career (Turn to Pago A 32) environmental and economic issues. In fact, it is becoming a chal lenge to try to control poultry food borne and other diseases simply because industry has its hands tied by many regulations as a result of intense lobbying by powerful con sumer advocacy groups. And the controversies never Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 13, 1995'" National FFA offieara gather at Milton Herehey School to teach how FFA makee a positive difference in the lives of students by developing potential for premier leader ship, personal growth, and career success through agriculture education. From left, Travis Hagen, secretary; Lee Schroeder, Eastern region vice president; Corey Flour noy, president; Greg Vetter, Western region vice president: Trisha Bailey, southern region vice president: and Jennafer Neufeld, central region vice president. cease. In one case, according to a visiting professor from Holland, a consumer organization went to a supermarket, bought 100 broilers, and claimed to newspapers that up to 35 percent of the chickens were “contaminated” with Salmonella when in fact, only five or six had small amounts of the bacteria in them. The Netherlands export a lot of poultry products, but have had to deal with the problems of manure, according to Dr. Ron Meijerhof, visiting professor from the Centre for Applied Poultry Research, Spclderholt, The Netherlands. Meijerhof spoke to about 35 poul try producers at the Penn State sponsored Poultry Management and Health Seminar on Monday at Kreidcr Farms Restaurant. Meijerhof said The Netherlands are known for several exports, mosdy flowers. Also high on the export list are poultry and hogs to Germany and beer to many countries. Meijerhof spoke about the gen eral research under way to deal with the environmental issues of high production of poultry, about Family Farm Business Helps Post-Coal Economy VERNON ACHENBACH JR. Lancaster Farming Staff SACRAMENTO (Schuylkill Co.) Keith Masser is a family farmer and seventh-generation potato producer in the Schuylkill County town of Sacramento. He wears a ball cap and some times a blond beard stubble. His striped work shirt has his name tag sewn over the left breast, and he wears work pants and work shoes. Masser plows, plants and he plans. His hands have calluses. the research on layers and at the Centre, and about the tech niques to manage the huge amounts of manure to contain the ammonia and phosphorous. At the research farm, the breed er houses are constructed of all brick with special equipment for air inlet control and other mea sures. “We build our houses (to last) almost forever,” he said. “That makes it quite costly.” A great deal of the layer Districts Honor Soil Stewardship Week KAREN BUTLER Maryland Correspondent FREDERICK, Md. “A part nership to develop, promote, and deliver conservation resource pro grams and to meet resource man agement challenges” is how Roy den Powell, HI, assistant secretary of agriculture for the state of Maryland, described the team work among many agencies repre- As president of Sternum Masser Potatoes Inc., he also employs, full-time, 35 people at his potato packing plant that he built on the home Gum, expanding his father’s original 1 00-acrc potato farm. Sacramento developed, as did many small communities in the rolling ridge and valley area, pri marily as a coal town. But miners needed food and a number of far mers supplied miners’ tables with milk, meat and vegetables. The name of the town means little outside of the area, but its Four Sections is on how to produce more efficiently with less waste, while looking into the economics of the production. Also, different types of equipment are used to aid in the study of breeder production and layer management ‘ ’We put quite a lot of money in all those little things that we have in that house, a lot more than you do here. It’s not a matter of good or bad or better or worse or whatever, (Turn to Pag* A 27) sented here at a recent soil ste wardship luncheon. Powell was the guest speaker at the Catoctin and Frederick Soil Conservation district’s luncheon recently, in honor of Soil Steward ship Week. Daniel C. Poole, chairman of the Catoctin Soil Conservation District, welcomed a group of (Turn to Paqo A 34) location is just west of Hegins, a place reeling in good fortune, ever since the town’s historic live pigeon shoot was targeted by an extremist animal rights group as a place to find victory in defeating an “animal abuse.” Locals there chuckle at how the annual shoot, held to raise funds to operate the town park, was on its way out because of a lack of atten dance, until the event became publicized and deemed evil by the anti-animal use group. (25.00 P«r Ytar (Turn to Pag* A2O)
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