i/Jl-aeet ,cl onul. ,vehyio2 jxiirmal MtenoosJ fl344.«nc«*t>r - fafmlftg, SatUFAy, June- VS; 4596 Manager Tells Forum: No (Continued from Page A 1) research allowed. This, in a county that has 8,250 acres of tobacco. Lancaster County’s number one field cash crop makes up 92 per cent of the tobacco grown in the state. While nearly SO percent of the growers are of the Plain sects, some areas of Millersville grow 40-60 acres of it at a bound. Tax revenue alone from tobacco comes to about $28,000 per acre. Total income from sale in the county is $18.13 million, accord ing to the 1994-1995 state depart ment of agriculture Statistical Summary. One year, research into a treat ment for blue mold saved county tobacco growers about $3 million, according to Yocum. And now the cutoff. What’s going on? Penn State, like other Northeast universities, has been feeling the pressure to downsize, cut costs, and divest themselves of so-called ‘‘controversial” research. Even though tobacco is a legal crop, the connotations placed upon it by environmental and special inter ests has led to this decision. As a result, Yocum can serve in an exten sion capacity as a source of information. But tobacco cannot be grown on any approved Penn State testing areas. But all is not lost There are many other test programs still being carried out with a great deal of investment and time by the Penn State extension program, including crops with lots of promise such as herbicide-resistant field varieties of com and soybeans, vegetables, flower bedding, and many others. Yocum spoke to about 18 producers and agri-industry represen tatives who attended the forum, which discussed some of the research being conducted at the field laboratory. Ironically, the center began as the tobacco research station in 1909 and was based on a few acres in Ephrata, according to Yocum. Shortly thereafter, the center moved to 10 acres of rented ground on Roseville Road, now a fully developed site with houses and profes sional offices. The sta tion was moved to Landisville in the early 1950 s and, after a time, moved again to a 40-acre plot that offi cially became the Penn State Southeast Field Research Laboratory, encompassing about 88 acres, in 1956. Incidentally, the farm sold for $40,000 in 1956. “At the time, the neighbors said Penn State was crazy to pay that much money for a farm,” said Yocum. Now, with the new assessment, the farm is worth something on the order of" about $550,000, according to Yocum. In the mid-19505, “tobacco was grown in every county except the county with the city of Pitts burgh,” although a great deal was still grown in the southeastern part of the state. Penn State manages about 5,000 acres in the University Park region and has research stations in at the Fruit Research Center in Biglervil le and a regional reserarch site in Erie County. The soils are the same in Rockspring, home of the main Penn State research center, as they are in Lancaster. However, the environments differ the southeast ern portion, including Lancaster County, is more humid with a lon ger growing season compared to Rockspring. The Landisville center has been a Pennsylvania National Weather Service reporting station for so long, that 50 years ago, Yocum recalled, they were given an award for 50 years of service. The center encompasses 110 acres. Yocum is a full-time faculty member. The center employs two full-time technicians, a part-time secretary, and three summer col- ALUMINUM GRAIN BODIES & ALUMINUM REPAIRS by .J These ultra-light bodies are designed for strength through engineering, not strength with b'ulk. For example, a 16 1 grain body with tailgate and 48" sid weighs onl 1490 length or any side height up to 60". Also available: • Double swinging hay hauling tailgate • Sarn door type tailgate • Slide out cattle chutes HEWEY WELDING Box 2312, RD4 Lebanon, PA 17042 (717)867-5222 c0 fIST 395 Bowers Rd. Kutztown, PA 19530 y y 610-682-1718 Va Agricultural/Residential Contractors r Building Sites, Pits, Ponds, Drainage, Hauling Calf Facility lege students. Most budgeting for the center comes from state and federal sour ces “your tax money,” said Yocum. But because of constant cutbacks in both federal and uni versity money, the center has had to rely on sources of income from producer agencies such as the state soybean board and other sources. The center is host to many field days, including a weed day in July, during the year. It also publishes the summer results on yields of com, soybeans, small grains, and forages. Yocum also takes time in the winter to speak at crops days and other events. The research at Landisville, according to Yocum, is all small plot, sometimes down to a single plant When Yocum first started work at the station they planted and harvested all the crops by hand. As funding and other resour ces improved, mechanical harvest ing and measuring became the mainstay at the center. They examine a wide array of unplete. We'll build you any • Diamond flooring • Puli out panel tailgates • Any size grain chute Heifer Facility 4'-* t . fT Mol’ r»T *-« T .If More Tobacco Research At Landisville