Lebanon Extension Recognizes Volunteers’ Dedication
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
SCHAEFFERSTOWN (Leba
non Co.) Lebanon County
Cooperative Extension Service
held its 79th annual banquet/
meeting last week at the Schaeffer
stown Fire Hall.
In addition to the reading of the
minutes, and the disbursing of the
extension office’s annual report,
extension staff recognized out
standing achievements by volun
teers and held an election for four
positions on its 21-member board
of directors.
Re-elected were Frances Krall,
of Myers town, a retired nurse
active in the Society of Farm
Women and a volunteer on the
county Extension Family Living
Advisory Committee; Glen Krall,
a Cornwall dairy and crops farmer
with children enrolled in 4-H, he
also saves on the Extension Agro
nomy Advisory Committee; and
Lynn Fleet, Lebanon, a homemak
er, former professional craftsper
son, a master gardner volunteer,
and a participant and volunteer in
the family living programs.
Newly elected was Laura Jean Watson, of
Newmans town, a homemaker and home
school patent with four children in 4-H, who
has served as a 4-H leader and who has been a
past member of the board of directors.
In other business, county Extension Direc
tor AUctta Schadler discussed the success of
the Lebanon Extension program, its prog
rams, dedicated staff, and its corps of dedi
cated volunteers.
She also noted the support of county com
missioners, who were in attendance, and the
continuing role of extension to serve the com
munity by providing teseatched-based infor
mation on a wide variety of aspects of day-to
day life, helping to provide community
volunteer-lead developmental and goal
oriented activities for youth, as well as help
ing entrepreneurial people with small
businesses.
Also present was Dr. Gary San Julian, the
director for the Penn-State Cooperative
Extension Southeast Region.
Julian told the audience that the support
from the state was encouraging and helped
restore some of the programming that was
allowed to atrophy or disassemble in the pro
ceeding decade.
He also talked about the changes that ate to
be coming to the role of extension in aggres
sively serving a broader-based constituency.
Technically, the Penn-State Cooperative
Extension program is to be available for all to
use its services city, urban and rural resi
dents of the state.
Historically, rural residents, especially
those involved with farming either for profit
or for fun, have been the largest user of exten
sion services. It also made sense since the
dean of the Penn State College of Agricultural
Sciences had been in charge of the program
and its development until recently.
It has been announced by Penn State that
the extension program heirarchy within die
university is to shift from being a College of
Ag Scicnccs-only domain. A university wide
vice president is to be responsible for coordi
nating resources among the various colleges
within the university system to provide users
with a greater information knowledge resour
ce base, and better community outreach
services.
Obslensibly, changes in degree programing
at select university satellite campuses, as well
as changes in technology are expected to help
strengthen the ability of the people of the state
to be mote independent, knowledgeable and
safer in creating their own lives and better
able to take advantage of opportunities.
He discussed training for the anticipated
transitions and how it is necessary for people
to be able to adapt.
San Julian thanked Schadler for her leader
ship and support for the program in the county
and the region.
The guest speaker for the evening was Dj.
Herbert Cole, a Penn State professor of agri
cultural sicence, who urged to group to be
wary of decisions being made loc
ally and statewide that aren’t being
made with the proper input from
the people who will be affected by
those decisions.
Using a slide projector. Cole
showed how zoning for large-lot
residential areas in agricultural
sectors has largely destroyed more
farmland because it requires so
much land-use per capita.
It also requires the use of motor
ized transportation and the use of
highways.
In the time he had, he tried to
demonstrate how decisions “made
from the seat of a car” are self
defeating and perhaps economical
ly dangerous for the long-term.
He said that if just the agricul
tural production from Lebanon and
Lancaster counties were to be con
sidered, it would represent 42 per
cent of the state’s total agricultural
production.
“Agriculture in the southeast
region of the state is tremendous,”
he said. “If Lebanon and Lancaster
were a state, it would No. 30
among all (50) states.”
He said the future of that amount
of economic industry is threatened
by those who depend upon it
those who seek to reside in the
area.
The restrictive use of large
amounts of land for limited resi
dential housing was seen years ago
as a preventative against irrespon
sible development. However, Cole
showed how it has not impeded
development, but rather has
increased the consumption of agri
cultural land for development
Basically he called for residents
to look at what local policy is
doing to the land and the resources.
Cole also said the future of
fanning in the area will probably
continue to change from the tradi
tional family farm that was typical
of the landscape to one in which
farms no longer resemble farms
and more resemble factories in
close proximity to residential
neighborhoods.
He said the small-production
independent agricultural producer
will be one who seeks and deve
lops local market niches.
“The key to sustainable agricul
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 30, 19W-Al9
ture is profitability,” he said, not
ing that those were the sentiments
of state Secretary of Agriculture
Charles Brosius.
He also said that different pro
duction attitudes should be
adopted, so that a producer doesn’t
consider himself, for example, to
be a grower of Durham wheat, but
a pasta manufacturer.
Currently there are four proces
sors operating in the state that
account for the processing of 80
percent of all the state’s beef, poul
try and pork. “The challenge for
the farmer, is how to get his fair
share.”
He said the economies of scale,
“and all that goes with it,” chal
lenge today’s fanner, especially in
southeastern Pennsylvania. He
said that contract production is
controlling an increasing share of
the market of all agricultural
products.
“My father never questioned
that no one would buy his chick
ens,” Cole said, adding that when
his father raised birds there was
always a market willing to buy it
Now, those days are gone.
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“The ties from production to
consumer are getting tighter and
tighter.”
He said that common misper
ceptions about the agricultural
community have the Plain Sects
faring well, but the truth is far from
that.
He said it has become more
common among the Plain Sects
that three generations are effec
tively attempting to purchase a
farm today. He said that when a
father purchases a farm, he works
it until his oldest son is able to take
over farm production, leaving the
father to work off the farm in
carpentry.
When the grandson becomes old
enough to take over the farm, his
father and grandfather are working
off the farm and all are still paying
for the farm.
Further, there has been a greater
increase in non-farm activism
coming from the urban residential
areas of southeastern
Pennsylvania.
“We’ve got a preception prob
lem,” he said. “(Farmers) in (the
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