Timothy Elkner, Penn State Cooperative Exten sion, Lancaster County Marketing Plans for This Summer Are you happy with the returns from the fruit and vegetable crops you grew last summer? I expect many folks would say that they were disappointed last year and they would probably make the same comment about previous years. So what can be done? Per haps you need to look at your marketing program. But what if you don't have a marketing pro gram? Now is a good time to start creating one! I've read that, as a grower, you should know how a crop wdl be sold before you even plant it. Can you say that you plan this way 9 Many growers in the county sell through the auction and then complain about the low prices. I feel that strictly planning to sell your crop through the auction sets you up to receive low prices for your crops. For much of the season the auction's prices are very close to wholesale prices. How many of you can survive on wholesale prices for small acreages of crops 9 Not many. It's been said that a wholesale pro ducer receives about 10% as much for his crop as a direct marketer does. No wonder you don't feel that you are getting your fair share. Lancaster county offers'more direct marketing opportunities than many other Pennsylvania counties. The large number of tourists that visit during the summer provide a convenient out let for produce sales. In addition, farmers markets are another way to sell directly to the public at higher prices than you may re ceive through the auction. The county also has several subscription farms that operate by customers paying a tee to receive a portion of the crops produced on that farm during the growing sea son. And pick-your-own opera tions provide both higher returns and a source of harvest labor for your crops. And what if you have more produce than you can market at any one time? Perhaps you need to look into value-added process ing. By processing a crop such as making jam from extra strawber ries you can add extra value to the crop and increase your returns. And speaking of processing, have you considered supplying the pro duce requirements of a local res taurant? Upscale restaurants will fre quently pay very well for just harvested high-quality produce or for items that they normally can't purchase. You can also consider supply ing a local grocery store and while the prices you receive may not match those from direct market ing, if you establish a long term relationship with the produce manager you will probably come out ahead of the straight wholesal ers by the end of the season. So should you stop selling to the auctions? Of course not. The auctions play an important role in the produce marketing chain in the county. I would just suggest that you consider the auc tion as one outlet for your fruit and vegetables. You should have one or more other outlets and by having several options for selling, you are more likely to increase the overall returns from your crops. And by reducing the amount of produce in the auction at peak times m the season, perhaps prices will not crash as badly as they have m the past and all sell ers can benefit. I encourage you to look into other marketing options now while you have the time. If you wait until the crop is being har vested you will not have the time and next year you will still be dis appointed with your returns. But no matter what marketing option you choose, strive to produce and market only top-quality products. Anything less will result in dis appointment from your customers and eventually disappointment to you. Chores for Strawberry Plasticulture Growers Many area growers have estab lished plantings of strawberries using the plasticulture system. Because of the cost of initially go ing to this type of production sys tem, growers frequently carry-over their fields into a second or even a third growing season. Charles O'Dell from the Department of Horticulture at Virginia Tech rec ommends 'cleaning-up' these carry-over fields for the best yields of clean, disease-free berries The cleaning procedure in volves removal of runners and dead leaves from the mother plants. O'Dell admits that this op eration is tedious and time consuming (40-50 hours/acre) and costs about $ 300/acre. However, the reduction m disease incidence after this process has been com pleted is worth the cost to the growers who do it. After your workers clean a field, all that you should see are two rows of plants on the black BUY. SELL. TRADE OR RENT THROUGH THE ——l I E I d L=l Jig I PHONE: 717-626-1164 or 717-394-3047 FAX 717-733-6058 Mon., Tues.. Wed., Fri. 8 AM to 5 PM; Thurs. 7 AM to 5 PM MM FARM EQUIPMENT lOhp submersible well pump, good condition, $BOO 080. 717/850-3158. 10' White disc, $llOO. 7T Brillion chisle plow, $B5O. Brillion cultimulcher, $l5OO. 7000 JD corn plsnter. Dillsburg. 717-432-8587 12' H.D. single axle trailer, $695; Chipper shredder, 18hp electric start, like new, 6' capacity, paid $4500, asking $2995. 717-632-8420. 135 KW generator, cater pillar set w/Cummins en gine. (301)432-7793 (301)432-8332 1400/20 tube-type 12 ply NOT tires. New S27S/ea. Call John 814-834-1018. 175 KW Onan generator set; 95 KW generator set, 471 T detroit diesel. (717)758-9132 1941 JD w/snowplow, plow, cultivators. 302-834-1171 1943 JD BW, totally re stored, flat top fender, hand start, $4,500. Ask for Chris. (717)755-3682 1949 Farmall H, with snow plow, one owner, good condition. 717/733-3267. 1954 Ford Jubilee tractor, 5' Woods mower (new), S' JD Bush Hog, 6’ rear blade, $4500 080. 610-398-3973 Evenings 1976 S-7 International log skidder, new rubber, ready to work, 2 extra new tires, 1 spare wheel+tire 50%, $9,000. (717)456-6427. 3 Krause 24' discs (not rockflex), good blades, nice condition, starting at $5650. ZEISLOFT from Bloomsburg 800/919-3322. .DUI) 02 fli« jt~ 1 4 1 r plastic with all of the refuse in the row middles. The benefits O'Dell cites from the cleaning operation include: fruit not touching old-plant mate rials that may harbor diseases, improved air movement between the plants, rain and irrigation wa ter quickly drain from the top of the plastic, and more rapid fruit drying which can prevent diseases from becoming established. Late winter or early spring are ideal times for the bed-cleaning procedure. You should have your fields cleaned prior to bloom or else you may damage flowers and buds during this process. In addi tion, if you wait until growth has started you may actually spread diseases through the field. Take advantage of warm days and slow times between now and bloom to complete this process in your plantings. O'Dell reports that some grow ers who have cleaned their fields while the plants were dormant were able to control diseases dur ing the following growing season with only two fungicide sprays The sprays were applied at first bloom and again at full bloom on m BUILD! 1977 JD 7700 combine, good big rubber, very dean machine, always shedded, was $11,500 now $B5OO for February Combine Sale. ZEISLOFT'S at 800/919-3322. 1978 JO 6600 sidehilla combine w/com and grain heads, $17,500. Will sepa rate corn head, $BOOO. 610-261-2639 1979 JD 6620, 2500 his, really sharp, always shed ded, $21,500 sale priced. ZEISLOFT'S at 800/919-3322. 1983 Gleaner M 3, low hours, extra sharp w/315 Flexhead. $28,000. Zei sioft Farm Eq. 800/919-3322. 1984 Model JD 213 Hex head, black reel, new au ger. CHEAP, CHEAP for February Sale $3850. Zei sloft at 800/919-3322. 1986 8820 JD Titan II com bine w/straw chopper, 3000 hrs., 6R com head, 216 (lex head, excellent condition, $35,000 080. 410-239-7252. 1986 White 2-55 diesel, 847 hrs., 1-remote, 3pth, good rubber, new batte ries, sharp tractor. Retire ment sale. 610-8467082 1990 Gehl 4610 skidloader w/attachments, 46Hp Per kins diesel. Good condi tion, must sell. Call Matt, 410/8364270. 1991 JD 9500 combine, loaded, only 1705 hrs, Super Sharp) $66,000. ZEISLOFT USED FARM EQUIPMENT, Blooms burg, PA 800/9163322. 1991 Pik-Rite tomato harvester, electronic color sort, many updates. To mato side dump cart. Hobbs 1400 L hard hose reel. 2000 foot 6' irrigation pipe. 717-367-3242 717-361-8747 » c- -4 k P carry-over fields at a pressure o| 150 to 200 PSI. This could hold true with good weather condition! but if we have a rainy spring | would expect even this cleaning procedure would not reduce the need for additional sprays. I recently read a report where there have been break-ins and thefts of agricultural chemicals m Delaware and Maryland from sup pliers. To date I have not heard of any break-ins in Pennsylvania but you should still be sure that your chemicals are secure anyway In addition to protecting your materi als from thieves, you may prevent injury to someone such as a child who accidentally wanders into a storage area. While it may seem like an inconvenience to have to lock and unlock a storage area I'm sure the extra time spent will be worth the effort. 1993 16R JD 7200 front fold planter, 1.6 bushel vacuum hoppers, insecti cide w/lock and load, com puter track 250 w/radar, cast iron press wheels, heavy duty down pressure springs, unit mounted coul ters, liquid fertilizer w/ single disc, 16 Yetler row cleaner, $42,000. 410-778-5295 leave message 1996 JD-770 compact util ity tractor, includes 60' mid-mount mower, 25hrs. showroom condition, $13,100. 717-235-1822. 1997 Hardfotd 30hp, PS, diesel, new, $6200. loader available. 301-774-5886 1997 Kubota B2ISO tractor loader, 60* mid-mount mower, 4WD, approx. 60 hrs., $18,500. 717-925-6246 2-135 While tractor parts, engine, trans., etc. (717)867-4896 22’ Wilrich field cultivator, narrow base, extra dean, $5900. Zeisloft's 800/919-3322. (2) Malsburry pressure washers, portable hot wa ter, 1,700 PSI in like new condition. Sold new for $6,995. $2,000/obo. (814)342-3384 30KW generator. $2lOO 080. (2) 4R cultivators, $5OO/ea. 816-328-6220 316 Baler w/thrower $4995; 489 haybine $2000; Grimm hay tedder $800; 35KW PTO generator $2995. 717/336-6547. (3) 489 Haybines, new rolls bearings knives & guards, $3200/each. 717/532-9234. 354 Perkins engine, 44138 hrs., for 760 MF combine, good condition. 4040 JD engine, 38356 hrs., will fit 4020 JD tractor, good con dition. Best ofer for both. 302-697-1951 Be Sure Pesticides are Secure Tim Elkner Penn State Cooperative Extension 1383 Arcadia Rd„ Rm. 1 Phone (717) 394-6851 Lancaster, PA 17601-3184 FAX (717) 394-3962 3pt hitch snowblower sale. 10% off all snowblowers in stock. 4 , ,6’,6’,7’,8’,9’. Call for prices. 717-286-7851 1-888-841-8075 (3) Tobacco bale boxes, 1 Minnich press. 717-933-5224 (3) V 4 Wisconsin engines: 1 welder, 1 generator, 1 bare moior. (914)482-5044. 400 Farmall w/aN original lettering and numbers, rear weights, good T/A, live PTO and fast hitch, $2600. Fast hitch rotary mower, $250. 717-534-1253 4800 IH 26‘ vibra-shank field cultivator w/buster bar. 2390 Case 2200 hrs. All excellent shape. (610)779-3284. (4) Gleaner F Combines, all trade-ins, starting at $2250. Zeisloft Usei Equipment 800/919-3322. 4WO 3 cylinder diesel trac tor, 20hp, needs engine re- built w/lbader, front mower and blade, rear blade and rototiller, $2,500. Sickel bar mower for AC B and JD 2R com planter. Make of fer. (717)639-0986. (6) Frame mounted coul ters. Fits JD 7000 planter, 4 totally rebuilt, 2 need bear- ings, 4 additional new blades. 717-437-2519 leave message. 760 Swartz TM mixer, trailer type w/hyd. pump, completely overl 717-965-2724 lauiei 'B6 White 4WD w/loader, $8,500. (716)761-6098 8960 JD 4WD, 1992,1880 hrs., 24 speed, 710x70R38 duals, like new (412)254-4753. 8N Ford Tractor 717/786-3087.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers