I t .0, I •I i'• r .-J-, 'l*,' J ty'y, i’,'/ »f j j WO-Lancastar Farming, Saturday, February 14, 1998 GAIL STROCK Mifflin Co. Correspondent UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) The Pennsylvania Plant Food and Protectant Educational Society held its 40th annual winter meeting recently at the Nittany Lion Inn, Slate College. The or ganization formed in 1958 specifi cally to “promote the discrimina tion of useful and practical information regarding all foijns of plant food, plant protectants, plant genetics, biotechnology, soil con servation. economics, new tech nology and their application to crop production of all kinds; to foster and promote strong and positive relationships among ag industries, academia and ag public sector.” The organization did all this and more at its recent conference, and. as a result of a bylaw change, hopes to soon change its name to the Pennsylvania Agronomic Edu cation Society. Inc. Program committee coordina tors Greg Roth. Department of Agronomy at Penn State, and Don Hartzler, Union Mill Division of Chemgro, welcomed everyone to the three-day event The confer ence schedule was packed with in teresting speakers on a wide varie ty of subjects seed technology, milk prices, using precision ag ef fectively, nutrient management planning, biotechnology, software demonstrations, lime, pest and crop management even how NOT to be exhausted at the end of the day. Society president Jeff Stine complimented Roth and Hartzler for putting together such an in depth program, then introduced Dr. Steve Pales, head of the Agronomy Department at Penn State. Pales’ talk centered on the tremendous advances in ag tech nology in the past half century. “The Green Revolution in creased productivity, but now that’s played out The population is increasing geometrically, and there are limits for response to fer tilizer. Some of our tools have been taken away from us, starting with a 1962 alami on the negative effects of ag chemicals. In effect, we’ve learned to farm smarter. Information, in areas such as inte grated Pest Management, nutrient management and biotechnology, is our most imprtant tool.” Pales belileves agriculture is on the verge of a second green re volution, but agriculture still needs to deal with public percep tion, citing the public’s skepticism about biotechnology. “Agriculture is going to be at tacked, and our industry must re spond and must be prepared to counter. We haven’t been able to speak with one voice. But an event such as this (convention), makes me optimistic about our future.” Dr. John Goette, director of Re search, Seed Technology Divi sion, at Monsanto, took to the mi crophone to address the question, “Where is seed technology taking the crop protection industry?” In his talk, Goette covered the sci ence behind biotechnology, bio technological crops, retail busi ness surveys, the future of bio technology and its implications to the crop protectant industry. He began with a global perspective. “In 1997, world population stood at 6 billion people. There are 88 million people bom every year. That equals the population of Ger many and the population growth rate of New York City every month. It takes S.B million square Biotechnology Addressed At PPFPES Conference miles to feed people. Without con tinuing yield increases, IS million acres will be needed by 2050. It’s predicted that there will be double the number people on earth in the next 40 years. “In 1776, there were approxi mately 800 million people on earth. It took 124 years for the population to double. It doubled again in 80 years and is expected to double again in the next 40.” Goette cited the same revolu tion Stine mentioned earlier in the conference, specifically mention ing site specific ag (GSP), the bio technology explosion, a decrease in government subsidies, sustain ability, and increased food de mands. Goette said the shift is to ward more value added seeds, lar ger, more sophisticated growers and increased yields. The Science Behind Biotech Traditionally, plant breeders would identify desirable traits and (Continued from Pago A 2B) To support that statement, he showed that Lancaster County has the highest number of producers in Federal Order 2, while at the same time having the highest number of producers in Federal Order 4. That one county’s dairy farmers can be the most influential in two federal milk marketing orders is evidence that, for milk pricing, location of the farm is not as important as the location of the processor. However, the costs of producing milk have fluctuated along with the dairy prices. Yonkers said that, as it seems in his own household, “Expenses seem to rise to meet income,” sug gesting that dairy producers can and do adjust their production costs to reflect changes in prices received for milk. From some data collected from actual farm tax returns, he showed that total farm income and expenses have adjusted on dairy operations to provide about the same amount of net income during the past three years. From the data he got from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, he showed that in 1994 with a $13.75 per hundredweight milk price, that farm income was $14.91 per cwL, while total expenses were $12.53, resulting in a total farm net profit of $2.38 per cwt. In 1995, with the milk price at $13.26, the average total dairy farm income from the PFB data was $14.51, while total expenses dropped to $12.24 and net profit was $2.27. Then in 1996, with $13.26 per cwt. milk, total farm income was $16.56 per cwt. and total expenses were $14.01, resulting in a net pro fit of $2.55 per cwt. Yonkers also showed the pro duction cost disparity among dairy producers in Pennsylvania. Using a graph that compared cost of production to income per cow, using a constant milk price. The graph showed, that while not in the majority, Pennsylvania has dairy producers whose cost to produce 100 pounds of milk is between $8 to under $lO. They received $5OO to $l,OOO per cow, in the comparison. Those whose cost of production ranged from $lO to under $l4 per hundredweight, representing the majority, made from $250 to $5OO per cow. try to breed these traits into a com mercial variety. This process takes time. According to Goette, bio technology allows plant scientists to reduce the time* They “simply” single out the gene and insert it into the commercial variety. The first generation of biotechnical crops included Roundup Ready soybeans and corn. “Com yields have tripled over the last 40 years. In 1900, fanners produced 25 to 30 bushel per acre. Now, we’re seeing 130 to 140,” Goette explained. “In the next five years, we’re looking at high oil com, starch modification, im proved amino acids, and improved insect, herbicide and disease resis tance.” Goettc believes another huge area could be in biopolymers, such as in biodegradable plastics, and mentioned Monsanto’s current and unlikely alliance with Green peace. Milk Price Reform Those whose cost of production was $l4 or higher, lost money. They did not represent the majority of producers. The proposed consolidation of federal orders would basically merge the region of eastern Pen nsylvania with that of New York, New Jersey, Mid Atlantic region and New England states. The western region of Pennsyl vania would be merged with Ohio and the nearby region. Again, maps detailing the prop osal are available on the USDA homepage. The proposal is to receive a 60-day comment and review per iod, and this fall release decisions made upon those comments, fol lowed by a referendum vote. The referendum question is be set so that those in the proposed federal orders regions would be asked to decide all-or-nothing for the proposal either “yes” or “no federal order.” He said that, as with other USDA producer voting, coopera tives can block vote, which means that as long as an individual cooperative member doesn’t spec ifically reject a cooperative’s rep resentation, that the cooperative’s representation will make the deci sion on behalf of its membership. Members of cooperatives should discuss the proposal with their leadership. Yonkers said that the proposal also includes new definitions for the different classes of milk. The actual prices paid would differ from subzone to subzone within the federal order. In general, the Class I price would probably fall in most areas, while the other, normally lower valued class prices would increase. The overall effect, while not certain, is expected to raise the milk price overall. He said that the USDA projects that if the proposed pricing changes would have been in effect from 1994 through 1997, the aver age price would have been 77 cents higher. Yonkers said the new Class I differential would go down in 28 markets, up in three and stay the same in the upper Mid West. The new Class I price “mover," instead of using the BFP, would be to use an average of the Class HI or IV price, whichever is higher. That is expected to increase stability of price. “Biotechnology is having a sig nificant impact on agriculture. We need to get integrated solutions to the fanner. Biotechnology cannot control weeds. Farmers will al ways need fertilizer, herbicides, application service, and technical recommendations.” Goette told crop protectant business representatives at the conference that technological training of their people is critical. Sustainability Beth Carroll from the Novartis Crop Protection Division ad dressed, “Moving toward sustain ability from an industry perspec tive.” She began by dispelling some of the misconceptions about what the term sustainability means. “It does not mean to return to old, basic technology. That’s not a reality. It does mean adding new technology, such as in seeds. An other misconceptions is that sus- The new Class II price, which has been to use the BFP as a found ation, is to be now based upon component pricing. Again, USDA analysis shows that it would have increased the average Class II price up 54 cents from 1994 through 1997. The new Class in price is to be a “cheese only” price, based on computations from cheese yield, which relates directly to the pro tein composition of milk. If it had been in place during those years, the average price would have been 55 cents higher. A new Class IV price would be for butter and dry milk, using com ponent pricein for non-fat diy milk. The analysis projected a 96-cent higher price if the proposed system would have been in place. According to Yonkers, the Class I price is projected to drop by as much as $ 1 per cwL, but the fanner receives a blend price, blending all of the handler’s uses of the milk and their subsequent values. In order to phase-in the new orders and pricing structure, there are three proposals for slowly reducing the Class I differential. Other proposed changes include an elimination of the marketwide service charge to cooperatives within a federal order, which has been charged in F. 0.2 to pay for mandatory education services cooperatives are required to perform. Furthermore, seasonal adjust ments are to be eliminated completely. Grazing NORTH CORNWALL (Leba non Co.) Dairy or livestock producers considering or develop ing a grazing system should con sider enrolling in a six-part grazing school being offered during March and April by the Penn State exten sion offices in Lebanon and Berks counties. The school is set to be held every Thursday evening from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., March 5 through April 9, in the Vo-Ag Department of the Northern Lebanon High School. The cost of the school is $2O per person, and includes refreshments and course materials. Checks should be made payable to the “Lebanon County Extension Ser tainability is incompatible with existing fanning techniques.” Carroll said Novartis is looking at new, mote selective solutions; human and environmentally safe products; lower rate products; IPM compatible products; biolo gically-based products; and seed treatment “We’re paying particular atten tion to the needs of growers, fo cusing on changes in large farm business practices; computerized information systems; consolidated customer databases; technology development; and the develop ment of precision farming tech niques. We’re payiong attention to the needs of the food producers such as the food chain systems on an international basis; we’re mem bers of the National Food Proces sors Association; we cooperate with the food processing industry to ensure that the food supply is safe and of high quality at an af fordable cost” He said a rough estimate of the net impact chi mailbox prices the new proposal would have is a 1 cent decline for New England states; a .06-cent increase for New York/Ncw Jersey; and a 33-cent decline in the current F. 0.4 region. The new unregulated areas those areas not included in any proposed restructured federal order would receive an esti mated 96-cent decline in mailbox price. If producers vote against the proposal, that would result in an unregulated area. According to a map Yonkers displayed, a strip of central Pennsylvania would be in an unregulated area, since the fed eral orders are to be more con cerned with where milk is pro cessed, not produced. Overall for the coming year, he said he expects milk prices to increase by 20 cents to 30 cents. Of course, he said that there is much talk about possible effects from the El Nino on weather across the nation. California has been inundated, and he said that rain has controlled growth of dairy produc tion in California. He said that canyover stocks of feed grains and forages arc not high and poor growing conditions could also decrease production and increase price. Overall, however, he said that farmers should not expect to find the new milk pricing proposals any easier to understand than the exist ing system. He said that in fact, if anything, it is more complex than before. School vice,** and mailed to the attention of Galen Kopp, 2120 Cornwall Rd., Lebanon, PA 17042. TTie deadline for registration is Feb. 27. There is no homework for the last three classes. The April 2 class is to feature a discussion with Dr. Lisa Holden on nutritional considerations for cows on pasture. The final class is to consist of a visit to a farm, for on-site evalua tions and discussion. For more information, contact Kopp at (717) 270-4391.
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