n . _ Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 6, 1998-819
Brochure Highlights Pennsylvania’s ‘White Gold’
MIDDLETOWN (Dauphin
Co.)- Dairying is the largest
segment of Pennsylvania’s agri
cultural economy, and the “white
gold” that it produces has a sig
nificant impact on all residents
of the Commonwealth.
A new brochure “Your Stake
in Pennsylvania’s White Gold” is
now available from the Pennsyl
vania Dairy Stakeholders. High
lighting the economic impact of
the dairy industry to all resi
dents, the brochure is targeted
to those who make decisions at
all levels. It is an excellent edu
cational tool for agricultural
spokesmen to use when address
ing non-agricultural audiences
such as service clubs, local and
regional elected officials and
regional economic development
agencies.
As presented m the brochure,
economic activity created by the
state’s largest agricultural seg
ment is billions of dollars at the
farm, processing and distribu
tion, and retail levels. Farm
level receipts for milk are over
1.5 billion dollars, and the retail
value of dairy products gener
ates over five billion dollars of
economic activity. Additionally,
almost 30,000 jobs in Pennsylva
nia are directly related to the
dairy industry.
In addition to giving interest
ing dairy industry information,
the brochure also challenges
readers to become more
informed about their local dairy
industry and to remember and
consider the economic impact to
agriculture when making com
munity and state decisions. For
example, decisions affecting
roads, bridges, the environment,
zoning, and taxes can have pro
found effects on a farmer’s abili
ty to remain in business.
The Pennsylvania Dairy
Stakeholders is a dairy industry
organization formed to facilitate
the viability and expansion of
the dairy industry in Pennsylva
nia. Organization president
Philip Kimmel reminds all
Pennsylvanians, “Every citizen
has a stake in the dairy industry
because of its huge economic
impact.”
A seven-minute video tape
entitled “Milk: It Does an Econ
omy Good” tells a similar story
to the brochure and is also tar
geted to the non-agricultural
audience. Both of these materi
als are available from the Penn
sylvania Dairy Stakeholders
Anyone interested in helping
to share this important econom
ic story may request the materi
als from Alan Bair, 777 West
Harrisburg Pike, Middletown,
PA 17057 - pnone (717) 948-
6732