‘New’ PennAg Industries Poultry Council To Celebrate At Spring Banquet April 20 ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Disorderly Conduct, with “serious slapstick,” will enter tain at this year’s spring banquet. PRICES!! SUPER TOUGH STEEL BUILDINGS Factory Direct 800/825-5059 LEBANON VALLEY ENTERPRISES, INC. Manufacturing • Powder Coating • Precast X High Quality X 1.9” OD top and bottom rail 1" sch 40 uprigl X Affordable Prices X2O V ear fust thru guarantee Tuesday evening, April 20, denotes history in the making the first spring banquet of the Pen Available models 25 x 32 (2 left) 45 x90(1 left) 30x44 (3 left) 50 x 100 (2 left) 40 x 62 (4 left) 55 x 150 (2 left) call tor other sizes X Adjustable neck opening for calf to cow X Auto Release for downed cows X Baked on high gloss, high impact and acid resistantTGlC polyester powder coating X No springs to rust or wear over time nAg Industries Association Poul try Council as its members enjoy an evening of fun and camaraderie here at the Lancaster Host Resort. More than I,ooomembers, fam ily, and Mends of the association. Industrial Hemp Growing The movement away from using hemp for fabrics and textiles was the result of the push to use petroleum-based products after the 19405. For processors in the U.S., hemp has been imported for many years from Canada, England, France, and Germany, in addition to China and South America. According to a quote from a preliminary ver sion of the brochure for the informational day, the Kentucky Hemp Growers Co-Op noted, “It is absurd to think the U.S. cannot regulate industrial hemp as it is D K comprising poultry producers and agribusiness associates, will gather for a social at 5:30 p.m. fol lowed by a dinner at 7:15 p.m. The banquet marks an evening of “fun and Mvolily,” said Walter (Continued from Pago A 29) regulated in Canada, England, France, Germany, and other demo cratic countries. To claim other wise is an affront to the intelli gence of law enforcement, the American people, and a slap in the face to the integrity of the Ameri can farmers.” House, a member of the National Hemp Industry Asso ciation, with 700 members, noted he has received several calls from farmers who are “looking for lead ership,” said House. House said that farmers have been interested in this opportunity for years and were grateful for the meeting. Robert Rex, also speaking at the meeting, is the ag fiber sales spe cialist with Crane & Company, a paper manufacturer based in Dal- Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 17, 1999-A3l N. Pccchatka, PcnnAg Industries Association executive vice president ‘ PccchalkS spoke to more than 100 producers and agri-industry ton. Mass. For the past 120 years, Rex said, the company has been providing currency paper to the U.S. Treasury. The company anticipates pro cessing about one million pounds of hemp and another million pounds of kenaf this year. For almost 200 years the company has produced cotton rag. Rex said that some new paper lines will contain a hemp/kenaf and hcmp/cotton blends for com mercial papers. Most of the hemp they receive comes from western Europe. They are working on acquiring Cana dian sources of hemp and want to be involved in developing markets in the U.S. (Turn to Paga A 36) Hemp, which can be a significant rotational crop and does well to suppress Johnsongrass and nematode popula tions in the soil, can be grown in Pennsylvania. But more industry and educational efforts need to be in place to deter mine the right types of seed, harvest technolo gies, and initial process ing in the state. “It’s a tough plant to harvest a real tough plant,” said Rex, which requires European-type technologies. Also, to be profitable, hundreds of acres would have to be devoted over several years’ time. The crop would be grown similar to com in this area, harvested once per year. The stalk dry matter value of hemp equals about $4OO per ton. The price paid to growers for its pulp paper value, after some initial pro cessing, wotild range from 20-35 cents per pound. For growers in Pen nsylvania, a viable market would be hemp grown for food value. The seed, noted Rex, would net a premium for its higher value-added use. Developing a hemp co-op “would be a great way to go,” said Rex, to develop the seed, plant ing, harvesting, and ini tial processing techno logies to provide hemp for various types of industries. The meeting also addressed the formation of a possible grower co op in the state. Also scheduled to speak was Jane Balmer, Pennsyl vania Farm Bureau rep resentative and fanner. Balmer was set to give a talk about the possibili ties of an alternative crop such as hemp.
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