‘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.
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Tuesday evening, April 20,
denotes history in the making
the first spring banquet of the Pen
Available models
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30x44 (3 left) 50 x 100 (2 left)
40 x 62 (4 left) 55 x 150 (2 left)
call tor other sizes
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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.