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V 01.44 No. 50
Harvesting of corn and soybeans accelerated this week after rains last
week brought an end to the drought but not an end to the shortage of
corn, and hay to feed livestock over the winter. Many farmers were Ailing
silos with corn that would have been normally reserved for grain.
According to the Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service, the corn
crop is slow in maturing and harvest is also behind normal. On a better
note, old crop carryover stocksLof corn, wheat, and barley are above last
year to help keep the supply in line with demand. But a lot of grain will be
shipped to local markets from the Midwest. The late rains have slightly
Being Empathetic With Consumers Critical
To Poultry Industry’s Public Affairs
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
These days, according to one
media affairs 'specialist, people
don’t trust big business, They want
environmental pollution controls
but don't want to pay for them.
People indicates M. Patricia
Wood, senior account manager for
William J. Green & Associates
are fickle. They want environmen
tally safe products even say, on
surveys, they’ll pay for them
but when it comes time to pay, they
don’t
For the agricultural industry to
survive, and to curtail litigation,
keep financially strapping regula
tions away, and to handle assaults
in the media from an increasingly
ignorant consumer population,
producers must learn to be pro
active, good communicators, and
Editor:
This letter is in response to
your article regarding House
Bill 1418, legislation that I spon
sored to amend the Veterinary
Practice Act of 1974.
Although I believe that an
update of the 25-year-old law is
appropriate, I am now convinced
Four Sections
learn to be “empathctic with your
audience,” Wood told about two
dozen poultry producers and agri
industry representatives Monday
afternoon.
Wood, senior account manager
for William J. Green & Associates,
Hummclstown, works with the
PennAg Industries Association,
Ephrata, in helping member
producers with public affairs.
Wood spoke Monday at the Penn
State-sponsored Poultry Manage
ment and Health Seminar at Kreid
er’s Restaurant in Manheim.
Wood pointed to a heavily criti
cized story appearing in a news
paper that made agriculture, in
general, bad guys for consumers
and the environment
To counter sudden attacks for an
increasingly vulnerable industry,
according to Wood, it is important
to have a strategy that is positive
Farm Forum
that the language of House Bill
1418 is too vague and all encom
passing in its present form.
This expanded definition of
the practice of veterinary medi
cine was designed and intended
to protect consumers from being
victimized by purveyors of vet
(Tum to Pago A 10)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 16, 1999
and pro-active. The strategy
should paint a picture of fanning
that is progressive, active in the
community, and can respond to
crisis situations and emotionally
charged issues readily and with
confidence. It’s also important to
cultivate relationships with the
media that don’t emphasize cold,
Food Safety Biosensor Detects Pathogens
ATLANTA, Ga. Recent
incidences of contaminated meat
in grocery stores and restau
New wine grape agent at Penn State, Mark Chien, left,
examinee Vidal, a French white hybrid grape, at Nissley
Winery and Vineyarda near Bainbridge. At right is Tim Elk
ner, Lancaster horticulture agent. Read more about the new
agent on page A 32. Photo by Andy Andnwo
increased pasture conditions but many meadows are still not growing
because of the stress placed on them by the summer drought. Fruit
harvest around the state continues. Small apple size was reported. The
quality of apples and grapes was generally good. The cool weather crops
benefited from the recent precipitation, but frost brought an end to the
growing season for most vegetable crops. In the photo, an Amish farmer
on Pond Road north of Rt. 340, between Bird in Hand and Intercourse,
harvests corn with teams pulling both the cornninder and the wagon to
fill silo Tuesday afternoon. —Photo by Everett R. Nemwanger, editor.
big business rather, family
owned and operated farms where
farming is the major income
source.
Today’s family-run “advanced
farms” rely on advanced tech
niques and efficiencies in feeding,
livestock health, pest control,
nutrient management, and other
rants have heightened consumer
concern. But people who eat
meat may rest easier if a new
$31.00 Per Year
areas.
“We don’t think this industry
has anything to apologize for,”
Wood said at the meeting. The
important thing, she said, is to
leam how to be better communica
tors and to be “empalhetic with
your audience."
bacterial sensing device to be
field tested this fall delivers the
accurate and speedy results,
plus the low costs its developers
predict.
The device, called a biosensor,
was developed at the Georgia
Tech Research Institute (GTRI).
It can simultaneously identify
species and determine concen
trations of multiple pathogens -
including the deadly E. coli
0157:H7 and Salmonella - in
food products in less than two
hours while in operation on a
processing plant floor.
The most significant advan
tage of the biosensor is the time
reduction in assessing the pres
ence of contamination, said Nile
Hartman, a biosensor developer
and senior research engineer at
GTRI.
Lab tests for E. coli and
Salmonella in meat are required
by federal regulators, but there
are no standards for bacterial
concentration. Most companies
600 Per Copy
(Turn to Page A 33)
(Turn to Page A2O)