V 01.45 No. 13 The 1996 Pennsylvania fair Queen Julie Sechler con gratulates newly-crowned state fair royalty, Pennsylva nia fair Queen Jana. Out&y from Clearfield County fair and first IHunnor-Up Katie Cornish from Dayton Fair. See stery oh page 814, Photo by Joyno Sobright Mt. Joy Dairy Co-op . Increases Handled EVERETT NEWSWANGER Editor NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster Co.) • After several postpone ments early in the. of the snow stbrm, nit. Joy Farmers Cooperative members held their one . annual meeting on Thursday at Yoder’s, and were sch ( ednled second annual meeting, at the Gathering Place in Mt. Joy, Friday after publication of this issue of Lancaster Farming. Officials again reported a good year for (he cooperfftive. At die meeting last year, milk Russell Shopp of York Countyha* donated a Dunlog gin dispersal Catalog to lie auctioned off during the up coming Pennsylvania Holstein Convention. The Junior Holstein Convention is Peb. 4-6, and the annual Conven tion and Sate wfll be held Feb. 17-18.8e# story on page 812. Photo by Jayne Sebright Five Section* prices were, at an aU-timehsh, this year at a 20-year low. And '■''iJteSoutlook is'for low prices for the next several months with hope for improvement later in the year. Overall, the average gross ipUk price paid to Mt. Joy pa trons for 1999 was $15.50 per hundredweight, the highest in w *’tfßP||story of the Cooperative. Net price to patrons was $14.75, the highest in the last four years. Management was able to keep the operating costs to 59 cents |riHit«dred>yeight, the same as (Rmi to PaosA2S) Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 29, 2000 Extended-Season Produce Key To Keeping Customer Relations ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Stuff HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.) While interest in organic farm ing and growing fruits and vege tables for the “niche” market increases, growers need to listen to the manager of a successful south central growers’ coopera tive. “Our growth has not come in finding more customers, but supplying existing customers with what they want over a long ItftCttnfr inclement weather held attendance down the day the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention opened Tuesday In Hershey. But by Wednesday more growers and agri-industry representatives were on hand to tour the exhib its. Photo by Andy Andrews Dairy Of Distinction Is Public Relations Tool For Farm And Industry JAYNE SEBRIGHT Lancaster Farming Staff STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) Perception is reality. For the urban public, what they see when they drive by neighboring farms affects what they think about the foods they eat. Since 1983, the Dairy of Dis tinction program has honored dairy farmers for keeping their farms neat and clean. Non farmers who drive by these pris tine-looking farms are left with a positive message about dairy products. “It’s an excellent way to pro mote milk,” said Janet Hileman, District 14 Coordinator. "When urban people come and see these attractive farms, they think, ‘Gee, drinking milk from that firm would be a delight.’ ” Hileman and her committee made up of one person from each of the six counties in Dls- $31.00 Per Year period of time,” said Chris Fullerton, Tuscarora Organic Growers Cooperative, Huston town. Fullerton spoke Wednesday afternoon during a special ses sion on farmers’ markets, auc tions, and cooperatives at the 2000 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. Fullerton noted that the coop erative, founded in 1988, has trict 14 actually visit attractive looking farms and encdlirage the farmers to apply. Last year District 14 had 15 applicants and nine winners in the pro gram. “It’s an incentive for the farmer to keep the farm nice,” said Hileman. "We acknowl edge the farmer for their hard work because it can be costly and time-consuming. But it’s worth it.” Corn Talk Includes Hybrid Reports, Conference Preview This week’s Lancaster Farming includes Com Talk, the newsletter of the Pennsylvania Master Corn Growers Association (PMCGA). The issue features a preview of the upcoming com and soybean conference, the 1999 Pennsylvania hybrid com reports, an upcoming list of corn grower meetings and activities, and other news of interest to the grower. Also scheduled are comments from the PMCGA and advertising messages. 60c Per Copy grown to include 20 grower members who work with 25 farmers to supply restaurant managers and retailers in the Washington, D.C. area. The cooperative, with growers on both sides of the Tuscarora Mountain in south central Penn sylvania, began with the help of grower Jim Crawford. All the family farms are small, with the largest grower comprising less than 100 acres, and most in the (Turn to Pag* A2O) Brenda Zimmerman agrees. She and her husband, Paul, were awarded Dairy of Distinction in District 19 last year. They own a 83-acre dairy farm in Lititz and milk around 90 cows. “I saw the Dairy of Distinc tion signs at other places, and I always thought that those people were going over and beyond what the average farmer (Turn to Pag* A 32)