02-Ljncastar Faming, Saturday, Junt 17, 2000
Farmland National Beef Receives License
To Develop New Food Safety Technology
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
Farmland National Beef Pack
ing Company recently an
nounced it has licensed the
commercial development rights
for activated lactoferrin, a new
food safety technology that pro
tects consumers from harmful
bacteria that may be found in
meat.
The development rights were
licensed from Dr. A.S. “Narian”
Naidu, a medical microbiologist
who directs the Center for An
timicrobial Research at Califor
nia State Polytechnic
University, Pomona. Naidu’s in
vention involves an activated
form of lactoferrin, a natural
protein from cow’s milk that is
applied to meat surfaces during
processing and packaging.
Laboratory results indicate
the activated form of lactoferrin
is effective against more than 30
different kinds of harmful bac
teria, including E. coli 0157:H7,
Salmonella, and Campylo
bacter.
“We continue to be impressed
with Dr. Naidu’s findings, and
we intend to fully explore the
merits of bringing this technol
ogy to the meat industry,” said
John R. Miller, chief executive
officer of Farmland National
Beef. “Bringing the safest meat
products to market has always
been critically important to us,
BUY,
SELL,
TRADE
OR
RENT
THROUGH
THE
CLASSIFIED
AOS
IN
Lancaster
Farming
PHONE
717-626-1164
OR
717-394-3047
FAX
717-733-6058
Mon., Tues.,
Wed., Fri.
8 AM to 5 PM
Thurs.
7 AM to 5 PM
and this technology is the most
appealing new development
we’ve uncovered to date.”
Miller said Farmland Na
tional Beef plans to conduct ad
ditional testing, assess how the
technology can be used in beef
processing plants, and pursue
regulatory approval from the
U.S. Food and Drug Adminis
tration and USD A.
Assuming the continued test
ing produces positive results and
the technology is granted the
necessary regulatory approvals,
Farmland National Beef plans
to use activated lactoferrin in
the production of its meat prod
ucts and make the technology
Applications Accepted
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) Lancaster County Coop
erative Extension Director John
Schwartz has announced that
applications for Lancaster
County Century Farm nomina
tions are being accepted by the
Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture.
“To qualify as a Century
Farm, the farm must have been
owned by the same family for
100 consecutive years,” said
Schwartz. “A family member
must currently live on the farm,
and the farm must consist of at
least 10 acres of the original
holding, or gross over $l,OOO an
nually from the sale of farm
Morton Buildings Farm/Sh
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available to the entire meat in
dustry.
Farmland National Beef pro
vided financial support and test
ing equipment for Dr. Naidu’s
activated lactoferrin research
during the past two years as part
of a corporate food safety initia
tive.
The company also announced
that Eric B. Hale will spearhead
the lactoferrin commercial de
velopment effort for Farmland
National Beef. Hale has more
than 20 years of experience de
veloping scientific and medical
technologies, including serving
as chief executive of several
early stage public life science
companies.
Century Farm
products.”
Lancaster County currently
has 132 registered Century
Farms.
Century Farm information,
applications, and assistance in
filling out the application may
be obtained from the Lancaster
County Cooperative Extension,
1383 Arcadia Road, Room 1,
Lancaster, PA 17601, or by call
ing 717-394-6851.
Schwartz said that Century
Farm nominees whose applica
tions are processed prior to Oct.
1 will be honored at the Lancas
ter County Farm-City Ag-
Chamber Banquet Nov. 21.
Delmarva Com, Soybean
Conference Takes Hiatus
COLLEGE PARK, Md.
After observing its 20th anniver
sary in February, the Delmarva
Corn and Soybean Technology
Conference has been put on hold
for 2001.
The conference was spon
sored each year by cooperative
extension at land-grant universi
ties in Delaware, Maryland, and
Virginia and by agribusinesses
serving the Delmarva area.
The hiatus decision was made
at a special meeting of the plan
ning committee on April 25.
Committee members suggested
that the conference’s agricul
tural update focus for 2001 be
transferred to county and re
gional extension educational
meetings normally conducted
each winter in the Delmarva
area.
The committee will reconvene
next March to determine the di
rection the conference should
take in 2002.
Betsy Gallagher, planning
committee chairperson, cited
several reasons for the commit
tee’s action. Gallagher is a
Maryland cooperative extension
educator for agriculture and
natural resources in Dorchester
County.
Steadily declining trends in
attendance were a major factor
contributing to the cancellation,
she noted. Even a shift last Feb
ruary to a three-location confer
ence on successive days gave
disappointing results in overall
attendance.
One reason, no doubt, is a
steady decline in the number of
full-time farm operators and an
increase in the number of part
time farmers. Part-timers often
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have off-farm jobs that interfere
with attendance at daytime
farmer educational meetings.
In addition, buyouts and
mergers on the agribusiness
scene have greatly reduced the
number of agribusiness repre
sentatives available to provide
financial support and to exhibit
at large regional meetings. E
commerce also is a limiting
factor.
Overall, Gallagher com
mented, commercial crop farm
ers in the Delmarva area are
bemoaning what appears to be
another year of depressed grain
prices and high operating costs
a situation that has prevailed
for nearly a decade.
Adding to the economic stress
is the prospect of unwelcome
nutrient management and phos
phorus regulations.
That environment seems to
create a negative feeling toward
traveling any distance to attend
educational meetings. Atten
dance at local county coopera
tive extension meetings has not
been adversely affected to the
same extent.
But, while crop farmers
throughout Maryland and Dela
ware continue to face economic
stress, the depressed grain prices
have helped Mid-Atlantic area
dairy farmers contend with low
milk prices.
Thus, planners for the Mid-
Atlantic No-Till Conference,
which observed its 25th anniver
sary in February, are going
ahead with plans for another
conference in 2001. This confer
ence draws much of its atten
dance from dairy farmers in
Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Meadville, PA 814-336-5083
Phillipsburg, NJ 908-454-7900