A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 15, 2000
Tour Shows Potential
For Ohio Berry Production
PIKETON, Ohio - Farmers
looking for an alternative, high
value crop or berry growers hop
ing to improve profits should at
tend the Summer Berry Tour,
said Sandy Kuhn, berry coordi
nator at the Ohio State Universi
ty Centers at Piketon.
“With the farm economy the
way it is, Ohio farmers are look
ing for crops that could be high
dollar alternatives to com, soy
beans or wheat, and berries are
one possibility,” Kuhn said.
According to Ohio State Uni
versity agricultural economists,
black raspberries in Ohio
generate an average annual re
turn of $1,575 per acre from
pick-your-own operations and
$1,063 per acre from prepicked
retail sales. Strawberries earn
$495 per acre from pick-your
own and $l5O from prepicked
operations. In comparison, no-till
corn generates only $l3 per acre
of annual profit and no-till soy
beans $l6 per acre. Corn and
soybeans grown conventionally
generate only $1 of net profit per
acre per year.
This year’s Summer Berry
Tour is July 27-28 and will visit
live farms and farm markets in
central Ohio. Two stops on the
“drive yourself’ tour are sched
uled Thursday, July 27 and three
on Friday, July 28, Kuhn said.
“Current producers will have
a chance to look at other farms
and get new ideas in areas such
as marketing, production prac
tices, diversification of crops, and
irrigation,” she said.
Growing strawberry plants on
raised beds through plastic,
called plasticulture, is one new
production practice displayed at
two of the stops. The plastic
holds in heat and warms soils, al
lowing strawberries to grow and
Dean Foods And Land O’Lakes
FRANKLIN PARK, 111.
Dean Foods Company (NY
SE:DF) and Land O’Lakes, Inc.,
announced recently that Dean
Foods has completed the pur
chase of Land O’Lakes Upper
Midwest fluid milk operations.
The two organizations
have also formed a
joint venture to na
tionally market and li
cense certain value
added fluid and cul
tured dairy products
to further expand the
Land O’Lakes® brand.
Both agreements in
clude long-term licens
ing arrangements for
use of the Land
O’Lakes brand name.
“In this transaction,
Dean Foods is acquir
ing a strong and suc
cessful fluid dairy
business that com
mands the leading po
sition in its regional
market,” said Howard
Dean, chairman and
chief executive officer
of Dean Foods. “In ad
dition, this acquisition
offers Dean a unique
opportunity to go to
market with one of the
best known brands in
the dairy industry and
to extend the Land
O'Lakes brand name
into new, value-added
fluid and cultured
dairy products and
be picked two weeks earlier than
normal, Kuhn said. The plastic
adds additional costs and may
not fit every farm but gives the
farm the ability to be ‘first on the
market” with their product.
“Prospective growers can talk
with current producers and get
information on how to get
started,” she said.
New growers need to decide
what berries to plant, what
equipment to buy, where to sell
berries, and how to provide the
long hours of labor needed to
properly manage a berry patch.
Growing berries is initially a
high investment - as much as
$6,000 per acre for a 2- to 5-acre
operation - and requires labor for
planting, pruning, irrigating and
picking, so potential growers
should get as much information
as possible before committing,
Kuhn said.
Other topics discussed during
the Berry Tour will include sell
ing at farmers’ markets, enter
tainment farming, disease issues,
pick-your-own operations, labor,
the American Berry Cooperative
and family businesses.
The tour begins at 2:30 p.m.
on Thursday at Rhoads Farm
Market, on Rt. 56 east of Circle
ville. Rhoads is a diversified farm
market that grows blackberries,
raspberries, strawberries and
other fruits and vegetables.
The second stop is west of
Grove City on London-Grove
port Road at Circle S Farm. Cir
cle S Farm features more than 10
acres of strawberries, more than
six acres of black and red rasp
berries, and a bakery and gour
met food business. An optional
dinner on Thursday evening at
Circle S Farm will include dis
cussions with Ohio State Univer
sity berry researchers Dick Funt,
Begin Joint Venture
into new geographical markets.”
“Land O’Lakes sees this joint
venture as an opportunity to fur
ther leverage the strength of our
brand and reputation for quality,
and extend the geographic reach
of our most innovative fluid
state small fruit specialist, and
Mike Ellis, plant pathologist.
Friday’s tour begins at 9 a.m.
at the Schacht Farm Market on
Shannon Road in Canal Win
chester. Schacht’s grows straw
berries, blackberries and a vari
ety of other produce. Stop two on
Friday is at Doran’s Farm Mar
ket on Babbitt Road outside of
New Albany. Doran’s has rasp
berries, strawberries and other
specialty crops. The final Friday
stop is at Jacquemin Farms on
Hyland-Croy Road near Plain
City, featuring strawberries and
raspberries, among other crops.
Recent health studies that
show berries can reduce the risk
of cancer and heart disease have
increased their demand, and
there are many new types of ber
ries available with better flavor,
shipping qualities, and other im
provements that make marketing
easier, Kuhn said. So now is a
good time to start growing ber
ries.
“The tour offers examples of
good operations with all types of
berries represented,’’ she said.
“We’ve chosen some of the more
progressive operations in Ohio,
and some that have had berries
around for quite a while.”
The Summer Berry Tour
is $l5 per person for those
eating dinner at Circle S
Farm or $5 per person
otherwise. Advance regis
tration is required.
For more information on
the tour or a registration
form, call the Ohio State
University Centers at Pike-
ton at (800) 297-2072 and
ask for Kuhrt or Melissa
Fitzpatrick. Kuhn can also
reached by e-mail
(kuhn.37@osu.edu).
dairy products,” said Chris Po
licinski, executive vice presi
dent and chief operation officer
for Land O’Lakes Dairy Foods
(Turn to Page A 25)
Gov. Ridge Signs Bill For
Additional Crop-Loss Payment
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Gov. Tom Ridge recently
signed S.B. 1417 to allow the De-
partment of Agriculture to make
final crop-loss payments to pro
ducers who qualified under Act
57, the drought disaster relief law
signed into law last year.
“Our farmers exemplify the
best of Pennsylvania,” Gov.
Ridge said. “They work hard,
and they don’t ask for much in
return. I was proud last year to
sign legislation offering our
farmers the largest state
drought-aid package in the na
tion. And today I’m proud to
help them again as they con
tinue to recover from last year’s
devastating drought.
“With this new law, our De
partment of Agriculture will be
able to complete the job. We will
send a final payment to qualified
applicants, in an amount that
will be nearly equal to what they
already have received.”
Gov. Ridge thanked Sen.
Noah W. Wenger (R-Lancaster)
and Rep. Raymond Bunt Jr. (R-
Montgomery) for supporting this
bill.
Last year, Pennsylvania pro
vided more drought assistance
for Pennsylvania farmers ($5
million for hay assistance, $5.6
million for crop insurance, and
$6O million in crop-loss pay
ments for a total of $70.6 million
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in state funds) than in any other
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These final payments reflect
the balance of the $6O million
portion of the existing disaster
relief package.
The $5.6 million portion of the
package designated for crop in
surance assistance will be admin
istered directly through insur
ance underwriters and the
federal Risk Management Agen
cy. The Department of Agricul
ture has arranged to have the
producers’ crop insurance billing
statement reflect the state assist
ance, eliminating the need for
producers to be reimbursed.
“I am very proud of our pro
ducers for managing through a
very difficult crop year,” Agri
culture Secretary Samuel E.
Hayes Jr. said. “Likewise, I
thank Gov. Ridge and Pennsyl
vania lawmakers for quickly re
sponding with $70.6 million in
state assistance. This financial
assistance has made a difference
to our farm families. It has
helped them to protect the viabil
ity of Pennsylvania’s agricultural
community and its capacity to
produce food and fiber.”
S.B. 1417, sponsored by Sen.
William L. Slocum (R-Warren),
passed the House 189 to 1, and
the Senate unanimously. It takes
effect immediately.
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