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1 PERIODICALS DIVISION
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I PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
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V 01.46 No. 18
ijrass-Based Systems Can Improve Farm Image, Profit
7 tikNDY ANDREWS
W Editor
GRSnTVILLE (Dauphin
Co.) Grass-based dairy, beef,
and sheep farms, by their
nature, can not only be profita
ble, but project a positive, ac
ceptable image to the
community, according to a con
sensus of producers and agri
industry representatives.
During a Wednesday portion
of the two-day 2001 Pennsylva
nia Grazing and-Forage Confer
ence at the Grantville Holiday
Inn, discussion groups looked
toward ways to not only pre
serve farmland, but also the
farmer himself.
According to one Penn State
ag easement analyst, in one
survey conducted last summer,
25 of the farmer respondents did
not know how their land would
be used in the next 10 years.
Tim Kelsey, assistant profes
sor of ag economics in the Penn
State Department of Agricul
tural Economics and Rural Soci
ology, said the survey, funded by
the Center for Rural Pennsylva
nia, Harrisburg, was mailed to
2,000 farmers in the southeast
portion of the state. About eight
of the top 10 agricultural pro
duction counties participated on
a variety of farms.
Kelsey said that, in his pre
liminary report presented
Wednesday at the conference,
about 600 farmers responded to
Five-Acre Winners Comprise Corn Talk
ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.) Corn Talk, the newsletter of the Pennsylvania Master
Corn Growers Association (PMCGA), is included in this issue of Lancaster Farming. The
issue features the winners of the Five-Acre Corn Club contest, an interview with opera
tors of a regional grain elevator, and other information pertinent to the corn grower.
Also included are comments from the PMCGA and advertising messages. PMCGA direc
tors met here at this year’s Ag Progress Days. They stand outside the A-Maze-ln Corn
Maze, a special family feature at Ag Progress. In front, from left, John Yocum, Mike
Kuhns, and Elwood Kyper. Back, from left, Greg Roth, Richard Kreider, Ray Byler, Dan
Wolf, Tom Murphy, and Guy Wagner. Photo by Andy Andrews, editor
Five Sections
the survey, or about 33 percent.
The final report will be pub
lished in about two weeks.
Answers, according to Kelsey,
were astounding: about eight
percent of the respondents told
Penn State that in 10 years their
land, for certain, would be in de
velopment or commercial use.
However, sixty-three percent
of the respondents believed that
the land would be actively
farmed. About 2.9 percent be
lieved the land would lie fallow.
A quarter of the respondents
believed they had no idea how
their farmland would be used in
the next 10 years. Would it be
headed to development? Kelsey
noted. “Probably,” he said.
Pennsylvania ranks sixth na
tionally in the total farmland
lost per year, larger than 44
other states. “And we’re losing
farmland at a faster rate than
before,” Kelsey said.
Most of the losses came in
some of the best ag land in the
state, in the east and southeast.
Though Kelsey was careful to
point out he wasn’t criticizing
easement purchase plans, devel
opment rights sold to trust, pre-
the right to
farm laws, he believed that
though the plans preserved
farmland, they didn’t preserve
the farmer.
“Nothing specific has been
developed to help the farm busi
ness itself to survive,” he said.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 3,2001
Several awards were presented Wednesday evening during the 2001 Pennsylvania
Grazing and Forage Conference at the Grantville Holiday Inn. From left, PFGC outgoing
president Ed Koncle presents the Conservation Farmer Award to Sob and Kate Boyce,
Carlisle. Photo by Antfy Andrews, editor
“There’s no long-term assist
ance or guarantee to help the
farmer stay in business.”
Of all land in farms in the
state (about 11,200 square
(Turn to Page A2B)
$32.00 Per Year
Checklists, Consumer Trends,
Disease Control At Poultry Day
MICHELLE RANCK
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) Taking a day off from
farming proved profitable for
area producers as they were ed
ucated on a wide range of topics
at Thursday’s Poultry Progress
Day.
Sponsored by Penn State co
operative extension and the
Lancaster County Poultry Asso
ciation, the event drew a room
full of producers, sponsors, and
other industry representatives to
the Farm and Home Center.
Risk Assesinent
Andy Bradford, secretary of
the Lancaster County Poultry
Association, chaired the morn
ing session. Dr. Robert Owen,
Penn State Economists
Evaluate Dairy Fairness Bill
UNIVERSITY PARK
(Centre Co.) A pending dairy
bill designed to provide a safety
net for dairy farm families
would provide increased sup
port when market prices are
low, according to a study by two
dairy economists from Penn
State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences.
The study also suggests that
the bill would provide greater
support to small and medium
sized dairy farms.
Kenneth Bailey, associate
professor of dairy marketing
and policy, and James Dunn,
professor of agricultural eco
nomics, present these conclu
sions in “Economic Analysis of
600 Per Copy
Hubbard ISA representative,
outlined a risk assessment tool
for safety from transmissible in
fectious diseases, parasites, and
pests in a word, biosecurity.
“You need to draw a line in
the sand between disease organ
isms and a healthy flock. Wher
ever you draw the line is where
you take your stand and elimi
nate risk and prevent disease
from entering,” he said.
Bradford presented details on
a tool which provides an objec
tive approach to help producers
manage' risk. Goals of the risk
assessment tool are to establish a
farm ranking based on the risk
potentials. Operators reduce
risk by lowering the score.
The proactive program in
(Tum to Page A4O)
the National Dairy Farmers
Fairness Act of 2001,” a report
released this week.
The National Dairy Farmers
Fairness Act of 2001 was pro
posed by U.S. Senators Rick
Santorum of Pennsylvania and
Herb Kohl of Wisconsin to
create a sliding scale of financial
assistance for small and
medium-sized dairy operations.
“The bill provides for a sup
plemental payment to dairy
farmers when the national aver
age price of Class 111 milk
milk used to make cheese
falls below a certain level,”
Dunn said. “The program essen
tially provides some price pro
(Turn to Page A 45)