1U»80Z fjj 036034 022801 ||| t I PERIODICALS! DIVISION I 111 TV ■ HI II 11 » , U j W 209 PATTE LIBRARY I SI I U-/ PENN STATE UNIVERSITY II I PA j TB I V 01.46 No. 19 Farm Bureau’s ‘Thank A Farmer ’ Campaign Hits The Airwaves Third-generation farmer GreyHostetter has written several radio advertisements which highlight the importance of agriculture* A project of the Lebanon County Farm Bureau, the 13-week advertisement campaign reaches the public in Lebanon and sur rounding counties. Photo by Michelle Ranck Dairies Can Form ‘Multiple Unit’ Partnerships To Stay Competitive ANDY ANDREWS Editor CAMP HILL (Cumberland Co.) For dairy producers who want to expand cow size by lev eraging fixed assets over as many cows as possible, one dairy management expert told pro ducers to form a “multiple unit partnership.” John Smith, extension spe Grower & Marketer Section Includes Tomato Growers This year’s award winning tomato growers, honored at the annual Mid- Atlantic Fruit and Vegeta ble Convention Feb. 1 in Hershey, are featured in Grower A Marketer this issue. A highlight of the section includes a feature about a farmer market, important information about commu nity supported agriculture programs, and news from both New Holland Vegeta ble Day in January and the winter state convention. In photo at right, first place winners are Bill Camerer, Camerer Farms, Jersey Shore; Dale Collins, Rhodesdale, Md.; James Kohl, vice president, Furman Foods, awards pre senter; Don Mowrer, Mar ietta; and Cliff Charles, Lancaster. Photo by Andy Andrew*. editor Five Sections cialist in dairy science with Kansas State University, knows of a number of different such farms in Kansas, with as many as 100 such partnerships work ing as business “cooperatives.” Smith spoke about trends and opportunities in dairying Wednesday afternoon at the 'Mid-Atlantic Dairy Manage ment Conference at the Radis Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 10,2001 son Penn Harris in Camp Hill. About 160 producers and agri-industry representatives at tended the two-day conference, with a focus on managing dair ies as business. Smith consults with a variety of dairy sizes, ranging from 25- 6,000 cows. He has heard of three, four, or more partners (Turn to Page A 36) $32.00 Per Year MICHELLE RANCK Lancaster Farming Staff LEBANON (Lebanon Co.) A campaign to convince the con sumer about how work in the fields translates to food on the table is under way through the efforts of the Lebanon County Farm Bureau. Greg Hostetter, Farm Bureau vice president and a dairy farmer near Lebanon, said farm ers should “stop and think about what you can always count on but take for granted.” The new campaign, “Thank A Farmer,” brings this message to southeast and south central Pennsylvania radio listeners: “The sun will rise and your Leb anon County farmers will pro duce food for you.” The campaign idea sprang from the October board meeting of the Lebanon County Farm Bureau, when a member com mented that the general public Pa. Farmers To Meet With Representatives On Farm Issues CAMP HILL (Cumberland Co.) Facing a fourth straight year of low farm income nation wide, members of the Pennsyl vania Farm Bureau (PFB) will be taking their concerns about the future of agriculture to Washington, D.C. March 14-15 as they meet with their congres sional representatives on prior ity farm issues. “The tough times are continu ing for agriculture across our country,” said Guy Donaldson, president of the voluntary, state wide farm organization. “Through our grass-roots policy development process, our mem bers have come up with recom mendations for action Congress can take to help return agricul ture to better times. Our inten 600 Per Copy does not realize the extent of what farmers provide. “Board members agreed that promotion should be done, so we discussed the issues and decided to look into it,” said Hostetter. Hostetter’s homework in cluded researching different types of media and the cost asso ciated with each. Before the next board meeting he had compiled profdes and rates on radio sta tions and newspapers. At the December board meet ing Hostetter was encouraged to put his ideas on paper to give di rection to the project. “I began writing down the positive things I’d like to let nonfarm people know about ag riculture,” he said. “The more I wrote, the more passionate I got about agriculture’s image. It piqued my interested and I started analyzing commercials, where I got format ideas and de- (Turn to Page A 24) tion is to press our case during face-to-face meetings with our elected officials in Washing ton.” Farmer members of legislative committees from PFB’s 54 county farm bureaus will be vis iting with the representatives and senators who represent their districts. Topics for discussion will in clude the elimination of estate taxes and creation of “rainy day” savings account for farm ers. Increased regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will also be on the agenda. For Pennsylvania dairy pro ducers, passage of federal legis lation to expand the Northeast (Turn to Page A 39)
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