Growing Soybeans More Than Magical For Reigel Brothers
(Continued from Page A 1)
The Reigels credit their
grandfather for “giving them
their start” in farming, with
advice and free labor.
After graduation from Ann
ville Cleona High School where
he was president of the FFA,
Jeff began by farming his grand
father’s place which was about
Geographic Information
Use In Agriculture
GIS may also be used as a tool
to help determine areas with
highest potential for erosion.
Diane Waters, a bioscholar at
Virginia Tech, was part of a
team which grouped together to
complete the “Kentland Farm
Project.”
Kentland Farm is a collection
of fields owned by the university
and used for research. Contain
ing alfalfa, com, and various
pastures, the fields are also host
to small wildlife areas. The goals
of the project were to predict
erosion rates and see what areas
are susceptible to erosion. Fur
ther research would identify if
there was any dominating factor
to erosion.
Pulling soil, field delineation,
and contour line data from
Website information, they cal
culated soil erosion by plugging
in their numbers into an ac
cepted formula.
For instance, besides Website
information, they performed
math calculations, got crop in
formation from the farm mana
ger, and measured the slope of
the area.
Multiplying all factors to
gether, the group calculated
values for soil loss for each field.
The corn fields were the highest
area of erosion, not surprising
since they are a row crop, said
Waters.
“We cautiously concluded
that the crop factor is the best
predictor of the highest ero
sion,” she said. Researchers
measured soil loss in tons per
acre per year based on slope,
grass cover, support, type of soil,
and rainfall amount.
A Useful Tool
For Environmental Managment
Mapmaking applications in
clude mapping and classifying
the Chesapeake Bay watershed
to provide solutions to govern
ment or Bay-related organiza
tions working on restoration.
Researchers at the geography
department at the University of
Maryland, for example, mapped
the impervious surfaces in the
Bay watershed area to measure
urbanization, one step in calcu
lating the effect of development
on the Bay.
Since increased runoff, ero
sion, flooding and decreased
water quality are hallmarks of
urbanization, mapping impervi
ous surfaces is a useful tool.
In addition Towson Univer
sity Center of GIS has posted, at
Chesapeakebayfromsapce.net, a
visual reminder or forest frag
mentation, the degree or urban
sprawl, and the large-scale land
clearance on the Delmarva Pen
insula.
Also in Maryland GIS pro
vides an automated review pro
cess for agriculture preservation
candidate’s properties. GIS
allows analysis of soil compati
bility, land cover, and the con
formity to preservations
guidelines.
GIS is also used to protect
bogs by identifying them quickly
for construction and zoning de
cisions. Because of the system,
30 acres. Jeff farmed with his
father and then went out on his
own the next year. He began
growing soybeans in 1979.
Steve, who was the vice presi
dent of his FFA club, joined his
brother in farming a few years
later.
The two brothers have ex
panded their farming partner-
(Continued from Page A 1)
zoning maps are available to the
public. The tool is also used for
officials to recalculate
watershed boundaries with GIS
information.
The Chespeake Bay was the
focus of many GIS projects.
River basins or urban sprawl
could be mapped with GIS sys
tems. Additionally stormwater
runoff programs can be devel
oped.
Another software extension of
GIS is to map “green cover.”
“Cities nationwide are losing
their green cover,” said Mike
Lehman, direct of sales, Cl-
TYgreen software.
Lehman’s organization,
“American Forests,” is a non
profit organization based in
Washington, D.C. By regionally
analyzing tree cover, the organi
zation can help cities determine,
in dollars, what tree cover is
worth.
The organization provides
cities with statistical data on
storm water runoff, energy bene
fits, and air pollution statistics
with GIS used as a tool for anal
ysis.
“It’s a decision management
tool,” said Lehman. “Poli
cymakers can then budget for
tree conservation or replant
ing.” Carbon absorption and
energy savings are just a few of
the benefits of trees, said
Lehman.
Stephanie Orndorff, repre
sentative of Advanced Technol
ogy Solutions, Inc., presented
her work in identifying trends in
human population growth in
proximity to ecologically signifi
cant areas.
Using GIS for the common
wealth of Pennsylvania, Orn
dorff was able to plot census
data and overlay the map with a
map of species richness, where
the greatest diversity of kinds of
animals reside. Pike, Monroe,
Carbon, York, Montgomery,
and Berks counties placed high
est in species richness.
Orndorff found, however, by
overlaying the population map
with the species richness map,
that these areas were also rich in
species diversity. Applications
of the project, said Orndorff,
was to identify areas of low pop
ulation growth so the land could
be acquired easily and cheaply
for preservation.
Diane Waters
Mapping Green Cover
ship to about 200 acres. They
own 43 acres in partnership and
rent 167 acres on which they
plant 80 acres of soybeans, 60
acres of com, and 40 acres of
wheat. The also have about 60
acres in pasture that accommo
dates their purebred herd of
Herefords, now numbering 17
cows and 23 calves. Rounding
out the Reigel farm enterprises
is a 34,000-bird broiler opera
tion.
The soybeans were grown for
a cash crop, not for livestock
feed as many dairymen are now
doing. The crop will be sold this
summer. They are in storage
“for hitting August highs,” said
Jeff.
Expansion in their farming
operation is definitely on the
agenda for the Reigel brothers.
“We would grow more of every
thing if we had the ground,” Jeff
said. “We’re looking for the op
portunity to expand, but we’re
competing with developers just
like everybody else.”
Not only do they work the soil
in farming, but the Reigels
Agribusiness Takes Lead In
Updating Water Quality Program
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Walter N. Peechatka, ex
ecutive vice president of PennAg
Industries Association, recently
told the House Agriculture and
Rural Affairs Committee that his
600 members recommend and
support enhancement of the
state’s Nutrient Management Act
(Act 6 of 1993) and its accompa
nying regulations.
“Pennsylvania was first in the
nation when it adopted Act 6,
which was applauded by the ag
ricultural and environmental
communities for its foresight in
regulating manure application to
crops and providing strict crite
ria for storage areas. Other states
are just beginning to catch up,”
Peechatka testified. “Now, near-
(Continued from Page A 1)
good right now, but unless dairy
farmers ‘lock in’ these prices
through their cooperative or the
futures market, they’re subject
to marketplace whims.”
Funded by the USDA and de
livered by Penn State Coopera
tive Extension agents in 25
counties, DOPP will allow farm
ers to buy “put options” on the
sale of their milk against a
future date.
Purchasing a put option for a
future month creates a guaran
teed minimum “floor price”
that a farmer will receive for a
specified amount of milk at the
time the option is due to expire,
Bailey said.
For example, a farmer during
the month of May who is con
cerned about the possibility of
low milk prices in September
could buy a put option contract
that sets a floor price above what
he expects the market price to be
in September.
When September comes, if the
market price of milk is indeed
lower than the purchased floor
price, the farmer will receive a
check from his broker that
makes up the difference between
the market price he received
from his milk buyer and the
floor price set by his put option
contract.
But what it the market price
of milk when September comes
is higher than the put option
floor price?
That’s when having a put
spend a lot of time in the dirt
with the family’s excavating
business, P and N Excavating.
Their older brother Dwilan is
company president and Steve is
vice president. Their youngest
brother Kent is in the trucking
business.
When they are not too busy
farming and excavating, hunt
ing is a pastime of choice for
both brothers. Jeff and his wife,
in fact, just came back from a
honeymoon trip to South Africa
where they enjoyed a Safari.
Beside hunting, Steve also takes
snowmobiling trips during the
winter months.
Soybeans have carried the
“magic” label for years, but
there is no crop that could be
called more practical today than
the magic beans. The mainstay
market for soybeans has been
cooking oils and livestock feed.
According to the ASA, tofu
production alone utilizes 22 mil
lion bushels of specialty soybean
production. They also report
that soy ink is being used by one
third of the nation’s newspapers.
ly a decade later, we are ready to
raise the bar again with the pri
mary goal of protecting water
quality.”
“How we proceed with this
program will help shape the fu
ture of agriculture in Pennsylva
nia because it affects the key
stone advanced farms and the
thousands of farms which me
supported by them,” Peechatka
said.
“Successful farms today often
are more concentrated, are more
diverse, use more advanced tech
nology and must produce more
per acre to compete what we
call advanced farming. But this
trend does not have to come at
the expense of our environment.”
Act 6 and its regulations have
Dairy Farmers Learn
option can seem like a win-win
situation, Bailey said. Even if
the market price of milk goes
higher than the put option floor
price, the farmer will still receive
the higher market price for his
milk.
“If the farmer is always guar
anteed the higher price between
his put option and the market
price, what is the catch?” Bailey
asked the group of farmers.
“The catch is that put options
come with a price,” Bailey said.
The farmer must risk the prem
ium he pays for the option.
The price of put options vary
according to the futures market
and the floor price sought,
Bailey said. Locking in a higher
floor price requires a larger
premium
One feature of DOPP is that
the USDA will pay 80 percent of
the cost for each put option pur
chased by a dairy farmer en
rolled in the program. The
USDA will also pay $3O of the
4 broker fees involved in each
transaction.
Bailey said that this govern
ment cost-sharing makes the
program a lot more affordable at
this time while giving farmers
an opportunity to learn how to
use the futures market.
“Right now, options are ex
pensive,” he said. “Five years
from now, they might be less
so.”
Ron Jones of the USDA’s
Risk Management Agency
pointed out that the success of
using put options will depend on
That includes Lancaster Farm
ing.
Accounting for the tremen
dous growth in soybean acreage
and its future importance, the
ASA lists other uses for soy
beans such as soy-blended
biodiesel, recyclable soy-based
containers, building products,
and a host of other uses being
tested.
The Pennsylvania Soybean
Yield Contest is sponsored by
the Pennsylvania Soybean Asso
ciation with soybean checkoff
funds and conducted by John
Yocum, Penn State extension
agronomist and manager of the
Southeast Regional Ag Research
Farm in Landisville.
Yocum said that the growth
of soybean acreage in Pennsyl
vania did not take away from
com. Farmers planted more soy
beans instead of wheat and
barley, he noted.
For more information about
participating in the soybean
contest, contact Yocum at P.O.
Box 308, Landisville, PA 17538,
(717)653-4728.
numerous requirements based on
farm livestock per acre (animal
equivalency units). These include
comprehensive nutrient manage
ment plans prepared by certified
specialists and applicable clean
stream, federal water quality and
storm water management per
mits. In addition, there are pub
lic participation, erosion and sed
iment control plans, contingency
plans, and manure storage facili
ty design, location, construction
and certification mandates.
Since 1992, higher yield farms
have been required to emit >
“zero” discharge none at all
under the federal Clean Water
Act.
current and future milk mar
kets.
“It’s not always going to be
beneficial (to use put options),”
he said.
According to Bailey, few
farmers participated in the pilot
program conducted in Tioga
and Lebanon counties one year
ago.
“Farmers could have locked
in prices for the fall in June.
Then the markets deteriorated
and the Class 111 price fell to a
20-year low. Producers could
have protected a lot of their
income,” he said.
Sam King, who milks 30 cows
on 60 acres south of George
town, said that the program
“sounds interesting” and that
he would consider enrolling in it.
King said he was attending
the four-hour training session to
fulfill a requirement of the
USDA’s Farm Service Agency
loan program.
Chester County extension
agent and Southeast Region
DOPP coordinator Tim Fritz
said that an unofficial post
training session will be offered
later in the year for farmers who
want to learn more. Those who
missed the official training ses
sion can also start to learn about
DOPP in preparation for the
2002 program.
The training session con
ducted on May 3 was timely,
Fritz said, given the relatively
high price of milk and the uncer
tainty of the market in future
months.