U> O-ItOJA 113001 | FATTC 1 Vol. 47 No. 6 Lebanon Celebrates With Banquet Farm-City Event Highlights Ag Accomplishments , Awards MICHELLE KUNJAPPU Lancaster Farming Staff LEBANON (Lebanon Co.) Again this year the agriculture community of Lebanon gathered at the Lebanon Expo Center to celebrate the achievements of the past year and enjoy a meal followed by reports from Farm- City exchange participants. About 600 people attended Tuesday evening’s banquet. Aletta Schadler, MC of the event, opened by noting the highlights of the past year. Farmers in the area, according to Schadler, were able to harvest “a good year of crops” in spite of low amounts of rainfall. Addi tionally Lebanon County was first in the state for milk produc tion per cow and first in protein production per cow. The county was also sixth in the state for butterfat. Also, two judging teams achieved high placings in na tional competition. The 4-H live stock judging team led by Brian This year’s exchangees included Michael Wahmann, chief of the Lebanon City Police Department; Marlin Martin, hog farm owner; Jean Swift, coordinator of community rela tions and development for Lebanon School District; and Evelyn Marvel of Risser Marvel Farm Market. Photo byMtchellm Kunjappu PASA’s ‘Healthy Farms, Communities 9 Conference Set MILLHEIM (Centre Co.) The 11th annual Pennsylvania Association For Sustainable Ag riculture (PASA) “Farming for the Future” Conference is scheduled Feb. 8-9 in State Col lege. The theme is “Healthy Farms, Healthy Communities Our Link to a Sustainable Future.” The conference will include workshops that demonstrate www.lancasterfarming.com Kreider was first at state achievement days. This win was followed by the team placing second at the American Royal in Kansas City and third at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE). The 4-H dairy judging team led by Allen Hostetler and Galen Kopp garnered a first place in states and sixth at NAILE. The county’s large agricul tural events included a dairy tour that attracted 500-600 people. Hosts of the event were the Sellers family, owners of Gem-Rock Holsteins, and the Reist family, owners of Ken- Joda farm. Nelson and Glen Martin, Nel-Ray Dairy Farm, hosted 75 chamber members during their farm tour. The ag committee of the Leb anon Valley Chamber of Com merce again recognized a farm with more than 100 years of con secutive ownership. This year Joan Rittle, wife of the late Earl Rittle, accepted the 2001 Cen practices and ideas that bring health to families, animals, com munities, waterways and soils. John Ikcrd will give the key note address speaking on the strength of community based agriculture. Plans are under way for more than SO workshops. A few exam ples are a model for a sheep’s milk cooperative from the Mid west, a pastured poultry opera Five Sections tury Farm Award. The couple took over the farming operation where Earl was raised and expanded the dairy herd from 20 to 50 head, besides raising crops and having a flock of laying hens. They raised three children, Ruth Ann, Karen, and David, and farmed together until Earl passed away in 1989. Rittle lives on the edge of the farm and helps son David and his wife Kim run the farm. Rittle is a member of many community and church-related organiza tions. Barbara Grumbine, who pre sented the award, also made the announcement that on Tuesday Pennsylvania had received three awards at the International As sociation of Fairs and Exposi tions (lAFE) Convention that her husband, Dennis, was at tending. Dennis is the executive director of the Farm Show. The complex received top placing in the “competitive agri (Turn to Page A 42) tion that has successfully increased production from a few hundred birds to a few thou sand, a session on “How to Work With Your Legislators,” and an eye-opening workshop on the “True Cost of Food.” Brought in by popular demand, Sally Fallon will present her views and findings on the nutritional benefits of (Turn to Page A 42) Saturday, December 8,2001 The Varner family operates one of the businesses fea tured in Grower & Marketer, included this issue. Read about the products they sell from their home farm in Col legeville. Photo by Michelle Kunjappu Farm Show Receives Major Recognition By lAFE .ANDY ANDREWS Editor LAS VEGAS, Nev. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Farm Show Commission was recognized by the International Association of Fairs and Exposi tions (lAFE) during a conven tion here at the Hilton Hotel. According to Farm Show Ex ecutive Director Dennis Grum bine, Farm Show received three major awards a first. “We’ve never received any thing like it,” he said on an nouncing the awards. Farm Show won in three sep Lancaster DHIA Grows SMOKETOWN (Lancaster Co.) Entering its 10th year of operation, Lancaster DHIA con tinues to increase in member ship and service capacity, the board told members attending the annual banquet at Good ‘N Plenty Restaurant here Tues day. As of August, 2,230 herds were on the program, more than double the number serviced in 1992 when the organization first started, said Tom Lapp, field committee chairman. Thirty-nine percent of those herds are outside of Lancaster County, in an area that stretches from Somerset and Centre coun ties in the west and north to Berks County in the east and Delaware and northern Mary land to the south. DAVELEFEVER Lancaster Fanning Staff $34.00 Per Year arate divisions. They include: • Overall Competitive Agri culture Program. • Overall Program for Com mercial Agricultural Exhibitors. • Non-Event Agriculture Program (the Farm Show en tered the world-renowned All- American Dairy Show in this category). In a letter to Farm Show friends of Dec. 4, Grumbine wrote: “In 1998, when the Events Business News magazine selected the annual Farm Show as the nation’s number 1 rodeo/ (Turn to Page A 43) Lapp said the figures add up to a total of nearly 132,000 cows on test, with a gain of 113 herds and more than 16,000 cows this year. Including all breeds on test, average milk production per cow was 20,761 pounds, down from 21,062 pounds last year. President Steve Hershey said two possible reasons for the slip in production might be found in lowered forage quality and the high cost of replacement stock. The relatively high price of dairy cattle might have lowered production by causing fanners to keep some cows in the herd longer than usual, he said. According to Ed Zug, labora tory chairman, an average of more than 109,000 milk samples were processed each month this year, with the aid of a new line (Turn to Page A4l) 750 Per Copy
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