AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 1,2002 OPINION Why We Must Grow The Pennsylvania Dairy Industry N. Alan Bair Director Of Dairy Industry Relations “We need to grow the Pennsylvania and northeast dairy industry if we are to survive” is the message industry leaders across the region are clearly com municating. Logically, this raises many legitimate questions in the minds of everyone in volved in the industry. I challenge every producer, processor, service, and sup ply representative, banker, educator, regulator and consumer to understand the logic behind the need for growth, and to develop and live a personal plan that supports keeping the dairy industry strong in the Northeast. Total milk production in the U.S. is responding to a growing demand. Growth in the dairy industry is clearly west of our Pennsylvania and North east milk supply and large consumer population. We have processing capacity for an additional two billion more pounds of milk in the Northeast. Our chal lenge is to be part of the national growth and reverse our regional trend of de clining production. Even a casual glance at the numbers shows that the dairy industry in Penn sylvania and the Northeast has not been keeping up with demand or with the rest of the national industry. Pennsylvania milk production through March is below last year with 19,000 fewer cows. This is a continuing trend. Our pro duction per cow continues to grow, but at a pace slower than other leading dairy states. The bottom line on growth is that if Pennsylvania does not grow, we stand the obvious possibility of losing our processing capacity in the region and, therefore, losing our valuable markets. Investors in processing plants will in vest in growth areas and not in areas of declining production. Additionally, if Pennsylvania continues to decline in cow numbers, dairy farms and total pro duction, we will quickly lose the important infrastructure that supports pro duction. Many Pennsylvania producers clearly understand the loss of produc tion infrastructure because they already have fewer choices and drive more miles for service, supplies, and markets. To encourage continued investment in our dairy processing structure in the Northeast, we must show positive signs that we will continue to be a major source of milk. We are working from a current position of strength and have great opportunities in the future if we act now. This is a win-win situation for all segments of the industry from producer to consumer, but it will take effort and commitment from everyone. How we individually respond to this opportunity is up to each individual and company. It is very important that the industry work together in a sup portive atmosphere. Currently we have a large percentage of relatively small farms and a few larger farms a profile that I expect will slowly change over time. The truth is that we need all our farms, small and large, to maintain a strong industry. Growth of a farm comes in many forms but all must be driv en by profit. There is no question that our region of the country can compete very favorably in production profitability. Probably the greatest challenge to our industry in Pennsylvania is attitude. Those are harsh words, but if you find yourself beginning to boil after reading this far, I ask you to check your attitude. Are you positive about the dairy in dustry and your future in it? We all need to be supportive of each other in positive ways. Attitudes are contagious, so be sure you are spreading a posi tive one. If we want our next generation to be part of this industry, then we need to be positive. Encourage and support your neighbor their success is crucial to your success. The need is evident, the consequences obvious, the opportunities great, and the time is now. If you do not see the need for growth of this important indus try, then challenge the opinion. Ask the questions, start a dialog on your own, and get some answers. Push, lead or, at the very least, get out of the way, be cause we must all work together to get our industry in this state and region moving down the fast track of profitability and long-term sustainability. Open Youth Schooling Show, Backtrackers 4-H Horse and Pony Club, Northampton 4-H Center, Nazareth, (610) 837-7294. 3rd annual Mt. Top Boer Goat Editor. I read with interest your editorial of May 4, regarding banks and begin ning farmers. I completely agree with your sug gestion that bankers need to do as much as they possibly can to provide service and support to the entire field Penn State ~*,i i- * Farm Calendar ❖ Show and Sale, Garrett Coun ty Fairgrounds, Maryland, show noon, sale 6:30 p.m. Forestry Workshop, Cranberry, Venango County, Tom and (Turn to Page A 32) *2 C, ❖ Farm Forum ♦ '> s T < " <4 / j - ' ' *'•<*■ v?,fc : ' f of agriculture, including young farm ers. At Mid Atlantic Farm Credit, we work very hard to provide financial services to all of agriculture, from small beginning farmers to large ag ribusinesses. (Turn to Page A 34) '< **> &-.. ■> r<- : To Evaluate Com Fields Damaged By Late Frosts The week of May 20, Pennsylvania experienced several consecutive days of record low temperatures with many parts of the state having sever al mornings with frost. Experiencing frost in late May is rare to begin with and having multiple frosts this late is truly historic. The frost resulted in damage to corn in central Pennsylva nia and some other regions of the state. Gregory Roth, associate professor of agronomy in Penn State’s crop and soil sciences department, said farmers should know the factors af fecting frost damage. Roth explains that good planting conditions and warm weather in late April resulted in rapid emergence and development for many of the earliest planted fields. Some fields had com with two to three fully developed leaves. “When the frost hit, many of these early-planted fields were hit,” Roth said. “Com fields that were full of OFBURDENS AND BLESSINGS Background Scripture: Psalms 1; 19. Devotional Reading: Psalms 19:1-6. For the next nine weeks we will dealing with the Book of Psalms. Next to some of the sayings of Jesus, the Psalms are the most frequently remembered and quoted scriptures for Christians. The reason, of course, is that so many of them speak to us in our own life situations. While we are studying some of these psalms, let us remember that this book is an anthology of hymns and prayers or liturgies that were composed between the 10th and sec ond or third centuries B.C. It is often referred to as the “hymnbook” of the Bible. These songs and poems were probably intended to accompany acts of worship in the temple. Though the psalms may seem quite similar, there are eight different types: Enthronement Hymn (cele brating the Lord’s kingship), Songs of Zion (devotion to the Holy City), Laments (seeking deliverance), Songs of Trust, Thanksgivings, Sacred His tory (recounting God’s dealing with Lancaster Farming An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper • Keystone Awards 1993,1995 • PennAg Industries 1992 • PACD Media Award 1996 • Berks Ag-Business Council 2000 • Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the Northeast Farm Communicators growing small plants last week now appear to be very sick. Producers are wondering how this will affect their crop and if they need to replant. “The severity of the damage var ied depending on the location and the size of the com. Generally drier, tilled fields or low-lying fields are most at risk, but even the absence of those factors did not save some fields from damage. In some locations, where the temperature was below 28 degrees for more than several hours, plants may have experienced a lethal dose of frost damage and the young plants may not recover. For instance, low temperatures of 27 and 29 were reported for Huntingdon and Altoo na, respectively, on the morning of May 20, with lower temperatures likely in outlying areas.” Roth said the key to assessing the effects of the frost damage is to be patient and wait for several days to see if the plants are showing signs of recovery. Usually after two to three days of 70-degree temperatures, new growth will be initiated and be visible in the plant’s whorl (the base of the plant where the leaves originate). Under cool conditions, it may take a few more days to see recovery. “Frost damage most often results in the death of above-ground plant parts,” he explained. “Frost-dam aged leaves will blacken and turn straw-colored in a few days. The growing point of the plant is located deep inside the whorl and is below the soil surface until the plant has about five fully emerged leaves. Usually small com will recover quickly from frost damage and in two weeks will show little sign of in jury. In this episode, because of the severity and multiple frost events, I am concerned that the frost injury may be more severe than usual.” If all the plants don’t recover, Roth said, producers should assess the population of plants and decide whether the fields need to be replant ed. Guidelines for replanting can be the nation), RoyaJ. Psalms (for a coro nation or royal and Wis dom Songs (meditations on life and the ways of God). To Perish Or Prosper At the time that the book was as sembled, Psalm 1, a wisdom psalm, was probably selected to serve as an introduction, preface, or prologue to the whole collection. The message re flects typical Old Testament teach ing: the righteous prosper and the wicked perish. Immediately, some of us protest: What about Job? What about Jesus? What about most of the Apostles? The psalmists would, I think, readily admit that there have been, are, and will be exceptions. For some of the righteous, the prospering came and comes in a more ultimate form. So living in a righteous manner does not guarantee a life of untrammeled good fortune. But taking into consid eration large numbers of people, those who live in a righteous manner will tend to be “blessed,” as Psalm I indicates. A number of polls and studies sup port this concept, indicating that people who attend worship with some regularity are happier, health ier, and more productive. They have also determined that couples who pray together generally have happier and more fulfilling marriages. When we were children, some of us grumbled, probably silently, that our parents made us go to church whether we wanted to or not. Some of us may even have vowed that, when we would become parents, we would not force our children into this family pattern. Of course, many do not, but often I am surprised and amused to find parents requiring of their children what they themselves as children resisted. found in the com production section of the Penn State Agronomy Guide, which can be found on the Web at http://agguide.agronomy.psu.edu/ CM/Sec4toc.html. The replant charts indicate that for many fields the yield potential of a field with a popu lation of 16,000-18,000 planted on April 25 is about the same as a full stand planted in late May. So even in fields that have been thinned by frost, replanting may not be benefi cial. The 2002 edition of the Agronomy Guide is available for $9. For or dering information, call the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Distribution Center at (814) 865-6713. To order using VISA or Master Card, call toll-free, (877) 345-0691. To Monitor Frost Damage In Wheat Capitol region agronomy agent Mark Goodson reported freezing can cause severe damage to wheat during the early stages of heading, especially before pollination. The type of injury varies with exposure time, but floret sterility could result or the heads could be trapped in the boot. Heads may be distorted as they attempt to emerge as the stems elongate. Newly emerged heads are quite vulnerable to freezing injury when the temperatures drop to 30 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Signs of freez ing injury can be seen within a few days after freezing. Injury can occur to the entire head or only a portion of the head. Most frequently the head tip is in jured. Damaged florets will turn white and the tissues will shrivel. Yield loss will be minimal if only the top florets of the head are injured. Otherwise, if entire heads are affect ed, the loss may be proportional to the number of heads killed. Quote Of The Week: “One man with courage makes a majority.” Andrew Jackson In The Long Run Why? Because, no matter how we may have reacted as children or youth, as adults we often realize that life needs a spiritual base. That does not mean that you and your family are guaranteed to escape all tribula tions, but that in the long run your lives will be significantly blessed by the life of which the psalmist is writ ing. Sometimes that spiritual life is all that may keep you going when life seems to fall down around you. The psalmist says “Blessed is the man...” and it means “O how happy the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked... but his de light is in the law of the Lord ” (1:2). We may think of the law of the Lord, the will of God, and the teach ings of Jesus as a burden that is wea risome to carry. That is human na ture, too, but the benefits of the righteous life are not in pleasing a cranky God, but in experiencing the blessedness that comes from a life lived for Him. The reward is in the doing or not doing of these things. In Psalm 19:7,8 we are told that the law of the Lord revives the soul, makes wise the sim ple, rejoices the heart, and enlightens the eyes. Living by the will of God is a joy, not a burden. Live this way and, no matter what comes, our lives will still be blessed. If I told you that on your book shelf behind some volumes there is a fortune of gold awaiting you, I think you’d probably take a look just to be sure. But something worth more than even the most precious gold is wait ing to bless, not burden your life. Lancaster Farming Established 1955 Published Every Saturday Ephrata Review Building I E. Main St. Ephrata, PA 17522 —by— Lancaster Farming, Inc. A Stemman Enterprise William J. Burgess General Manager Andy Andrews, Editor Copyright 2002 by Lancaster Farming