'! a H «K« X»K *3 UKIIT 1680?
D.-4 Pi* 1733 < 030
062896
Gi RIALS R! CORDS ’|p | tj
~ UNI V PARK PA 1680? U 'f~
Vol. 47 No. 43
Pride, Hope Central To Outgoing, Potential Incoming Pa. Governors
Mike Fisher
Gov. Mark Schweiker, far left, greets young visitors
Wednesday before the Ag Progress Days luncheon. He’s
joined by Dr. Robert Steele, dean of the Penn State Col
lege of Agricultural Sciences, center, and Sam Hayes Jr.,
state secretary of agriculture.
Photos by Andy Andrews, editor
Persistent Drought Deepens Across
Lower Susquehanna, Delaware Valleys
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) “Wanted: Rainmaker
Apply Within.”
That’s the message written on
the sign at Starr Pottery &
Bronze Barn near Abottstown,
Adams County. It expresses the
wish of a lot of people across the
region not just farmers.
“We have two kinds of
drought,” said Paul Craig, exten
sion agent in Dauphin County.
“We have the agronomic drought
that affects crops, and we have
the long-term groundwater
drought.”
Crops from Fulton County to
the eastern reaches of the state
will probably yield about SO per
cent of a normal harvest, with
some areas producing as low as
10-15 percent of a crop, Craig
said.
Corn planted in the latter part
A Winner!
Ice cream freezer winner select
ed at Ag Progress Days is Bran
don Altland, Dillsburg. Congratu
lations, Brandon!
www.lancasterfarming.com
of May is the hardest hit because
of the high temperatures and dry
conditions that prevailed during
the critical pollination stage, he
said.
Extension agent Del Voigt said
he recently made a count of 500
ears on a 28,000-plant-per-acre
stand of com in Lebanon County.
Brian Egan demonstrates horse handling and training at “The Equine Experi
ence” during Ag Progress Days. Egan is an extension program associate in the de
partment of dairy and animal science. Read more about The Equine Experience on
page AlB. Photo by Michelle Kunjeppu
Four Sections
Ed Rendell
Saturday, August 24, 2002
Gov. Schweiker, Candidates Address Ag Progress Luncheon
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.)
Pennsylvania Gov. Mark
Schweiker spoke about pride.
And Pennsylvania’s farmers
responded with pride, giving
standing ovations as Schweiker
was introduced, as he spoke, and
again when he completed his
speech to hundreds of farm fami
lies at the Wednesday luncheon
Sjoerd Duiker, Penn State assistant professor of soil management, spoke about the
benefits of “prescription tillage” and “soil husbandry” during a deep tillage demonstra
tion Tuesday morning at Ag Progress. See story page A 33. Photo by Andy Andrews, editor
That amounts to ears on less
than 20 percent of the stalks, not
to mention the small size of the
ears.
“There are pockets that are in
better shape,” Voigt said.
“They’re the exception.” These
(Turn to Page A 25)
during Penn State’s Ag Progress
Days.
The two gubernatorial candi
dates to take his place after the
state’s general election Nov. 5 fol
lowed Schweiker.
The governor’s “legacy of
pride” for Pennsylvania reached
national eminence one day late in
July.
“It was a Sunday morning, and
those nine miners came back to
Farmers Ask For Better
Weed Control In CREP Fields
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
DANVILLE (Montour Co.)
Jay Wissler is concerned about
stands of Canada thistles grow
ing near the land he farms in
Montour County. He believes the
white, downy seeds drift into his
fields and increase the weed pres
sure on his com, soybean, and
$36.00 Per Year
the surface, to the air I breathe
right here in this fine hall,” he
said about the Quecreek Mine dis
aster near Somerset late last
month. There, nine miners spent
three days trapped in the mine,
while 200 rescue workers brought
them successfully to the surface,
on a field at the edge of a farm
owned by Lori and Bill Arnold.
(Turn to Page A 26)
small grain crops.
The problem, Wissler claims, is
caused by the “mismanagement”
of noxious weeds under the feder
al Conservation Reserve Program
(CRP), started in 1985, and the
Conservation Reserve Enhance
ment Program (CREP), mandat
ed in the 1996 Freedom to Farm
Act and reauthorized in the new
Farm Bill.
“I wouldn’t mind if these
places had a few thistles, but this
is criminal,” Wissler said.
Landowners enrolled in either
program are responsible for con
trolling weeds and are subject to
penalties if they fail to do so,
according to William Foose of
the state Farm Service Agency
(FSA), the arm of the USDA that
manages the programs.
“Within the contract, it’s pret
ty clear they have to control the
weeds,” Foose said. Landowners
enrolled in CREP also need to
implement a program that estab
lishes one or more plant types, in
cluding warm-season grasses,
cool-season grasses, or trees na
tive to the state. Plantings can be
designated as riparian (water
way) buffers to enhance water
quality and as other uses that
protect soil and wildlife habitat.
CREP landowners are paid
cost-share funds for seeding, and
$l.OO Per Copy
(Turn to Page A 32)