J mm * patte I a. I PCNN STATE UNIVfR'.ITY wP 1 univ park pa t 660/ | Vol. 47 No. 44 N.J. Leaders Tout Ethanol Production In State DAVE LEFEVER Lancaster Farming Staff MICKLETON, NJ. New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey joined N.J. Ag Secretary Charles Kuperus and the N.J. Farm Bu reau at Brown Brothers Farm here Tuesday to show support for a proposed ethanol production plant in the southern part of the state. The plant would be the first ethanol production facility in the Mid-Atlantic region, McGreevey said. Among its potential bene fits, he cited expanded markets for farmers, the proximity of southern New Jersey to major gasoline refiners for blending ethanol in the fuel, and the useful co-products of ethanol produc tion. The proposed facility would be August 23,2002 SIGN-UP PROCEDURE FOR DAIRY PRODUCERS FOR MILC BENEFITS Dairy producers in Pennsylva nia are now eligible to sign up for the new Milk Income Loss Con tract (MILC) payments that are part of the 2002 Farm Bill. It is a simple, five-step procedure. This should be done at your local Hagner Mister, Maryland secretary of agriculture, Joins the Produce Man after the start of the Maryland State Fair cantaloupe-eating contest Tuesday afternoon at the fairgrounds in Timonium. Read more about the fair this issue. Photo by Andy Andrews, editor www.lancasterfarming.com capable of producing about 40 million gallons of ethanol, 120,000 tons of feed-grade dried distiller’s grain, and 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide, according to Ed Stahl of the Garden State Ethanol Project. While the final site for the plant remains to be chosen, Stahl said the choices have been nar rowed down to four locations in Gloucester and Salem counties south of Philadelphia. According to McGreevey, the goal is for a site to be selected by the first quarter of next year. Ag Secretary Kuperus touted the project as the key to a suc cessful grain business for the re gion’s producers. “We need to keep farmers on the farmland, and make sure it’s profitable,” Kuperus said. Farm Services Agency (FSA) of fice. • Step 1. Get sign-up form CCC-580 from USDA. You can get this form in one of two ways. Visit your local FSA office or download the form online (via Adobe Acrobat reader) at; http:// www.fsa.usda.gov/dafp/psd/ (Turn to Page Al 6) Four Sections Peter Furey, N.J. Farm Bureau director, noted that U.S. lawmak ers have been been developing initiatives that include more co operation between oil interests and renewable fuel advocates. “The sparring between petro leum and ethanol is now finished. They’ve joined hands,” he said. Several renewable fuel stan dard bills have been introduced in Congress, and a recent analy sis points to the energy security and economy-stimulating bene fits of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. The Renewable Fuels Associa tion, National Com Growers As sociation, and National Biodiesel Board applauded the analysis conducted by economist John Urbanckuk of AUS consultants. Urbanckuk studied the impact of increasing the renewable con tent of motor vehicle fuels from current levels to four percent by 2016. The study found that such a renewable fuels standard would increase the demand for corn used to produce ethanol from about 650 million bushels to 2.5 billion bushels by 2016, reduce crude oil imports by an average of 302 million barrels annually, and create 300,000 new jobs by 2016. The study also included fig ures for soybeans based on pro jected biodiesel production. (Turn to Page A 26) Weed Control: Landfill's Goats Maintain Greens MICHELLE KUNJAPPU Lancaster Farming Staff NARVON (Chester Co.) There are probably days when you’ve envied gourmet food writ ers while you think of the luxury cuisine that it is their job to eat. If weeds and grass are high end fare, then the goats and Saturday, August 31,2002 National Guernsey Queen Julie Soilenberger se lects her favorite Guernsey from the family’s mixed herd. Turn to page B 6 to read more about this achieving young woman who credits her mom for in stilling persistence to follow one’s dreams. Photo by Lou Ann Good, food and family features editor sheep on the hillsides of Lanches ter Landfill are enjoying their jobs, too. For the past three spring sea sons, an increasingly large group of goats and sheep have been ar riving at the landfill to keep weeds and grass low on areas in accessible to mowers. “We started with 25 at first, and have increased to 50 ani mals,” according to Chester County Solid Waste Authority superintendent Gerald Myer. Dr. Robert Herr and his wife Betty operators of Nix Besser Farm, a sheep and goat opera tion purchase the animals for the landfill and work as a consul tants. “What we’re trying to do is keep it (vegetation) down,” said Myer. The 42 goats are responsible for the weeds while the eight sheep prefer to consume the grass. “There are quite a few weeds, so there’s more eating for goats than there is for the sheep,” Myer said. The animals have about 20 acres to graze, plus a sheltered area with a shed, water, and rub bing and climbing areas. “Goats will browse and eat the things that would become bushy or trees,” said Betty Herr. The animals chew down the vegeta tion that landfill operators do not want on the landfill, since large bushes or trees could breach the liner with their roots. The flock is a mix of several breeds, as the Herrs purchase “anything that we feel that we $36.00 Per Year can buy reasonable enough that will hardy enough,” she said. They buy all nannies because they tend to be the most reasona bly priced. A former executive director of the landfill read about the use of grazing animals to clear power lines and pasture, and several years later, when time allowed for fencing and preparation, a herd was introduced onto the brush-covered hillside. The public relations aspect of having the animals as part of a landfill has also been valuable, according to Myer. “It’s a farm ing community, so we felt that it would appeal to them,” he said. Penn State Cuts Staff UNIVERSITY PARK (Cen tre Co.) Nineteen people are losing their jobs in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and dozens of additional posi tions are being lost through attri tion and other changes as a re sult of funding from the state and federal governments that has been cut or has not kept up with inflation in recent years. The economic downturn that contributed to state funding cuts for fiscal year 2002-2003, com bined with a multiyear erosion of $l.OO Per Copy (Turn to Page A 25) (Turn to Page A 25)
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