Lancaster Farming • Fish Farmer Explores Ways To Market MICHELLE KUNJAPPU Lancaster Fanning Staff BOYERTOWN (Berks Co.) “Farmers, by definition, are entrepreneurs they have to think about the market. I have a great location here, I have the capacity to hold the fish, I’m near millions of people and hundreds of restaurants. “I had to think about what are my strengths, and what I could do better or best com pared to my competitors,” said Mark Scott, Berks Coun ty Commissioner and part time fish farmer of Mark C. Scott Aquaculture Corpora tion. “I started with the customer and worked my way back to the farm. What the farm does Mid-Atlantic Fruit, Vegetable Convention Feb. 4-6 HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.) Fruit and vegetable growers from throughout the mid-At lantic region and beyond will be gathering here at the Her shey Lodge and Convention Center Feb. 4-6 for the 2003 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vege table Convention. About 2,000 persons are ex pected for the annual event that has become recognized as one of the premier fruit and vegetable grower meetings in the Northeast. The convention has been is what the customer wants, not what I want to do.” Scott explained the pro gress of the farm, which has been in his family since 1949. Scott’s grandfather, Erwin Michelfelder, as a boy in southern Germany, used to catch and keep fish in water of the family’s mill, then sell the fish to passersby. When Michelfelder came to the U.S., “he always dreamed of raising trout,” said Scott, so after working in the deli meat business Mich elfelder found the farm he was looking for, complete with its own spring. In 1949 Michelfelder purchased the farm and opened for business jointly sponsored by the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylva nia Vegetable Growers Associ ation, the Maryland State Horticultural Society, and the New Jersey State Horticultur al Society for the past 25 years. The Great American Hall at the Hershey Lodge and Con vention Center will host the trade show with more than 130 exhibitors. Specialized horticultural equipment, farm market merchandise, and Section E in 1951 He sold the fish to sport mans’ clubs, private landown ers, and restaurants, including the Blue Bell Inn, which Scott has continued to supply with fish since Michelfelder began selling to the inn in 1959. After building the raceways and hatching areas for the fish, Michelfelder continued in the business, learning as he went, until he had a stroke in 1981. At the time Scott was a lawyer in Reading but decid ed to tale a break from prac ticing law to move to Boyer town and begin work on the (Turn to Page El 2) Penn Aqua 2002 Highlights Growing Industry MICHELLE KUNJAPPU 1991, opened the conference. sylvania,” said Alter. ancaster arming toff Dunn was followed by Dr. Aquaculture’s variety STATE COLLEGE (Centre Ted Alter, associate vice presi- products can be used as food Co.) The Penn Aqua 2002 dent for outreach and cooper- for human consumption, in conference, conducted every a tive extension, Penn State, the ornamental sector, and as two years, featured a growing Alter highlighted the opportu- spor t s and bait fish “posi industry with plenty of possi- nities and challenges in aqua- tions i tasa viable opportunity bilities, according to several culture. that is re i at ively undeveloped conference speakers. to where it could be, in terms The event, conducted Oct. 24-26 at the Penn Stater Hotel (Turn to Page E 9) and Conference Center, drew 140 participants from Penn sylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, and even North Carolina and Florida. Topics included hatch house management, the priva tization of state trout stocking, designing ornamental systems, startup considerations, man aging fish health on the farm, and effluent permitting and management, among others. Speakers included special ists in a wide variety of indus try disciplines. Leo Dunn, Pennsylvania’s aquaculture coordinator since packaging will all be on dis play along with information on the latest seed varieties, fruit varieties, pesticides, and other supplies and services for the commercial grower. Six or more concurrent edu cational sessions will be of fered on all three days of the convention. The following full-day sessions are planned for the first day: tree fruits, season extension technology, vegetable production school, (Turn to Page E 3) Saturday, February 1, 2003 Mark Scott, Berks County commissioner and part time fish hatchery operator, holds up a Rainbow Trout, part of his hatch-to-finish operation in Boyer town. Photo by Michelle Kunjappu “There is significant eco nomic opportunity for aqua culture development in Penn- Hort Expert: Get To The *Roof Of A Plant’s Ills ANDY ANDREWS Editor GRANTVILLE (Dauphin Co.) Most problems with landscape plants originate below ground, according to a Penn State horticulture spe cialist. And nursery managers would do well to dispel some of the myths about what hap pens in the root zone during a drought. Rick Bates, ornamental horticulture specialist at Penn State, spoke to about 30 nurs ery, landscape, and related business representatives in late October 2002 at a drought workshop sponsored by the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association (PLNA) at the Grantville Holiday Inn. Nursery managers should learn to get to the root of the problem by looking at what makes a healthy root zone. That includes producing “the plant in as stress-free an envi- ronment as possible,” said Bates. Many believe, according to Bates, that the root actually is a “mirror image of the tree’s crown,” he said. In reality, more than 95 percent of the roots of a landscape plant such as a tree are in the top three feet of the soil, with most of the fine roots in the top six inches of soil. The roots also extend a great dis tance farther out about two to three times the crown spread. And more than 60 percent of the root systems can be lo cated outside the dripline. Older plants do not have a taproot. Why do they stretch out so far from the trunk? Mostly, it’s an “oxygen issue,” Bates said. The respiration needed to allow plants to grow occurs in the top layer of the soil. Trouble is, 95 percent of the (Turn to Page El 4)
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