Vol. 48 No. 25
Summerlike weather entered southeastern Pennsylvania midweek, just in time
for some fieldwork, fence installation and repair, and other farm chores. This
youngster was taking care of fieldwork on Tuesday near Maple and Peace roads in
Leola.
Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service reports, for the week ending April
13, very poor conditions for fieldwork, with only one suitable day. Soil moisture
was rated 44 percent adequate and 56 percent surplus. Principal farm activities in
cluded hauling and spreading manure, caring for livestock, preparing machinery for
tillage and planting, applying fertilizer, fixing fences, attending farm meetings, and
completing tax returns.
Weather patterns have been in a seesaw-like stage, with cold weather on the
heels of summerlike conditions. The previous week brought a return of winter
weather, with below-average temperatures, snow and rain. Most farmers were un
able to do much in the way of cultivating fields or planting.
The percent of spring plowing complete remained unchanged at 8 percent, 37
percent behind last year’s pace and 26 percent behind the five-year average.
Photo by Andy Andrews, editor
Lamb, Goat Sales Signal Easter Season
MILLIE BUNTING
Market Staff
NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster
Co.) Easter Season is the rea
son for extra large marketings of
lambs and goats here in the coun
ty. Lambs were also in good de
mand for the Jewish Passover ob
servance which began at
sundown Wednesday.
At the New Holland Sales
Stables, in the past 10 days, 5,058
sheep and 5,611 goats for a total
of 10,669 were sold at four auc
tion sales. That is not a four-day
record, set at 11,797 in 2001. On
that date, the Christian Easter
and Eastern Orthodox (Greek)
Easter occurred on the same day,
along with the observances of
Passover and the Islamic New
Year.
Ken Smoker, manager of New
Holland’s sheep and goat divison,
said Monday’s sale was probably
a one-day record for both sheep
and goats since 2,312 lambs and
2,034 goats were sold for total of
4,346 head. There were 2,436
Inside The
Farmer
✓ Dairy Science Club
Visits Argentina page A 23.
✓ FFA Regional CDE
Contests page A 36.
✓ State Alternate Dairy
Princess page 86.
♦
www.lancasterfarming.com
goats sold Monday, April 7, at
New Holland, not a record. The
sheep numbers for that day were
1,717 for a combined total of
4,153.
For the past three years, to re
duce the overcapacity receipts
that have occurred, New Holland
has scheduled a special sale the
Saturday before Palm Sunday.
This year on that day, 472 sheep
and 382 goats were sold. But on
Monday, the sheep and goat ar
rivals were staggering.
In the small livestock sales of
fice, Barbara Riehl has capably
handled the sales chores for
years, even before the use of com
puters, which was quite fortunate
since they were “down.” Roger
Floyd, retired office manager,
and Barb quickly had to revert to
the “old ways” to cope with the
swarms of buyers and sellers.
The sale got under way only a
few minutes later than the posted
9 a.m. start time in the old-fash
ioned way with a clerk, Roger
Floyd; an auctioneer, Dale Stoltz
fus; and a ring man, Tom Sharpe.
However, it wasn’t long before
the computer system was up and
running and the monitors above
the ring were providing data on
the offerings and the sale prices.
Randy Arnold also took over
auctioneering duties throughout
the day.
It was to be a very long day for
all the company’s personnel. The
goat sale ended about 5 p.m. and
a “break” was declared before
the lamb sale would begin. Smok
er said the lamb sale did not end
untO 2:15 a.m. Tuesday. Some of
l U U M U t M M It II I
Five Sections
the workers had put in more than
a 24-hour day.
Since Easter is occurring rela
tively late this year, there did not
seem to be as many very young
lambs in the pens and the inces
sant “baa-baa-ing” that observers
heard the last two years in New
Holland’s “short legs” building.
The weather was warmer this
year and an “old-timer” noted
there’s more crying when it’s
very cold, as it was last year. The
previous week during the April
(Turn to Page A 32)
SfCappy (faster
All the best wishes
for a wonderful Easter
from all of us here at
Lancaster Farming
Saturday, April 19, 2003
Biodiesel In Pa.?
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
LEESPORT (Berks Co.) In
1894, Rudolf Diesel designed the
first diesel engine to run on pea
nut oil.
“The use of vegetable oils for
engine fuels may seem insignifi
cant today,” Diesel said in the
early 1900 s. “But such oils may
become in the course of time as
Tractor Rollover Demonstration Calls
Attention To New Training Program
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) A simulated tractor roll
over incident helped to unveil a
program to promote agriculture
rescue training on Monday at the
Harrisburg Area Community
College.
The initiative, dubbed the PA
gricultural Rescue Training Pro
gram, features training for fire,
rescue, and emergency medical
Highlights of the March Pennsylvania Forage and
Grassland Conference are in Pennsylvania Forage
and Grassland Council’s (PFGC’s) Foraging Around
newsletter this issue. Included: Northeast grazing
prospects, conference updates, and news and in
formation.
Fair, Auctioneer Guides
Scheduled For Publication
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
Lancaster Farming announces
two brand-new booklet-sized pub
lications scheduled to be pub
lished soon.
The first will be the 2003 Lan
caster Farming Fair Guide,
scheduled to premier May 24.
Thousands of our readers count
on Lancaster Farming to pro
vide them with the latest fair
news during the summer and fall
season. You can look toward the
fairs with this extensive directory,
covering an eight-state region.
Planned is a list of fairs and fair
association news. Will photos of
$36.00 Per Year
Group Seeks Farmer Input
$l.OO Per Copy
important as petroleum and the
coal tar products of the present
time.”
Today, after a century of burn
ing petrolem-based diesel to
power much of the world’s indus
try and transportation, Diesel’s
first idea of using vegetable oils
may be coming into its own.
(Turn to Page A 34)
service (EMS) personnel. The
training, organizers hope, will
help local emergency services be
better prepared to handle on
farm emergencies.
The program’s curriculum is
written by Davis Hill, EMT-P,
farm emergency management
specialist. The Pennsylvania De
partment of Agriculture (PDA)
has partnered with the Agricul-
(Turn to Page A 22)
your family turn up in the book
from fairs around the region?
Check it out!
Following that will be the pre
mier issue of the 2003 Lancaster
Farming Auctioneer Guide on
June 21. Scheduled will be auc
tioneer listings, frequently asked
questions and answers regarding
auctions, and feature articles and
photos.
Contact the advertising office
here at Lancaster Farming, (717)
626-1164, for information about
both publications.