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BERIALB RECORDS
PAT TEE LIBRARY APT W 209
-•*'PBITY PARK PA 16802
VpJ.4B No. 26
Family Farm Days At Oregon Dairy June 17-19
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Oregon Dairy’s annual Family Farm Days are
scheduled here at the farm market June 17-19. A variety of sponsorships are avail
able until May 15 by contacting Sandi Thompson, program director, Lancaster
Chamber of Commerce and industry, at (717) 397-3531, ext. 139, or by going online
at www.lancasterchamber.com/ag. Photo by Andy Andrew*, editor
Revolutionary Crop Yields Top Writers’ List
/ WASHINGTON, D.C. The
most important change in agri
culture in the past SO years, say
members'of North American Ag
ricultural Journalists (NAAJ),
was the hybridization and im
provement of many crops.
Starting with a list of events
and changes prepared by three
prominent agricultural histo
rians, members of NAAJ voted
on the top 10 developments in
agriculture during the past 50
years. The results were released
recently at the 50th anniversary
meeting of NAAJ in Washington.
Hybridization is the process of
inbreeding plants, then crossing
their offspring to create stronger,
Poultry Council Hosts Banquet
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Grammy and Dove
Award-winning singer Sandi Patti provided entertainment
for more than 1,000 attendees of the PennAg Poultry
Council's spring banquet Wednesday evening at the Lan
caster Host Resort. Patti is Joined by, from left, Jim Shirk,
PennAg Poultry Council vice president; Dan Heller, ban
quet chair; and Chris Pierce, PennAg Poultry Council
chair. “Proud to Provide" was the theme of the ban
quet. Photo by Mlchmllo Kunjappu
www.lancasterfarming.com
higher-yieldkig varieties.
Hybrid com was developed
long before NAAJ was formed.
Plant scientists were experiment
ing with it at the turn of the 20th
century and hybrid com began to
be sold commercially in the
19205. But during the past 50
years, the combination of hybrid
crops, cheap farm chemicals de
rived from fossil fuels, and mech
anization has created a techno
logical revolution in agriculture
that has helped feed billions of
people on the planet.
When NAAJ formed in 1953,
the average com yield in the U.S.
was 40.7 bushels per acre. Last
year, even after a severe drought
Four Sections
in many states, hybrid com
helped U.S. fanners harvest an
average of 130 bushels an acre.
Hybridization accounts for about
half of that huge increase in
yields as well as corn’s unproved
ability to withstand drought.
Here are the events and devel
opments of the past 50 years that
agricultural journalists picked as
the most important;
1. Hybridization and other im
provements of crops.
2. Genetically modified crops
that have been engineered to kill
insect pests and tolerate herbi
cides. Most U.S. farmers adopted
this technology in less than a dec
ade, starting in the 19905. Some
consumer groups, especially in
Europe, oppose modifying crops
through genetic engineering.
3. The discovery of DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid), the
chemical building block of hered
ity, by James Watson and Fran
cis Crick in 1953. These research
ers discovered the ladder-like
double helix structure of DNA,
helping to start the biotechnology
revolution now underway.
4. Norman Borlaug’s “Green
Revolution.” Plant breeder Nor
man Borlaug,'who won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1970, developed
(Turn to Page A 35)
Inside The
Farmer
✓ Sign-Up For PYFA
Summer Conference page
A3O.
✓ Chester/Delaware
County Farm Bureau
Meets page A3l.
✓ Beware Of Japanese
Knotweed page A 36.
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Processors: Work Together To
Ensure Improved Milk Prices
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Dairy’s future could sig
nal the consolidation of proces
sors to gain market strength, as a
way to, in the words of one anal
yst, “counterweigh what’s hap
pening on the retail side,” noted
Terry Barr.
Barr,* chief economist, National
Association of Farm Coopera
tives, spoke about the nature of
retailing dairy and other commo
Secretary Designees Discuss
Ag, Environmental Issues
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
MOUNT JOY (Lancaster Co.)
A meeting Tuesday further en
couraged the joining of agricul
ture and the environment as both
Dennis Wolff, agriculture secre
tary designee, and Karen McGin
ty, Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) secretary designee,
discussed ag and environmental
issues.
Fair \ Auctioneer Guides
Scheduled For Publication
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
Lancaster Farming announces
two brand-new booklet-sized
publications 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,
Enter Lancaster Farming’s annual Dairy Recipe Draw
ing and you could receive one of these prizes shown jby
Lou Ann Good, food and family features editor. For details
on entering the contest, see story page 82.
Photo by Mlchella Kunjappu
$36.00 Per Year
dities. He spoke Tuesday during
the Penn State-sponsored 37th
annual Pennsylvania Agricultur
al Credit Conference at the Nit
tany Lion Inn. About 80 bank
and farm credit company officers
and agri-industry representatives
attended.
In 2001, noted Barr, the four
largest chains claimed 22 percent
of the market for food, including
dairy. The number one dairy re-
Conducted here at The Gath
ering Place, about 100 people at
tended the meeting, part of a se
ries of Agricultural Issues
Forums that have addressed
many topics important to agricul
ture.
As the new administration be
gins their work, said Wolff, the
(Turn to Pago A 33)
covering an eight-state region.
Planned is a list of fairs and fair
association news.
Following that will be the pre
mier issue of the 2003 Lancaster
Farming Auctioneer Guide.
Scheduled will be auctioneer list
ings, frequently asked questions
and answers regarding auctions,
and feature articles and photos.
Contact the advertising office
here at Lancaster Fanning, (717)
721-4415, for information about
both publications.
$l.OO Per Copy
(Turn to Page A2l)