f Revolutionary Crop Yields (Continued from Page A 1) high yielding dwarf wheat variet ies that helped turn Third World countries such as India into food exporters. The wheat varieties were introduced into India and Pakistan in 1965. Borlaug’s work helped prevent starvation and malnutrition across the globe. 5. The agricultural debt crisis of the 1980 s, which started when the Federal Reserve Bank en couraged higher interest rates to slow inflation. This forced many full-time family farms out of business, created rural bank fail ures and crippled small towns. 6. The 1962 publication of Ra chel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring.” Carson, a nature writer and former marine biologist, doc umented how the insecticide DDT accumulates in the environ ment and harms mammals and birds. Her book helped start the environmental movement. 7. The use of antibiotics for livestock and poultry, approved by the Food and Drug Adminis tration about 50 years ago. Add ing antibiotics to the feed of hogs and chickens not only prevents disease, it makes the animals grow faster. And it makes it easi er to confine them in large build ings with fewer disease out breaks. Medical research has also identified overuse of antibiotics in livestock production as one reason antibiotics are becoming less effective medicines ■ for hu mans. 8. Tie. NAAJ members gave equal votes to two developments; the adoption of no-till farming, which avoids plowing and slows soil erosion, and the fact that the farm population dropped below 2 percent of U.S. population for the first time during the 19905. 9. The adoption of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer, a cheap source of nitrogen fertilizer made by using natural gas. Until anhy drous ammonia was adopted in High Pressure Produce Sprayers Zimmerman’s manufactures several different model sprayers designed for produce spraying. They are built for the small farmer that cannot justify a large expensive sprayer. Trailer models are available with a 200 or 300 gallon tank and 3pt hitch models with a 110, 150, 200 or 300 gallon tank. The 25’ single sided boom has 7’ plus clearance and requires a minimal amount of drive rows because of the wide span. It also has a hydraulic cylinder that allows the operator to level the boom from the tractor seat. A Hypro high pressure diaphragm provides up to 290 p.s.i. and non-drip nozzle bodies keep chemical loss minimal. Stop or call Zimmerman’s today to see how we can help you with your spraying needs and improve your profit margin. Paul B. Zimmerman Inc. ■ 50 Woodcorner Rd. ■ Litltz, PA 17543 ■ (717) 738-7350 the 19505, farmers relied on ani mal manure and leguminous plants such as clover to provide this key plant food. Without cheap nitrogen, the high yields of hybrid com and dwarf wheat would not have been possible. 10. Integration of the poultry industry. Most farmers once owned a few chickens to raise for meat and eggs. In the 19605, once chickens could be confined in large buildings thanks to antibi otics and abundant cheap com, the ownership of chickens gradu ally concentrated with a few companies. Those companies pay farmers a fee for each bird they raise for the company. A similar process of vertical integration is taking place today in the hog in dustry. NAAJ members identified sev eral other key trends that weren’t on the historians’ lists. They in clude the increasing mechaniza tion of agriculture in general. For example, mechanical tomato pickers (which were on the list but didn’t make the top 10) be came popular in the 19605. The U.S. grain export boom of the 1970 s that followed sales to the former Soviet Union in 1972 was another key event. So was elimi nation of rail freight subsidies for grain in Canada, which led to more exports of Canadian crops and livestock into the U.S. A list of 40 important events and changes in agriculture was prepared for the NAAJ members by three leading agricultural his torians, R. Douglas Hurt of lowa State University, C. Fred Wil liams of the University of Arkan* sas at Little Rock, and David Vaught of Texas A&M Universi ty- NAAJ was formed as Newspa per Farm Editors of AmeHca. Today the group represents about 100 newspaper, magazine, and news service writers who cover agriculture in the U.S. and Cana da. Trailer or 3 Pt. Hitch Models Drought’s End Should Lower Corn Prices For Pennsylvania Livestock Producers UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) Pennsylvania livestock producers forced to buy more com than usual to feed their ani mals after last summer’s drought nearly wiped out their com crops across the state can take solace in predictions that com prices are likely to drop later this year, according to an expert in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. “With good weather, we’ll have a good crop and steady to slightly lower com prices for feed by fall,” says Lou Moore, profes sor of agricultural economics. “Pennsylvania was hit particular ly hard by the drought, harvest ing just 64.6 million bushels last year. The crop was just slightly higher than the one harvested in the severe drought of 1988.” Persistent drought in the Mid west and high transportation costs resulting from soaring gaso line prices have combined to boost the price of com to more than $3 a bushel. Although the drought seems to be over in Pennsylvania, continued dry con ditions are forecast for the Mid NFU Lauds Signing Of Supplemental Aid Bill WASHINGTON, D.C. Na tional Fanners Union claimed two victories for America’s farm ers and ranchers as President Bush signed the supplemental appropriations bill last week. The bill, which provides sup plemental defense funding for the war, also addresses various other issues, including language to close an organic labeling loophole and to meet humanitarian food needs without harming domestic markets. The legislation repeals a provi sion passed earlier this year that west. And oil prices remain ex tremely volatile due to war and political unrest in the Middle East and South America. Com is most important as feed for dairy cows in the state. Penn sylvania remains the nation’s fourth largest milk-producing state, and hilly 40 percent of Pennsylvania’s agricultural re ceipts are generated by the dairy industry. Com also is used as feed for beef cattle, swine, and poultry. Virtually all field com grown in the state is fed to live stock. “So when we have a severe drought like last year, it hurts livestock producers most because they have to buy more feed,” Moore explains. “Even though there is a lot of com grown in the state, Pennsylvania’s com pro duction represents just 2 percent of the national com crop. “Pennsylvania is the 18th most important agricultural state in the country,” Moore adds. “According to a report released in late March by the Pennsylva nia Department of Agriculture, 1.45 million acres of com are ex would have weakened the organ ic standards by loosening the re quirement that livestock be fed organic feed in order to be la beled “organic.” NFU had urged Congress to close the loophole and stay true to the organic stan dards that were issued in October 2002. Additionally, the supplemental THE GRAIN OF OUR ECONOMY? GROWTH POTENTIAL valuable tradition. To keep it That%^hV r we niter productfdtesigned with the mind Including: X lines of credit 7 * J'jvaquliijfeiiofnS’ ■ * I „ ,•* ■ - W Contact (fennit.Keefer, Lensk f your feeds fcrftorhorrcnv, He’liwork wm ' ppu togWifuoi tliatth# family Wmlsdtradltton that '[‘Ct ■ i* •, i x +***r* j v * j xf < > m.*s|Miffii(nburg office - Yft eje&siß pected to be planted in the state in 2003. More than 79 million acres of com will be planted across the country. So even though we are the most impor tant com state in the Northeast, we do not produce enough to have any influence on com prices.” Nationally, Moore points out, about the same amount of com will be planted this year as last, ending a trend toward farmers planting less com and more soy beans. He attributes that change to lower government subsidies for soybean production. Less com is expected to be grown this year in Plains states such as Nebraska because of con tinuing drought, but prospects appear good for com production in what Moore called the “east ern com belt,” states such as Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. “This should be the eighth consecutive year in which the com harvest will be over 9 billion bushels, making it feasible to feed livestock,” Moore says. “If the weather is favorable, this year could produce a near-record crop.” bill ensured that the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust(BEHT) would fulfill food aid commit ments while minimizing negative impact on domestic markets. Ini tially, the administration planned to sell wheat from the BEHT to purchase rice for use as humani tarian aid to suffering Middle East countries. Dennis Keefer Sr. Agricultural Lender ! Owi 52 IfavtA Smjfi VUeHCC " t*
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers