Editor’s note: This is a monthly column from the Pennsylvania Ag Statistics Service (PASS), afield office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in co operation with the Pennsylva nia Department of Agriculture (PDA). The Website is www.usda.gov/nass/. 2003 CROP PLANTINGS AND HOGS Last year the drought affected much of the state. Now, many are talking about spring rains, but since April 1, precipitation is generally a bit below 30-year av erages except for the western third of Pennsylvania and the south central area. Many field crops and fruit are rated in good condition as of May 19. Although weather always im pacts yields, we need to have a good measure of field crop acre age as a first step to understand potential crop production for 2003. For this purpose, the annu al June Agricultural Survey con tacts a preselected group of farm ers to represent all growers in the state and nation. It is not a cen sus of all growers, only a scientif ic sample. In Pennsylvania, the June Ag Survey collects acreage informa tion about hay, small grains, com, sorghum, soybeans, pota toes, sunflowers, canola, and to bacco. The survey also measures grains in storage, livestock, farm numbers, and land values. The quarterly Hog Survey is conducted at the same time and coordinated to reduce additional contacts for hog owners. Both surveys are under way from late May through mid-June. aBRUSH WOLF The leader of the pack.’ ROTARY BRUSH cotters' THE ONLY LIGHT WEIGHT, HI DUTY HYDRAULIC ROTARY BRUSH CUTTERS ON THE MARKET BUILT WITH ATTITUDE AND THE BITE TO BACK IT UP. A Brush Wolf rotary cutter & mulcher makes cutting through the roughest brush more like a walk in the park. Every Brush Wolf cutter deck, from Model 4200 to the largest model, is crafted from solid, one piece 1/4 W steel • BRANDS WE HI CAT THOMAS ASV HYDRA-MAC JOHN DEERE SCAT TRACK BOBCAT JCB CASE DAEWOO NEW HOLLAND TRACKMASTER MUSTANG ICC GEHL TAKEUKCHI AND OTHERS NASS Agriculture Counts By Marc Tosiano Pa. State Statistician The survey includes different phases to keeps costs low and quality high. Our interviewers will visit nearly ISO land seg ments across the state that are about one square mile each. They will contact all operators within the segment to draw operation and field boundaries on aerial photographs to account for all land use within the selected area. Knowing that no list is com plete, these aerial photos allow us to estimate crop acreages and how many farms are not on our list of farmers. If you are visited by our staff with these photos, your cooperation is very impor tant because these ISO square miles represent all 45,000 square miles in Pennsylvania. In addition, we’ve sampled about 1,300 crop farmers and about 300 hog owners from our list of known agricultural opera tors. Letters will be sent to them explaining the upcoming survey. They will be contacted from late May to mid-June for their help in answering acreage and livestock questions that don’t require using the more complex aerial photos. These USDA surveys are all done at the same time nation wide. So it is important that Pennsylvania producers be prop erly represented among the other states. Crop statistics provide producers with vital information for cash crop farmers and current and potential feed supplies for milk and livestock producers. Hog growers can review national trends to help with production decisions. As with all our surveys, by fed eral law, your name, address, and data about your operation are and reinforced with bracing to make them even stronger. Every detail has been engineered for rugged durability and safe, easy operation. Standard features like our lift limit chain, hydraulic drive safety guard and heavy-duty stump jumpers on the larger models make Brush Wolf cutters pound for pound the best value on the market. Please contact us for the name of your near est dealer. completely confidential. Survey results are published as totals so that no individual data can be discovered or calculated. The same law also protects your data from requests under the Freedom of Information Act. By law, no one can gain early access to the results of any sur vey. The reports are available to everyone at www.usda.gov/nass/. Use the search button to find “Acreage” report, June 30 (8:30 a.m.); “Crop Production,” July 11 (8:30 a.m.) with potatoes; ‘Grain Stocks,” June 28 (8:30 a.m.); “Quarterly Hogs and Pigs,” June 27 (3 p.m.); or “Farms and Land In Farms,” every February. We count on your help to rep resent Pennsylvania agriculture properly. If you are contacted personally or by telephone, please remember that your response is important so that we can publish the most accurate statistics possi ble because agriculture counts'. Milk Production Down Again Around the 17th of each month we publish the Milk Pro duction Report with cow num bers, milk per cow, and total milk production for the previous month for each of the 20 major states. Quarterly, the report in cludes all SO states. Thanks to all dairy folks that help with this monthly survey. The February issue contains an annual summary of milk statis tics, including any revisions to the monthly or quarterly num bers for the previous year. The February 2003 issue re vealed that after several years of increases, Pennsylvania milk pro duction has declined over the past two years from 11.16 million pounds in 2000 to 10.85 in 2001 and 10.78 million pounds in 2003. 2003 production is the low est since the 10.66 million pounds produced in 1997. Production declines are due to a smaller Pennsylvania herd. Milk per cow has increased by 1.9 MODEL CUT WEIGHT 4200 42" 469 lbs. (FOR WALKBEHINDS) 770 lbs. 873 lbs. 954 lbs. 1015 lbs. 1080 lbs 4800 48" 6000 60" 6600 66" 7200 72" 7800 78" percent since 2000, while the herd size declined from 617,000 to 585,000 cows. Over the same period. New York dairies have also reduced herd size to 678,000 but milk per cow increased by 3.7 percent. In 2002, Pennsylvania herds averaged 18,419 pounds per cow compared to 18,858 for the 20 major states, 18,571 nationwide, and 18,019 pounds per cow in New York. There are many other reports with dairy statistics, including annual milk supply and utiliza tion, monthly average milk prices received by farmers, U.S. dairy herd structure, monthly produc tion of dairy products (butter, cheese, and ice cream), and weekly U.S. prices for cheddar cheese, butter, nonfat dry milk, and dry whey prices and volume. The reports can be found at www.usda.gov/nass/ by using the “Search” button and looking for “Milk” and “Dairy” in the com modity listing. Floriculture Report Published April 24 A big “thank you” is due to the Pennsylvania producers that helped in this annual effort. The report can be used by growers to evaluate crops raised and to com pare average prices in Pennsylva nia and surrounding states. Pennsylvania is the seventh largest floriculture state with more than $lBO million in sales in 2002. This only measures one part of the greenhouse and nurs ery industry, which is the fourth largest sector of Pennsylvania ag riculture, after milk, cattle, and mushrooms (based on 2001 cash receipts). The Nursery Crops Report is published every other year. The most recent report is for the 2000 production. The reports can be found at www.usda.gov/nass/ by using the “search” button and looking for “floriculture crops” or “nursery” in the commodity listing. Three Cheer&^jL ISmmiic tis) Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 24, 2003-A39 Wolff Appointed To Ag Trade Committee HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Agriculture Secretary Dennis C. Wolff has been appointed to serve on the Agricultural Techni cal Advisory Committee (ATAC) for Trade in Animals and Animal Products by U.S. Secretary of Ag riculture Ann Veneman and U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick. As a member of the ATAC for Trade in Animals and Animal Products, Wolff will work with the federal government to pro vide insight about agricultural trade issues. In addition, the committee will consult with, advise, and make recommendations to the U.S. sec retary of agriculture and the U.S. trade representative. “Washington could have pick ed no better representative of the agriculture industry than Dennis C Wolff,” Rendell said. “His many interests and responsibil ities have prepared him well for the Advisory Committee. I am confident that his work will in crease the economic opportunities for farmers and help Pennsylva nia agriculture grow and pros per.” Wolff said that achieving fair trade practices and opening and expanding markets around the world is crucial to the success of American agriculture. “With more than one billion dollars in exports from the agri culture sector, Pennsylvania clearly has an interest in the in ternational trade climate,” Wolff said. “I look forward to continu ing to work to ensure that agri culture thrives not only in Penn sylvania, but in the United States as well.” Wolff is involved in many areas of agriculture and is experi enced in international agricul ture. As owner of Pen-Col Farms in Columbia County, a 600-acre, 500-head Holstein dairy cattle operation, Wolff has specialized in purebred Holstein genetics.
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