A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 7, 2003 Topping Off A Rainy Day Despite Soggy Weather, Ice Cream Still A Hot Commodity At Capitol MICHELLE KUNJAPPU Lancaster Farming Staff HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Since 1986, visitors to the steps of Harrisburg’s capitol building have gotten a sweet treat to open every June free ice cream and toppings. Again this year, to kick off June Dairy Month, dairy princess es and dairy promotion staff con structed a sundae with 90 gallons of Turkey Hill Dairy vanilla ice cream Tuesday afternoon. Toppings included six gallons of chocolate fudge, six gallons of strawberries, and 30 pounds of chopped nuts. The sundae was topped with real whipped cream and a 12-inch ball of cherries. Dennis Wolff, Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture; Raechel From left, Amber Hallowed and Tiffany Kissel, Berks Kilgore, Pennsylvania dairy prin- County alternate dairy princesses, hand out ample help cess; and Logan Bower, Perry ings of ice cream. County dairy farmer, gave open- ing remarks. Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, American Dairy “By celebrating June Dairy Month, we are giving Association, and Dairy Council Mid-East, along Pennsylvanians the opportunity to thank the com- with the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program, monwealth’s nearly 9,300 dairy farmers who work sponsored the event. Dairy promotion staff and dairy prin cesses worked quickly to serve visitors. diligently year-round to provide consumers with a fresh supply of milk and quality dairy prod ucts,” said Bower. Bower operates Pleasant View Farms, 500-head Holstein dairy farm in Blain. Coming to the event for the first time afforded Logan with the chance “to see what this is all about, plus an opportunity to promote our prod uct. This is a good chance to keep in touch with the public,” he said. Twelve dairy princesses and alternates and one Li’l Dairy Miss came to help dish out the ice cream that was quickly scooped up by passers-by. Although 90 gallons of the frozen dessert was snapped up, Pennsylvania’s 599,000 cows will quickly fill the void. The commonwealth’s dairy animals produce 10.8 billion pounds of mQk each year. Some of this milk goes into the production of 53 gallons of regular ice cream produced in Pennsylvania each year. Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Raechel Kilgore takes a minute to enjoy a gener ous bowl of ice cream. We Love Oar The Cream Of The Crop V, o „ r 4° " Silver Linings In Dark Clouds They Can Put A Lot Of Gold In Your Pocket Editor’s note: This issue marks the premier of this new column by farm writer George DeVault. “Farming On The Edge” reflects the challenges farmers have working in a sub urban, even urban, environ ment. It also reflects on alter native types of agriculture that farmers can adopt to improve the bottom line. Here comes the neighborhood, there goes the farm. It’s happen ing here in Lehigh County, throughout Pennsylvania and the entire Mid-Atlantic region. House farms are replacing working farms. Swarms of little kids now scamper through your fields, making muddy tracks to their stylish subdivisions. But that doesn’t mean the end of agriculture is near. Just the J. \ ‘sr w -«% * J / *S <nj| •n f ' l By George DeVault oppposite is true. More and more fanners throughout the country are discovering that these changes are really the beginning of a new, much more profitable way to farm. That’s because instead of re garding newcomers as just anoth er “pest,” sharp marketers are starting to think of our sprawling suburbs for what they really are a rich source of potential cus tomers. A captive audience! A guaranteed market! Think about it. Those little kids can bring their moms and dads to your farm to buy all of the great things you have to offer. And we farmers have lots to offer! “Not right now!” you say? Well, maybe not today, but that can quickly change. And that’s what this column is all about, not just how to survive in a seemingly (Turn to Page A 37) £l s«, y~ s
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