f
Beef Market Still
Strong After Boom Week
(Continued from Page A 1)
bring the kind of prices they’ve
been the last few weeks.
“It puts everything out of per
spective,” Brown said of the re
cord price spike.
A lot of unfinished cattle are
going to auction as producers sell
their lighter stock in order to take
advantage of the market, accord
ing to Brown, who buys cattle for
several packers.
Brown said he is worried about
cattle numbers dropping" across
the country because of the selling
spree. Another factor that could
contribute to a cattle deficit is the
feed shortage earlier this year,
which prompted producers to sell
earlier.
Even so, Brown doesn’t expect
prices to remain over $lOO per
CWT indefinitely.
More likely, he said, the mar
ket will settle down into the $9O
range in coming months.
Because of the record live mar
ket prices, packers have had to
buy cattle at costs above their
contracted sale price with retail
buyers. In turn, packers have
raised prices. The result will be
higher-priced beef in the grocery
store.
Homer Eberly of Stevens has
been in the beef business since
1981 and finishes about 450 head
of beef a year.
“I’ve never seen anything like
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it before,” Eberly said of the re
cent prices.
One of the reasons for the high
market is that beef producers
have been selling unfinished cat
tle, which means less beef on the
market, Eberly said.
“Everybody’s been selling too
fast. The carcass weights are too
light.”
Eberly noted the earlier feed
shortage as part of the problem.
“The feed wasn’t there and the
price was good, so they sold,” he
said.
Eberly, who buys feeder cattle
locally, is not too concerned
about being able to find feeders to
Ell the bam.
“I think they will be available,”
he said, noting “we’ll have to pay
for them.”
Eberly expects finished cattle
prices to hold in the $9O range
until February 2004, when “new
crop” cattle will increase supplies
again.
The price of beef in the store
will eventually have an effect on
the market, Eberly predicted.
“(Beef prices) in the store
haven’t changed a lot yet, but
they will,” he said.
John Welsh, meat manager at
Stauffer’s of Kissel Hill, Lititz,
said this week he received a list
of retail price changes from the
company’s meat buyer, noting in
creases for beef products.
“I’m hoping it’s just short
term,” Welsh said.
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PDA, PDE Launch Ag Website Tool For Classrooms
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) On Monday, the Pennsyl
vania departments of agriculture
(PDA) and education (PDE) un
veiled marketplaceforthe
mind.com, a key educational tool
for Pennsylvania students.
Agriculture Secretary Dennis
C. Wolff, Education Secretary
Vicki Phillips, and Manheim
Township sixth grader Alexandra
Wenger were present during the
ceremonies in Harrisburg.
Gov. Ed Rendell, who was not
able to attend because of a sched
uling conflict, commented on the
site.
“If Pennsylvania is to continue
to be an agricultural leader, we
must begin to be an educational
leader as well. The departments
of education and agriculture
worked together to make this
project a reality to meet a demon
strated need for high quality in
formation about agriculture, par
ticularly Pennsylvania
agriculture,” Rendell said. “This
innovative project will help our
teachers as they highlight the im
portance of agriculture both as a
driving economic force in the
commonwealth and as a rich part
of our heritage.”
The site will provide teachers
in Pennsylvania with convenient
access to agricultural educational
materials aligned to Pennsylva
nia teaching standards for use in
their classrooms. The site will
also provide students, the general
public, agricultural community,
and government officials with
Amber Frank and Laura Grove, state FFA officers, try
out the new PDA/PDE Website Monday in Harrisburg.
up-to-date agricultural educa- The Website will provide the
tional resources, event listings, agricultural community access to
and useful information to en- details on low-interest loans,
hance their understanding and . technical information, and indus
appreciation of Pennsylvania ag- try programming. The general
riculture. public will benefit from up-to-
The PDA noted Pennsylvania date agricultural information,
is the only state in the national event listings, and agricultural is
with a Website of this type,
80
339
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 25, 2003-A39
sues.
Md. Governor
Honors Century
Farm Families
ANNAPOLIS, Md.
Maryland Gov. Robert L.
Ehrlich Jr. recently hon
ored Maryland's farm
families for their commit
ment to farming and
leadership in preserving
agricultural land by pres
enting Century Farm
designations to eight
families who have farm
ed the same land for
more than 100 years.
Since the' program
began in 1994, 120 farms
less than one percent
of the state’s 12,200
farms have received
the Century Farm desig
nation.
“Maryland’s farmers
are the backbone of our
economy,” said Ehrlich.
“The Century Farm fam
ilies we honor today have
played a significant role
in making agriculture the
leading industry in Mary
land. I am committed to
working with the entire
farm community to
maintain viable food and
fiber industries for Mary
land’s future.”
The oldest farm hon
ored today was the
280-acre farm established
in 1834 in Washington
County by ancestors of
Berman Lee Hixon, the
current owner. The
158-year-old farm pro
duces com, grain and a
variety of livestock.
Other farms honored
today with the “Century
Farm” designation are;
• Fowling Creek
Farm, Caroline County
52-acre multiple crop,
grain and poultry farm,
established in 1902 and
owned by Ronnie, Her
man, Kathleen, and Ruth
Steenken.
• Woodland Hall
Farm, Kent County
220-acre multiple crop,
poultry, and livestock
farm established in 1860
and owned Mary Wood
land Gould Tan, Marga
ret Ann Gould Cum
mings, and Edmon
Sindal Hurtt Gould. The
farm has established wa
terways and a pond for
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