A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 8, 2003
Family Farm Marketing Program Takes Root
(Continued from Page A 1)
want high-quality, local food,”
Yee said. “We also know they
want to save family farms.”
The public is willing to pay
more for locally-grown food,
according to Yee. He referred to
a 2001-2002 national survey of
819 U.S. adults conducted by a
team of scientists from 11 univer
sities.
The survey report, “Food from
Our Changing World: The Glob
alization of Food and How Amer
icans Feel About It,” noted that
74 percent of the public answered
“no” to the question: “If the U.S.
could buy all its food from other
countries cheaper than it can be
produced and sold here, should
we?” Three out of four people
surveyed also believe government
policies should focus on helping
family, owner-operated farms.
Yee has been traveling around
the country talking with farm
groups and university extension
agents about the idea of creating
a family farm brand that con
sumers could identify with local
ly-grown food.
The new brand would merely
be the “face of a new system,”
Yee said.
According to Yee, the most
challenging part will be restruc-
Township To Abandon Well Again
(Continued from Page A 1)
there,” Heft said. “That’s a deci
sion to be made in the future.”
The water flow was measured
at about 190 gallons per minute
less than two other wells being
tested by the water authority, but
better than any wells now operat
ing in the township, according to
Heft.
Drillers had first arrived on the
farm May 27 and pulled out in
early June, saying the water flow
was less than expected.
The last week of July, Zim
merman had received a letter
from the township, notifying him
of its plan to try an airlift method
at the test well on his dairy farm,
home to the high quality 65-cow
herd known as Cocalico Hol
steins.
Adams County
FAIRFIELD (Adams Co.) Blue Ridge
Longhorns owned by Randy and Pat Sutton of
Fairfield continued their successful show year
with two of their Texas Longhorns, Blue Ridge
Slick Rusty, a 3-year-old, and Blue Ridge Jack
Frost, a 2-year-old.
Due to their outstanding show records, both
longhorns earned enough points to be invited to
the International Texas Longhorn Champion
ship Show in Louisville , Ky.
During the show, both entries from Blue
Ridge Longhorns won first place in their age di
vision. Blue Ridge Jack Frost was named grand
champion junior steer with Blue Ridge Slick
Rusty as the reserve champion.
In addition, Blue Ridge Slick Rusty was en
tered in the Call of the Horns competition. He
placed second with a measurement of 78-W.
At the annual awards banquet held in con
junction with the championship show, both long
horn entries received their Silver Merit Award
for Point Accumulation.
hiring the food chain so that pro
ducers have more control over
their products up to the point of
sale.
“Retailers are really dominat
ing the system,” Yee said. “The
idea is to distribute the power to
farmers.”
Yee envisions a national asso
ciation of family farmers devel
oping a relationship with retailers
in which “producers would act
more collectively and become
more vertically integrated.”
Large retail chains would play
a part in this system without
dominating it, according to Yee’s
vision.
“Ideally, (big retailers) would
have a strong role, but they
wouldn’t have control of the sys
tem,” he said.
Yee said a good starting point
would be in working with the In
dependent Grocer’s Association,
a group of surviving “mom and
pop” food stores across the coun
try.
It’s not only these small stores
being threatened by the snowbal
ling force of huge retail.
In California, grocery workers
from medium-sized chain stores
are on strike over an increase in
health insurance costs. According
to Yee, the grocery chains say
Zimmerman owns about 50
acres of cropland, plus pasture
and land on which the buildings
are situated. His son, Paul Jr.,
manages the cow herd.
The Zimmermans and their
neighbors opposed drilling on the
farm, which is located in a
500-acre, legally established ag
security area, according to John
Bell, attorney for the Pennsylva
nia Farm Bureau.
The airlift procedure recom
mended by township geologists
and performed in September was
meant to help avoid assessment
problems caused by “cave-ins”
that occurred during the drilling,
according to Heft.
The 190-gallon per minute
flow was better than any existing
municipal well in the township.
Farm Wins Big
Furthermore, Blue Ridge Jack Frost, received
the high point award for the northeast region
and high point 2-year-old in the nation. Blue
Ridge Slick Rusty won the reserve high point
award northeast region and the reserve high
point 3-year-old in the nation.
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they have been forced to raise
workers’ insurance fees in order
to remain competitive with Wal-
Mart stores in the area.
Yee can also foresee the family
farm brand taking root in restau
rants, food service companies,
and schools.
The biggest obstacle is finding
the several million dollars Yee
said the program needs to get up
and running. By the end of 2004,
he hopes to have a plan for rais
ing money, pilot programs
started in four or five states, and
a “skeleton plan” in place for the
country.
According to Yee, areas that
could be ripe for pilot programs
include the Mid-Atlantic region
(including Pennsylvania), Cali
fornia, Michigan, Ohio, Vermont,
and Washington state.
Yee grew up in Oklahoma and
received an MBA in agribusiness
from the University of California.
He served as cooperative exten
sion director in California before
taking the USDA position this
past March.
Originally hired by the USDA
for a 10-month stint, Yee said his
assignment was recently extend
ed through the end of next year.
Yee can be contacted at (202)
720-4564 or by e-mail at lyee@c
srees.usda.gov.
Heft said, but the “least satisfac
tory” of the three test wells it ini
tiated this year.
The other two test wells are on
properties not located in an ag se
curity area.
Heft said the township needs
to return to the farm to perform
the’ “abandonment process,”
which includes removing casing
installed in the well after drilling.
Reimbursements to Zimmer
man for any damages and crop
losses from the drilling, which
took place near the center of the
farm, will “be worked out be
tween attorneys,” Heft said.
If the well is ever put to use by
the township, it would prohibit
normal farming techniques on a
10-12 acre radius around the
wellhead, including fertilizer ap
plications.
Angus Association Reveals
Plans For Annual Meeting
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. Members
of the American Angus Associa
tion and Angus enthusiasts from
across the nation will gather at
the 2003 North American Inter
national Livestock Exposition
(NAILE), Nov. 15-18 in Louis
ville, Ky.
A full schedule of events is
planned for Angus breeders from
46 states and Canada that are ex
pected to attend the American
Angus Association’s 120th Annu
al Meeting and the 2003 Super
Point Roll of Victory (ROV)
Angus Show.
Registration for the event will
begin Saturday, Nov. IS at the
Executive West, and will run
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day.
Registration will also be available
Sunday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
and on Monday from 7 a.m. to 10
a.m.
The Angus Foundation will
host a reception on Saturday eve
ning from 6 to 7:30 at the Execu
tive West. The reception will rec
ognize Angus Foundation donors
and highlight activities from the
past year. This event is by invita
tion only.
Sunday, Nov. 16, the junior
Angus heifer show will take place
in Freedom Hall. The American
Angus Auxiliary has scheduled
its annual breakfast at the Execu
tive West at 9 a.m., with its annu
al meeting immediately follow
ing.
Later that day, the American
Angus Association will present a
breeders’ informational forum
that encompasses some of the
core strategies set earlier in the
year. Immediately following the
informational forum will be the
open meeting for the Association
board candidates and delegates.
Sunday’s activities will wind
down at the. Executive West. The
Angus reception will be from 6
p.m. to 8 p.m. A number of spe
cialty items will be auctioned at
the reception, with proceeds
going to the 2004 National Junior
Angus Show.
Monday, Nov. 17, the Super
Point ROV Angus Show will
begin at 8 a.m. in Freedom Hall.
A father-son team will evaluate
the cattle with Steve Patton,
Freeman, S.D., serving as lead
judge, and Jim Patton, Craw
fordsville, Ind., as the associate.
Bulls and cow-calf pairs will
show on Monday. The new 2003
Miss American Angus, which will
be chosen from a group of five
candidates who were awarded
scholarships by the American
Angus Auxiliary, will be crowned
before the selection of champion
bull.
The Annual Meeting of the As
sociation will begin at 2 p.m. that
afternoon in the KFEC South
Wing. President Steve Brooks,
Bowman, N.D., will preside over
the meeting. A total of 353 dele
gates will conduct the business of
the Association, including
electing a president, vice presi
dent, treasurer and five new di
rectors. The day will conclude
with a social hour at 6 p.m. fol
lowed by the Angus Awards Ban
quet at 7 p.m., at the Executive
West.
The 2003 Super Point ROV
Angus female show will begin at
8 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 18, in Free
dom Hall.
Scott Johnson, director of
Angus Information Management
Software (AIMS), will offer edu
cational AIMS workshops
throughout the event. In addition
to the scheduled events, the
Angus Foundation and Auxiliary
will sell a variety of items in the
Holiday Room at the Executive
West.
For those who cannot attend
the Angus events in Louisville,
real-time coverage will be pro
vided by the Web by Angus Ptq
ductions Inc. Log on to
www.angusjournal.com/louisville
for class placings and photos of
division winners in the junior and
ROV shows, award winners and
newly elected officers and direc
tors of the Association.
For a list of delegates to the
annual meeting and for updates
to the schedule, go to www.angu
s.org. For more information
about any of the activities going
on during the Angus events at
the NAILE, contact the Ameri
can Angus Association at (816)
383-5100 or go to www.angu
s.org.
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