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Ohio Voters Favor Livestock Standards Board

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:12:16 -0500

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

A referendum that would create a livestock standards board in Ohio passed by a decisive vote on Tuesday.

Voters in the Buckeye State voted 64 percent to 36 percent to pass Issue 2, the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Amendment, which would create a 13-member board consisting of farmers, experts in food safety, the state’s veterinarian, and consumer groups that would be tasked with establishing animal welfare standards in the state.

The votes comes as a blow to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) which had targeted the state for more sweeping reforms of its animal welfare standards.

Of the 88 counties reporting election results, only one county voted against the measure.

The idea of a livestock standards board was born out of a meeting earlier this year between HSUS and ag officials in the state, where HSUS made it known that they would be pushing for tougher livestock standards.

Last year, HSUS spent millions of dollars in advertising in California to promote Proposition 2, a bill that makes big changes to animal confinement standards in that state.

Critics of the measure have stated that the bill will put many farms out of business because of the cost of meeting the new standards.

Fearing that a similar referendum would be proposed in Ohio, ag leaders pushed forward with the idea to create the livestock standards board.

John Lumpe, president of the Ohioans for Livestock Care Political Action Committee, the main group that pushed to get the bill passed, issued a prepared statement on the election results Wednesday morning:

“Ohioans have spoken and clearly understand that a board of experts is the appropriate entity to make decisions on behalf of animal agriculture and food production in our state. Passage of Issue 2 is a win for everyone who acknowledges the essential relationship between excellent farm animal care and a safe, affordable, locally grown food supply. Voters agree with Ohio’s farm community and our diverse base of supporters — decisions about food and farming should be made in Ohio, by Ohioans.”

But don’t count on the issue disappearing anytime soon.

“We expected the results. We did not run a single paid ad against Issue 2,” said Paul Shapiro, senior director of the factory farming campaign for HSUS.

He said the organization is looking at other possible options including getting a constitutional amendment placed on the ballot that would, among other things, ban veal crates and battery cages in the state.

Shapiro called the actions of ag groups in Ohio “provocative” given the fact other states, he said, have worked cooperatively with HSUS on improving animal welfare standards.

“I think many Ohio voters believe Issue 2 was a pro-animal measure. Virtually all animal welfare groups in the state opposed it,” he said.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, issued a prepared statement on the results which included the following:

“By packaging Issue 2 as pro-animal welfare and pro-food safety, the architects of the ballot measure went a long way to assure its passage.

“We have not viewed Issue 2 as a poisonous package, but rather an empty one. The Ohio Farm Bureau and other agribusiness lobby groups cooked it up in an effort to block real reform.

“Now that the Issue 2 campaign is over, we can get on with such real reform — a measure to phase out the extreme confinement of animals in veal crates, gestation crates, and battery cages, where they cannot even turn around and stretch their limbs. Both sound science and common sense show that these confinement systems are inhumane and should be phased out.”

Many ag groups outside the state watched the results closely.

Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), said in a prepared statement: “Members of Farm Bureau in Ohio worked hard in support of State Issue 2, a measure to establish the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board ... Voters made a solid statement that acknowledged the role farmers play in caring for farm animals and providing a safe and quality food supply in the Buckeye State. Clearly, Ohio has blazed a bold new trail for other states to follow on the issue of livestock care and well-being. It is clear that voters in that state know farmers and ranchers share their values regarding the care of farm animals.”

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau was also watching the vote, given the fact the state borders Ohio and agriculture is the number one industry in both states.

“We recognize Ohio and Ohio agriculture for the really good job they did in this campaign,” said Mark O’Neill, communications coordinator for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.

Since Pennsylvania does not have a ballot referendum system like Ohio, voters do not have the ability to vote on specific measures such as those HSUS has pushed for in other states.

But that doesn’t mean the organization can’t influence any discussion on animal welfare.

O’Neill said Farm Bureau has encouraged producers to talk to consumers about the way food is produced to create connections and build an understanding of the issue on both sides.

Federal Agencies Deliver Reports on Chesapeake Bay Cleanup

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:10:04 -0500

Looking for Input from Farming Community

Ayleen Stellhorn
Southcentral Pa. Correspondent

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — An executive order that includes higher standards for continued improvement in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay may have far-reaching implications for the 70,000 to 80,000 farms in the bay’s watershed.

At an outreach session here last week, federal officials presented an overview of Proposal 202a — draft reports that focus on the nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment levels in the bay and target agriculture and urban-suburban development for reform — and asked for input.

“We’re specifically seeking comments from the farming community because we realize that fulfilling these goals may impact their operations,” said Dana D. York, senior adviser of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)/Chesapeake Bay Program.

Chuck Fox, special assistant to the EPA administrator for the Chesapeake Bay, noted that the federal government would prefer to cooperate with state-level programs that are already having a positive impact on the bay’s water quality.

“It’s no fun doing federal rulemaking,” Fox said. “We’d rather work with the states to find ways to make this work without federal regulations.”

The outreach session was held in response to Executive Order 13508, which was signed May 12 by President Barack Obama to accelerate the clean up of the Chesapeake Bay by focusing on improved performance and better accountability, and to establish a federal leadership committee chaired by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The reports outline specific steps that federal agencies could take to meet standards that would clean up the bay by 2025.

“This is nothing short of a daunting task,” Fox said. “And it will require changing patterns of the last 30 years. We need concrete results for people in this watershed.”

Fox noted that scientists have been studying the Chesapeake Bay for the past 30 years to define criteria for water quality standards, like dissolved oxygen and water clarity.

“The best data we have says what we’re doing is working. Agriculture loads to the Chesapeake Bay are decreasing,” Fox said. “Urban and suburban loads are increasing.”

Despite efforts to stop farm-based contaminants from reaching the bay, agricultural operations in the 64,000-square-mile watershed are still a significant source of nitrogen and phosphorus, Fox said. The latest recommendation is that a 200-million-pound nitrogen reduction is necessary for ultimate water quality standards in the bay.

York used several topographical maps of the watershed’s six-state region to show the current high-risk areas for soil leaching and soil runoff. She noted that runoff is a greater problem here, where farming takes place along the sides of ridges and valleys, and it’s also easier to control than leaching.

Two practices being explored are the tightening of animal feeding regulations and better management of land applications of manure. Other best management practices (BMPs) encouraged by the NRCS include stream fencing and off-stream watering.

“Some of the things we’re looking at won’t come as a surprise to you,” York said, listing cover crops, buffers, and the timing, rate and method of manure application.

The NRCS’s proposed strategy is targeting, which means “fixing the worst first in order to lower the baseline of the whole agricultural impact on the bay,” York said.

Prior to 2008, 51 percent of funds went to “worst first” farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In 2009, the first year that targeting was implemented through the Farm Bill program, that number jumped to 75 percent. York said the future goal is to see 100 percent of the funding — $70 million in 2011 and $50 million in 2012 through the NRCS Farm Bill program — spent in priority watersheds.

The NRCS also wants to establish better monitoring in target areas. The bay model now uses census information, “but that doesn’t tell the whole story,” she said. “We need to include everything farmers are doing — even those who are taking action on a voluntary basis — to better inform the model.”

Specific concerns brought up during the outreach session included the following:

• the need for more one-on-one technical assistance;
• a way to reach out to independent farmers, small farmers, and those not currently involved in the program;
• a training program for new government hires who will work with farmers;
• the need for a simpler way to work with the NRCS;
• the amount of money farmers need for equipment (for example, no-till) to put BMPs in place;
• the tendency to overlook the accomplishments of farmers who are currently working within guidelines of strict state regulations (for example, Virginia);
• the need to control fertilizers and other additives before they reach the farm;
• the fear that a solution for the bay may turn into another problem (i.e., added transportation or incineration of manure may create greenhouse gases);
• the possibility of implementing self-certification;
• the addition of a “green” label for products, similar to “organic”;
• a way to shield those who offer information from becoming targets.

Public comment on the reports takes place between Nov. 9 and Jan. 9 at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net. For more information, contact your local NRCS office.

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Proposed Bypass Threatens 250-Year-Old Family Farm in Loudoun Co., Va.

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:06:04 -0500

Andrew Jenner
Virginia Correspondent

PURCELLVILLE, Va. — Rooflines peak above the trees encircling Crooked Run Orchard. A row of townhouses sits just beyond the wood fence on the east edge of the peaches. On the north side of Main Street, opposite the entrance to the farm, which has been in the Brown family for 250 years, a billboard proclaims the coming of Purcellville Gateway — a bank, a restaurant and a grocery store gathered around yet another Loudoun County parking lot.

Of greatest concern, though, to Sam and Uta Brown, who run the 102-acre farm, is Purcellville’s proposed “Southern Collector Road” that would divide their farm in half and pave the way, literally, for even more construction and bustle on the eastern edge of Purcellville.

“We just don’t need more development,” says Sam Brown, walking along the dirt lane toward the back pumpkin patch. “We don’t want the road. We don’t think it’s needed.”

The planned road, which has already been built right up to Browns’ property line, would cross a small, narrow section of their farm but would separate a 45-acre tract from the rest of the orchard.

The Browns sell the majority of their fruit —apples, peaches, cherries, plums, pears, pumpkins and more — to pick-your-own customers, about 20,000 of whom visit the orchard each year, they say. The couple worries about how visitors to the farm will cross the road to reach fields on the far side, how Sam will get his tractor and spraying equipment across the road, and whether a new public right-of-way through their orchard will encourage theft.

They don’t understand why the town of Purcellville would do anything to harm a business that attracts so many visitors and adds so much charm. And in any case, they’re determined that the road will never be built.

“It isn’t going to happen,” said Uta Brown. “We’re going to fight them tooth and nail.”

Bob Lazaro, Purcellville’s mayor, is equally adamant.

“The Southern Collector Road will be built to help relieve… traffic on Main Street,” he said, emphasizing “will.”

The road, Lazaro said, has been planned for 30 years, and will be critical to mitigating the traffic impact of significant population growth in and around Purcellville (Loudoun County as a whole has grown by nearly 250,000 residents — or 500 percent — over that 30-year period). Lazaro also said the town has made repeated efforts to work with the Browns to address the concerns about crossing the road. According to the project website, right of way acquisition for the remainder of the road will begin next year and construction will start in 2011, pending funding availability.

The Browns and their supporters say the town has not made any effort to address their concerns, and that the road will make traffic worse, not better.

“They are building a road for developers,” says Kelli Grimm, who’s helped form Friends and Neighbors of Crooked Run Orchard to fight the proposed road project.

Grimm said the project amounts to a tit-for-tat deal between politicians and developers that will do little to relieve traffic congestion and do a lot to encourage new construction near the Browns’ orchard. Various proposed commercial developments totaling more than 175,000 square feet of new buildings are planned for the area around the new road, according to a flyer she made.

“It’s a shame they try to make it political,” Lazaro said. He also pointed out that Sam’s brother, Tim, is the majority owner of the parcel through which the town proposes to build the road and is willing to work with the town on the project.

Sam and Uta Brown, however, are preparing for a legal battle in anticipation that the town will attempt to condemn a portion of the farm to build the road.

“I think it’s premature to talk about [condemnation]” Lazaro said. “I think reasonable people could come to an agreement that would help them and help the town.”

Jim Burton, a county supervisor whose district includes Purcellville, opposes the road’s construction because he thinks the road, and subsequent development, will worsen traffic in and around town, and because of the road’s detrimental impact to Crooked Run Orchard. Burton also said the county board of supervisors is in unanimous agreement that a recent vote by the town to annex the part of the farm where the road will go — a precursor to condemnation, Burton said — violates previous agreements between the town and county regarding Purcellville’s growth, and has set the stage for a showdown between the two localities.

“We’ve got a real dispute going on here,” Burton said. “It’s unfortunate that the Browns are caught right in the middle of it”

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Animal Power Field Days Draws Farmers and Foresters

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:59:51 -0500

Elizabeth Ferry
Vermont Correspondent

TUNBRIDGE, Vt. — The foliage was just past its peak and the north winds were hinting at their plans for winter on a mid-October weekend in Vermont. But that didn’t deter participation in the third annual Northeast Animal-Power Field Days (NEAPFD) on October 17 and 18.

About 1,000 people came to share experiences, trade advice, sell equipment, and enjoy each other’s company at the field days at the historic fairgrounds in Tunbridge, Vt.

According to the husband and wife organizing team of Carl Russell and Lisa McCrory of Earthwise Farm and Forest, “NEAPFD is a gathering of resource people, equipment dealers, educators, farmers, craftspeople, and practitioners who provide essential assistance to people interested in draft animals and renewable land-use practices.”

Russell and McCrory and their children are dedicated to living as sustainable and self-sufficiently as they can. They use organic, biodynamic, and ecological principles on their draft-animal powered farm and forestland.

“A lot of people approached us with questions,” McCrory recalls as she describes how the gathering originated. When the couple organized a daylong workshop at their homestead in Bethel and 200 people came, “We knew we had just scratched the surface,” she says. “We realized that they have Horse Progress Days in Pennsylvania. Why not do something like that here?”

NEAPFD draws farmers and foresters, with their draft horses, oxen, mules-and even draft goats-from around the region. The range of workshops is fascinating and spans a wide range of topics. A sampling from the 2009 schedule cover a variety of topics and skill levels, including “Beginning Driving Skills,” “Ox-yoke Making,” and “Walking Plow Use and Adjustment.” There are workshops on related topics, such as “Equine Dentistry,” “Putting up Loose Hay,” “Managing the Homestead Dairy,” and more. Panel discussions among women teamsters, and a 4-H working steer demonstration, encourage teamsters of both genders and all ages to feel very much at home at this event.

John Plowden and his apprentice Andy traveled from Stow, Maine, to attend the gathering. On display with his Belgian, Dan, is a multi-function woods tool that Plowden designed and fabricated. The tool can serve as an arch, able to pull a single log, or a woods trailer, which he describes as “a wheeled scoot.”

Plowden uses a European-style harness on his horses but could not find equipment that was compatible with the harness design. He spent time at draft horse websites from Sweden, Denmark, and England-countries where “working single,” rather than a team of horses, is common. Working from photos, and making adjustments based on his experience, he has developed a product. “I’m happy if someone can take the idea and use it,” he said, expressing a spirit that permeated the event. “And I also have it ready to sell.”

Those looking for used or refurbished equipment were drawn to the Swap Meet, where parts where carefully arranged by type and size. Bill Bandry of Moretown, Vt., used to log with horses; now retired, he rebuilds equipment and restores sleighs. “They call it a Swap Meet, but most of what we’ve got here, we’d rather sell than swap,” he says as he watches people walk by, many of them who he knows. “To you, anything is half price,” he calls to them cheerfully.

The dates for the fourth annual Northeast Animal-Powered Field Days are October 15, 16, and 17, 2010, in Tunbridge, Vt. For people who cannot travel the distance, or who don’t want to wait until next year, there is another option.

The knowledge, sharing, and networking that take place over the weekend is also available through a lively, easy to use on-line discussion forum at www.draftanimalpower.com.

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Perky Porkers Prefer Pasture

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:54:51 -0500

Dick Wanner
Lancaster Farming Staff

NEWBURG, Pa. — Pigs frolicked from the woods here last Friday, acting more like a pack of friendly beagles than a herd of swine.

They were Paul Fisher’s Large Black English pigs, chosen not necessarily for their friendliness, but for their ability to thrive in the woods, to root in the dirt, to mother their young. But if you like a friendly pig, you couldn’t go wrong with a Large Black English.

Paul Fisher is an Amish farmer who pastures his pigs in a series of rotated, wooded paddocks. He turned 27 on the day the pigs came out of the woods, and shared his birthday with 65 paying guests who’d come from as far as Indiana to take part in a field day organized by the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. It was a sell-out crowd, according to PASA’s Rachel Schaal, who heads up the organization’s educational outreach programs.

There were a few chefs among the attendees, according to Schaal, and some butchers. Butchers got a pass on tickets for the event, which cost $15 for members, $25 for non-members. But most of the people who came to Fisher’s birthday bash were small scale farmers eager to learn more about the production and marketing of pastured pork.

There are about 40 hogs currently on Otterbein Acres Farm, where two generations of the Fisher family produce meat and eggs from a flock of free-range Rhode Island Reds, lambs, wool and milk from a flock of sheep, cheese and raw milk from an eight-cow herd of Jershires (a Jersey-Ayrshire cross currently being attended to by a Devon bull), and, of course those big friendly hogs.

The Fisher farm covers 96 acres and they rent some ground. It’s all in pasture. And every animal lives in the open. Under the sky. No barns. No coops. Nothing to shelter them from the weather, fair or foul.

“How do they do?” one of the attendees asked Fisher as he led a tour of the fields. Fisher shrugged his shoulders, held out his hands, “Fine,” he said. “I think we have fewer health problems than we’d have if we kept them in barns.”

Although there’s lots going on at Otterbein Acres, it was a day to focus on the pigs. In the morning session, the group heard from Justin Severino, a chef and artisanal butcher who lives and works in Pittsburgh. He spent 30 minutes talking about what he does with a whole pig carcass, and spent another 90 minutes answering questions from the crowd.

Lunch followed Severino’s presentation, and included raw milk — white or chocolate — and a flavorful sausage sandwich.

After lunch, Fisher led an expedition to a paddock which held 16 hogs being readied for market. His visitors trudged to a spot where pasture met woodland. Some tubs of whey were visible, a thin strand of polywire, a portable feeding trough ... but no pigs. Fisher plunged into the woods and coaxed the animals out to the feeding trough. They snuffled and grunted and checked out the visitors, then attacked the feeding trough.

The trough was filled with sprouted barley swimming in a whey broth. The whey, from both sheep and cows’ milk, comes from the on-farm cheese business. Fisher likes to sprout the barley for digestibility, and feeds the whey both to get rid of it and because it’s a good source of nutrients for his porkers. He favors barley because he’s pretty certain it’s a non-GMO (genetically modified) grain. It’s also much less pricey than organic feed.

Although his pigs are pastured, unvaccinated and totally drug free, they’re healthy and thriving. But not organic. Fisher will feed grain when he needs to, but the grain more than likely will come from fields that have seen commercial fertilizer and pesticides, a no-no for certified organic pork.

It takes six to seven months to get his pigs to their 250-to-300-pound market weight. And his sows deliver litters of five or six piglets. These are numbers that would frustrate a large-scale feeding operation, but they leave Fisher unphased. And, truth to tell, it seems that the soft-spoken, low-key Fisher would be unphased by anything short of a tornado ripping through Otterbein Acres.

His focus isn’t so much on the numbers, as it is on the way his animals are raised. There’s a story behind his method, and it’s a story he tries to get across to his customers. The hogs are butchered by Hurst Meats in Hagerstown, Md., and some 95 percent of the meat is sold direct to buyers at outdoor, producers-only farmers markets in Carlisle, Pa., and Rockville, Md., just outside Washington, D.C.

His customers are evidently getting his story, Fisher believes, because they pay double and more for pork they could buy in a supermarket. Sausage and pork chops, for example, go for $8 a pound at Fisher’s stand. One of his ambitions is to spend more time on marketing and getting the story out.

It’s a story that’s getting a lot of word-of-mouth not only among farmers market shoppers, but from restaurateurs and chefs, according to PASA’s Rachel Schaal. “I was very pleased, with the success of our pastured pork event,” she said. “Pleased but not surprised.”

Schaal is encouraged by consumer interest in the kind of pork Fisher produces, but she said chefs are really paying more attention to where their meat is coming from. “More and more, chefs want the whole carcass. Or half a carcass. They want to use the whole pig, and they want to know how it was raised. I think there’s a tremendous market for producers like Paul Fisher.”

Dick Wanner can be reached at rwanner.eph@lnpnews.com, or by phone at (717) 419-4703.

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Dairy’s ‘Identity Crisis’ Focus of Dairy Talk

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:51:30 -0500

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The dairy industry is in the midst of an identity crisis. But what direction does the industry want to go in?

It was a question Phil Plourd tried to answer at last week’s Dairy Profitability Forum at the Farm Show Complex.

Plourd, president of Blimling & Associates, a Wisconsin firm that provides insight on dairy markets, said the industry is at a “critical juncture” when it comes to figuring out what it wants to look like in the future.

The struggles of dairy farmers over the last year have forced a discussion on how the dairy industry is regulated and the impacts the market system is having on the way milk is priced and how dairy farmers get paid for their product.

Some want the government to step in and play a bigger role in how the milk price is formulated while others want to let the current situation play itself out and allow the market to flesh out a price.

“Really, where do we want this industry to be?” Plourd asked.

Does it want to mirror the system in Canada, which relies on strict quotas but does not have the price volatility? Does it want to be like Europe, where quotas are being phased out and direct payments are higher, but the land base is limited and subject to strict environmental regulations? Or does the industry want to be like New Zealand, where it is largely unregulated and pasture-based, but because of the country’s size, provides limited growth opportunity?

While Plourd didn’t provide an exact answer to the question, he said the current system has put U.S. producers in the best position to feed the growing worldwide demand for dairy products, which he feels will only grow in the future.

“I think we have to be careful making long term decisions based on short term pain,” he said.

But that doesn’t mean that changes should not be made.

He criticized the federal Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program and said the current milk pricing system is broken and too complicated.

“The federal order system is too antiquated and too complicated,” he said, adding that it doesn’t provide easy allocation of profits and leads to slow price transmission. “Let’s try to make it a little bit simpler. Federal dairy policy has been a mess for years.”

Exports, or the loss of them, have had the most dramatic impact on prices, according to Plourd, unlike imports of milk protein concentrates and casein, which he believes have had less of an impact.

“I don’t see these imports as being the killer,” he said, adding that there is no real trend indicating that imports have distorted the market.

The global demand for dairy proteins will continue to grow as the economy starts to pick up. That will open up an opportunity for producers to cash in.

“The world is going to need more dairy protein and the U.S. is well positioned because of good infrastructure, knowledge, and we don’t have to do it cheaper,” he said.

Retail sales of dairy products have been going well, but the food service sector is soft largely because of slow restaurant sales.

Plourd said he expects prices to pick back up as the economy starts to recover.

“Where we are today is worse financially than where we have been before. At the same time, it always takes time to fix it,” he said.

Managing Cash Flow
Rob Goodling, a Penn State extension educator in Lebanon County, said managing the cash is as important to a dairy operation’s future as the price farmers get for their milk.

It requires a lot of attention to numbers and knowing cost of production compared to projected cash flow.

Profits, according to Goodling, don’t equal cash flow. Cash flow is about positioning farms to manage their money when things are going well to soften the blow when prices take a dive.

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure. There are tools available,” he said.

Managing the cash flow is key because it gives a farmer options when things go bad. “But you have to manage accordingly. You need to plan ahead,” he said.

One tool Goodling focused on is the Penn State COPS program, which is a spreadsheet designed to help farmers keep track of income and expenses and the impact it will have on the farm’s bottom line.

Farmers with Internet access can download the program for free at www.dairyalliance.org.

New Broiler House Brings Research to the Farm

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:48:12 -0500

Stephanie Beeman
Correspondent

ALLENWOOD, Pa. — A new research facility and program using Web-based technology to monitor poultry performance and health is being put into business at a family farm near Lewisburg, Pa.

The computer system — one of only five in action across the country — allows operators to evaluate different treatments in feed and water to maximize efficiency. Lancaster County-based Wenger Feeds is partnering with the Taylor family of South Creek Acres Farm and Sullivan Poultry of South Fallsburg, N.Y. on this research program based in a real farm setting instead of a laboratory.

Because data will be used to influence real production practices, it is important the research be done as close to actual farm conditions as possible. The Taylors’ house has a maximum capacity of 38,500 chickens, making it very close in size to standard poultry barns. After 40 days at the Taylor farm, the chickens will be trucked to Sullivan Poultry, South Fallsburg, N.Y. for processing.

“If there is an advantage to be gained,” said Jan Turner, who works as a live production manager for Sullivan, “we want to learn here, then take it to the farmers.”

An open house was held last week to introduce the technology and methods for collecting data to the community.

The broiler feed research facility has been constructed by Farmer Boy Ag Supply with five separate pens to allow for control and trial evaluations. As in other broiler houses, sections of short wire fencing will separate the pens, each holding about 7,000 chickens. Each individual pen will be equipped with its own water, feed and scale system isolated from the other trial groups. The computer system will collect daily weight and measure feed and water consumption so that the manager can track the progress of the flock.

The initial trial is comparing two protein levels and the effects on growth and final confirmation. Each trial will involve one breed and varying formulas. Each pen is equipped with two feed bins that are set on scales. When the supply in the bin falls below a certain level, the computer system will send an e-mail to the mill identifying the bin and formula needed to restock. This management tool will allow for efficiency in monitoring the daily operations.

The Taylor family owns the land and building and will oversee flock management as Wenger Feeds functions as the program coordinator and feed supplier. Dr. Kevin Herkelman, manager of the Technical Services Department will supervise the trials.

While Wenger Feeds has other similar on-the-farm research facilities, Dave Dell, vice president of sales and marketing, said that the family-owned company plans to expand overall research capabilities.

“We want to be a leader in nutrition solutions,” said Dell. “To do that, it’s important to continually research and develop new products for our customers.”

Associate Professor Michael Hulet of the Penn State said the research has the potential to identify the best feed ingredients for overall performance improvement.

Hulet said that while the university focuses on possible ways to reduce ammonia and phosphorus in the environment along with a broad area of interests, the research conducted at the Taylor farm will be specialized. Many small feed mills in Pennsylvania rely on Penn State for research, but Hulet said Wenger Feeds is unique because the company conducts its own feed studies.

Dell said Wenger Feeds has long wanted to be involved in a broiler research house but needed a good dependable grower and a flexible processor, each willing to work with smaller groups and a greater responsibility for tracking and reporting data.

Wenger’s found a strong partner in the Taylors. The family has been living at South Creek Acres Farm since 1954. Gary Taylor, 61, and his son Brett, 33, have been in the poultry business nearly five years and already have two barns operating on the farm. Gary Taylor retired from PennDot in June. His son, who had been working as an electrician since high school, recently made a career change.

“I’m here to raise chickens now,” said Brett.

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Penn State Poinsettia Trials Canceled for 2009

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:45:47 -0500

Anne Harnish
Food and Family Features Editor

EPHRATA, Pa. — The annual Penn State Poinsettia Growers Trials will not be held this year, according to Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Alan Michael.

Budget uncertainties and the departure of key extension employees who ran the poinsettia trials in past years, along with a hiring freeze, are the primary reasons for the cancellation, said Michael.

The well-known Penn State poinsettia trials typically opened each year in early November, much earlier than other trials in the country which often began in late November or early December. This advantage, and the size and importance of the trials drew large numbers of top horticulturists, researchers and growers to the well-attended event which offered an early holiday palette of colorful blooms and foliage which allowed growers and researchers to evaluate the highest performing poinsettia varieties for the holiday flower market.

The extension’s former greenhouse educator, Warren Goll, who retired this past year, had managed the poinsettia trials in the past, along with the extension’s Mary Conklin, who also moved away this year, said Bill Kleiner.

Kleiner, who serves as Penn State’s cooperative extension southeast regional director, said neither of these two key horticultural positions were filled again due to economic concerns and cuts in funding and consequently there was no one to run the trials this season. Goll added, “Things are just so tight, and with the state budget halted, it made the decision all that much worse.” Goll had included news of the poinsettia trials cancellation in a May newsletter, but noted that he continues to get inquiries about whether the trials are happening this fall.

A committee of growers has expressed concern about the situation and has met to explore possibilities for continuing the poinsettia trials in the fall of 2010, said Michael, possibly linking with some commercial growers. The work for the trials, which ran for the past 12 years, typically begins as early as February for trials held later that same year, with a long lead time needed for plant breeders to provide enough of the right cuttings.

According to National Agricultural Statistics Service data from 2008, poinsettias continued to be the highest selling potted flowering plant — more than orchids, chrysanthemums, azaleas, roses and others — with sales of more than $8.3 million in Pennsylvania, $11.3 million in New York, $8 million in New Jersey and $5.7 million in Maryland.

Because Christmas holiday decorations in shopping malls and stores are getting pushed to as early as the beginning of November, Goll noted that the trials were an important way to test for longer and longer-lasting poinsettias that could perform well for up to eight weeks at a time — a feat demanded by the earlier holiday season. This year, Goll said many tons of poinsettias will be shipped to retailers by Nov. 20, significantly sooner than the past traditional post-Thanksgiving dates.

Goll also said that growers need different assistance now from the Penn State cooperative extension than they did 10 years ago because the flower industry and system are changing.

He said more breeders and greenhouse products exist than before, especially coming in from places like Europe and Japan, and growers need very accurate and reliable information from events such as the poinsettia trials. And due to significantly higher pricing of chemicals and plastics in the past several years, Goll said growers need to be much “sharper with their pencil” than previously to have a profit margin.

On a more optimistic note, Goll commented that serious growers, especially second, third and fourth-generation growers, have always gained a lot of satisfaction from the work that they do, and subsequently will always find a way to do what they can to keep their businesses viable.

Kleiner said that Pennsylvania’s troublesome state budget, which passed recently, but which has not yet been completely finalized by state legislators, has meant that Penn State has not yet been able to finalize its own budget.

Last year, the budget for the College of Ag Sciences, which includes research and cooperative extension functions, was cut 6 percent, he said. Because of the uncertainty and budget restrictions, the horticultural and green industry programs are being stretched thin.

“We just don’t have the money to do everything now,” said Kleiner, who also acknowledged that during the nation’s economic recession, “everybody is hurting, not just us.” Kleiner, whose own region was effectively expanded to incorporate a larger 16-county area, estimates that it may take months for all the budget issues to be worked out.

Comments or suggestions may be directed to Bill Kleiner, Penn State cooperative extension southeast regional director, at (610) 396-6445.

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Record High Corn, Soybean Yields Expected

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:40:05 -0500

But Harvest Progressing Slowly

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

Pennsylvania farmers are expected to harvest a record amount of corn and soybeans, if all goes as planned.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which released its season crop estimate on Oct. 1, estimates that farmers will average 144 bushels per acre on 800,000 acres — totaling 126.7 million bushels for the state. That would be the largest yield on record.

The soybean harvest is also estimated to break records. Around 20 million bushels will be harvested from 445,000 acres. Farmers on average are expected to get about 46 bushels per acre.

“It’s looking pretty good,” said Kevin Pautler, director of the Pennsylvania NASS Field Office. Pautler took over as director in June for Marc Tosiano.

The report is based on estimates received from farmers across the state. Actual yields will be reported in December as part of the crop stock survey.

The number of corn acres to be harvested in Pennsylvania this year is unchanged from last year and is about 100,000 acres less than in 2007. The biggest overall corn harvest took place in 2004, but that was attained with 100,000 more acres.

Pautler attributes the good year to timely weather and better genetics.
But much of the corn and soybean crop still has to be brought in from the field.

Only 39 percent of corn had been harvested as of the most recent report. That’s well behind last year’s pace of 68 percent and the five year average of 67 percent, according to the crop progress report released this past Monday.

Soybeans are also behind with only 37 percent of the crop being harvested, well behind last year’s 64 percent and the five year average of 57 percent.
Wet weather and slowly maturing corn and soybeans have been largely to blame.

But Pautler said farmers in many states are dealing with the same issues.

“It seems like most producers are behind,” he said. “Other states are like this too.”

Even though the harvest is behind schedule, Pautler said he doesn’t expect it to impact yields much since about 93 percent of the corn has matured.

However, a hard frost could affect the corn that still has to finish maturing.

Around the Region
Some neighboring states are also reporting better than average corn and soybean yields.

Officials in Maryland are expecting farmers there to harvest 58 million bushels of corn, the most since 2006. About 400,000 aces will be harvested with farmers averaging 145 bushels per acre, according to predictions.

More than 19 million bushels of soybeans are expected to be harvested from 475,000 acres in Maryland, the highest total since 2003. Farmers are predicted to average 40 bushels per acre.

Unlike Pennsylvania, the harvest is moving at a quicker pace in Maryland. Around 76 percent of the corn and 46 percent of the soybeans have been harvested.

“The conditions are right. Even though the crop got in a little bit late, it got in when it needed to,” said Barbara Rater, director of the NASS Maryland Field Office.

Delaware farmers are expected to harvest 23.2 million bushels of corn, the most since 2006 and 6.58 million bushels of soybeans, the most since 2004.

Virginia farmers are expected to harvest 45.4 million bushels of corn from 355,000 acres, the most since 2004.

About 21.4 million bushels of soybeans are expected to be harvested in Virginia.

New Jersey farmers are expected to harvest 9.31 million bushels of corn from 69,000 acres, the second largest crop in the last 30 years.

The Garden State’s soybean harvest, 6.58 million bushels, will be largest since 2004.

New York farmers, on the other hand, are bucking the trend for higher than expected corn harvests. Farmers there are expected to harvest 79.2 million bushels of corn from 600,000 acres. That’s a 14 percent decline over last year’s total.

The soybean crop, though, is on course to be a record setter in New York. More than 10 million bushels are expected to be harvested from 252,000 acres.

Making Money Selling Food

Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:37:10 -0500

Lou Ann Good
Reporter

MOUNT JOY, Pa. — “Wannabe” food entrepreneurs packed the Food-for-Profit class at the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center in Mount Joy last Wednesday. Many participants had already received rave reviews from family and friends for their specialties, which ranged from olive oil pesto to pulled pork barbecue.

Having their own label sounds glamorous, participants admitted. But taking a plan from the idea stage to create financial success isn’t an easy feat, they heard from the workshop instructors.

It almost sounded like a fairy tale when Susanne Spurlock opened the event by sharing how she developed Happy Jalapeno Company in Lancaster. “I’m a terrible cook,” she admitted. But after hearing her physician father chalk up good health to “hot peppers, red wine and exercise,” she looked for a way to incorporate hot peppers into her family’s diet. She concocted a jalapeno relish that impressed friends and family. Their encouragement caused her to respond to a newspaper ad placed by Whole Foods, an upscale grocery store chain recruiting Lancaster County producers.

Spurlock took a few jars of her relish and was picked up by Whole Foods. She became an almost overnight success — but not quite. Spurlock revealed that it took lots of her own money, mountainous legwork in promotion and only a hope of breaking even at the end of her second year.

Spurlock encouraged the audience not to become overwhelmed by the obstacles along the way. “You never know who you might meet,” she said of a stranger who tasted her relish and offered $30,000 to help Spurlock release a new jalapeno relish on the market.

“A business plan is a must,” said Winifred McGee, Penn State extension educator, who developed the Food-for-Profit course. A business plan is a tool to get a loan and is even needed to get legal approval for home processing. McGee described a business plan as a road map to success. She explained how to build a plan and refine it.

Packaging your food product is another obstacle. For most food products, packaging represents 22 percent of the product cost. There are basic label requirements. In addition, packaging can either attract or repel customers.

McGee held up some examples of packaging and asked the audience’s reaction to the product. Participants remarked how one item appeared to appeal to upscale shoppers. McGee pointed out that a person must also consider where it will be marketed. If it appears too upscale, it may not be as marketable at a roadside stand as it would be in a specialty shop. Some packaging did not enable customers to see any of the product inside, which is often considered a negative. According to McGee, the five senses of sight, feel, smell, sound, size and shape should be brought into packaging decisions.

Perhaps your friends and family love your product, McGee said. But when pricing your product, you must cover costs and bring income into the household to make it profitable.

For pricing considerations, potential entrepreneurs must also research how much the competition charges and how much customers are willing to pay.

Research shows that it does not pay to introduce a product a few cents lower than a competitor’s. It may not cover all your costs.

McGee introduced the differences between fixed costs and variable costs that must be considered when pricing an item. One of the most compelling reasons for deciding whether or not to go into business is to determine the break-even point. McGee asked, “How many jars of apple butter do you need to sell each month before you pay variable and fixed expenses and start to make a profit?” If you need to sell 300 jars a month before you begin to make a profit, how many more do you need to sell to make the venture worthwhile? Are you willing to make only a few dollars?

Although research, calculations and planning appear daunting, it is better to realize the odds before undertaking a new venture than failing later because too many details were overlooked.

Peggy Fogarty-Harnish, Penn State agricultural economic development educator, explained the importance of finding the right niche for a product. To do so, she said, it’s important to define qualities that make your product different from your competitors’ products and to determine the type of customers it will attract and how to promote it. “Have fun sharing your company brand with the world,” Fogarty-Harnish said of selecting ideas on how to market products. She encouraged food entrepreneurs to pursue newspaper coverage by contacting editors about events and ideas.

Nancy Wiker, Penn State food safety educator, stressed the importance of safe food handling practices. “Time is critical,” she said of the need to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. She gave the example of picking up chicken at the grocery store with only five salmonella specks on it, but how it could spread to 10,000 within the time it took an average shopper to refrigerate the meat. Wiker explained proper cleaning and sanitizing of home kitchens and cooking equipment.

“You are not permitted to produce potentially hazardous foods in a non-commercial kitchen,” Wiker said. These foods include cheesecakes, pumpkin pies, custard and meringue pastries and desserts.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services are responsible for enforcing food regulations and inspecting home kitchens. Melissa White, food sanitarian for PDA, outlined the requirements. It is necessary for all home food processors to complete paperwork for registration approval prior to preparing and selling food. The state is divided into seven regions, but the counties of Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon, Lancaster, Perry and York are in Region 6. Call PDA at (717) 346-3223 for more information and forms needed to complete the application process.

The annual registration fee is $35 but stringent rules regulate home kitchens. The water supply must be tested and approved. A written statement from the owner’s local municipality must be obtained to comply with zoning ordinances.

All ingredients must be separate from those used for personal use and properly protected. Restricted use of the home kitchen during any commercial processing requires no children permitted in the kitchen during that time. No animals and pets are permitted in the home at any time.

There are more regulations, but these alone deter many would-be entrepreneurs.

Edwin and Ellen Diller, both professional chefs, attended the workshop. They said they wanted to open a catering business in their home for many years, and were depressed to hear about the regulations. “It was either our dream dies or the dog goes, and that wasn’t an option,” Edwin said. Recently their dream has been revived by hearing about the possibility of renting commercial kitchen space.

For about four years, McGee has worked to open test kitchens at different sites throughout Pennsylvania. These sites offer access to commercial kitchen space to food entrepreneurs.

One of these sites is Lancaster Edibles Venture Kitchen on the campus of the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center, Mount Joy. Kimberly Patrick, project manager, explained the concept and gave a tour of the facilities. Five separate kitchens are available. Users receive equipment and safety training. Storage space for products is also available.

The Lancaster Edibles Venture Kitchen is operated by the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center in cooperation with the Center of Excellence in Production Agriculture, a project of Lancaster Prospers. Technical assistance is provided by Penn State Extension, PennTap, SCORE and ASSETS of Lancaster and the Library System of Lancaster County.

Several workshop participants viewed the certified kitchen space as the component that would enable them to start independent processing of soups, relishes, jams, baked goods and salad dressing.

“To be able to use a commercial mixer is wonderful,” Ellen said of the need to have one to establish a catering business with her husband. “It’s an item we can’t afford to buy.”

Space is rented to producers on an hourly basis. A tenant can rent the space for as little as 10 hours per month.

For more information about renting space at the Lancaster Edibles Venture Kitchen, call Patrick at (717) 653-3000, extension 3081.

Materials developed for starting food-for-profit businesses are available from the cooperative extension office in your county or on the Web at www.PaFoodVentures.psu.edu.

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