Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 12:12pm.
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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 12:10pm.
 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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 12:06pm.
 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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:59am.
 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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:54am.
 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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:51am.
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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:48am.
 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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:45am.
 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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:40am.
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.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 11:37am.
 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.
|
