Lancaster Farming: Ephrata, PA
OUR 55th YEAR! |
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Gloom for New England’s Dairies
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 9:54am.Steve Taylor
New England Correspondent
“We’re starving, that’s all I can tell you,” says Hugh Langmaid, a lifelong dairyman in North Danville, Vt., “but nobody forced us to farm.”
Langmaid’s comment typifies the gloom and resignation expressed by farmers in Vermont and New Hampshire about the prolonged depression in milk prices and the lack of signs of a turnaround anytime soon.
Maine dairy producers are in an envious position compared to their brethren in the other Northern New England states: they have a state program funded with a new $13 million legislative appropriation that aims to guarantee them a pay price of between $17 and $20 a hundredweight for the coming year, compared to the $12 or so regional blend price elsewhere presently.
Farmers aren’t getting their share, in Langmaid’s view, and rising volumes of imported dairy commodities are helping to drive down federal order prices in the Northeast and across the United States.
He says it’s up to President Obama to recognize the importance of preserving family farms and to initiate actions to that end.
Prigel Creamery Takes One Step Closer to Opening
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 9:44am.
Laurie Savage
Maryland Correspondent
GLEN ARM, Md. — A check for $250,000 from Baltimore County brought Bobby and Pam Prigel one step closer to opening their on-farm creamery and showed the level of commitment the county has for the project.
Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith presented the loan check to the Prigels during a ceremony Tuesday in front of the creamery building on Bellevale Farm.
"Agriculture has always been such an important part of Baltimore County," Smith said from the podium set within view of the Prigels' grazing Jerseys.
Vilsack and Chu Visit Va. on ‘Revitalization’ Tour of Rural America
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 9:40am.Rocky Womack
Virginia Correspondent
BLAIRS, Va. — On July 18, 2009, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Energy Secretary Steve Chu visited Virginia to spread the Obama Administration message of rebuilding and revitalizing rural America and expressing acknowledgement that the nation is struggling.
“I want to first and foremost recognize these are extraordinarily stressful times for our country, and they have been particularly stressful for folks in rural communities,” Vilsack said.
The Largest Crop in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Is...?
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 9:32am.
Dick Wanner
Lancaster Farming Staff
What uses more gas than a full supertanker, more water than a whole bunch of rivers, 19 million pounds of pesticides and 215 million pounds a year of nitrogen fertilizer, costs $5 billion a year and the equivalent of 61,000 full time jobs to maintain?
If your answer was, “Grass,” you get an A for paying attention.
