Lancaster Farming: Ephrata, PA
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:07pm.
 Tracy Sutton
Zone EditorWASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator known as a pitbull on the pantleg of corporate America — the same senator who gained a measure of renown for demanding congressional hearings on corporate bailout bonuses — this week put dairy processors in his crosshairs. In a sober teleconference Wednesday, Sanders, whose constituency comprises many New England dairy farms, called the current dairy crisis “a real disaster.” “This is the worst crisis I can remember,” said Sanders.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:05pm.
Charlene M. Shupp Espenshade
Special Sections EditorEditor’s note: This is the first story in a series about how farmers are addressing health care challenges.
MILLERSTOWN, Pa. — With the price tag to fully insure a self-employed family running at about $17,000 per year, many farm families are looking for options on how to make health care more affordable. Matt and Jackie Matter of Millerstown have opted to take a different approach.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:04pm.
 Carol Ann Gregg
Western Pa. CorrespondentMERCER and CLARION COUNTIES, Pa. — On a whirlwind tour, a group of German farmers, journalists and environmentalists traveled through Ohio and Pennsylvania last week. Arriving in Columbus, Ohio the evening of July 5, the group spent two-days touring eastern Ohio and then moved into western Pennsylvania. The German Embassy, the Ecologic (German) Institute, The Environmental Defense Fund, and the National 25x’25 Alliance sponsored the group looking at alternative fuels and ways that American farmers are involved in reducing the dependency on petroleum. “This tour is an exchange program,” Bruce Arnold, West Chester, member of the 25x’25 committee, said.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:03pm.
 Elizabeth Ferry
Vermont Correspondent
CORINTH, Vt. — Some places in Vermont are so beautiful that they take your breath away. Central Orange County, on a sunny summer day, is one of those places. Traveling dirt roads over rolling hills that are blanketed in mature woodlands and spotted with open fields, one sees vistas which, is it easy to imagine, are not so different than they were 50 and 100 years ago.
Sheep farming boomed on these hills, as it did throughout the state, in the mid-1800s.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:01pm.
Chris Torres
Staff WriterThe National Family Farm Coalition blasted the U.S. House Agriculture Committee Tuesday for “shutting out” small farmers from a hearing on the nation’s dairy troubles. Paul Rozwadowski, the coalition’s dairy subcommittee chairperson, told reporters during an afternoon teleconference that even though the hearing brought out the troubles the dairy industry is having, it did little to address the problems small farmers and their families were having dealing with the crisis. “Although they did a pretty good job of describing the conditions out there, they had basically no one out there talking about the effects on families,” Rozwadowski said. The hearing included representatives from the National Milk Producers Federation, Western United Dairyman and Select Milk Producers, Inc., three organizations the coalition has criticized for not doing enough to address the current milk pricing system. “They don’t seem to understand that dairy farmers are disappearing and our food security is at risk,” he said.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:01pm.
 Jayne Gest
Delaware CorrespondentDelaware held its grand opening for its newest farmers’ market July 8 in Dover attended by numerous state officials and some hungry customers. An upsurge of new farmers’ markets have been starting up and down the First State over the past several years, while older markets are gaining popularity as well.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:59am.
Steve Taylor
New England CorrespondentBRATTLEBORO, Vt. — So far, a little-noticed struggle between a small group of breeders of elite Holstein dairy cattle on one side and a combination of the USDA and the nation’s seven largest artificial insemination studs on the other has USDA and the AI organizations holding the upper hand. But the breeders are battling on, having just won a vote of support at the Holstein Association of America’s annual meeting in California and getting some interest from a few Congress people in Washington. At issue is an agreement that essentially keeps genomic testing of Holstein bulls within the exclusive preserve of USDA and the seven major AI studs. But a number of Holstein breeders — nobody knows just how many right now — want to be able to tap genomic testing technology currently controlled by USDA and the studs so they can determine for themselves the potential value of young sires they’ve produced on their farms for entry into the lucrative bull semen business. These breeders convinced delegates at the annual Holstein convention to adopt a resolution to “support termination of the contract between seven AI organizations and USDA that prevents genomic testing of bulls by others not included in the agreement.” From all appearances, however, neither USDA nor the studs are in any hurry to ditch the exclusivity arrangement and allow genomic testing services to become available to all comers. This contract issue traces back about 15 years to when bovine genomic testing was first appearing on the horizon.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:58am.
 Chris Torres
Staff WriterMOUNT JOY, Pa. — Corn, soybeans, switchgrass. These are the crops that are supposed to fuel future energy production in the U.S. as well as increase opportunities for farmers. But one Pennsylvania entrepreneur wants to add beets to the equation.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:55am.
 Steve Taylor
New England CorrespondentPLAINFIELD, N.H. — One early spring day about 1936 Albert K. “Abe” Read was driving a car to high school when his vehicle got stuck in the mud. A resourceful young man, he walked to a nearby farm to seek help. Learning the farmer wasn’t home, he asked if he might borrow a pair of oxen he knew were housed in the barn and the farmer’s wife said it would be fine with her.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 11:38am.
 Andrew Jenner
Virginia Correspondent Everyone knows the story: American farmers are getting fewer, and older, the American public becomes ever more removed from the fields and feedlots that produce their food. The net effect, often, is something of a siege mentality on the part of an agricultural community that feels beset on all sides by tighter profit margins, governmental regulations and private interest groups. Take, for example, the Humane Society of the United States, the country’s largest animal welfare organization — the mere mention of which often dredges up some combination of scorn and disgust in farming circles.
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