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On July 30, 2016

Next week, the Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer Program will announce the list of farmers that have been chosen to be part of the 2016 class of Master Farmers. Each summer, the Master Farmers gather to tour agricultural operations in some part of the 5 state area from which Master Farmers are selected. This summer, the gathering will be in Delaware, and it is at this summer gathering that the newly named Master Farmers will be welcomed into the organization.

This annual gathering of Master Farmers is, in some ways, unique among all of the farm gatherings and meetings that are held. When you look around the group assembled, you see mushroom producers, dairy, poultry, livestock and grain producers, commercial vegetable, small fruit and tree fruit producers; in short, you see all aspects of Mid-Atlantic agriculture represented. But, not only do you see successful, hard-working, innovative farm business owners, you also see a tremendous set of leaders. Reflecting the best of agricultural and community leadership, within any gathering of Master Farmers are local planning commission and conservation board members, school board and church council members, township supervisors, county commissioners, university trustees, former Secretaries of Agriculture, directors for financial institutions, and directors for regional and national agricultural cooperatives and farm organizations. The list of leadership roles fulfilled by Master Farmers goes on and on. Indeed, that is one of the attributes of a Master Farmer, not just to build and sustain a profitable agricultural business, but to also use their skills to improve life for others, both in their community and across the Mid-Atlantic. So, look for the announcement of the 2016 class of Master Farmers next week, and be sure to pass along your congratulations to these well-deserving award recipients!

The Master Farmer program has been around since 1927, and has honored nearly 700 farmers and farm families during that time. The Master Farmer Program is sponsored by the American Agriculturalist and the Extension Service in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia.

TO CONTROL JIMSONWEED AND OTHER POISONOUS PASTURE WEEDS

Conditions in many pastures across Pennsylvania are ideal for livestock poisonings due to poisonous weeds. Take Jimsonweed for example. Every part of Jimsonweed is poisonous, yet it usually grows undisturbed by livestock and horses in pasture because the plant has a very bitter taste. But horses and livestock that are on an overgrazed pasture, due to overstocking, or drought and summer heat, and are being fed dry hay in the pasture will at times eat jimsonweed simply out of boredom, or the desire to graze living plants. I have seen horses and dairy heifers poisoned and die from the exact situation I just described. Often the jimsonweed is growing among a rock outcropping, so it never gets clipped when the rest of the pasture is clipped. Or, the jimsonweed is growing along a road bank, and the animals in pasture are able to retrieve the plant from under or through the fence barrier.

If you have horses or livestock on pasture, and you are supplementing hay, check the pasture for jimsonweed. The signs of slight poisoning are rapid pulse, shallow breathing, fever and diarrhea. Signs of serious poisoning include animals laying on their side, unable to rise, in a coma-like state that leads to death. Avoid these tragedies by controlling jimsonweed in your fields and pastures.

TO UNDERSTAND THE BENEFITS OF THE EXPANDED PANAMA CANAL

International trade is a hot topic in the presidential campaigns this summer. However, most of us involved in agriculture understand that international trade is of critical importance to our industry. After nine years of construction, a new set of locks were put into service at the Panama Canal last month. This new set of locks will allow much larger container ships to pass through the Canal. The potential for international trade, with lower shipping costs, is obvious. Large container ships will now be able to make the trip from the Port of New Orleans to a Chinese port in 20 days. Previous to the Panama Canal expansion, if these very large container ships left New Orleans, they had to go around the tip of South America, or through the Suez Canal, to get to China, trips that took a little over a month. Not only will the larger container ships now fit through the Panama Canal, but the new tankers that carry liquefied natural gas will also fit through the new set of locks. At some point in the future, the fact that we can ship natural gas from east coast ports to Asia through the Canal will be a benefit to farmers and landowners in the Northeast that have shale gas wells on their properties.

Quote of the Week:  “Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.”  Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States of America

Dave Swartz is a district director and senior dairy educator for Penn State Extension. He works from the Cumberland, Dauphin, and Perry County Extension offices.

Leon Ressler

District Director – Chester, Lancaster, and Lebanon Counties
Penn State Cooperative Extension

Phone (717)-394-6851
Fax (717)-394-3962
lressler@psu.edu