Future of Farming is Bright, State Officials Say

By Mary Klaus, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa.

Jan. 16–Fuel costs are rising, prices are falling for everything from milk to wool and development continues to gobble up prime farmland.

Nevertheless, Pennsylvania agriculture has a bright future, observers maintain.

“The number of farms is down, and there are less acres in farming,” state Agriculture Secretary Dennis C. Wolff said. “But there’s a lot more production on those acres because of improvements in technology.”

By the end of 2005, the state had 58,200 farms, down from 59,000 in 1995. In 1975, the number was 66,000, according to the Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service.

Wolff, who attended the 91st Pennsylvania State Farm Show that ended Saturday, admitted that development takes a lot of prime farmland and puts extreme pressure on farmers to sell.

He and Sandy Robison, who directs the Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Program, said the state is stemming that tide. Pennsylvania has preserved 344,465 acres on 3,048 farms in 56 counties in the past 20 years, Robison said.

Robison called 2006 “a record year in terms of state and county funding.”

The state allocated $102 million to the Farmland Preservation Program. Counties also contributed a record amount of funding, $45 million, for the year, she said.

Walter Peechatka, executive vice president of PennAg Industries Association, is concerned that the loss of farmland will continue. Farmers face “continued pressure from government regulations, especially on environmental issues like odor management [of manure] and taking care of the Chesapeake Bay,” he said.

Yet, Peechatka said, Pennsylvania agriculture has a bright future.

“Farmers will continue to produce more on less acres,” he said. “There will be more niche markets, more agricultural career opportunities and more exports.”

Wolff noted that the per-acre corn yield has risen from 60 bushels to 145 bushels in 50 years.

“We have better disease-resistant seeds, better conservation practices and more land being farmed per farm than we used to,” he said.

“Pennsylvania is a day’s drive from half the population of the United States,” Wolff added. “That lets our farmers market their fresh perishables directly to farm markets, which are very popular. Pennsylvania exports $1 billion of farm products annually, about a quarter of our production. That’s on the rise.”

Exports will continue to increase, Wolff said.

“Demand for our farm products is flat in the U.S. but rising in the world,” he added. “Remember, 96 percent of the world’s population lives outside the U.S., so we have to sell to global markets. And we’re doing that.”

Observers also have said that new uses for crops, such as corn to make ethanol, are creating new markets for farm products.

“I’m optimistic about the future of our agriculture,” Wolff said. “Pennsylvania agriculture is very diverse with many more areas than production. We have good soil, good climate and a great future.”

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