Recently, I’ve begun paying a little better attention to my health. I’ve been working with a personal trainer, drinking a lot more water, and paying closer attention than ever to every morsel of food that crosses my lips. In fact, if you dine with me, you’ll see me pause for a moment to take a picture of my food and send it off in a text to my trainer. Let me assure you, this is no millennial selfie craze, no exercise in personal vanity. One of my goals is to be increasingly conscious of what I eat, measuring everything. The result? I’m starting to see just how much more protein I need to consume to meet my personal goals. Said another way, chickens and eggs have never been so important to me in my life than at this moment right now. In fact, I fear I may soon be called “Gaston” in my house for the number of eggs and egg whites I’m starting to eat…
My new-found interest in eggs and chickens is of course music to the ears of my good friend Courtney Robinson over at BJE Poultry, as I find myself connecting with more information about where my food comes from (I mean beyond the grocery store), the industry which produces it, and with learning how it’s connected to the work we do at the Chamber. In honor of my new-found appreciation and in recognition of National Agriculture Week, (March 20 – 27) I thought I’d share with you some quick thoughts on how to support a local farmer this week while considering what’s going on in Pennsylvania’s number one industry, especially here in the Valley.
Awareness…Check Your Shoes
Did you know that there’s a new flu on the rise? No, I’m not talking about influenza or a COVID-19 variant, but the Avian Influenza (AI) that is impacting farms across the country? Not yet here in Pennsylvania (but close), AI is an extremely infectious virus, transmitted mostly by migratory waterfowl from pigeons to songbirds to Canadian geese. How is it transmitted, you ask? It can be as seemingly innocuous as walking through a park with a duck pond and picking it up on your shoes or shirt. Biosecurity right now is among the top concerns of poultry farmers, who can be subject to losses of entire chicken houses in 24 hours or less. Check out the USDA’s “Defend the Flock” Program to learn more about what you can do to help.
Farmers are being hit with inflationary costs like the rest of us, but the timing is bad: we’re getting closer to planting season. Stay tuned on the impact on local farmers with the cost of diesel and supply chain hiccups. Fertilizer which was once $300 per ton, is now nearly $1,080 per ton (if you can find it.). Yesterday, Jim Robey’s economic forecast to FOCUS Central Pennsylvania Industrial Development Forum (IDF 2022) hit on some of the inflationary issues and reminded us that we’ll feel the trickle down of inflation at the grocery stores because of the higher cost of farming in 2022.
Pictured above: (Left) Jim Robey addresses FOCUS Central PA's Industrial Development Forum 2022; (Right) Joe Kantz, Snyder County Commissioner, offers welcoming remarks.
Growth and Expansion
It's not all bad news though. At IDF 2022, we also heard Lauren Bryson share about local growth and expansion, including both recent growth and anticipated expansion at PennDairy, our very own Winfield-based yogurt and cheesemaker. In 2022, they’ll add a $1,000,000 investment in a 9,000 square foot warehouse facility and will exceed 30 million pounds of milk processed by year end. That’s up from 14 million pounds seven years ago.
Well-Positioned
As you know, your Chamber has been paying close attention to the changes made to the Pennsylvania Congressional map. As the dust has settled, it appears that Union and Snyder Counties have been included in the 15th Congressional District, represented by Glenn “GT” Thompson, who just happens to be a Chair of the House Agriculture Committee, and who recently shared remarks about National Agriculture Week on the House Floor. Check those out.
Know Where Your Food Comes From
In just a few short weeks, the 2022 Class of Leadership Susquehanna Valley will gather at your Chamber to kick off Agriculture Day, our annual exploration of the agriculture industry in the Greater Susquehanna Valley. To start us off, we’ll hear from PA Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, and we expect that he’ll talk to us about global markets, and Pennsylvania’s farm economy, as well as farmland preservation, where Union County in particular is taking an active lead.
With more farmland preserved for future generations, the answer to the original question is simple: where do my chicken and eggs comes from? They come from right here in the Valley, (along with my milk, beef, tomatoes, green beans, and the harvesting equipment needed to gather it all.) To be sure, a trip to the Lewisburg Farmers Market might be just what this article has you hankering for?
Just don't ask me which came first, the chicken or the egg, or I'll need to rethink my answer. It's always a pleasure to fill in for Bob on a quick blog write-up, but for now, let's get back to the sign-off you're familiar with, from our President/CEO -
Our best days lie just ahead.
