:"a : .P1 GAZE'FrE, Friday, May S0 - June 5, 008
Ag department posts crop production estimates
The Delaware Department of
Agriculture has released its 2003
production information for wheat,
poultry, meat and milk.
Delaware wheat production is
forecast at 3.1 million bushels for
2003, down 25 percent from last
year and would be the state's
smallest crop sihce 1990. Accord-
ing to a report released from the
Delaware Agricultural Statistics
Service recently, acres for harvest,
at 47,000 acres, is down 19 per-
cent in part because planting was
prevented last fall due to wet
fields. This f'wst forecast of yield -
based on conditions around May 1
- at 65 bushels per acre, is 5
bushels lower than last year. At
the beginning of May winter
wheat condition was 11 percent
poor, 27 percent fair, 54 percent
good, and 8 percent excellent. Just
5 percent of the state's acreage
was headed, 21 points lower nor-
mal. Forty-eight percent of the
state's acreage was headed a year
ago, 22 points ahead of normal.
For the U.S., winter wheat pro-
duction is forecast at 1.56 billion
State issues
weekly crop report
Delaware farmers received
more rain last week, especially
over the weekend. So far this
month, Kent County has received
the most rain with 4.3 inches, fol-
lowed by Sussex County, with 4.0
inches and New Castle County
with 2.5 inches.
There were 2.0 days suitable for
field work for the week ending
May 25.
Soil temperatures averaged 61
degrees and air temperatures
ranged from 51 to 74 degrees.
Progress was made for corn,
soybeans, hay and vegetables.
Corn planted is over 85 percent
and 69 percent is already
emerged.
A small amount of green peas
have been harvested and hay cut-
tings are approximately isne to
two weeks behind due to the wet
weather.
Early bird garden tour
is May 31 in Wilmington
Rise and shine with Lenny Wil-
son for an early morning look at
the Delaware Center for Heft|cul-
ture's (DCH) gardens from 8 to 9
a.m., Saturday, May 31.
The tour focuses on the seasonal
highlights of various trees, shrubs
and perennials and the many recy-
cled materials used throughout the
garden, while the history of the
grounds is woven into the mix.
The cost is $5 for DCH mem-
bers and $9 for all others. Call
302-658-6262 to register or for
more information.
bushels, up 37 percent from last
year. Grain area totals 36.4 mil-
lion acres, up 23 percent from
2002.
Delaware growers produced
257.4 million broiler/roaster
chickens in 2002, virtually un-
changed from 2001. Pounds live
weight increased over 3 percent to
1.54 billion pounds. The total val-
ue was $494.2 million, down 17
percent from 2001 due to sharply
lower prices during the year.
Delaware ranks ninth in number
of birds produced (although Sus-
sex County remains the number
one producing county in the U.S.),
and seventh in pounds produced
and value of production.
For the U.S., production of
birds was up 2 percent, to 8.59 bil-
lion, live weight was up 4 percent
to 44.1 billion pounds, and value
decreased 20 percent, to $13.4 bil-
lion.
Delaware beef production was
6.8 million pounds in 2002, down
8 percent from 2001, while cash
receipts also decreased 8 percent,
to $6.1 million -- due to lower
marketings and lower cattle and
calf prices. Pork production was
6.0 million pounds, down 27 per-
cent, and cash receipts declined
35 percent, due to significantly
lower production and prices dur-
ing the year. U.S. beef production
was 55.9 billion pounds in 2002,
up 1 percent, while cash receipts
were $38.0 billion, down 6 per-
cent due to lower prices. U.S.
pork production increased 2 per-
cent, to 27.3 billion pounds, while
cash receipts decreased 23 per-
cent, to $9.6 billion, due to signif-
icantly lower prices.
Delaware milk production and
herd size increased in 2002. Aver-
age herd size for the year in-
creased 3 percent to 9,300 head.
Pounds of milk per cow decreased
to 16,559 pounds, due in part to
the number of days when the tem-
perature was above 90 degrees.
The herd size increase more than
offset the decline in milk per cow
to bring total milk production up
nearly 3 percent to 154 million
pounds. Cash receipts decreased
15 percent to $20.3 million, due to
a $2.80 per hundredweight fall in
average milk prices for the year.
U.S. milk production increased 3
percent in 2002 to 170 billion
pounds, rate per cow increased
412 pounds to 18,571, and aver-
age number of cows milked dur-
ing the year was 9.14 million
head, 27,000 more than in 2001.
Cash receipts for U.S. milk pro-
duction were $20.5 billion, 17
percent below 2001.
The Sussex County flag license tag comes with stainless steel screws for easy mount-
Cape Gazette Salutes
On the eve of the nation's
1976 bicentennial, Bill Scott, of
Selbyville and Lewes, set out to
create a flag for Sussex
County, Delaware. The bound-
aries of the state's largest
county as they exist today were
finally established just a year
before the thirteen colonies of
England declared their inde-
pendence in 1776. Through
the following 200 years,
Sussex County had no flag nor
any real need for one.
The design created by Scott
includes elements related to
the county's earliest European
settlers: the Dutch who landed
and established a community
in the area of Lewes in the early
and mid-1600s, and the
English who later, under
William Penn's guidance, con-
firmed that Delaware's south-
ernmost county should be
known as Sussex.
Scott wrote the following
background history for his
design: "The flag of the
Netherlands since 1630 has
been equally divided horizontal
stripes of red, white and blue.
The flag for the county has
adapted this pattern but
instead of equal distance the
proportions of the colors are
1/4 red (on top), 1/2 white, and
1/4 blue. The sheaf of wheat
comes from the fact that when
Sussex County was under the
jurisdiction of William Penn, he
decreed that the Sussex
County seal should be identi-
fied by the sheaf of wheat, Kent
County by ears of corn, etc.
Since flag design should be as
simple as possible, the sheaf of
wheat is superimposed on the
horizontal Dutch colors, there-
by making a colorful and easily
recognizable flag."
Scott's design was present-
ed to Sussex County officials
on Return Day in 1974.
The Cape Gazette recently
ran with Scott's design idea
and has created a new license
tag for the front of Delaware
vehicles. The newspaper
joined forces with Lewes'
award-winning artist Connie'
Costigan and commissioned a
new version of Scott's design
with a little artistic license.
Using a representation from a
stained glass window in
Groome Methodist Church in
Lewes as her guide, Costigan
drew a shock of stalks bending
under the weight of mature
wheat grains. Costigan's shock
was then superimposed on the
Dutch colors to create the lat-
est edition of the Sussex flag.
This new version arrives at a
time when Sussex County is
focusing on the need to pre-
serve its valuable farmland.
The tag punctuates the histori-
cal and contemporary impor-
tance of agriculture to the
Sussex community.
The new Sussex County flag
license tag is available free to
new Cape Gazette subscribers
or for the nominal fee of $3 for
current subscribers. The tags
are also available to nonsub-
scribers at a cost of $10.
The tags, metal with baked-
on enamel paint to capture the
vibrant colors of the Sussex
County flag, come with a pair
of stainless steel screws for
easy mounting.
d
I I'd be proud to have the new Sussex County tag. i
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