This page brought to you by:

This Week’s National Career Cluster: Agriculture and Natural Resources

Brian Beckman is afourth-generation farmer.His ancestors grew differ-ent produce on the cashmarket.Inthe1970sheandhis brother, Bill, started apartnership growing to-matoes and grapes. In theearly 1990s they startedselling grapes to Welch’sexclusively. Brian’s sonTracy has joined the fam-ilybusinessandtheir farmbusiness has grown to sellharvesting equipment anddo somecustomfarmworkfor other area farmers.They are one of the lead-ers in new farming tech-niques establishing anenvironment where farms

run efficiently while usingthe latest technology anddecreasing cost.

Theconstantly-changingweather conditions cre-ate a challenge to grow-ing a product that is bothabundant and high qual-ity. However, seeing thefruit of their labor is whatthey enjoy most. They areparticularly proud of theirwell-maintained farms.

There are always thechallenges of the increas-ingcostofmaterials,equip-ment, labor, etc. combinedwiththedecreaseincostofpayment for the product.

Beckman Farms em-ploys five full-time, year-

round employees. Season-ally, they have 12 employ-ees, finding adequate la-borers can be a challenge.They prefer employees tohavegrapefarmingexperi-ence, however if someoneis willing to work hard andlearn, they would be a can-didate. Also, any mechani-cal repair background isbeneficial.

Being a grape growerrequiresdedication.Farm-ers work long hours, oftenseven days a week in ad-verse weather conditions.Even after harvest is over,thereisstilla lotofworktodo,especiallyinthewintermonths. After harvest, and

during the winter months,the grapevines are prunedback to encourage newgrowth.Afterthat,thevinesare tied onto wires to keepthemofftheground.Springisspentrepairinganydam-agetothevineyardsthatoc-curred over the previousgrowing year. The summeris spent training the vinesand spraying to avoid dis-ease and insect damage aswell as fertilizing.

Thebestqualificationtobeagrapegrowerwouldbeexperience.Onewouldalsohave to have the money tostart the business, as wellas good financial sense tomake the right decisions.

Career focus: Brian Beckman, Beckman Farms

FILE PHOTO/Erie Times-News

Brothers Bill and Brian Beckman, and Brian’s son, TracyBeckman, from left, grow grapes at Beckman Farms inHarborcreek Township.

Employment of farmers,ranchers, and other agriculturalmanagers is projected todecline 2 percent from 2014 to2024. The continuing ability ofthe agricultural sector toproduce more with fewerworkers will cause somefarmers to go out of business.

As land, machinery, seed,and chemicals become moreexpensive, only well-capitalizedfarmers and corporations will beable to buy many of the farmsthat become available. Theselarger, more productive farmsare better able to withstand theadverse effects of climate andprice fluctuations on farm outputand income.

*Bureau of Labor Statistics

Owners of large tracts ofland increasingly will seek

the expertise of agriculturalmanagers to run their farms

and ranches as businesses.Look through the Erie

Times-News real estatesection to find some

sizeable land that mightneed managers.

Some farmers work primarily with cropsand vegetables, whereas other farmersand ranchers handle livestock.

Farmers, ranchers, and otheragricultural managers operateestablishments that produce crops,livestock, and dairy products.

Farmers, ranchers, and otheragricultural managers typically do thefollowing:▀Supervise all steps of the crop

production and ranging process, includingplanting, fertilizing, harvesting andherding.▀Determine how to raise crops or

livestock by evaluating factors such asmarket conditions, disease, soil conditionsand the availability of federal programs.▀Select and purchase supplies, such as

seed, fertilizers and farm machinery.

▀Ensure that farm machinery ismaintained and repaired.▀Adapt their duties to the seasons,

weather conditions, or a crop’s growingcycle.▀Maintain farm facilities, such as water

pipes, hoses, fences and animal shelters.▀Serve as the sales agent for livestock,

crops and dairy products.▀Record financial, tax, production and

employee information.Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural

managers produce enough crops andlivestock to meet the needs of the UnitedStates and still have more left over forexport.

Farmers, ranchers and other agriculturalmanagers monitor the constantlychanging prices for their products. Theyuse different strategies to protectthemselves from unpredictable changes inthe markets. For example, farmerscarefully plan the combination of crops

that they grow, so if the price of one cropdrops, they will have enough income fromanother crop to make up for the loss.Farmers and ranchers also track diseaseand weather conditions closely, becausedisease and bad weather may have anegative impact on crop yields or animalhealth. When farmers and ranchers planahead, they may be able to store theircrops or keep their livestock to takeadvantage of higher prices later in theyear.

Most farm output goes to food-processing companies. However, somefarmers now choose to sell their goodsdirectly to consumers through farmer’smarkets or use cooperatives to reducetheir financial risk and to gain a largershare of the final price of their goods. Incommunity-supported agriculture (CSA),cooperatives sell shares of a harvest toconsumers before the planting season toensure a market for the farm’s produce.

Job outlook

Activity

FArming, rAnching,Agriculture mAnAgement

FooD

Silver shakers and thesilverscreengobackalongtime.ThinkFrench75from“Casablanca” and Agent007’s dry martinis.

So for those of you plan-ningtodrinkalongathomefor the Feb. 28 showing ofthe Oscars this year, nowmight be a good time to getyour cocktail act together.AndTimFederle,authorof“Gone with the Gin,” has afew ideas about that.

FromTheMoon-Shining— moonshine, ruby redgrapefruitjuice,rum,that’sright, red rum — to Tequi-la Sunrise Boulevard, thebest-selling author has alineup of cinematicallyinspired cocktails meantto be shaken, stirred andsippedwithtongueplantedfirmly in cheek.

Bubbly as a Champagnecocktail, “Gone with theGin” nonetheless has seri-ous underpinnings. Fed-erle worked with talentedbartender Cody Goldstein,founder of MuddlingMemories, a craft cocktailand bar consulting firm inNew York. There also areuseful sections on tools,techniques and even somefun food recipes.

“The approach was hu-morous and, yeah, they’dbettertastegood,too,”saidFederle.

This cinematic cocktailcollection follows Feder-le’s“TequilaMockingbird,”which featured literary li-bations. For “Gone withthe Gin,” Federle startedby making a spreadsheetoftheAmericanFilmInsti-tute’s Top 100 films. Then,he looked for cocktail-friendly titles. So “WhiteChristmas”pluswhiteRus-sianbecameadrinkcalledWhite Russian Christmas.

Then he and Goldsteinlooked for ways to tweakthe recipes to match themovies.

For the White RussianChristmas, the classic reci-pe — vodka, coffee liqueurandcream—gotaseasonaltwist of vodka, crème dementhe, coffee liqueur,eggnog and crushed candy

cane for a garnish.In all, Federle serves

up 50 recipes organized bygenre (drama, sci-fi, etc.),and each recipe comeswith a brief but informa-tive blurb about the moviein question. And if you area punster, the titles will beadelight.Astandout:Mup-pets Make Manhattans.

Fingerfoodcanbetrickyfor the healthy eater. Tinybites that explode with fla-vor often are loaded withempty calories and littlenutrition. If I’m not payingattention at a party, I caneasily inhale a day’s worthof calories, just because,well,I’mhungry.Andfingerfood is so, you know, small.So I eat a lot.

But what if we made fin-ger food a little healthier?Aslightlymorefunversionof something I feel goodabout eating? And that’swhat this week’s recipe is— a salad stuffed with pro-teinandveggies,butturnedportablethankstomylittlesecret for making a better-for-you crispy tart crust.

The trick? White bread.Yes, white bread! Don’t

panic. Of course, normallyI go for whole-grain. Butcompared to a butter- orshortening-filled pie crust,a simple slice of whitebread is a great compro-

mise. And it’s for a party.And did I mention it isholdingsalad?Whitebreadsquished flat until doughy,then sprayed lightly witholive oil and baked in amuffin tin makes an amaz-ing crust!

Usually, these little tart-let crusts are my party ve-hicle of choice for salad,everything from a Chinesechicken salad to a Greeksalad with salmon andyogurt dressing. Sincewe try to eat fish severaltimes a week in our home,I always have some high-quality tuna stashed in mycupboard. So this week,try my Salade NicoiseTartlets, then feel free tomake these tartlet crustsyour own. A fun idea: usecoconut oil instead of oliveoil and fill with somethingsweet, such as berries andchopped mint.

Serving up cocktailswith a cinematic twist

Slice of bread is trickto healthier Oscars food

By MICHELLE LOCKEAssociated Press

By MELISSA D’ARABIANAssociated Press

10 slices of white sandwichbread, crusts removed

Olive oil cooking sprayKosher salt and ground black

pepper1 teaspoon Dijon mustard1 tablespoon red wine

vinegar1 tablespoon lemon juice2 tablespoons olive oil1 teaspoon chopped fresh

thyme10 small cherry tomatoes,

quartered1 cup chopped romaine

lettuce1⁄4 pound thin green beans,

steamed to crisp-tenderand roughly chopped

5 small new or babypotatoes, cooked andthinly sliced

5-ounce can oil-packed tuna,drained

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

2 tablespoons choppedmarinated olives

1 tablespoon chopped freshchives1. Heat the oven to 375

degrees.2. Usea rollingpin to

flattenthe bread slicesuntildoughy and thin.Spritz both sides of eachslicewith oliveoilcookingspray, thensprinkle light with saltand pepper. Press eachsliceinto a muffin tincup. Bake until golden,about 13 minutes.Remove the bread cupsfromthe pan, then setaside to cool on a rack.

3. Meanwhile,preparethe salad. In a mediumbowl,whisk together themustard,red winevinegarand lemon juice.Drizzle in the oliveoil,whiskinginto avinaigrette. Add the

thyme, then seasonwithsalt and pepper.

4. Set aside half of thevinaigrette to use later.Add the tomatoes,lettuceand green beansto the remainingdressing and toss to coat.Oncethe tartlet crustsare cooled, layer theslicedpotatoes on thebottomof each cup.

5. Top the potatoeswith the tomatomixture,then the crumbledeggs,tuna,chopped olives andchives. Finish each witha drizzleof dressing.

Makes 10 tartlets.▀Per serving: 220

calories, 7 grams fat, 3grams fiber, 9 gramsprotein,32 gramscarbohydrate,320milligrams sodium,45milligrams cholesterol

Values areapproximate.

2 ounces apple brandy3⁄4 ounce sweet vermouth1⁄2 ounce apple juice11⁄2 teaspoons honey3 dashes baked apple

bitters (or orange bitters)Green apple slice, to

garnishBacon, to serve

In a mixingglassfilledwith ice, combineall ingredientsexceptthe apple. Stir well,then strain into acocktail glass andgarnish with theappleslice.Serve with a sliceof bacon (with apologiesto Miss Piggy).

— adapted from Tim

Federle’s “Gone with theGin,” Running Press,

2015

the muPPetS mAke mAnhAttAnS

11⁄2 ounces vodka1 ounce light rum1 ounce coconut water2 ounces pineapple juiceSparkling wine, to serve

In an ice-filledcocktail shaker,combine the vodka,rum, coconut water andpineapple juice. Shakewell, then strain into anice-filled rocks glass.Top with a splash ofsparkling wine.

— adapted from TimFederle’s “Gone with the

Gin,” Running Press,2015

monty Python AnD the Stolie grAil

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAlADe nicoiSetArtletS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wednesday, February 10, 2016 | Erie Times-News | GoErie.com | 3D