Lancaster Farming. Saturday. August 21. 1976
16
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Forage crop specialist John Baylor, right, points
out some characteristics of alfalfa plots to visitors
to the Penn State Research Farm at Landisville.
The Penn State educator considers anthracnose
Seed shortage possible
By DIETER KRIEG
CAMP HILL There’s
potential for a shortage of
seeds which could become
severe, a gathering of seed
dealers was told here earlier
this month. The occasion
was a seed symposium
sponsored by the Beachley-
Hardy Seed Company of
Shiremanstown.
Larry Brown of Water
man-Loomis in California,
noted tnat acres of cropland
devoted to seed production is
significantly down this year
from what it was a year ago
and this could have an effect
on production and prices.
“We face a potential shor
tage in seeds which could get
severe, but there’s no
shortage this year,” he said.
The United States
T obacco
I Continued from Page 1]
the leaves, a trait which does
not develop as readily during
dry weather.
Having 23 acres of
tobacco, Hess ranks as one of
the larger growers in the
County. He says he hasn’t
cut down in acreage over the
years as have many others,
and that tobacco is still the
mam cash crop on his place.
The Manheun area farmer
has been cutting the crop for
about two weeks iiow,
sometimes employing as
many as 10 men for this job
which is strictly all hand
labor. He’s expecting yields
of about a ton per acre.
All of his fields were
sprayed three times for
aphids, which was the only
significant problem he en
countered. Earlier in the
year he bad some portions of
a field damaged by hail and
heavy rams, but those areas
have recovered favorably.
Some other growers in the
County, particularly in the
New Holland area, weren’t
so lucky as storms played
%
Ti 1 /*/?»
Beachley-Hardy Seed Symposium
Department of Agriculture
recently released figures
which coincide with Brown’s
prediction. Alfalfa and
Kentucky bluegrass seed
stocks are down by more
than 25 per cent. Clover seed
stocks, however, are up
considerably, the USDA
report said.
Another guest speaker at
the seed symposium was Dr.
John Baylor, a member of
the American Forage and
Grassland Council and
nationally known specialist
in forage crops. The Penn
State professor pointed out
that many new innovations
lie ahead in forage
production including
infrared analyzers and
computers. He also stressed
the increased importance of
forages, due to the
for the most part, Lancaster
County’s tobacco crop for
1976 is very good.
John Murray was out
hoeing his tobacco by hand
when this reporter drove by.
Like Hess, he described his
crop as being very good and
cited aphids as the only
problem he had encountered.
He has about 20 acres of the
famous Lancaster County
cash crop on his father’s
farm near Columbia.
Although most Alaskans
accept the inevitability of
change, there is a great deal
of concern over whether
many of their ancient
traditions can be salvaged.
Most natives want to acquire
the skills that will enable
them to become wage
earners but not at the loss of
their linguistic, cultural, and
artistic traditions. In this
transition the educational
system will play a key role,
and efforts are going for
ward to adapt the s;
the special needs of
and the potato leaf hopper to be the most
threatening pests for alfalfa in southeastern
Pennsylvania.
economics of buying feed.
With that in mind, both he
and others who took the
podium noted that good
management of forage crops
is becoming more and more
important.
Management includes
selecting high quality seeds,
a film presentation showed.
Yield, stand endurance,
resistance to disease and
insects are not to be
overlooked. When all factors
are considered, a
“genetically engineered
area adapted alfalfa seed”
could increase the value of
hay per acre by more than
$2OO, the film showed. Brown
made the same point with a
worksheet he passed out to
the several dozen seedmen
who were in attendance here
at the Penn Harris Motor
Lodge.
Also on the program were
Harold Loomis, president of
Waterman-Loomis,
Bakersfield, Calif.; Robert
Thedinger, president of
Research Seeds, St. Joseph,
Mo.; Dr. David Beard, vice
president of Waterman-
Loomis; Dr. Joseph
McGahen, Penn State; A 1
Leffler, product service
manager from Acco Seeds,
Belmond, Iowa; John
Kugler, Waterman-Loomis;
Morris Brown of F. M.
Brown’s Sons, Inc., Paul
Roth of Roth Milling Co.;
Bob & Nancy Nelson, Clermont, lowa,
40 Cows.
Illii
"9 * I Jtd r
Ned Clark of Clark’s Feed
Mill; and William Sprenkle
of Spangler and Sprenkle.
The latter four served on a
discussion panel moderated
by Professor Baylor, which
was entitled “New
Challenges Facing the Seed
Dealer.”
The Seed Sympoisum
featured a variety of
discussions and presen
tations on the first day which
included forage
management programs,
seed production, new
developments in seeds and
forages, seed mer
chandising, breeding pest
resistant alfalfa, seed corn in
Pennsylvania, and new
developments in seed corn.
On the second day of the
symposium, hosts and guests
visited the Penn State
Research Farm at Lan
disville, where they could
see first-hand the results of
some of the experimentation
which was discussed on the
previous day. The group also
toured research plots at the
Milton Hershey Farms, and
Leo Dairy Farm where seed
plots and discussions were
presented. The day included
studies on varieties, insect
and weed controls,
population, fertilization, and
alfalfa dehydration.
controls, population, fer
tilization, and alfalfa
dehydration.
Ayrshire
breeders meet
LYKKNS - The Penn
sylvania Ayrshire breeders
met recently at the Foxglove
(arm owned by Charles K
Miller and family for a day
of fun and education
Beginning at 10 a m the
activities Included
demonstrations, guest
lectures, and Ayrshire
judging Dr John Mc-
Caffrey, official Judge for the
day, presented a clipping
demonstration in the mor
ning, after which the judging
competition began
Four classes were judged
with Mrs Maxine Flory of
Lititz coming out on top with
a score of 196 out of a
possible 200 Upper Dauphin
area FFA instructors,
Marlin Henmnger Jr. and
Stanley Weaver acted as
official scorers
At noon the 145 guests
enjoyed a buffet luncheon
topped off with pie and ice
cream. Following a short
business meeting, special
guest speaker, Dr. Larry
Specht of the Penn State
University, spoke on bull
proofs and presented figures
»s»«a
“I had become concerned with our low but
terfat test prior to changing to Hi-0 36. Within a
month after on Hi-0 my test had jumped .3 J_
percent along with an increase in milk The Hi-0 ji
has also reduced the dustiness of my gram JOJ
ration.”
Production Data Cows Milkim
Before Hi-0
3 Months after Hi-0 34 54.5 lbs.
Increase Per Cow per Day: +6.2 lbs.
which pointed out that plus
proven bulls sired plus
proven sons more
frequently, and minus bulls
in like fashion have minus
proven sons
After Dr Spccht's speech,
Enrl Keefer, National
Ayrshire Association
director, brought the group
up to date on the breed
programs, the availability of
semen from the top bulls of
the breed, and the upcoming
Pa State Club sale to be held
on August 24 at the Guernsey
sales pavilion in Lancaster.
Ann Young informed the
gathering of the plans for a
group tour set for October
1977 to go to England in
attendance the World
Ayrshire Conference
Sponsors for the day were
Purina Feeds, Atlantic
Breeders, International
Harvester Co., Agway, Inc.j(
Wilfred Deppen, Curtis
representative, Hershey
Foods Corp., Vigortone, M.
G. Hemunger and Sons, the
Gehl Company, Mechley
Dalmatia, Young’s Inc.,
Badger Corp., and Pioneer
Seeds.
Lbs. Milk per
Cow per Day
See Purina Ad Page 112 for Details.
48.3 lbs,