30 — Lancaster Farming Saturday, Nov. 6, 197$ Penn State has revolutionary Components of the "infrared spectro computer" system analyzing grains and forages at Penn State include six units. Infrared light analysis is carried out in the small black box attached to the white UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A new and rapid method to determine the quality of forages and feedstuffs for animals, using an infrared instrument and computer, is destined to become a major “breakthrough” in analyzing forage crops and cereal grains, according to plant scientists at The Pennsylvania State University. The new device is called an “infrared spectro com puter” and -was developed jointly by scientists of the WE RENT CHAIN SAWS LEBANON /centals n u Unlimited 940 Cornwall Rd. Phone 717-272-4658 READING JS oac/illgf TOOL and EQUIPMENT mn.onisti 12th & Spring Streets Phone 215-376-3896 LANCASTER (SI I Sk 720 N - Prince st "" Phone 717-393-1701 WE RENT MOST EVERYTHING Agricultural Experiement Station at Penn State and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The “infrared spectro computer” is capable of predicting dry matter, protein, fiber, and total digestible nutrients of hay, grass silage, com silage, cereal grains, and soybeans. Initial studies indicate that the analytical system can predict the nutritional value of these farm crops very accurately, declared Dr. John S. Shenk, project instrument second from left. The systems operator is Melvin R, “Rick" Hoover of York, Pa., doctoral degree candidate. ~ director and associate sidered: (1) in professor of plant breeding terdepartmental forage at Penn State. research at Penn State, (2) Three general of nutritional evaluation of application are being con- farm forages and feedstuffs, crop analyzer and (3) hay marketing. “If data from ruminant feeding trials can be collected on enough forage samples to calibrate with the technique, weight gains and milk production by animals might be predicted directly from forage samples rather than indirectly from chemical analyses and mathematical equations,” Shenk stated. And he explained that thousands of forage samples are generated each year by research projects within the College of Agriculture. These Include animal nutrition experiments, forage management studies, and forage breeding STOLTZFUS MEAT MARKET i ATTENTION FARMERS I CUSTOM BEEF BUTCHERING I OUR SPECIALITY Wmmmsmmimsmammmzm —FRESH BEEF AND PORK— OUR OWN HOME MADE SCRAPPLE & FRESH SAUSAGE Bacon and Country Cured Hams Orders taken for freezer Meats Directions: 1 block east of Intercourse on Rt. 772 - Newport Road STORE HOURS ™^ RS ‘ MARTIN FREE STALLS provide features that increase the advantages of Free Stall Housing for Rainbow Farms, Walnutport, Pa. “Our stalls are exactly the right length and cows cannot bend them.” WRITE OR CALL FOR INFORMATION WITH YOUR SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS o programs. Applied to such projects, the new analytical technology will save con siderable time and funds, he claimed. Moreover, nutritional information provided by the “spectro computer” can be made available to other computer-centered research programs at Penn State. An example would be the Dairy Herd Simulation Program now used by Shenk in his forage breeding projects. Equally important will be the time saved in analyzing feed and forage samples and in getting the results to farmers. Analysis on the [Continued on Page 31] PH. 768-3941 / ‘r\ V\ U\ ¥ wrln SAT. 9-5
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