Home TV tells farmer when to buy and sell Quality Service has ben providing home economics and nutrition information since May. LANCASTER - After working his farm a|l day, Howard Martin turned on his home television to get the latest prices and trading figures for grams. Within minutes, he phoned his broker to cancel an order he had made that morning. “Market conditions had changed enough so that I really would have regretted not cancelling that large order to sell,” he said. “For the first tune, I realized how important it is to have timely market information and quick access to it.” Howard Martin is a cash gram farmer who has 2000 acres in Kentucky. Like 199 other farmers from Todd and Shelby counties, he is getting commodity, weather and other information about agriculture every day from a special computer system hook-up ,to his home television set. The system is called “Green Thumb” after a portable Green Thumb box (a memory unit) that retrieves data from a computer hook-up to home telephone and TV sets. Nov. 17th Thru Nov. 29th We Buy In Bulk So You Can Save! BUY ANY 2 BO GET 3rd of Sim Value FREE ★ We Have All The National Brands of Vitamins & Supplements! Try Our Specialty Items... • Fertile Brown Eggs & Honey • Low Salt Foods • Vegetarian Foods • Nitrite-Free Hot Dogs • Natural Cosmetics • Huge Book Selection WEAVER S NATURAL FOODS, INC. Open Monday, Wednesday & Saturday 9 to 5 Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 9 to 8 COUPON CURB COLD TABLETS NOW S 6 00 S« c With This Coupon Expires Dec. 15th The pilot project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Science and Education Administration, the Ken tucky Cooperative Extension Service, and the U S Department of Commerce National Weather Service. In the system, a farmer using a selected code for the type of information he wants, calls the county extension office and is connected to a micro computer there that receives information from a com puter at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture “The system is the first project of its kind anywhere in the country and is a unique and valuable decision-making tool for agriculture,’’ said Howard Lehnert of the Science and Education Administration - Extension. He helped con ceive the idea and nurtured its development. “Day. or night, farmers can get information at home from data sources throughout the country,” he said. Wholesale and Retail 37 MARKET SQUARE MANHEIM, PA 17545 *4.00 i Weaver’s Natural Foods, Inc According to Lehnert this is more than just a computer dissemination system for the farm. “It is a demonstration of new technology, of elec tronics that has worked like a charm. It has limitless possibilities for busuiess and commercial use because it is portable and less expensive than other view data systems,” he said John Ragland, associate director of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, said farmers -already are putting the system to many uses. William Giltner, for one, has learned to apply the new technology in complex ways In combination with Ex tension’s Green Thumb, he uses a micro-computer to handle field records and accounting, and to balance the feed ratio for each cow in his dairy herd operation. GUtner has a 1200 acre diversified farm in Shelby County and has profited $2,800 by making corn future transaction decisions with the system. He frequently uses it for weather m- 717-665 6871 I COUPON Bring This Coupon For Your FREE GIFT During Our Anniversary Celebration new Green Thumb idea Uncaster Farming, Saturday, November 15,1980-C37 tormation This spring he was able to plant corn 20 days earlier than usual because the system told him that soil temperatures were warm enough. “Green Thumb’s memory unit has been very helpful in telling me how many good working days I have for planting, how many acres I can get planted, and it helps me in planning my field scheduling. I can watch the possibility of rain coming. I’ll know I’m likely to get rained out in the middle of growing, ’ ’ Giltner said. Ray Moss Tucker has used the system to keep track of the path of the alfalfa weevil and rainfall in different parts of the country. _ ___ - - Tucker, who grows com, ST¥i/Ul/ hay and tobacco on his 600- acre farm in Shelby county, also has gotten extended weather forecasts when he has missed news from other sources David Kerr, who raises hogs on a 200-acre farm in Todd County, said his wife has profited from valuable nutrition tips, menus and other items commumcaU , to homemakers through the system. The Kentucky project began operating m March with $300,000 in grant funds from the Science and Education Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad ministration. Lehnert, who worked two years to set it up, envisions the project as the beginning of a nationwide system He said that a number of state extension offices currently are investigating ways of implementing the system with the cooperation of the private sector. The first commodity in formation in the system was the regional market report from the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Smce early September, market reports have in cluded local and other in formation that they did not previously have on auctions and on supply, demand, movement and volume of commodities. -The new information is being supplied by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. Drawing on its nationwide commodity network system, the marketing agency even tually will provide farmers WE SELLTHE WORLD'S LARGEST SELLING CHAIN SAW. Sfihl didnt get to be the Bui il vour SfihJ saw men in the business are woilds laigest selling ever needs a ’une up here to help Come by rhain saw with a product maybe a spark plug or and see the world s ones* lhal needs more service iust a onceover the besl chain saw ihan it giv»>v taclo-y trained service MARTIN HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT CO. Rt. 501, IV2 Miles South of Schaefterstown. PA Phone 717-949-6817 Open Mon Fn Bto 8 Wed Bto 12 Sat 8 to 5 TtaWnUtlaiyH S*lh using the system with national reports from many other markets. The National Weather Service primarily provides short-term and extended forecasts and weather radar maps. Extension specialists at the University of Kentucky now are providing reports on agricultural economics and occurrence of pests. Local extension offices are preparing information on 4- H and other community activities. TV.O FonH Safety and How to LITITZ Each year hundreds of unsuspecting farmers across the country lose part of their small gnan crop to smut And, un fortunately, by the tune those insidious fungal spores have started to do their damage, it’s already too late to stop them. But smut problems on crops like wheat, oats and barley can be avoided by simply treating the seed before the disease gets a chance to start, according to a number of experts. Although smut on small grains is caused by a variety of fungi and is usually not apparent to growers until late in the growing season, the problem is a relatively simple one to understand. The two basic types are loose smut and covered smut Loose smut Is a seed borne disease whose spores eventually replace the seed of the plant. During flowering tune, the smut spore is floating in the air It will land on the flower of a plant, then germinate and grow mto the developing seed.” Following harvest, the loose smut fungus will overwinter in the seed as mycelium After planting, it invades the young seedlings, replacing the kernels with fungal spores. Instead of producing gram, the kernels will then become a mass of fungal spores Later, when the kernel membrane breaks, the smut spores will be released into the air, eventually landing on healthy plants and starting the cycle again ST/HL . “Extension’s Green Thumb project is the real wave of technology of the future,” Ragland said. "For agriculture, it will mean more productivity. For farmers, it is the first logical step toward more com prehensive use of other computers that will help farmers and other con _ sinners in their decision- making.” control in small grain For covered smut, also known as bunt or stinking smut in wheat, the process is slightly different. Once again, the smut spores will infect the developing kernel and displace all tissue within the membrane, but instead of rupturing during flowering time, the mem brane may remain intact until harvest. At that time, the mem brane will usually break, releasing black, powdery spores and a strong fishy odor. These spores begin to infect the plants as the seedlings emerge, even tually displacing kernel tissues and forming new bunt balls which will again break at harvest to renew the cycle. Smut damage all depends on the level of infection of the seed In the case of loose smut, if 30 percent of the seeds are infected, you’ll probably lose almost 30 percent of your crop. But with stinking smut farmers have two kinds of losses; the loss from the destruction of the head by the disease organism the same as you would with loose smut. But on top of that, they get a dockage when you take your crop to market. Covered smut can be a major problem, especially because of the smell. Some elevators won’t even take gram infected with covered smut. Those who will take it give a dockage on the order of 10 to 20 cents per bushel and they also charge a grower to wash the gram to get rid of the smut. There really aren’t any good reasons for not treating seed There have been in stances when 50 percent of the plants in a field are in fected, completely ruining the crop. When seed treat ments can control the problem almost 100 percent, it doesn't make sense not to treat Until recent years, many growers had success m controlling smut with methyl and phenol mercurial fungicides But with th* banning of mercun. seed treatments in 1978, f&- and researchers hav, turning increasing!} to ot*vr compounds Carboxm is a sten that wdl go inside t- cer minatmg seed an control sm>!, he CVoumwill woiK 'xternallj oi wore plants to control s „ decav -r dlmg-’l^'v ,iss£ """aasi < r
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