A26—Lancaster Farming, Saturday. November 21.1981
Lebanon Farm-City
When farmer Leroy Geesamn
visited the Bethlehem Steel plant,
he confessed he too had an eye
opening experience And, he said,
it was the first time he has ever
“showered before going to work ”
Farmer Cyrus Bomberger
welcomed Alcoa’s Howard Boose
to the agricultural world This was
the first time Boose was on a farm
since the time when farmers used
horses to do all the work
“A farmer is a laborer,
machinest, welder, manager,"
listed Boose “Name any job down
at the plant and a farmer does it
And his wife is the accountant and
worker ”
Boose related how he witnessed
a calf being born, and how he was
amazed at the scale of the
operation “Farmers have ad
vanced faster than industry."
observed Boose "That’s why they
can feed so many people Farmers
are businessmen in every sense of
the word They do it ail ”
Bomberger, too, had good words
to say about his visit to the Alcoa
plant “When I went by the guard, I
saw he had about a half dozen
televisions to watch it looked
like a good place to work,” he
laijghed
The Farm-City job exchange,
said Bomberger, was “more than
worthwhile” and gave him the
Alfalfa producers
(Continued trom Page A 25)
Forage and Seed Conference
The overall average estimated
hay equivalent yield for the top 10
growers in each of the three years
was 7.5 tons per acre, more than
double the state average. Average
estimated production of crude
protein and total digestible
nutrients for these growers was
2,634 pounds per acre and 7,534
pounds per acre, respectively
Over the three-year period, a
total of nine different high-yielding
varieties were used by the 30
growers, indicating the excellent
germ plasm currently available
These varieties also were con
sistently among the highest
yielding in replicated research
trials at various locations m the
state.
All top growers planted altalta
on well-drained soils, mainly ol
limestone origin. Lime and fer
tility program tor establishment
and maintenance were based, on
soil test and grower experience.
Most producers applied dairy cow
manure in the rotation before
alfalfa.
Seventy-five percent of the top
yields during the three year were
made during the first full harvest
year after the year of seeding and
were from stands seeded in the
spring without a companion crop.
For the majority of the fields, a
herbicide was used to control
weeds at establishment.
Over the three-year period, all
top 30 growers made at least four
cuttings per year and three har
vested their crop five tunes. In an
area where three cuttings per year
is common, this move to more
frequent harvest by top producers
indicates the potential of more
intensive management for high
yields of high quality forage
In 1978 three of the top 10
growers stored all of their cuttings
as silage with eight storing one or
more cuttings in this form. For the
other two years, all 20 top
producers stored at least one
cutting as silage with 11 storing all
cuttings in the silo.
The average cutting interval
used by the top 10 growers in 1978
would be considered nearly ideal
for Pennsylvania growing con
ditions 36, 39 and 45 days bet
ween cuts 1 and 2, 2 and 3, and 3
and 4, respectively. The cutting
(Continued from Page A2l)
chance to be an ambassador for
the farm community
Dairyman Hershey Bare shared
a day on the road with Ace
Aluminum’s owner Jim Meluskey
And when the business's owner
spent the day at the Bare farm,
Meluskey confessed he “never had
so much fun and had such an
education ”
His day on the farm started at 5
am, and his schooling in how to
milk cows began He said he
learned how and why to wash
udders, what to feed cows and
heifers, and that the word
‘freshening’ equals ‘birth ’
Meluskey even had the chance to
help chase a neighbor’s bull that
had gotten loose in the corn field,
and toured several nearby farms
I enjoyed seeing the differences
between the farms,” he shared
‘ Farmers are indirect com
petitors. and yet they’re all
friends I was impressed with the
companionship and the size of
machinery used, the acreage, and
feed costs You have a new fan in
me I even started reading the
farm news page in the local
paper."
And that’s what Farm-Citv
is all about, stated chairman
Harry Bachman sharing with
the community what agriculture’s
all about ’’
intervals in 1979 and 1960 were
similar —approximately 36,36 and
43 days, respectively, between cuts
1 and 2, 2 and 3, and 3 and 4,
suggesting the less favorable
harvesting conditions tor alfalfa
during those years as compared to
1978.
In Pennsylvania, controlling
insects attacking alfalfa,
especially potato leathopper, is
essential to produce yields of high
quality forage In 1978 and 1980 all
top growers sprayed their alfalfa
crop at least once with an ap
proved insecticide Seven growers
in 1978 and six growers in 1980
sprayed two or more times.
In 1979 the frequency of spraying
to control insects was less, with
three growers reporting almost no
insect damage tor the entire
growing season.
Pa. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture C,het
Heim helped convince these ladies and even
some husbands, that the prices paid for these
handspun, handwoven shawls were real
bargains. Wearing the wraps created during
The Lebanon Plaza Mall was the scene for carded and combed, twisted and spun, ant
the second Lebanon County . Sheep to Shawl skillfully woven into gorgeous shawls by foui
contest last Friday evening. In not much more area teams,
than an hour, the wool shorn from sheep was
Suppliers of Dried Brewers Grain with Dried Brewers Yeast
and Dump Trailer Hauling Available
LOADED FROM THE BREWERY
MENCHVILLE M. SUPPLY
iiiilii
494 Menchville Road
Newport News, VA. 23602
MENCHVILLE M. SUPPLY CORP.
804-877-0207
Lebanon County’s Sheep to Shayvl Contest
are proud owners, from left, Tressie Caton,
Reading; Sandy Bachman, Annville; Sandy
Plummer, Lebanon: and Pat Houser, Lebanon.
ANALYSIS ON 100% DRY BASIS
24%/29Vz%
1 5%/1 6 1 /z%
5%
38%>
Crude Protein
Crude Fiber
Crude Fat
NFE
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DAIRY