At FrankUn Dcdry Day i takeoff of space agecomputers in industry data (<(£ d, “The business red the information during the last 20 *ing that time data' >acity has doubled ars coupled with a :osts.” Like other isinessmen he said i computer will be e future for large tall businesses and inagement. uned many of the ations of the com use. First, he said, st understand a not a mystical only a tool that can e amount of in -1 summarizes the r accurate fashion. gested the first r farmer must ask I a computer in rill the computer be in my operation?” inner must realize imitment needed to computer systerrw stressed. w of microcomputer brought a new tool *• \ To 181 Toßt. 17 ODERN DULTRY IPPLIES, INC. imesteadLa. PA 17601 3-0828 m Enck * Gathering, 2PH Packer” to the farm. However, this new machine has a foreign language that needs defined. “Hardware” in computer language means the physical piece of equipment that one can look at, touch and move about. Barton stated that the typical farm - Stray electrical voltage is a main concern of speaker Steve Spencer, Penn State Extension dairy specialist. LEADERS IN REVERSE CAGE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT i fH REVERSE CAGE LAYER SYSTEM The system has been designed for bird comfort 1 Each bird has her place at the feed trough Each has easy access to water Obstruction to light and the flow of air have been greatly reduced* providing more uniform ventilation and lighting for every bird Combined with Chore-Time’s automatically controlled air mlettmg system you get a layer house environment designed for bird comfort and the resulting h !y iys -• onapi. .jgh but the operation of the feeder has been engineered to reduce feed waste The trough shape cuts down on feed loss from ' raking” and "billing ” while the feeder has been specifically designed tor Chore Time’s programmed and performance feeding concept 4 See These 2 Unique Cage Systems at the Open House on the Robert Grunder Farm! microcomputer system consists of a printer for report printing, a “central processing unit” (CPU) r to manipulate the data, disk drives for storage 1 , a typewriter keyboard and television screen (CRT) for entering and reviewing data.' “Hardware” is a useless tool by itself, explained Barton. Like a tractor it is not a useful tool until an implement is attached to it. This needed implement for the computer is called “software”. “Software” is a set of in structions called a program stored on a disk or tape* that the processing unit uses to add, sub tract, multiply, divide, sort and print information the operator, in this case the farmer, puts into the computer. “Software is the single most important item in any computer system,” said Barton. “Without software,” he said, “a computer is useless.” For agriculture purposes, said Barton, the “hardware” is easy to buy in comparison to “software.” “In agriculture, software has a big limitation it is scarce,” he said. He explained that there are few programs on the market that are applicable for the farmers Ite W- need, therefore, “software” can be very expensive. Barton stated, “A good rule of thumb to follow when calculating the cost of the total system is that, the “hardware” will cost ap proximately 20 percent while “Software” and installation totals the other 80 percent. Small dedicated micro-er mini processors are used most by the farmers, said Barton. These dedicated computers are programmed to do one job ac cording to their “software" program, from recording milking statistics to budgeting and projecting for next year’s grain supplies. Every farmer needs to project costs and returns. Some do their projections manually, some have the < help of an ac countants and recently others have been using the microcomputers. Barton gave examples of other useful ways the computer can be used on the farm. The computer can be used to develop budgets that the farmer can change and update with the varying economic conditions and New 4-HIGH BROOD-GROW CAGE SYSTEM Mealmaster System • Saves labor & energy • Delivers fresh un picked-over feed to each cage • Eliminates feed separation & chick loss caused by chain feeder • Offers full feeding or controlled feed restriction No. of Rows 100’ 27,200 32,000 38,400 (Turn to Page A3O) CAGE ROW LENGTH 200’ 250’ 150’ 38,400 48,000 57,600 *640 birds per 10* cage section Eugene Barton, superintendent of record, American Jersey Cattle Club, left, discusses the use of farm computers in the dairy industry with an interested farmer at last week's Franklin County Dairy Day. with: 64.000 51,200 64,000 80,000 76,400 96.000 2,1*82*419 300’ 76,800 96i000 112.000 115,200 134.400 .y M ‘ d •• 0,,« / .'A'. 4 • , «o .P- 4‘. • o ---O' d ■ W House Width 350’ 89.600 37’ 45’ 54*
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers