C4—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 15,1982 Sewage plus nuclear waste equals cattle feed? Haw sewage solids and nuclear wastes may prove to be com patible, according to a report issued by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Irradiating the raw solids with nuclear wastes turns a potential pollutant into a useful sup plementary livestock feed that may also solve a particular problem for range cattle in and Southwest. Irradiation kills any possible disease germs and viruses in the dry sewage, does not alter the makeup of the solids, and causes no radioactivity in the material. While the sewage contains much usable protein, of equal im portance is that it also contains trace minerals, particularly copper, manganese, and zinc. Those three minerals are either lacking or somehow become unavailable to cattle during the Southwest winter, when range grasses are dormant. Adequate amounts of the minerals through supplementary feeds, studies show, increase the number and weight of calves weaned and speed up the rebreeding of cows. ARS range scientist Carlton H. Herbel and New Mexico State University animal nutritionist G. Stanley Smith have been studying mineral deficiency on ARS’s 190,000-acre Jornada Ex perimental Range near Las Cruces. The scientist divided a herd of 74 cattle into three groups. They fed one group of 25 a supplement of cottonseed meal, the other group of 25 the sewage solids in pelleted form, and the group of 24 no sup plements. All of the cattle grazed the dormant range grasses as well. The sewage supplement is 50 percent sewage solids, 23 percent cottonseed meal, 15 percent alfalfa hay, 10 percent molasses, sand about 2 percent apple flavoring. At the time of the study it cost about $BO a ton; cottonseed meal, a standard supplement, cost about $2OO a ton. Specter requests more farm research funds WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (E-Pa) has asked the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, of which he is a member, to add funding to selected federal research programs designed to aid fanners. In a letter to Senator Thad Cochran, subcommittee chairman, Specter stressed that without this important funding the nation’s agricultural community will suffer. Among the programs for which he requested adequate funding are research on the eastern russet potato, gypsy moth control, soil conservation, farm safety, brucellosis control and the Federal Gram Inspection Service. Spector said that research ef forts funded by the Department of Agriculture have “been successful in making the eastern russet potato comparable and com petitive with the more expensive Idaho Potato.” Continuation of this research, he said, is necessary to make the russet competitive with unports of potatoes from Canada which have been cutting deeply into the American market. Some $2.5 million is necessary, said Specter, for research on ways of curbing the depredations of the Gypsy Moth, which last year defoliated 13 million acres of forestland. Regarding soil conservation, he noted that Pennsylvania has ranked first in the nation in return on the dollar for this type of federal technical assistance. During the period of the study, 3 months in 1978 and 2 months in 1979, cattle were fed about 4 pounds of supplement per head per week During that tune, when the range grasses are at a nutritional low point, cows are in late stages of pregnancy or have calved and are produemg milk. Percentages of "calf crops” for the 2 years of study were 66 per cent for the cows getting no sup plement, 84 percent for the cows getting cottonseed meal, and 82 percent for the cows getting the sewage solids supplement. Average weights of the calves at weaning for the 2 years were 274 pounds for the no-supplement group, 330 pounds for the cows fed cottonseed meal, and 308 pounds for those fed the sewage product. After the calves were weaned, the cows were rebred. Only 61 percent of the group that had no supplements became pregnant, while 88 percent of the cows that had received supplements became pregnant. All of the groups had nearly the same amounts of silver, cadmium, chromium, iron, mercury, nickel, and lead m blood, liver, and milk; moreover the sewage solids tended to improve low levels of copper, manganese, and zinc in blood and milk. “Our results support and tend to confirm the view that products derived from raw sewage primary sludge could be recycled as supplemental feeds for ruminants subsisting on poor quality roughage feeds. “Substantial nutritive benefits are provided by the sewage products Without incurring undue risk from toxicity to animals or accumulation of toxicants such as heavy metals. “Naturally, further research is necessary before feeding of sewage products could be recommended in practical livestock production,” Herbel and Smith say. “Continuation and full funding of this program is critical to con servation in my state,” he told Cochran. WIC MOTORIZED SILAGE WAGONS with hydrostatic speed control LEESPORT - “Is your land gouig down stream?” asks Duane E. Pysher, district conservationist of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Berks County. Sediment is the number one pollutant by volume of our streams, says Pysher. Ac celerated erosion, or erosion other than that caused by natural process, is the cause of this sediment. Farming, construction sites, and any of man’s other earth moving activities are all contributing sources of this pollutant, he ex plains. “The damages that result from this pollutant are affecting all of us directly and indirectly,” he adds. It causes streams and rivers to become clogged and cause more frequent flooding or creates swampland.” Sedimemt fills lakes and municipal water supply reservoirs. It clogs roadside ditches, plugs culverts, decreases bridge capacities. To clean up and repair these damages costs the general public money in the form of tax dollars or adds to the cost of commodities we buy, Pysher stresses. Through the in stallation of surface water control systems most of these damages can be eliminated. In the process of reducing runoff to a minimum, erosion is also reduced, he notes. STOCK REDUCTION SALE 20% OFF 45 Bu. Cart - List $3715.00 - Less 20% • Electric Or Gas Operated • Regular Feed Discharge or 40” High Feed Discharge • A Great Improvement On Efficiency - DISTRIBUTOR PAUL HORNING R.D. 1. Stevens, PA 17578 215-267-7208 Land going downstream? SALE PRICE *2972.00 m OS - - You know Um problem* ciuhT by hard packed and frozen alias* Pelz Shraa you two aoluHon* to the prabtem the Modal RD no ring-drive alio unloader and the Model MB surface-drive alio unloadar. Both unloadar* feature a doukle-heek gathering chain with hardened atael cutter* and claw* that rip throufh frozen and packed allege When yeu puah the button, you know you can count on a amootti feed Ing operation. Evaluate our powarad alio wall cutter*. Spring tanalon hold* 4 sall- aharpanlng ateel cutter blade* In place to follow the curve of the alia wall. Thl* keep* allege from building up along the walla, so you can be sura that yeu'ra getting all the feed where It belong* • ■ In the feeder and not stuck to the walls Want to know more about the Patz aystem? Sea your Patz dealer Ha'll show you Patz quality and reliability .. two Important words to a farmer Ilka you Patz _ Pound, Wisconsin 541ft1 U S.A. Performance Strong as Sled TERRE HILL SILO CO. INC. Manufacturers J. Efactors of Tarra Hill Tri-Rib Stay# Silo PH: 215-445-7636 TERRE HILL, PA 17341 Salesman - James Esbenshade - 717 464-2090 The NEW Hydra-static speed control gives you a choice of speeds from slow to fast With a touch of the pedal the wagon moves forward or backward, release the pedal and it automatically brakes You also have a regular feed dis charge or a 40-mch high discharge from one or two sides The WIC Silage Wagon is operated by gas or electric and available in 30-, 45- or 52-bushel sizes With the 16-mch wheels it goes wherever you want to take it am <—>!« liwt ctwtn IMaltMsMkMMlmaMw tsatuns cultara ■nt Oatn. wjlrsaat »>■»».>■■** <shawn atwi.m auana).
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers