AIS-iawcaxtar Farming, Saturday, April 2,1913
Looking into ag’s high tech crystal ball
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ad
vances in agricultural research
and technology will play an in
creasingly larger role in the life of
farmers, a U.S. r artment of
Agriculture reseat official said
today.
“American a* ulture will
continue to be o of the large
users of high te< aology in the
years ahead,” said Terry B.
Kinney, Jr., administrator of
USDA’s Agricultural Research
Service.
Kinney cited such technologies
as genetic engineering, computer
modeling, satellite forecasting and
laser beams.
“All of these and future
technological developments,” he
said, “will lead to payoffs to far
mers by making agricultural
production more economical and
efficient.”
One of the most important
challenges facing agricultural
research, said Kinney, is to help
find solutions to the problems of
soil erosion, water losses and
competition for water use. One of
the new technologies for erosion
control, he said, involves laser
guided machinery for leveling
large areas of cropland to
minimize soil and water runoff.
Soil, Water Research
He listed a few developments in
soil and water research:
Computer systems (1) help
rangeland managers predict water
runoff, soil erosion, yields and
livestock production; (2) monitor
and forecast the rate of soil erosion
and the soil’s ability to produce
crops; (3) determine how slopes of
a watershed will erode following
stripmining by heavy equipment
(4) help fanners select effective
conservation tillage practices.
Satellite data will lead to
more accurate predictions of
freezes and floods.
Irrigation systems such as (1)
cablegatlon, a new, energy-saving,
automatic surface irrigation
system can help growers who need
a low-cost alternative to sprinkler
systems; (2) a semi-automated
pipe irrigation system can in-
Introducing Tye’s New 10 Foot Stubble Drill™
The convenient 120-inch planting The new drill has fifteen openers with
width complements the Tye line, 8-mch row spacing and is driven by a
which includes the 80-inch Pasture center spring-loaded drive coulter,
Pleaser® and the 160-inch Stubble similar to the popular Tye Pasture
Drill". Tye's end wheels pull-type Pleaser®. Options include: * Choice
design allows small tractors to per- of coulter blades to match the jobs to
form large planting jobs. be done, ★ Wide variety of press/depth
control wheels, and ★ Legume attach
ment.
For a closer look—see your Tye Dealer
The new model is equipped with the
same performance proven planting
system that is standard on Tye
Stubble Drill’* and Pasture Pleaser®
models—l. Heavjpduty tapered roller
bearing coulter assemblies 2. Inter
nally fluted seeders 3. Front delivery
double-disc openers and
4. Press/depth control wheels
For The Name Of Your Nearest Dealer, Please Contact:
HAMILTON EQUIPMENT, INC.
■■H&SSn 567 50 Readin 8 Rd - P 0 - Box 478 < Ephrata. PA 17522
■HH (717)733-7951
crease water application ef
ficiency; (3) subsurface trickle
irrigation already has yielded 13 to
31 tons more per acre of tomatoes
than those irrigated by furrow
systems.
Experiments link removal of
crop residues to reduction in com
and soybean yields.
Among- studies aimed at im
proving the quality of crops and
production efficiency are:
Development of a nationwide
computer network that will
provide information exchange on
germpiasm for such crops as
cotton, alfalfa, beans, fruits, nuts,
forage grasses and legumes.
Genetic Engineering
Research in genetic
engineering can (1) regenerate
mutuant plants from tumor cells,
which then can be regenerated into
leaves and roots that carry the new
gene; (2) recombinant DNA
technology can alter the genetic
material of wheat to enhance the
quality and quantity of other crops
as well; (3) increase soybean
yields by improving nitrogen
fixing bacterial that extract
nitrogen from the air for use by
plants as fertilizer; (4) conduct
experiments on newly discovered
DNA plasmids in com land
sorghum that may lead to new
disease resistance in improving
these crops; (5) develop future
disease-resistant hybrids from two
new com breeding lines from
Central American wild com.
Development of sex at
tractant phermones against im
portant pests of cotton, tobacco,
com, and velvet and western
beans.
Chemical, cultural and crop
rotation practices control wild oats
in wheat, barley, sunflower,
soybeans and other crops. This
already has resulted in a $5OO
million annual increase in farm
income.
Animal Production
In animal production, current
studies include:
Vaccine research seeks, (1) a
new combination vaccine that
controls the more virulent strains
Manufactured by The Tye Company
Lockney, Texas
® [ID
of Marek’s disease in cbicKens; (2)
control of pseudorabies, a herpes
disease that can' cause 100 percent
mortality in young swine, and
parvovirus infection, which causes
significant losses from
reproductive failures; (3) an
antibody that is an important first
step to a vaccine against coc
cidoiosis, which costs the nation’s
poultry producers almost $3OO
million a year.
A new synthetic control kills
fire ants, a major pest of farm
animals.
Controls are sought for
bluetongue disease, a serious viral
infection of sheep, cattle, goats and
wildlife.
Dairy Efficiency
Research will improve dairy
production efficiency by (1)
development of a computerized
dairy herd management system to
diagnose mastitis, which causes
about $2 billion in annual losses;
(2) determining energy and feed
requirements for crossbred cows
based on genetic potential for
mature size and milk production;
(3) a cheese-yield-milk-pricing
system that will allow dairy
porducers to improve the fat and
protein content of milk to raise
their earnings.
Studies in food processing and
consumer services include:
New cold treatment
technology for citrus, strawberries
and cherries to replace fumigation
with ethylene dibromide on some
commodities. These measures can
help assure continuation of the |2OO
million U.S. export market for
these commodities in Japan.
Here’s the bottom line for
the hog producer in the 80 9 s
Plastic coated welded wire (new design) This new design of
flooring offers a flat smooth surface for improved comfort,
support and wear. This floor has improved openings which allow
for excellent manure passage. Through testing worldwide, this
flat top design has developed to be the new generation of "Family
Pads® ".
DOWNEY MODIFIED
LIFETIME WARRANTY
All Downey Cushion Coated Welded and Woven Wire Family Pads
are fully warranted for your protection during the critical first
years and backed by a limited warranty thereafter. That’s im
portant to tomorrow’s “bottom line.”
A rapid microwave treatment
for producing salmonella foods in
bagged com-soy-miik blends.
Development of standards
and analytical methods to keep
mold toxins out of cereal foods,
milk and animal feeds.
A new detection system for
pest infestation of fruits,
vegetables and meats in packages
and travelers' baggage entering
the United States.
Human Nutrition
Among current human nutrition
studies are:
—Use of a new multi-element
analyzer that can simultaneously
analyze as many as 16 minerals
and trace elements in one food
sample.
Experiments showing effects
FELTON, Del. A feeder pig
show and sale is scheduled for
Saturday, April 16, at Carroll’s
Sale Barn in Felton, Del. The event
is sponsored by the Delaware Pork
Producers Association and the
Delaware Cooperative Extension
Service.
The show is open to producers
who are consigning pigs to feeder
pig sales in Delaware, Maryland
and Pennsylvania. Pigs must have
Delaware or' Maryland tags,
however. These are available from
the state veterinarian’s office in
Dover or from the Sussex County
extension office in Georgetown,
Delaware.
The event starts with check-in
and weighing of pigs from 7:30
a.m. to 9 a.m. Judging begins at
Introducing The New
FLAT TOP DOUBLE 8
FAMILY PADS®
Feeder pig show, sale on April 16
of fiber-rich diets on hormonal
balance and as preventatives of
bone disease.
Procedures for determining
vitamin K deficiency in the
elderly.
Research on the relationship
between chromium deficiency and
imparted glucose tolerance.
From these research projects,
and many others, said Kinney,
innovative and revolutionary new
technologies will come to
American farmers through
USDA’s Agricultural Research
Service, the state Agricultural
Experiment Stations, the
Cooperative Extension Services at
state universities and USDA’s
Extension Service.
9:15 a.m. There are two weigh!
divisions 41 to 50 pounds, and 51
to 60 pounds. Prizes of $5O, |25 and
$l5 will be awarded to the top three
pens in each division. An entry
consists of six pigs per pen.
Producers may enter one pen in
each weight division.
The sale takes place at 11 a.m.
This will be a good opportunity (or
FFA and 4-H club members to buy
pigs for the 196 S Delaware State
Fair hog shows. A training session
for 4-H and FFA members will
begin at 9 a.m. in the sale bam.
For more information and entry
forms, contact Richard Fowler,
University of Delaware extension
livestock specialist at 738-2505.
Entries must be in by April 8.
Authorized
Distributor
for the (
following
products:
• AAA
• Acme
• Aerovent
• B.L. Downey
• Brower'
• Canarm
• Chemilizer
• DeLaval
• Eastern lowa
Pork
• Edstrom Ind.
• Grain
Systems, Inc.
• Ithaco
• Kane Mfg.
• Ley
Equipment
• Martin-Air
• Mirage Fans
• Monoflo
• Noland
• Osborne
• Pax
• Save Systems
• Schuld /
Bushnell
• Stanfield
• Trojan
• Warner
• Zimmerman
Mfg.