Fanning, Saturday, April 2,1983
a:
.(Continued IromPii
to the soil and build soil tilth and
texture.
Hatley cautioned farmers
against over-spending for seed and
fertilizer when establishing the
stand, since they won't be able to
sell the crop due to regulations of
the PIK program. He recommends
controlling weed growth and using
enough seed to close the canopy of
the crop to prevent runoff.
“If the previous crop was com,”
Hatley said, “the presence of
Atrazine residues would prevent
short-term legumes and grasses
from germinating.” In such a case
he recommends planting sorghum
or Sudan grass, although this crop
isn’t common in the county.
Spotty growth of weeds, like
Johnsongrass, should be controlled
at this time, Hatley said, in order
to prepare the land for cultivation
in tile future.
Tom Johnston,
(Continued from Page Al)
that it would have to compete with
other ag programs for funding.
States would have to recut the
funding pie and establish priorities
for various items, including safety.
How that may affect ag safety
specifically would depend on each
state and how much importance is
placed on that effort.
And what does ag safety in
clude? Let’s look at Pennsylvania
as an example.
Here are some of the efforts
under the direction of Dennis
Murphy, Penn State Extension
Safety Specialist, that are familiar
to fanners:
There’s the safety demon
strations and displays staged each
year at Ag Progress.
And, the county programs held
"For the name of your nearest dealer, please contact”
HAMILTON EQUIPMENT, Inc.
PIK
County Soil Conservation Service
Director, advised that fanners
plant a mixed crop of grass and
legume. The grass would be less
likely to allow erosion than a solid
legume crop because of its thicker
root system.
[eAD
“Soil tests of the land in the PIK
program are practical at this
time,” Johnston said. “They allow
the farmer to improve his soils
over a longer period of time.”
After August 31, PIK designated
land can be grazed. For farmers
wishing to establish a permanent
pasture, he recommends they
consult the SCS office to plan the
change.
Johnston said that this is a good
time to update the conservation
plan and implement various
conservation measures. Con
touring, sod waterways, terraces
and drainage systems are a few
alternatives open to fanners with
erosion problems.
Lancaster
Ag safety
in conjunction with Farmers’
Associations or Extension, in
cluding tractor, machinery and
toxic gas safety.
Farm accident rescue has been a
particular effort in recent years.
This program familiarizes
volunteer firemen and ambulance
personnel with farm equipment,
including shutting it off and ex
tricating trapped victims.
Murphy also collects farm ac
cident data and maintains the only
statewide figures on types and
locations of farm accidents.
In other states, these and other
similar programs are included in
the safety programs.
And, these could be the
programs that may feel the effects
of the planned change in federal
funding for agriculture.—DA
567 South Reading Rd., P.O. Box 478
Ephrata, Pa. 17522
Phone: <717) 733-7951
NE dairy
(Continued from Page Al)
reduced dairy income on various
segments of the industry.
Milton Hallberg, ag economist at
Penn State addressed the con
ference on Wednesday on the effect
of reduced dairy income on the
Northeast. Hallberg is part of
research team that recently in
vestigated the subject by
analyzing 1850 actual farms in New
York, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
He presented the results of the
study and their implications.
He reported the cash cost of
producing a hundred weight of
milk ranged from $5 to $l5,
signifying that there is room for
efficiency improvements on some
of our daily farms.
“Interestingly enough a number
of the smaller dairy farmers have
little or no debt,” said Hallberg.
“The smaller farmer is not
necessarily in more financial
difficulty than is his larger
counterpart under sharply reduced
milk prices.”
“Those farmers using good
management techniques and
modem technology, located on the
more productive soils, large
enough to take full advantage of
scale economies, and surrounded
by other dairy farmers on good
roads will have a ' competitive
advantage,” Hallberg indicated.
“The smaller farms at some
distance from other farms and at
the margin of bulk tank routes will
face stiff challenges.”
Hallberg voiced concern over a
dwindling infrastructure to serve
'dairy farmers, as a result of dairy
farms becoming more disperse.
Transportation costs will increase
causing a trend to fewer
processing plants. He said that
processing plants that have ex
panded to handle the current
surplus, may be financially
stressed when there is a reduced
supply because they have
generated too much excess
capacity.
Keynote speaker, Kenneth
Farrell, of Resources for the
Future, spoke on the role of im-
Pittard gets Pennfield post
LANCASTER - John S. Pittard
has been appointed processing
superintendent for Pennfield
Farms Poultry, a division of
Pennfield Corporation. The poultry
plant, located in Fredericksburg,
processes and packs fresh poultry
products for distribution in Penn
sylvania, New York, and other
major metropolitan areas.
A native of Atlanta, Ga., Pittard
received his B.S. in ' Poultry
Science from the University of
Georgia. He was formerly em
ployed as first processing
superintendent at Spring Valley
Foods, Heflin, Ala., where he
began as cutup supervisor, and
later was appointed department
manager of receiving, picking, and
eviscerating.
He and his wife Myra, and son
Jason, reside in Mt. Aenta.
ports and exports. He said that the
basic problem in trying to increase
exports is that the surplus is not
limited to the United States and
that existing trade agreements
with friendly countries limits our
marketing ability abroad.
David Hume, of M. E. Frank,
Inc., stated that the marketability
of dairy products abroad is further
limited by lower world market
prices, caused in part by the
subsidy of dairy products in the
European Economic Community.
To increase exports, said Hume,
we need to be more aware of what
the foreign market wants. There is
not much demand for salted butter
abroad, but that butter can be
made into a more marketable
cheese product.
A European view of the dairy
market was given by Stephen
O’Connor of the Waterford
Cooperative Society in Ireland.
O’Connor claims the EEC has a
larger surplus problem than the
United States, with a 20 percent
surplus compared to our five
percent. Non-fat dried milk is now
being ‘recycled’ into animal feed in
Europe, and subsidized exports
are being shipped to Russia in
order to move more milk. The EEC
has a policy of trying to move out
the surplus rather than store it.
Steven Kerr, protege to
Congressman Jeffords, addressed
legislative matters. He said that
Congress is flooded now with
legislation and that the proposed
dairy legislation is not a top
priority, nor does the dairy in
dustry stand in the best light with
Congress at this time. He said he
believes it will be difficult to get
any dairy legislation through
DON'T
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John Pittard