A26~L>ncaster Farming, Saturday, March 31,1984
BY JACK RUBLE Y
WHITE HORSE - Despite high
winds and driving rain, more than
50 Salisbury Township farmers
turned out for a soil conservation
meeting at the White Horse Fire
Hall on Wednesday night.
Responding to the rising number
of complaints registered by
residents regarding water, soil and
manure run-off on township roads,
the supervisors invited con
servation experts, to discuss the
problem and possible solutions
with local farmers.
Featured speakers were County
Conservation District Ad
ministrator Robert Gregory,
Pequea Valley High School vo-ag
teacher Clair Witwer, Chairman of
the County Commissio/iuis Ja.-iu
NY farm organizations nominate dairymen
for National Dairy Promotion and Research Board
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -
Representatives of 12 New York
State farm organizations met at
the Northeast Dairy Cooperative
Federation (NEDCO) Office in
Syracuse on March 7, to select
three candidates for appointment
to the National Dairy Promotion
and Research Board. The
nominees selected, all active dairy
farmers, are: Leon Brown,
Westtown, N. Y.; David Dodge,
Woodville, N.Y.; and John Widger,
Ellicottville, N.Y.
The organizations represented at
the Syracuse meeting were: Agri-
Mark Inc., Agway, Allied
Federated Cooperatives, Dairylea
Cooperative, Eastern Milk
Producers Cooperative, Lehigh
Valley Farmers Cooperative,
National Farmers Organization,
New York State Farm Bureau,
New York State Grange, Niagara
Milk Cooperative, Northeast Dairy
Cooperative Federation, Oneida
Madison Milk Cooperative, and
Upstate Milk Cooperatives. With
the exception of National Farmer’s
Organization, who did not wish to
make a commitment, all the
organizations in attendance
agreed to support the three
nominees selected.
Leon Brown is a graduate of
Rutgers University and a former
EAR CORN
Paying Top Prices For
Good Quality Ear Corn
• Wet or Dry
• No Quantity too large
or too small
• Fast Unloading-
Dump on Pile S Go
• Easy access - 2.2
miles off 283 bypass-
Manheim, Mt. Joy
exit
• Daily Receiving 7:30
A.M. to 5 P.M. - un
loading evenings &
Saturdays by appt.
• Trucks available for
pick up at your farm.
Call Anytime For Price
717-665-4785
JAMES E. NOLL GRAIN
Salisbury Township stresses soil conservation
Huber, and Clifford Bienko of the
Soil Conservation Service.
During opening remarks,
Supervisor Les Houck warned that
little will remain of the township’s
topsoil in 25 years if current far
ming practices are not upgraded
Clair Witwer pointed out some of
the problem areas within the
township with the aid of slides
taken during the previous week’s
wet weather. Erosion problems
were noted where fields had been
plowed to the edges of roads,
where intensive grazing had oc
curred on pasturelands, and where
harvested corn fields were exposed
to heavy spring rains.
Witwer concluded with
measures that some farmers had
taken to correct the problems,
vocational agriculture teacher for
25 years, is currently president of
the Slate Hill Milk Producers
Cooperative, .and the Orange
County Farm Bureau. He has been
a director of NEDCO since 1976,
serving as chairman of its
education committee. Brown is
also a member of the New York
State Farm Bureau.
David Dodge is a graduate of
Cornell University and taught
vocational agriculture for six
years. He operates a 150-cow dairy
farm in Woodville,, Jefferson
County. He has served as president
of the Jefferson County Farm
Bureau, vice-chairman of the
Dairy Committee of the New York
Farm Bureau and as an Agway
Committeeman, to mention a few
of his civic activities.
John Widger, who operates a 310-
acre dairy farm, is first vice
president of the Dairylea
Cooperative, president of O-AT-KA
Milk Manufacturing Cooperative,
director of Upstate Milk
Cooperative, director of Milk for
Health on the Niagara Frontier
such as installing of grass
waterways, terracing, and leaving
an unplowed margin between
crops and roads.
“We must think of our soil as a
nonrenewable resource,” began
Bob Gregory, adding that it takes
300 years to generate one inch of
topsoil, and the County is losing
four million tons of topsoil an
nually.
In discussing no-till methods,
Gregory stressed that one way of
keeping soil on the farm is to keep
some type of ground cover on the
soil at all times. Gregory showed
slides of adjacent com test plots
showing the superior water
retention capabilities of no-till soil,
and the resulting vigor of no-till
corn even during the hot,dry
and director of the Dairy Council,
Niagara Frontier.
The Dairy and Tobacco Ad
justment Act of 1983, provides for
the establishment of a National
Dairy Promotion Program which
will be administered by a 36
member board of dairy farmers
nominated from 13 geographical
districts, and appointed by the
Secretary of Agriculture. New
York State comprises one district
and will have three directors on
this National Board.
SURPRISE STAINLESS STEEL
FEEDING SYSTEM GESTATION TROUGH
Designed And Manufactured By Tri-Co. Swine Systems
8” FIBERGLASS
GUTTER
FOR SHALLOW PITS
• Less Manure
Buildup
• Easy Installation
lilt I
n
0
A i'i
summer months.
Cliff Bienko, with the Soil
Conservation Service, gave a slide
presentation reinforcing much of
the information presented by
Gregory and Witwer. He outlined a
number of solutions to the run-off
problem including grass water
ways and raised pipe terraces.
The session’s final guest speaker
was Commissioner James Huber
who stated that Lancaster County
has lost one-half of its topsoil
during the last 275 years. He called
on farmers to adopt the practices
endorsed at the meeting in an
effort to stop the flow of precious
farmland to the Chesapeake Bay.
Robert E. Gregory, Administrator for the Lancaster County
Conservation District, tells Salisbury Township farmers that
the County’s topsoil is disappearing at an alarming rate.
• Less Stress
for Hogs And
Man
• Manual Trip
For Each
Row
• Less Wear
On Equipment
• Stainless
Steel
For Cleanliness
And Longer
Life
In concluding remams,
Supervisor Houck asked those
farmers who might be guilty of
plowing into rural road right-of
ways to discontinue the practice.
He stated that first-offenders
would be served with a warning,
followed by a fine for subsequent
violations. The township’s right-of
way extends 16% feet from the
center of the road.
Bob Gregory reminded farmers
that the Mason-Dixon Program
provides funds on a cost-sharing
basis for conservation practices
such as terracing, diversions,
waterways, no-till planting and
strip cropping.