VOL. 30 No. 8
Upturn expected in ’B5 farm picture
Looking back
at 1984
BY SUZANNE KEENE
New Year’s offers the ideal
opportunity to take one last
backward glance at the year that
will soon be left behind.
1984’s weather was kind to
farmers. It provided abundant ram
intermixed with life-giving sun
shine. Together, the two supplied
farmers with the kind of growing
year they needed following the
growth- stunting drought that
plagued 1983.
Although a very wet spring
delayed planting, corn, wheat and
alfalfa grew tall and lush later in
the season. The autumn harvest
was plentiful, filling empty silos
and grain bins that were emptied
during the drought.
The year saw the end of the
avian influenza that struck poultry
flocks across the state. By
February, the number of avian flu
cases in the state had drastically
decreased, much to the
poultrymen’s relief.
Also in February, Gov. Dick
Thornburgh introduced his new
budget, which included $500,000 for
poultry research and promotion in
response to the avian flu. He also
signed a bill granting $2 million to
(Turn to Page Al 2)
Innovations highlight PSU dairy computer conference
BY WENDY WEHR
UNIVERSITY PARK - Hard
ware, software, networking, in
terfacing, micros, main-frames
Are you ready to throw up ybur
hands in despair 7 Are you con
vinced that, if it comes down to a
choice between you and ( the
computer on your dairy farm,
you’ll be the one to go 7
But wait. Put the computer in
perspective. It is merely a tool, one
of many tools that you can use to
manage your dairy operation. As a
dairy farmer you are already a
master of such items as feeding
programs, herd reproductive
management, and financial
statements. You can use the
computer to help you with what
you’re already good at.
Gaining perspectives on the
computer including the ever
changing advances in on-farm
technology’ was the goal of
participants in this year’s Penn
State Dairy Computer Conference.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
PERIODICALS DIVISION
W 209 PATTEE LIBRARY
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY PARK PA .16802
Three Sections
|\M MOi
On Thursday and Friday, Dec. 13-
14, dairy farmers, representatives
of agri-business and university
personnel gathered for a round of
presentations and hands-on
sessions about the applications of
computers to the dairy business.
Sharing the latest research on
feeding computers and milking
parlor technology was University
of Illinois dairy science professor
Sidney L. Spahr. Also addressing
the group during the two-day
conference were Penn Staters’
A.J. Heinrichs, Larry Muller, Art
Hussey, Bill Heald, and Dan
Burnitt. All phases of dairy
computerization were covered in
their presentations, and the at
tending dairy farmers also had
several opportunities to try out
some dairy management software
in hands-on computer sessions.
Computer Applications at Illinois
At the University of Illinois
farms, researchers are looking
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 29,1984
toward the futufe of dairying.
They’re testing electronic iden
tification units and reviewing
methods for automatic subclinical
mastitis detection and automatic
estrus detection computer
applications that were hardly
dreamed of a few years ago. Dr.
Spahr shared the results of these
university studies, and commented
on the feasibility and usefulness of
farm computerization.
Computer feeders should be able
to balance rations, automatically
dispense concentrate, and keep
feed records, outlined Spahr. But
all of these functions rely on
positive electronic identification of
the cows.
While a lot of companies are
marketing electronic identification
units, Illinois is examining sub
dermal id and temperature units.
The results of the studies, ex
plained Spahr, show that the
subdermal units are not accurate
for temperature monitoring
Photo by Jack Hubley
because they are not implanted
deep enough to get away from the
environment.
‘Automatic temperature
monitoring may not have a place in
the automatic management
system,” cautioned Spahr
But there is no doubt that the
dairyman can profit from elec
tronic feeding. The research nas
shown, explained Spahr, that
electronic feeders can pay in two
ways. First, electronic feeding, by
controlling grain and percent of
protein with dual feed units, can
increase production early in the
lactation. Second, by controlling
grain late in the - lactation
feeding a cheaper ration to cows
nearing drying off feed costs can
be reduced.
He also confirmed the
profitability of weekly balancing of
rations early in the lactation. But
■‘once a month is probably often
enough after the peak of lac
tation,” he added.
87.50 per Year
What’s ahead
for 1985
BY JACK RUBLEY
After a strenuous climb up 1984’s
agricultural mountain, most
farmers are wondering what to
expect on the other side. Already
on the mountaintop are the ex
perts-the university specialists
and extension personnel-glassing
into uncharted 1985, and trying to
predict what lies ahead. Though
the view from the top is often a bit
cloudy, our experts tell us that a
few trends are clearly visible.
‘Agriculture here in the East
looks awfully good, compared to
the Midwest,” says Penn State
Extension economist, Louis
Moore, who finds agricultural land
values to be a good measure of the
state of the ag economy. Though
Pennsylvania land values in
creased by three percent in 1983,
remained stable during
1984, lowa farmland values slid 20
percent last year, resulting in a
total devaluation of 37 percent
since 1981
Cherall. the economist teels that
n p t farm income may increase
somewhat during 1985, with the
improvement coming from the
livestock sector
But Moore remains cautious
about the eastern farm economy as
(Turn to Page Al 2)
While addressing the specifics of
computer feeding in his Thursday
presentation, Dr, Spahr reminder!
the farmers to keep the goals of
computerization in mind. The
objectives of electronics are to
i educe labor per animal, reduce
drudgery, improve animal per
formance, and improve decision
makihg and ultimately to in
crease profit.
Mastitis and estrus detection
To follow his comments on
developments in electronic
feeding, Spahr’s Friday presen
tation emphasized the total
computerization of dairy
management particularly in the
milking parlor.
Ideally, feed dispensing stalls,
milk meters, activity tags, and
milk conductivity units will all be
linked to the management com
puter on the dairy farm. All will be
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