A36-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 26,1985 Md. offers innovative dairy reproduction workshops COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Despite computerized feed rations and sophisticated artificial in semination techniques, one problem in the nation’s dairy cattle herds has gotten worse during the last 15 years. Dairy experts label the problem as reproductive inefficiency, and farmers complain about “poor breeders” in their herds. But whatever its name, the economic input is staggering. Some $8 million is lost annually in Maryland alone. This amounts to $66 per cow, or $5,000 per dairy farm says Dr. Mark A. Vamer, an Extension dairy management specialist and assistant professor of animal sciences at the New Oearfield Extension Agent promotes ag, tourism CLEARFIELD - Clearfield County has found a unique way to relieve some of the area’s unemployment by hiring Penn sylvania’s first Extension agent for county agriculture and tourism development. “It’s a position created to help develop jobs and generate en thusiasm in Clearfield,” says newly appointed extension agent Ronald C. Anderson. “(The position will also help) get people in the local tourist businesses and service industries to offer a better service.” Anderson will study available markets and possible farming projects. Although large business is being considered, he says his programs will be aimed at the small-farm operator. “My goal is to find ways to develop income from within the county,” he says. “There are not enough ways now.” Clearfield’s groundbreaking approach to its unemployment problem was devised by Clearfield County Extension Agent Harold R. Bock and a citizen’s group called the Agriculture Development Council. The council realized the county “needed an individual to handle agricultural development,” Bock says. Funding for the position was the biggest hurdle. Bock says Penn State’s Cooperative Extension Service agreed to put up half the money for the position and project, and suggested that the Clearfield council try the state’s Ben Franklin Partnership Grant office Annual Equipment Operators’ workshop scheduled LEESPORT - The 30th Annual Equipment Operator’s Workshop has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 5, in the auditorium of the Berks County Agricultural Center in Bern Township. The U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service and the Berks County Con servation District jointly sponsor this event. Presenters this year include; American Telephone and Telegraph, UGI, Texas Eastern, Pennsylvania Land Improvement Contractors (P.L.1.C.A.), Morrissey Insurance, Penn sylvania State Police, Penn- Lanc . Farm & Home tickets available LANCASTER - Tickets are still available for the annual dinner meeting of the Lancaster County Farm and Home Foundation. The meeting is scheduled for Thur sday, Jan. 31 at 6:30 p.m. at the Farm and Home Center. In addition to a brief business meeting, there will be election of directors for the Foundation. Entertainment will be provided University of Maryland in College Park. When dairy cows don’t get pregnant on a regular schedule, a herd fails to achieve its most profitable level of milk output. This inefficiency in production accounts for two-thirds of the monetary loss attributed to reproductive problems, Dr. Vamer commented. The balance comes from increased artificial breeding fees and veterinary payments. Reproductive inefficiency has gotten worse during the last 15 years, he explained, because of the trend toward larger dairy herds and more cows per farm worker. As a result, most cows todav don’t for the other half. Bock and the council discovered that the second half of the funding could come through the En trepreneurial Development section of the Ben Franklin Partnership Grant program if the money was used only for agricultural development. The council agreed to fund tourism efforts through other means. Although Ben Franklin grants didn’t fund the full amoung requested, Bock says, $5,160 was allotted for Clearfield last spring. “Ben Franklin officials said they would like to see more funding on the local level,” Bock says, “and the county commissioners’ office has agreed to help.” The effort will also be supported by donations from local businesses. , After funding was set, Bock and Anderson mapped out plans for their objective: more agriculture jobs and business for Clearfield. By the end of January, the agents will have “a package of five or six major projects we want to develop,” Anderson says. “Projects will be created to stir up interest,” Bock adds. “Our objective is to put bucks in the pockets of the people here.” For example, Bock and An derson see the possibility of three small-animal projects for Clearfield. Since acres of county land were abused by strip mining, Anderson sees the possibility of developing reusable land for sheep raising. Chickens can be raised on small private farms for white skinned meat-a mainstay of fast sylvania Fish Commission, and Soil Conservation Service. The lunch will be sponsored this year by P.L.I.C.A. and Morrissey In surance of Ephrata, Pa. Topics included in the program will be: safety, computers, in surance, underground cables, stream and streambank work, conservation practice installations and other timely concerns. A letter of invitation has been mailed to all contractors on the mailing list. Any contractor is welcome to attend and can make a reservation by calling the Con servation District at 372-4655. by the Greiner family of Berks County, a widely known group who present instrumental and vocal gospel and inspirational music. Tickets may be purchased for $6 from any director, or by calling Business Manager Chet Neum, phone 392-4911. Annual family memberships may be renewed at this time for $2. get as much individual attention as their dams did. But hope is around the bend. New techniques have been developed for dealing with the problem. And the federal Food and Drug Administration recently has approved some new drugs for use in lactating cows with reproduc tive problems. Information on these new drugs and techniques will be included in a series of educational workshops being conducted across the state, this winter by the University of Maryland’s Cooperative Extension Service. The workshops will kick off Phase 111 or the third year of food chains. Rabbits could be raised for meat or pelts on smaller farm properties. The success of any project considered, however, depends on “the potential markets for the products or service we decide on,” Anderson says. When Anderson and Bock settle on a desirable market, their next step is to generate program sup port through the county. Anderson hopes to light a fire under agricultural group members, vocational agriculture teachers and 4-H representatives. Tourism is another matter. Instead of establishing of new tourist attractions, both extension agents want to promote what is already in Clearfield. “Besides a major fair, we have an antique car show, flea market and an assortment of craft shows,” Anderson says. No projects have been completed yet, but Clearfield natives have backed Bock and Anderson’s ef forts so far. “People here have been very receptive,” Bock says. “They want to do anything to generate em ployment.” HELP REDUCE POLLUTION LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND USE GOLDEN RULE - A MORAL ISSUE Natural is more profitable anyway (no excuse). You get much free nitrogen from the air, and plant food nutrients unlock in the soil. You have more and better nutrients in the crop for the livestock. Much less insecticides needed to pollute soil, hay, water and purse. Our customers are really proving all these advantages. at the following meetings. He is a very knowledgeable organic farmer and agronomist. He’ll amaze you and make you wonder why you didn't go organic sooner, and why you caused pollution when the natural would be more profitable anyway. ONE SPECIAL ORCHARD MEETING Our program with a speical liquid fish spray gives excellent results on trees. TUESDAY, JAN 29th; 1-4 P.M. Midway Diner, 3 miles east of Bethel on Rt. 78 and 22, midway between Harrisburg and Allentown. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 30th; 1-4 P M. Leola Family Restaurant Five “miles east of Lan caster on Rt. 23. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 30th; 7.30 P.M. (Orchard Meeting) Golden Corral Restaurant Intersection of Rts 322 and 422, west end of Hershey, Pa. We expect good testi monials from Adams Co. fruit growers who had healthy peaches with 50% to 80% reduction of chemical spray THURSDAY, JAN. 31st, 1-4 PM. Light House Restaurant on Rt 11, three miles north of Chambersburg, Pa. There is much to learn Bring your notebooks, your family, friends and neighbors so that they reduce pollution And our program is producing record yields as a bonus. Profitable and Efficient Production (PEP), an ongoing statewide Extension educational program for dairy farmers. Phase I of the program, which began in 1983, emphasized dairy cow nutrition. And it introduced UMDAIR, the University of Maryland computerized least-cost ration formulation program. UMDAIR is estimated to have saved Maryland dairy farmers $1.2 million in feed costs during fiscal year 1984, according to Dr. E. Kim Cassel, Extension dairy nutrition specialist at the College Park campus. Phase II of the Maryland PEP program got under way last year. It emphasized milk quality im provement through reduction of mastitis infections in dairy herds. There has not been sufficient time to measure the economic impact of this campaign. But a significant number of farmers who attended the 1984 winter workshops indicated that they would make changes in their milking practices, reports Dr. Robert R. Peters, Extension milking management specialist at the University of Maryland. Planning for this year’s Phase 111 educational campaign was begun two years ago by Dr. Varner and Dr. Joe E. Manspeaker, an Extension dairy cattle veterinarian at the College Park campus. Dr. Manspeaker is an associate professor in the Virginia- Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. Their campaign is an improved version of similar programs of fered a few years ago by Cooperative Extension Service specialists in Pennsylvania and Indiana. For one thing, it will be a more in-depth effort than anything previously offered to farmers along this line. But the biggest plus for the Maryland program will be a first of-its-kind manual titled Dairy Integrated Reproductive Management. Published in Come Hear PHIL WHEELER from Michigan ORGANIC CENTER 217 S. Railroad Ave., New Holland, Pa. 17557 717-354-7064 Or call Albert Aucker about the meeting, Shippensburg, 717-532-7167, or Howard Weaver, Lebanon 717-273-2480 December 1984, the looseleaf manual contains a series of 26 fact sheets authored by dairy science specialists at land-grant univer sities throughout the Northeast. It was edited by Dr. Ellen R. Jordan, and Extension dairy specialist at West Virginia University. The fact sheets are intended for annual updating. Already the manual has been sold in 44 states and seven foreign countries, Dr. Vamer reported. Portions are being reprinted as feature articles in Hoard’s Dairyman, the nation’s largest and most well-known dairy periodical. The manual will be used as a text for this winter’s PEP educational workshops in Maryland, and all participants will receive a copy for their personal use. Vamer emphasized that the goal for this year’s educational workshops is not how to breed cows artificially. Rather, it is to help farmers put together a total reproductive management program which integrates herd health, nutrition and genetics. Among the new developments to be introduced at the Maryland Extension workshops is a procedure which permits hormone levels in milk to be measured at the farm. This enables producers to determine stage of the estrus cycle for individual cows. Armed with such knowledge, farmers can make more effective use of prostaglandins and other per missible drugs. The enzyme assay process for measuring hormone levels in milk has been dubbed with the acronym, ELISA. Maryland is one of the states where its practical use is being pioneered. During the past two years, the Maryland Agricultural Ex periment Station has allocated $20,000 for developing the process. Money came from the Avrum Gudelsky Research Fund which supports veterinary ' and agriucltural research at the University of Maryland.
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