BY JACK HUBLEY
HARRISBURG - Though
Pennsylvania remains a an
agricultural heavyweight", hei
weight loss program continues, as
more than 100 million tons ot soil
hnds its waj to the Com
monwealth s waterways each
\ear
And it the administration has its
way, loss ot these "liquid assets"
may well increase in 1986, says the
Soil Conservation Service’s state
c onservationist Jim Olson
The White House’s budget
cutting knife proposes to whittle
$l5O million trom the federal
agency’s current $603 million
budget And ot the $453 million
lemaming, $253 million would be
set aside tor phasing out SCS
piograms and personnel, leaving
only $2OO million foi implementing
sod saving practices
1 1 ograms to be terminated
im hide the Small Watershed
liogram, Resouice Conservation
ami Development, Rural Aban
doned Mine Program and the
Hn er Basin Program
1 i ograms to be reduced would
include technical assistance to
landowners i down 40 percent i, soil
suiveys idown 33 percent), and
plant materials centers idown L
pc ic ent)
And with these cuts will no d
i oiiesponding reduction in con
-.ei \ ation on the land, says Olson,
Moling that the nationwide SCS
workforce would be pared from
14,300 to about 5,000 by the end of
1986. Here in Pennsylvania, SCS
employees would number 91, down
from a current staff of 270.
And Olson points out that such a
pioposal could have a crippling
effect on efforts to i lean up the
( hesapeake Ba> at a time when
tht need foi conservation
measures has nevei been greatei
All of Pennsylvania is Talking About NuPulse Milking Equipment...
And Here’s What They’re Saying*
io NuPulse MIX Milker
Jim Glemboski Ira Slater
Abe Hostetler Jim's Equipment - Tunkhannock Ira Slater - Stoneboro
Abe's Service Canter • Miff linburg (717) 836-3228 (412) 253-2870
(717) 966-1707
Bill Lucas Jack Stmer
Max Crider Lucas Barn Equipment ■ Bellefonte Stiner's Refrigeration ■ Canton
Crider Dairy Equipment - Shippensburg (814) 383-2806 (717) 673-8351
(717) 532-8517
Butch Hill Ken Walters
Amos Fisher 8> Rick Thompson Northampton Walters' Equipment - Milan
Fisher & Thompson Assoc. - Lititz Farm Bureau Coop Assn. - Tatamy (717) 888-9742
(717) 627-1530 (215) 258-2871
Will federal cutbacks hamstring conservation efforts?
I »
In Lancaster County, toi
example, where mountains of
livestock manure play a major role
in contaminating both ground
watei and runoff, personnel at the
Lancaster field office would
dwindle from seven to a possible
one or two, sa>s Olson And though
$395,0(10 has been earmarked toi
soil conservation practices in
Lancaster Countv, (practices
include construction of manuie
stiuctures, contour strips,
waterways, terraces and others)
there won't be sufficient hands on
deck to put the mone> to good use
Someone's going to have to
make a decision about what s not
going to gel done," says l,an
(aster s district (onservationist
Warren Archibald. He notes that
his office has received 50 requests
toi planning manure holding
sti uctures,since Octobei, and 83
lequesls tor laying out terraces
I luring the same period a yeai
SCS and the budget
earlier, the ottue togged only
about one-hall this nunibei ol
i equests tor each ot these serv ices
lo me, this shows an increase in
interest, addsAnhibald
WinsUad Burdette, the aiea
( onservationist toi I ennsylvania s
13 southeastern counties, agrees
that this is no lime to thin the
ranks Were going backwaid
when we should be going forward,
he says. He surmises that the state
Penn State soil conservation scientists
in on the ground floor of
STATE COLLEGE - For
centuries, American farmers have
been plagued with soil losses and
resulting lowered crop production
due to erosion. In the 19305, sur
veys indicated that millions of tons
of valuable topsoil continued to be
lost through erosion in spite of
conservation practices such as
contour planting, crop rotations,
sod waterways, and reforestation.
In 1935, the U.S. Department of
Interior authorized the
establishment of 40 erosion control
■ projects throughout the United
States. One of these projects, a soil
erosion survey, was initiated on
land near the Pennsylvania State
University campus.
Dr. Austin Patrick, a Penn State
graduate employed by the U.S. Soil
Erosion Service, now the Soil
Conservation Service, worked with
Penn State soil and plant scientists
in developing a system to measure
the severity of erosion on different
types of ground cover.
Dr. Patrick and Penn State
scientists Dr. Frank Gardner, Dr.
Howard Higbee, Dr. Chester
Ritcher, Frank Bamer, and J.B.R.
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, April 27,1985-A2l
Bureau of Soil and Water Con
servation might be expected to
pick up some of the slack if federal
cutbacks become a reality, “but
you just can’t train people over
night to, apply practices and work
with landowners,” he emphasizes.
It Congress were to approve the
proposal m its present form, says
Jim Olson, Americans could ex
pect soil conservation measures to
l '' ” 1 by three-quarters
Dickey, selected several sites at
Penn State which had varying
degrees of slope. On these, they
seeded numerous species of cover
crops in measured strips. Also,
selected areas were left free of
ground cover for use as a control.
A collecting basin was constructed
at the base of the plots to hold soil
and water runoff. Each basin was
designed to collect only the runoff
from a particular strip.
The scientists made
measurements on the amounts of
rainfall and volume of sediment
and water collected in the holding
basins. From these data, they were
able to make accurate com
parisons of what cover crops were
best or least suited for erosion
control.
This early basic research helped
develop new concepts in fighting
farmland erosion. Researchers
used the soil erosion survey plots to
study what effects varying
amounts of fertilizer would have in
developing plants with the root
strength to reduce erosion. Other
experiments determined what
species of cover crops would best
Improved Udder Health
"NuPulse has helped improve our average from 16,000 lbs to
21,500 lbs at 3.6 test m a home bred herd. We've never lost any
cows due to mastitis. Our top producer has 29,413 lbs milk, 992 lbs.
fat m 365 days. Our udder health is 95% better with NuPulse
than ever before. The NuPulse is simple to maintain with no
problems."
Less Cup Fall-Off and Less Mastitis
"We replaced our old milker with NuPulse MIX. We're not having
any fall off problems now. The MIX milks our cows out clean
without machine stripping. Udders are more even now We have
not had to buy mastitis medication except to dry treat We are
very happy with NuPulse ''
Faster Milking
"We replaced DVSOO's with NuPulse. I have not had any fall off
since. Our cows accepted NuPulse easily. Milking alone I get 1,000
lbs. per hour with 4 units "
Ease of Maintenance
"Our cows udder health is the best ever. The only mastitis we
have is when a cow gets injured. We do our own maintenance. We
have been very pleased with NuPulse "
“You can spend more money, but
you can’t get a better milker.”
•W America, Inc.
908 Stewart Street, Madison, Wl 53713 • 608/274-2722
Olson places no bets on the out
i ome
Most congressmen feel that the
i uts are excessive,’’ he notes, "but
we all realize that the federal
deficit is a tremendous handicap to
w onomic growth Congress is
laced with the almost in
surmountable task of providing
services while reducing the
budget," he concludes
U.S. efforts
withstand rigorous grazing without
injury to the plant’s capability to
maintain a strong root system.
Improved Plant
Varieties
As data from these and other
experiments were collected and
analyzed, it became apparent that
improved plant species needed to
be developed that had the ability to
hold the soil and also yield at ac
ceptable levels. In the succeeding
years, scientists developed new
and improved varieties of alfalfa,
birdsfoot trefoil, and Kentucky 31
tall fescue. Before widespread use,
however, all varieties were field
tested by Extension agents and
cooperating farmers to determine
those best suited for different soil
types.
Several decades after the
erosion survey plots were
established, they continued to
serve a valuable research func
tion. As newer herbicides were
developed, data were collected to
measure weed control and its
relationship to erosion. Also, one
site was used to calculate the
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Harold W Fabian Bethlehem PA
Using NuPulse since 1978
R C Schoemaker Chambersburg PA
48 cows NuPulse MLX since January 1984
herd average 17 000 milk 650 fat
Philip L Hege Shippensburg PA
Roe Russell Rome PA
NuPulse since 1979
130 cows herd average 17 000 milk 710 fat
Donald G Heller Canton PA
60 cows herd average 17 800 milk 613 fat
Nu Pulse