Grange offers HMO
(Continued from Page Al)
surance. With standard insurance
plans, participants pay a premium
to cover the cost of hospitalization.
An HMO is formed around the
belief that encouraging par
ticipants to visit doctors regularly
for health maintenance reduces
the need for costly hospitalization.
While conventional medical
insurance does not cover visits to a
doctor’s office or many tests done
in a doctor’s office and does not
cover such expenses as care
during pregnancy, an HMO does.
In addition, an HMO pays for
hospitalization and surgery.
The advantages of an HMO in
clude: comprehensive coverage
for all medical care with little or no
out-of-pocket expense to the
participant, no waiting period
before participants become
eligible, and coverage that em
phasizes preventive health bare.
The disadvantage to an HMO is
that participants are required to
see doctors who are approved by
the plan, and to be hospitalized
only at participating member
hospitals (except in emergencies).
Although there are some
variations between the Geisinger
and Health America plans, in
general the plans cover: doctor’s
office visits; visits to specialists;
hospitalization; most or all costs
Yes, Be Where The Good Things
Are Happening at C.E. Wiley & Son, Your
Sperry New Holland Dealer
WHERE WE DON’T OFFER GOOD DEALS-
associated with surgery;
gynecological exams and tests;
physical exams; pregnancy and
childbirth care; childhood health
care; most or all laboratory
testing; emergency ambulance
services or those required by a
doctor’s order; most therapy and
rehabilitation services; medically
required home health care ser
vices; and mental health and
alcohol services, with some
limitations.
Under the plans, participants
have some choices of coverage.
Health America offers three
supplemental riders that deal with
prescription drugs, medical ap
pliances, and mental health
drug/alcohol services. Geisinger’s
plan options include prescription
coverage and emergency room
copayment.
What does all this cost? The
premiums are comparable to
conventional health care in
surance. Although there are some
variations in cost depending on the
county where the participant lives,
coverage for a family ranges
between $4OO and $525 per quarter.
For an invididual, the coverage is
between $l5O and $225 per quarter.
For an individual who is eligible
for Medicare, the individual
coverage ranges between $lOO and
$lBO per quarter.
The HMO plan is now available
m
Finan
FREE
CALL US FIRST- FOR LASTING SATISFACTION
FARMERS mi mi
Interest Rates Dropped
From 14.9% to 12.9%
• 0 % Financing -12 Mos.
ncing - 24 Mos.
icmcing - 36 Mos.
merit Due Aug. Ist
Scientists cook up silage
ITHACA, NY - A scientific
recipe leading to production of
high-quality sfiage-usually a hit
and-miss creation on the farm
may be available soon. Silage,
along with hay and grain, is fed to
dairy cows and its quality has a
major effect on milk production.
Ronald E. Pitt, associate
professor of agricultural
engineering in the New York State
College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences at Cornell University, has
developed a computer model that
can identify factors responsible for
success or failure of producing
quality silage.
Silage is composed of corn,
legumes such as alfalfa, or
grasses; it must undergo fer-
to Grange members and sustaining
members. The only restriction on
eligibility is a pre-existing serious
condition, such as a recent heart
attack or cancer.
Representatives are being
assigned to each county and are
now visiting local Granges to
explain the plan to members.
< Grange members who would like
to find out more are asked to
contact their Grange officers or
the Pennsylvania State Grange
office in ftamsburg.
M-
Pll'
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 20,1985-A29
mentation in a silo to retain its
nutritive value during long-term
storage. Inadequate fermentation
results in diminished nutrient
levels, particularly protein, and
even spoilage. When silage is
unusable, farmers are forced to
purchase expensive substitutes.
Silo design, outdoor tem
perature, the moisture content of
silage materials when they are
placed in silos, the types of crops
used, the degree of silage com
paction inside the silo, and a host of
other factors determine whether
the environment is right for
bacteria that do the fermentation.
These bacteria convert sugars in
silage materials into acids, which
in turn inhibit yeasts, molds, and
enzymes that lead to deterioration
and spoilage. To succeed, the
beneficial bacteria must multiply
quickly to outnumber harmful
bacteria, which thrive in wet,
warm environments.
“The computer model helps
identify and understand
everything involved in the fer
mentation process,” says Pitt. “It
can predict, for example, whether
adding commercially available
silage bacteria or organic acids
will have a beneficial effect and, if
so, under what conditions.”
By drawing upon information
6 recipe 9
from more than a thousand
research articles on silage, the
model can simulate the details of
complex biological changes in
volved in fermentation - all on a
computer. Physical experiments,
in contrast, take a minimum of
several months, and the in
formation from such tests is
limited, Pitt notes.
Results so far, Pitt points out,
show that farmers are adding
insufficient amounts of com
mercial bacteria, resulting in a
loss of both money and time.
Another finding is that the
numbers of naturally occurring
beneficial bacteria are lowest after
cool, rainy weather, and crops cut
then may yield poor-quality silage.
“Weather can be a big obstacle
in silage production,” he observes.
“If a system were developed that
could succeed in using crops with
an 80 percent moisture content,
rather than the typical 50 to 66
percent, the whole process would
become less weather dependent.”
One way this could be done is by
accelerating the fermentation
process with the addition of
carefully calculated quantities of
commercial bacteria or organic
acids. Thus, the moisture-loving
“bad” bacteria would not gain the
edge.
Wet forages discharge a
sludgelike liquid through the sides
of silos, causing a pollution
problem in barnyards. But Cor
nell’s Pitt thinks there may be a
solution to this-and a bonus.
“The nutrient-rich juices could
be captured by installing drainage
slots and a holding tank and
possibly be recycled into feeds for
no:
it animals or into
fertilizer for crop production,” he
says.
Pitt’s computer model is part of
a large Northeast regional project
on forage and dairy systems; the
project involves researchers from
Cornell, Pennsylvania State
University, the University of
Maine, the University of Vermont,
and Michigan State University.
Working with Pitt at Cornell are
Robert A. Milligan, associate
professor of agricultural
economics; Charles J. Sniffen,
associate professor of animal
science; and Gary W. Pick,
associate professor of agronomy.
Young Farmers
(Continued from Page Al)
der, Middle Creek consists of 5,000
acres of land set aside for the
protection and management of
wildlife.
• Espenshade Greenhouses.
This thriving business has 12
greenhouses on five acres, and
sells perennials, annuals and
vegetable plants, both retail and
wholesale.
• Len-Lyn Farms. Galen Crouse
and his sons farm 315 acres and
milk 50 cows on their facility in the
village of Schoeneck, near
Ephrata.
The tour will visit the first five
stops Friday afternoon, and the
last three on Saturday morning.
Buses for the Friday tour will
leave the school at 11 a.m. Friday,
although a second bus will depart
from the school at 12:30 p.m., for
latecomers and those who are not
interested in touring the Green
Dragon.
The Ladies Tour will feature
stops at the Mildred Wissler home
and the Ephrata Cloisters.
For more information or late
registrations, contact Vernon J.
Leininger, RD 2, Denver, PA 17517.
He can be reached at (215 ) 267-7120
or 267-7511.