Polled Hereford Bull
ITHACA, N.Y. - A Polled
Hereford bull by BT CL Domino
445 M consigned by Jerylin Farm,
Dan Mickelson of Newfield topped
the New York Performance Tested
Bull Sale May 2 at Ithaca with a
price of $2,600. The buyer was Joel
Gefanan of LaFargeville.
The 46 “Branded for Per-
Dates Set for Elections
of Pork Producers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S.
Department of Agriculture has
designated July 7-11 for the
statewide elections of individual
pork producers for appointment to
an industry-wide committee that
will administer a promotion,
research and consumer in
formation order for pork.
Paul Fuller, a marketing official
with USDA’s Agricultural
Marketing Service, said pork
producers across the country are
encouraged to vote in the elections.
Candidates receiving the highest
number of votes in each state will
be eligible for appointment by the
secretary of agriculture to that
state’s allotted positions on the
National Pork Producers Delegate
Body.
“The Delegate Body, consisting
of approximately 165 producers,
including two or more members
representing each of the 50 states
and four importers, will be
responsible for administering all
aspects of the pork order,” said
Entries Due for Lamb
and Wool Festival
STATE COLLEGE - Entries
will be accepted until May 31 for
the second annual Pennsylvania
Lamb and Wool Festival, July 6-10
at the new Ag Arena, Pennsylvania
State University.
Commercial and craft exhibitors
are invited to show and sell their
lamb and wool wares at the
festival, which is held in con
junction with the Central Penn
sylvania Arts Festival in State
College.
Exhibitors, some from as far
away as Maine and Kentucky, will
show sheep pottery, spinning and
weaving equipment, sheep skin
fashions and rugs, original wool
garments, wall hangings, shawls
and “art-to-wear” fashions. Wool
yarns (hand-dyed and natural), T
shirts, wooden sheep, fleecy sheep
and over-stuffed sheep also will be
available.
National Shorthorn Show
OMAHA, Nebr. - Plans have
been finalized fra* the 1966 National
Junior Shorthorn Heifer Show and
National Shorthorn Youth Con
ference to be held July 9-12 in
Stillwater, Ok. The Payne County
Fairgrounds will serve as the site
for the annual summer event
where a large crowd of young
cattlemen, parents and spectators
will gather to watch the national
junior exhibition of heifers and
steers from across this nation and
Canada.
Several special items have been
planned to make this year’s event
even more special. The National
Shorthorn Youth Conference will .
be held July 9, 10 and 11, with
educational seminars planned. Dr.
Milton Wells of Reproduction
Enterprises, Stillwater, Ok., will
provide a live embryo transfer •
demonstration and Twig Marston
of WalMar Farms, Canton, Ks., ,
will provide a fitting and showing ■
clinic for participants up to.the age
of twe}«q, A» afternoon jirogram
by the animal science department
staff of Oklahoma State University
formance” bulls sold by John
Spiker of West Virginia during the
fast-paced sale before a capacity
crowd grossed $53,887 with an
unofficial sale average of $1,171.20.
The bulls on test and those in the
sale had achieved a record level of
performance with an average
daily gain of 3.94 pounds on the 140
Fuller.
Voting will take place at all local
county Extension offices during
regular business hours. Pork
producers can vote in any county
in their home state after signing a
voter registration list certifying
that they are pork producers in
that state.
Pork producers are urged to vote
in person at their local county
Extension office. If voting in
person is not possible, an absentee
voting packet containing a ballot
and registration form may be
obtained from Jim Epstein,
National Pork Producers Election,
P.O. Box 23762, Washington, D.C.
20026-3762; telephone (202) 475-
5407. Absentee ballots must be
postmarked by July 11, and
received at the above address no
later than July 18.
Votes will be tallied locally by
officials of USDA’s Agricultural
Stabilization and Conservation
Service and the results will be
forwarded to the secretary of
agriculture.
During the three day festival,
continuous activities will feature
lamb cutting and cookery (with
tasty samples for all), sheep dog
demonstrations, wool spinning and
weaving and sheep shearing and
trimming.
Contests also will be held with
most items available for sale. The
competition will include white and
natural colored fleeces, sheep art
and photography, wool crafts (wall
hangings to accessory apparel)
and 4-H and FFA exhibits.
The state Lamb Cook-Off Contest
will be held July 9. Plenty of
delicious food will be available,
featuring many lamb dishes.
Festival hours are: July 8, Noon
to 7 p.m.; July 9,8 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
and July 10, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Ad
mission and parking are free. The
Ag Arena is located behind Beaver
Stadium off Fox Hollow Road,
State College.
will also be provided.
In addition to these events will be
state junior association com
petitions, a volleyball tournament
and barbecue, dances and mixers.
Capping off the National Shorthorn
Youth Conference will be the
annual awards banquet of the
American Junior Shorthorn
Association.
The 1986 National Junior
Shorthorn Heifer Show will begin
at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 12.
Knic Overpeck, Clinton, Ind., and
Dr. Brad Skaar, lowa State
University, Ames, lowa, will place
the classes of heifers, purebred
and appendix prospect and market
steers, and select the champions.
They will also select the national
champion and reserve champion
showmen.
Additional information on the
events and hotel accommodations
is available by contacting the
American Junior Shorthorn
Association, Shotty Olsen, 9288
Hascail St.. Onfeha, Ne. 68124,
phone; 402-393-7200,
Tops NY Performance Tested Sale
day performance test.
The 12 Polled Hereford bulls in
the sale had the highest breed
average, $1,360. The second
highest selling Polled Hereford
bull and one of the three bulls in the
sale to be struck off at $l,BOO each
was an Enforcer son consigned by
Lamington River Farm of Far
Hills, N.J. The buyer was Win
dabrae Farm of Connecticut.
The lone Salers bull in the sale, a
son of Jet Star 28P, consigned by
Cel-OLok Farm of Locke recorded
the second highest breed average
at $1,350. The buyer of this, the
first Salers bull to be sold at
auction in the Northeast, was
Robert Sullivan of Dundee.
The 16 Angus bulls averaged
$1,206.25 with two bulls sharing
honors as the top selling Angus at
$l,BOO each. They were a Prince of
Wildwood 1075 son consigned by
Developing Sheep Pastures
The first requirement for good
pasture growth is good soil fer
tility. Legumes will not establish
and compete with most grasses
unless soil pH is 6 or higher. In
some areas, phosphorus or other
nutrients may be deficient. Most
eastern pasturelands require lime
to increase calcium carbonate
levels for a higher pH. If legumes
are not included in the pasture
mix, optium grass growth and
animal performance will not be
possible unless an expensive
supplement nitrogen fertilizer is
added.
The best grass-legume mixes for
eastern pastures include
bluegrass, orchardgrass, peren
nial rye, or fescue with ladino
clover. If hay production is im
portant, orchardgrass, perennial
rye, or timothy would be better
grasses and red clover may be the
best clover if it is adapted to the
area. The pasture mix should
include a minimum of 30 percent
legumes 40 to 50 percent is more
desirable. In some areas of the
east, birdsfoot trefoil and
lespedeza are good pasture
legumes. Large quantities of
legumes consumed clovers in
particular at breeding time can
negatively affect ovulation rate
and conception. Pastures being
used during these periods should
contain less than 50 percent
legumes.
Fescue can be a good forage for
sheep if properly managed, or it
can be of little or no value if
allowed to get too tall and mature.
Most of the older established
fescue pastures are infected with
an endophyte fungus that reduces
performance at breeding and
lowers lamb growth rates. Fescue
is an especially good grass for high
traffic areas such as pasture lanes,
and small outside paddocks.
We know thst alfalfa reaches
peak nutrient content and quality
at first bud formation and should
be cut for hay at no later than 10
percent bloom. Every day that
cutting is delayed results in
declining nqtrient * coateat and
quality. sanlerpfiiciple ap
plies to grasses and cloven.
Culvert Brook Farm of Hamilton
bought by Curtis Kunder of
Wallkili for Watchtower Farms
and a Claybrook Force son con
signed by Drover Hill Farm of
Earlville and bought by Robert
Butler of Pine City.
A Meadowview Farm of
Frankfort Charolais bull was the
top gaining bull on the 140-day test
with an average daily gain of 4.74
pounds. A son of Silver Creek
Summit, this bull topped the five
Charolais bulls in the sale at $1,400.
The buyer was Joe Castaldo of
Oswego. The Charolais breed
average was $1,030.
The lone Red Angus bull in the
sale was a King Kong son con
signed by Sunrise Farms of
Auburn and bought at $l,lOO by
Dale Monteith of Shedden, Ont.
Canada.
The 10 Simmentals in the sale
Pasture growth and forage quality
and palatability will remain at
peak levels if harvested every 28 to
35 days. This principle dictates the
pasture-rotation cycle in the
pasture-management program.
A system used successfully
involves rotating six pastures
every 4 to 5 days. The pasture must
be grazed or mowed to a 2 to 3 inch
height. In the spring when growth
is rapid, rotate only three of four
pastures; harvest the remaining
pasture for hay. Once the pastures
cut for hay have recovered, graze
them and cut some of the other
pastures for hay. This process
should be completed in June; the
sheep can then be returned to the
six-pasture rotation program.
Enough sheep, or sheep and cattle,
must be used to uniformly graze
the pasture to less than 3 inches in
the time desired.
The benefits from this system
are many, but the major ones are:
• Increased pasture and animal
production. Stocking rates, once
the producer learns how to manage
the system, will at least double
those of conventional two or three
pasture rotation schemes.
• Intensive, short-duration
grazing reduces selective grazing
and helps maintain stands of the
desired grass and legumes species.
• Significant reductions in in
ternal parasite problems also
become very evident, not to
mention the reduced treatment
costs.
Fencing requirements increase
with added pastures. Electric
fences are less costly than the
conventional types and work well
Coming Sheep Events
Washington Co. Sheep Field Day, Washington,
Pa.
June6&7-
Pennsylvania Lamb St Wool Festival, State
College, Pa.
Ju1y8,9,10-
July 11 St 12 PSWGA Keystone Ram St Ewe
Show St Sale, State College, Pa.
PDA Performance Tested Ram St Invitational
Ewe Sale, State College, Pa.
August -
Ag Progress Days, Rock Sprgs. Res. Station,
Penn Furnace, Pa.
August 10-21-
dptoberlM-
1906 Keystone International livestock Show,
Harrisburg, Pa.
had a breed average of $977.50.
Wheatley Farms of Stanfordville
had the top two selling Simmental
bulls at $1,200 each. Both were sons
of Generation 111 and the buyers
were James and Charles Lee of
Frewsburg and Roland Wolford of
Greene for the South Central
Resource Conservation &
Development Area (RC&D).
The single Shorthorn bull in the
sale was a son of Lazy D Irish
Jack, consigned by Stony Brook
Farms of Locke. The buyer at $875
was Dennis Greene of
Youngstown.
Volume buyers were Wat
chtower Farms and the South
Central RC&D. Successful buyers
were from Pennsylvania, Maine,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and
Canada as well as from all areas of
New York State.
once the sheep become familiar
with them.
A 20 to 30 percent increase in
annual growth of cool-season
grasses occurs from late August
through October. This growth, if
properly managed, may be
adequate for ensuring lamb
growth and ewe flushing. Sheep
can be supplemented by fall
grazing on winter wheat or rye,
turnips or rape.
Some late fall grazing for
gestating ewes is possible from
winter wheat or rye, turnips, rape,
stock piled pastures or crop
residues. Com stalks and soybean
stubble will provide 200 to 600
grazing days per acre for ewes,
depending on the amount of crop
residue, and weather conditions.
Following are some brief
comments on establishing some of
the mentioned forage crops.
Contact your local Extension office
for more specific information and
assistance in seed varieties, soil
fertility, and recommended,,
cultivating practices.
Winter wheat or rye Drill 60 to*
70 lbs. seed per acre into 7 or
rows in a prepared seedbed. The'
amount of fertilizer will depend
upon the results of the soil test.
Plant in early September for
grazing by mid-October. You
should get 300 to 700 sheep -
grazing days per acre from fall to
early spring.
Turnips Broadcast 1.5 to 2 lbs.
seed per acre, then cultipack in a
prepared seedbed; or no-till drill 3
lbs. seed per acre m sod or stubble.
You may need to spray 0.5 pint
paraquat per acre in pasture
seedings to retard pasture growth
until turnips are established. The
amount of fertilizer will depend
upon the results of the soil test.
Plant in early August for grazing
from October until the first hard
freeze. You should get 1,200 to 2,000
sheep-grazing days per acre.
Rape Plant from April to
September, to 50 to 60 days in
advance of expected grazing
needs. Broadcast and cultipack, or
drill 8 to 10 lbs. seed per acre into a
prepared seedbed. The amount of
fertilizer again will depend upon
the soil test results. You should get
1,200 to 1,500 sheep-grazing days
per acre.
The current State
University, Extension Agronomy
Guide available at your local
Extension office can help deter
mine which crops will perform
best under your specific soil and
weather conditions.