C2-Lancast*r Fanning, Saturday, June 14,1986
CMA Technicians Nip Crop Problems In the Bud
BY MARY MAXWELL
Centre Co. Correspondent
“We started the first association
because on many of the dairy
farms around here things were not
being done or being overly done,”
reminisces Murry McJunkin,
Centre County farmer and
organizer of Pennsylvania’s first
crop management association.
“We decided to pay someone to do
things we didn’t have the time to
do. Someone to monitor the crops,
tell us what spraying was
necessary so we wouldn’t be
spending money for materials we
didn’t need,” McJunkin continued.
The crop management idea
spread from that original Centre
County association started seven
years ago to a network of 14
associations in Pennsylvania in
volving 400 farmers and 75,000
acres.
A Better Bottom Line
The basic idea behind a crop
management association is
helping members farm more
profitably. “Crop management
practices used to be like buying
insurance,” said McJunkin. “You
didn’t know what you had so you’d
spray for everything. We used stuff
we didn’t need rather than taking a
chance. That cost us money.”
For members of crop
management associations that has
changed. Now technicians hired by
local associations regularly visit
members’ fields to observe the
condition of the crop, check pest,
disease and weed problems.
Technicians then report their
findings to the farmer and suggest
corrective measures.
In addition, association mem
bers receive help with crop record
keeping systems, crop production
planning, soil, manure and tissue
sampling. Associations also
provide yield checks for com
Shaded areas indicate counties served by associations.
Numbers indicate counties where CMAs are headquartered.
1. Bedford Crop Improvement Assoc. 2. Berks Crop
Management Assoc. 3. Blair-Huntingdon Crop Mgmt. 4.
Centre Crop Imp. 5. Chester Crop Mgmt. 6. Clear-Jeff Crop
Mgmt. 7. Columbia Crop Mgmt. 8. Franklin Crop Imp. 9.
Fulton Crop Mgmt. 10. Lebanon-Lower Dauphin Crop Mgmt.
11. Lehigh Valley Crop Mgmt. 12. Lycoming Crop Mgmt. 13.
Sulbra Crop Mgmt. 14. Union-Snyder Crop Mgmt.
CMA technician Greg Connor (left) inspects a field map with
Centre County farmer Joseph Hartle. During the week,
Connor checked Hartle's corn population, and monitored
corn and alfalfa fields for weeds and insects.
grain. Some crop management
associations offer yield checks for
corn silage, alfalfa and soybeans,
as well. While all CMAs do plant
population checks for com, others
do them for alfalfa, small grains
and soybeans. Some check grain
moisture at harvest and others
monitor moisture levels of stored
grain. Several associations assist
members with sprayer and com
planter calibrations. Many offer
coihputerized crop record sum
maries. Each local association
decides what services to provide
for its members and each member
may select from the services of
fered.
CMAs Popular
With Dairymen
On a recent visit to the dairy
farm of Master Farmer Joseph
Hartle, technician Greg Connor
checked the com population and
weeds and insects in the com
fields. He also checked Hartle’s
new seedings of alfalfa for weeds.
Then on another Centre County
farm, Connor measured the
member’s fields to see if he was
staying within his ASCS quota. He
looked over a new seeding of
alfalfa and checked the weed
control in oats. In addition, Connor
took soil samples on three newly
rented fields that had not been
included in the member’s annual
fall soil testing program.
These services are particularly
helpful to dairy farmers. Often,
while tending to dairy herd
management, they have had too
little time to develop good crop
management practices. This may
explain why dairy farmers com
prise almost 75 percent of CMA
membership.
Each local CMA is owned and
controlled by its members.
Membership fees are also set by
individual associations and are
based on the number of crop acres
the member wants to include in the
program. According to Melvin
Brown, coordinator of the Crop
Management Program, the per
acre cost of membership (about a
bushel and a half of com or a
couple of bales of hay) is a sound
investment. There are payoffs in
reduced risk of chemical con
tamination, improved soil con
servation, and of course, greater
profits.
Working With Extension
Local associations maintain a
close relationship with county
extension offices providing ad
vantages to both groups. Extension
staff help CMA directors and
technicians with organizational
and technical information. CMA
technicians provide county ex
tension offices with day-to-day
assessments of field conditions.
“This relationship is even
stronger now,” says Brown. “We
started a new program in May.
CMA technicians throughout the
state are able to use the Penn Mail
computer network through local
extension offices.” Brown gets
reports from technicians in his
office on the Penn State campus on
Wednesday mornings. If there are
insect or disease problems, he may
seek advice from Dr. Dennis
Calvin, extension entomologist, or
Extension Volunteers Help
WASHINGTON - What makes
volunteers volunteer?
Researchers with the University
of Wisconsin last year surveyed
Cooperative Extension Service
volunteers to find out. They
learned Extension’s nearly 3
million volunteers do what they do
for a number of reasons from
helping themselves to helping
Extension, the community and the
people in it.
The volunteers’ roles are just as
varied as their reasons. They
teach, counsel, organize, answer
phones and raise funds. They work
with more than 48 million people,
including new parents, home
gardeners, executives, senior
citizens and many others.
One volunteer profiled here
works with farm lenders and
borrowers; the other, with low
income youth. Though their work
is very different, they share one
common purpose: giving
something back to the community.
Helping Lenders and Borrowers
Work It Out
When the local bar association
put out a call for volunteers to
work with the state’s farm
mediation program, recent law
school graduate Bob Peterson
immediately signed up.
“I saw an opportunity to return
something positive to the farming
community where I was bom and
raised,” says Peterson, who now
lives in a Minneapolis-St. Paul
suburb. “My fanning background,
law degree and real estate
brokerage experiences seemed the
right combination for the
program.”
Launched this year, the
mediation program helps lenders
and borrowers embroiled in farm
real estate conflicts make
decisions about restructuring
debts. The program is a
cooperative effort of the Minnesota
Department of Agriculture and
Commerce, state Minnesota
banking associations, Farm Credit
Services, farm organizations and
the Minnesota Extension Service.
Extension has trained 300 volun
teer mediators for the program
since January.
“It’s a frustrating, but rewar
ding process,” says Peterson.
“The farmers want to stay in
business and the banks have a
vested interest in keeping the
farmers in business. But both sides
must work out their anger.
Crop Management Program coordinator Melvin Brown
reviews reports from CMA technicians throughout the state.
He then issues a summary, as well as recommendations to
technicians.
a plant pathologist. On Thursday
the CMA technicians receive from
Brown a summary of what has
been observed in other areas of the
state, plus recommendations for
insect and disease control.
All local crop management
mistrust and lack of com
munication before getting to the
task of restructuring debt and
looking at options.”
Peterson’s role, and that of the
other Extension volunteer
mediators, is to work with the
farmer and banker as a third,
disinterested party. “I can in
terject new thoughts or ideas,” he
says, “but mediation only works
when the parties are motivated to
reach a solution.”
Peterson belives the Extension
agent is the one party in the farm
crisis the farmer really trusts:
“Farmers believe Extension
personnel will keep their con
fidences, give objective feedback
and point them in the right
direction for help.”
The volunteer mediation
training is one facet of Project
Support, the Minnesota Extension
Service program for farm families
needing financial and stress
management assistance.
Bringing New Experiences To
Low-Income Youth
Jeff Kellogg, a 25-year-old
student at Humboldt State
University, Areata, Calif., knows
classrooms aren’t the only places
to learn. He volunteers for an
education program that shows
local youth the great outdoors.
Seeing Eye
MOORISTOWN, N.J. - The
Seeing Eye Inc. of Mooristown,
N.J. and 4-H clubs have had a
working relationship for more than
40 years to provide dogs as guides
for blind people. Seeing Eye
provides the dogs, instructors and
training that furnishes the dog
guides; the 4-H members and their
families provide a loving home for
the puppies during the first year of
their lives.
The Seeing Eye puppy clubs are
open to anyone ages 9 to 19, but the
whole family becomes an im
portant part of the project. 4-H
members and their puppies are
required to attend monthly
meetings of these clubs. These
meetings involve club business and
obedience lessons.
The puppies are 8 weeks old
when received by the 4-H’ers. They
do not require any special training
other than house breaking, being
taught good manners and basic
obedience command*. When the
puppies are 12 to 14 months old
associations have joined to form
the Pennsylvania Crop
Management Association which
promotes the crop management
concept in Pennsylvania.
For more information on CMA’s,
farmers should contact their local
Cooperative Extension Service.
Community
The program, 4-H LEAP
(Leadership Education Adventure
Program), brings leadership
training and outdoor experiences
to youth whose families live at or
below the poverty level. The Ex
tension Service cosponsors the
program, which is the only one of
its kind in the area.
“Teaching the kids new skills,
both technical and interpersonal,
and watching them apply what
they learn is my favorite part of
volunteering,” says Kellogg, who
coordinates the work of 40 other
LEAP volunteers.
Kellogg says his commitment
stems from his interest in outdoor
education and his desire to help
low-income youth in the com
munity. He has contributed some
1,000 hours or 15 hours a week -
to the 4-H program.
And it seems to be paying off.
Kellogg says the youth enjoy the
new experiences and display signs
of increased self-esteem and
sensitivity.
Hundreds of college students and
thousands of youth have par
ticipated in Youth Educational
Services, the experiential learning
program at Humboldt State that
includes 4-H LEAP and other youth
projects.
Club to Meet
they return to the Seeing Eye for
their formal training. This training
lasts for three months and during
the 11th week the family that
raised the puppy is then invited to
Mooristown to see the dog working
with his instructor.
The Seeing Eye provides the 4-
H’er not only with a puppy but also
a collar, leash, brush, project
book, and bag of puppy food. The
Seeing Eye covers all veterinary
costs and provides an amount
every three months to help defray
the cost of feed.
In northern Chester County
meetings are held monthly at St.
Andrew’s Church and are coor
dinated by Joyce Colket. A new
club is forming in southern Chester
County under the leadership of
Margaret Johnson, and will meet
at the New Garden Elementary
School. The first meeting will be
held on June 19 at 7; 30 p.m.
For more information contact
the Chester County 4-H office at
696-3500.