VOL. 33 NO. 4
PA Forage Conference
Gives Expert Advice
BY
BONNIE BRECHBILL
Franlin Co. Correspondent
MERCERSBURG “Hay is
one of the most marketable, agri
cultural products,” Dr. John Bay
lor told the audience at the 1987
Annual Forage Conference
November 24. “It’s one of our
cheapest sources of cattle feed, but
here in Pennsylvania we have not
taken full advantage of the innova
tions available.”
“There is a lot of potential in
Lantoga Farms has been In John Shirk’s family for 239 years. Shirk and his wife
Katharine recently became members of the state’s Century Farm program, which hon
ors families that have lived on the same farm for 100 or more years.
Century Farms Honored At Banquet
LANCASTER “One of the
test ways to preserve agricultural
land is to keep it in the family,”
uid Jay Irwin, Lancaster County
Extension agent in relation to the
nine county Century Farms named
at the Agricultural Industry Ban
quet Tuesday evening.
Irwin presented the awards at
die 11 th annual event at Old Hick
ory Inn attended by more than 250
people. Three of the farms were in
the family of the owners for more
than 200 years,” Irwin said. “I like
to do a little calculation. If you add
all the years together that these
nine farms have been in their
respective families you get a total
o( 1,428 years.
The Lancaster County Century
Farms areas follows: A. Frank and
Mary Nolt Huber, Mount Joy, in
the family since 1730; John S. and
Catherine K. Shirk, Lititz, in the
family since 1748; Melvin and
Gladys Mctzler, Manhcim, in the
family since 1770; Harold S. and
Virginia P. Brubaker, Manhcim, in
die family since 1812; Eva B.
Snyder, Stevens, in the family
since 1876; Roy and Ruth New
comer Nisslcy, Lancaster, in the
family since 1877; Harold B. and
using hay as a marketable product
in' Pennsylvania, ” said Sidney
Bosworth, conference chairman
and assistant professor of agro
nomy at Penn Slate.
As a forage producing state,
Pennsylvania ranked 12th in the
nation for alfalfa production and
10th for all hay in 1985. During
that lime, 5,302,000 tons of hay
were produced at an estimated val
ue of $363,187,000. ‘
Bosworth cited three points con
cerning the production and mark-
Ruth Becker, Ephrata, in the fami
ly since 1878; M. Clair and Miriam
D. Delong, Quarryville, in the
family since 1882; Marlin D. and
Lydia H. Dcnlingcr, Lancaster, in
the family since 1882.
Secretary of Agriculture Boyd
OUTSTANDING JUNIOR MEMBERS: Jr. Division AWard
Winner R. J. Donovan, left, with Sr. Division Award Winner
Marsha Anthony.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 28, 1987
cling of hay. Quality, first of all,
must be an emphasis in a farmer’s
marketing plan. Maximizing the
economic return of a hay crop
depends not only on yield but also
on quality, as prices can vary as
much as $4O per ton.
Diversification, Bosworth’s
second point, is important because
it may allow one to hedge the
market. Also, a hay producer who
is locked into one forage is forced
to harvest within a short time.
(Turn to Page A 24)
Wolf, speaking on ag economics
development said progress has
been made by the present admi
nistration to fulfill campaign
promises. Wolf listed these as hav
ing a former farmer as agricultural
(Turn to Page A3l)
(Left) David Witmer, Cumberland County, who was
champion of the Field-Cured and Preservative-Added Divi
sion of the hay show at Ag Progress Days; (middle) Virgil
Gutshall, Perry County, champion of the Field-Cured Divion
of the same show. Ben Myers, Franklin County, who took
second place in the Northeast Forage Quality contest. They
were recognized by Sidney Bosworth at the Pennsylvania
Forage and Grassland Conference.
PSU Dairy Conference
Fine Tunes Management
BY ROBIN PHILLIPS
Berks Co. Correspondent
STATE COLLEGE —“Manag-
ing for a profitable future in dairy
ing,” was the theme of the recent
Dairy Management Conference
hosted by the Penn State College
of Agriculture, Department of
Dairy and Animal Science, held in
State College last week. Presented
by a delegation of Penn State pro
State FFA Nursery/Landscape Team
Places Second In Nation
'BY LISA RISSER
BROWNSTOWN What Chad
Thourot of Lancaster, Gayle
Moore of York, and teammate
Steve Aumcnl of Philadelphia
remember most about November
14 is moment they discovered that
they placed second in the FFA
National nurscry/landscapc com
petition. Their team also was the
highest-placing Pennsylvania
team at die competition in Kansas
City, Mo.
They competed with more than
140 students in areas including
plant identification, pruning and
Crawford Holstein Club
Recognizes Top Performers
BY CAROLYN HILSDON
GILLES
Crawford Co. Correspondent
MEADVILLE One hundred
twenty members of the Crawford
County Holstein Club braved
snow squalls and icy roads to
attend the annual meeting held at
Dante’s in Meadville on Novem
ber 20. Judy Wolford introduced
guests in attendance and President
Richard Pegan called the meeting
to order.
State Director Ed Docbcriener
Four Sections
fcssors, the conference was aimed
at fine tuning management prac
tices in feeding programs, dairy
herd reproductive health, sire
selection, forage crop economics,
and financial management skills.
Just over 100 dairymen from Pcn
nsyvlania and several surrounding
slates attended the two day prog
ram and evening banquet
(Turn to Pago Al 6)
propogating practices, a landscape
pracitcum, and plant judging. Gay
le placed 24th individually to
receive a gold medal, while Chad
placed third overall and was pre
sented with a golden bowl.
Chad, son of Charles and Donna
Thourot, and Gayle were honored
by the members of the Lancaster
County Vo-Tech Joint Operating
Committee at their meeting Tues
day night. Although Gayle lives
and attends school in York during
the week, her home on weekends is
with her parents, Connie and Brad
(Turn to Pago At 8)
presented the slate of candidates
for Directors of Crawford County
Holstein Club: Donald Anthony of
Meadville, Larry Crom of James
town, Richard Curtis of Union
City, Clark Duncan of Cochranton,
Dennis Halfasl of Centerville and
James Rynd of Cochranton. Bal
lots were collected and new direc
tors were announced to be Larry
Crom, Richard Curtis and Clark
Duncan.
Dan Dickey presented Youth
$8.50 Per Year
(Turn to Pag* A 32)