Foraging
Around
John E. Baylor
Director of Market Development
Beachley-Hardy Seed Company
FORAGE/LIVESTOCK DAY
I can’t help it. I must devote this
column to a special event that I ,
hope several hundred of those
reading it will want to attend. The
event, of course, is our 1989
Forage/Livestock Day sponsored
by the Pennsylvania Forage and
Grassland Council and scheduled
for Wednesday, July 19 at Milton
Hcrshcy School Farms, Hershey,
Pa.
Forage field days at Hershey,
sponsored or co-sponsored by
PFGC, are certainly not new as the
j ;
RED ROSE INTRODUCES...
The Country Classic
A Contemporary Gambrel Roof Horse Building With
Old Fashioned Style And Charm
If you’re looking for more than an ordinary horse
barn, take a look at our extraordir
new Country Classic A practical,
functional and efficient clear-spai
structure built tough, strong and
weathertight to withstand the
use and abuse of everyday horse
care and maintenance Designed
maximum layout flexibility, with r
optional arrangements for stalls,
equipment storage, lounge area, i
extra space for hay storage on thi
mng the full length and width of
I^RED
/' ROSE
BUILDING SYSTEMS
-5> /
first was held back in 1960 when
PFGC teamed up with the Ameri
can Grassland Council and Penn
State University, along with Mil
. ton Hershey School Farms, to put
on the First National Grassland
Field Day. Since then we’ve seen
several other regional, state and
national events at Hershey. And
with excellent Cooperation and
support from the Hershey Farms
team, along with many others,
every one has been a success.'
This year’s field day should be
jio different. Promoted as a forage/
Available
CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-537-0580
OR MAIL COUPON FOR MORE INFORMATION
Name
Address
Town
County
m
i
The exterior of our Country Classic speaks for itself,
State
(717) 738-4248
Mall To: P.O. Box P-50 • Stevens, PA 17578
livestock day it will be geared to
producers of beef, dairy, horses
and sheep. Dr. Harold Harpster of
Penn State Dairy and Animal Sci
ence Department has gone all out
to line up a program on year
around forage systems that you
won’t want to miss. You will see
on display all the ways to package
forages for winterfeed and have a
chance to discuss the pros and
cons for each package. The role of
pasture for various types of live
stock will receive lots of attention,
100, including species, manage
ment, fencing and livestock
handling equipment.
A variety of alfalfa-grass mix
tures established last year, along
with P.S.U. alfalfa and red clover
research trials, will be on dispaly.
And weather permitting, and
we’re confident it will, extension
forage specialist Sid Bosworlh
and associates will demonstrate
making hay in a day using the lat
est hay-making technology.
Dr. Richard Adams, dairy nutri
tionist, and his staff will be front
and center too, with Penn States’
new NIRS Van and equipment to
run a forage analysis on a wide
range of forages and to help you
with your feed formulation
recommendations.
And there’s more. Dr. Charles
i
Gardner, a well-known veterina
rian, will be on hand both morning
and afternoon to lead discussions
on forage quality and herd breed
ing, while at 7 p.m. Wednesday
eve.. Dr. Scott McAllister DVM,
will consider health and pasture
management for horses. These are
discussions that you will want to
hear.
No forage field day would be a
success without the support of our
forage-related industry friends.
jAnd some 25 commercial exhibi
'"tors will be present to share their
product line and thoughts with
you on how to make your forage
program more profitable in the
years ahead.
Luilch, supper and refresments
will be available ,on the grounds.
So load up your family and neigh
bors and head for Hershey for a
worthwhile and enjoyable day.
Measure Prosposes Ag
Education
From Forgiveness
Legislation which would enable
higher education students of agri
culture to have up to $lO,OOO in
college loans forgiven has been
introduced in the state House, ac
cording to Rep. John Barley
(R-100).
The measure (House Bill 899)
would allow portions of guaran
teed student loans (GSLs) ad
ministered by the Pennsylvania
Higher Education Assistance
Agency to be forgiven when re
cipients' work full time on any
family farm. The program would
allow the forgiveness of $2,500 of
a GSL for each year in which the
recipient works on a family farm.
The proposal is modeled after
similar laws enacted to encourage
students to enter career fields
where demand is high, but supply
is low. For instance, education
students who agree to teach a cer
tain number of years of math or
science in Pennsylvania public
schools can have their loans for
given. This measure is designed to
deal with the problem of dwind
lihg numbers of farmers in the
Lancaster Farming Saturday, July 1,1989-Dl5
For the records, the Pennsylva
nia Forage and Grassland Council
its motto “Industry, Farmer,
Scientist-Working Together To
ward a Sounder Grassland, prog
ram” is dedicated to the profit
able production and utilization of
quality forage and grassland.
Organized in 1959 with yours tru
ly as its first president, ours was
the first state council of its kind in
the U.S. Today there are more
than 30 such councils 1 in the U.S.
and Canada with others on the
way. And while its membership
totals nearly 400, we still have
room for lots more members.
So when you come to Hershey
on July 19, and we hope you do, if
you’re not already a PFGC mem
ber, bring along an extra $5 and
join up. The benefits are many and
you’ll find it’s by far the best bar
gain in town.
state.
While the idea behind this mea
sure has merit, some of the details
of the legislation need greater at
tention and, perhaps, amendment
First the measure does not spe
cifically require that the family
farm be in Pennsylvania. While
we may be sympathetic to the
dwindling numbers of family
farms nationwide, we need to en
sure that state funds target the
problem in Pennsylvania.
The issue of funds brings up the
second major concern with this
legislation. As currently proposed,
this program would allow partici
pants to obtain full advantage by
working on a family farm for only
four years. It would also be very
expensive to fund at a rate of
$2,500 per student per year.
The bill could be improved by
amending both the funding and
timing provisions so that, say, 10
percent of the amount of a student
loan could be forgiven for each
year of work on a family farm.
That would also encourage long
er-term work on family farms.