30 YEARS AGO
-Each year, every distribution
station of Eastern Stales Fanners’
Exchange elects one member to
attend the cooperative’s annual
meeting in Springfield, Mass., and
to become one of its own advisory
committeemen for three years.
At a mail ballot this winter,
members of the station at Bird-in-
Hand elected Amos G. Ranck,
Strasburg, for this honor. They
named John E. Kreider, Lancaster,
and Harry M. Landis, Lancaster, as
Erst and second alternates, one of
which' " '.tend the 1960 annual
In
U
For little more than the cost of an
ordinary garage, you can enjoy the
organized, uncluttered life that goes
with a Red Rose utility building.
NlfTl6
/% RED Address
/' ROSE r*-
BUILDING SYSTEMS
THIS WEEK
meeting if the elected member is
unable to. The meeting this year
will be March 4-5 in Springfield,
Mass.
-Funds allocated to the Depart
ment of Agriculture by the State
have not been earmarked for any
specific purpose. The division of
those funds is up to the secretary,
Senator Edward Kessler told the
sixteen members of the Lancaster
County Association attending the
luncheon for the local legislators at
the Hotel Douglas on Thursday.
-New'v elected officers of the
CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-537-0580
OR MAIL COUPON FOR MORE INFORMATION
with lots of space left over for a
workshop or hobby area, if you want
one. It's a wonderful way of life. Why
settle for anything less? Talk to a
Red Rose representative now about
the building of your choice.
State
Tel.
(215) 267-4911
Mail To Box P-50, RD 2 • Stevens, PA 17578
Elizabethtown Valley chapter of
Future Fanners of America as they
wore inducted by members- of |he
Manheim Chapter on Monday
night They are: Carl Hoover, Eli
zabethtown Rl, secretary; Dennis
Garber, 737 Groff Ave., Elizabeth
town, president; Foster Noll, Jr.,
Bainbridge Rl, vice-president.
Manheim officers are as follows;
Wilbur Hossler, Manehim R 3,
president; David Keener, chaplain,
Elizabethtown Rl; Marlin Hen
ninger, teacher of vocational agri
culture at Elizabethtown Area
High School; Paul Wolgemuth,
seminal, Elizabethtown R 3, and
Carl Myer, Lititz R 2, secretary of
the Manheim Chapter. The offic
ers from Manheim initiated 22 new
greenhands into the FFA during
the same meeting.
D
T!
' ******* Pdffftntf
Robotic Milking
At Dairy Da
Announced
BY SHARON B. SCHUSTER
Maryland Correspondent
WESTMINSTER. Md.
“This is the age of the smart
machine.” So declared Rick Van
Rinsum, representative of
Gascoigne-Melotte, developers of
the world’s first robotic milking
system novt in use in Holland.
Van Rinsum introduced the space
age system to participants of the
tri-county Dairy Day which
attracted 105 registrants from Bal
timore, Carroll and Howard
counties.
Rick Van Rinsum
Van Rinsum announced that the
University of Maryland will be the
site of the piotoype for the robotic
milking system (RMS), having
obtained exclusive rights to
research and development. “The
research will hopefully bring
about new choices,” added Van
Rinsum.
The RMS is designed to give
per cow information, per cow
automation and it is milking
equipment. Gascoigne-Melotte
has been using the RMS in Hol
land, housed in a thirty-cow free
stall bam, with 2x milking since
December 8, 1989.
The cow enters a system of
gates. Through computer informa
tion she wears on a collar, she is
identified and the computer deter
mines whether she is ready for
milking. If the cow is not ready,
she is routed to an exit, by means
of a gentle automated push in one
direction.
Ready to be milked, the cow is
directed through the proper gate to
her individual feeding trough. She
is re-identified. The gates close
Child Care
CREAMERY (Montgomery
Co.) — Directing a child care cen
ter or nursery school requires not
only skills in child development
and people skills, it also requires
administrative skills. Penn State
Cooperative Extension is offering
a one-day seminar for child care
directors on March 1, at Bentley’s
Restaurant in North Wales.
Registration begins at 9 a.m. and
the workshop is from 9:30 a.m. to
3:30 p.m.
The day will begin with Russell
Powell,«extens.on agent for busi
ness management, speaking on
personnel issues and what legally
can and cannot be done when hir
ing or dismissing employees.
Jeff Patton, extension agent of
m£. ,
MMtKAS HCALTH KICK
o
{(round her and she is gently
pushed in)o place by a rear mobile
gate. She receives her ration at
eating speed during the milking,
with quantity and dispensing all
handled by computer and
automation.
The cow’s rear legs are posi
tioned by a moveable platform. A
rotating brush appears from the
rear and cleans the udder with a 43
second forward and backware
cleaning. Two robotic arms then
present the milkers through the
rear legs, position them according
to pre-determined coordinates,
and lift them to the teats. A unique
inflatable inner lining within the
milkers insures that the teats are
correctly positioned before milk
ing begins. The videotape showed
a contented cow, calmly eating her
ration and leaving the stall no
worse for the wear.
The RM$ monitors milk output
from each quarter and even diverts
milk not fit for human consump
tion to another tank. Information
about each cow and her produc
tion is recorded for the dairyman
to use. “You have to interact with
it,” explained Van Rinsum of the
system.
Why was the system developed
in Holland? Dairying in the
Netherlands is increasingly more
difficult and stressful for the farm
er according to Van Rinsum.
Computer feeding and identifica
tion was introduced in Holland in
the 19705. Eighty percent of Hol
land’s feed is imported. When the
Netherlands met head on with a
strong dollar, the computer feed
ing systems were implemented to
save feed costs.
Van Rinsum further explained
that a quota law in 1985 required
dairymen to perform with less
cows, less milk and less fat to pro
duce milk for 14 million people
with two million cows. “There
was a lot of stress on dairymen to
perform. The pressure on the
dairymen in Holland is the reason
robotic dairying has been so well
developed there.”
And the cost of this space-age
“smart machine”? Van Rinsum
estimates it to be “around
$90,000, but it could be much
more or much less.”
Carroll County extension agent,
Stan Fultz, made the observation
that the RMS may eliminate labor
problems on small farms. County
farmers have experienced great
difficulty in finding and keeping
reliable long-term laborers for
their dairy operations.
Seminar Set
marketing, is to provide tips on
marketing programs to attract
families and keep enrollment up.
Kate Woodley, professor in
management development at Penn
State University, will focus on
motivating staff to prevent turnov
er and low morale.
There will also be a panel dis
cussion on operational policies
different directors are using.
The cost is $25 and includes
lunch, a book, and reference
materials. Participants will receive
a half of a CEU from Penn State
University. To receive a free bro
chure, call the Montgomery Coun
ty Extension office at 489-4315,
or the Bucks County office at
345-3283.