VOL. 35 NO. 20 Computer ‘Figures In’ On Peach Bottom Farm ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff PEACH BOTTOM (Lancaster Co.) Ed Zug didn’t like the long hours, so he quit. Quit doing things the old way, that is. Once upon a time, Zug, a Peach Bottom dairy farmer and Young Farmers Award winner, would have to “sit there all those hours and add up those columns of fig ures to get our balance sheet each month.” But not anymore. In 1983, Zug purchased an Apple lie computer that “best suited what I was already doing,’ ’ he said. Ever since then, Zug’s farm has benefited from the computer in many ways. Raises holsteins Zug grows com, alfalfa, and oats on 153 acres on his farm near Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania. He raises 50 holsteins and 4 jerseys. For the past few years, the Zugs his wife Debbie and children Ed Zug, a Peach Bottom dairy farmer, is “very happy” with his computer system. Accounting software helps him track farm income and expenses. Water, Land Improvements Recognized By Conservationists LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Farming Staff NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster Co.) Recognized for their excellence in practicing conserva tion, the Weaver Homestead cap tured the most prestigious award handed out by the Lancaster Coun ty Conservation District on March 15. The homestead, operated by brothers Donald and Nelson Weaver, is located along White Oak Road in Earl Township. It took four years and 41 soil probes to implement nutrient manage ment that has .eliminated the farm land’s need for fertilizer during the last three years. According to Don Robinson, 50t Per Copy Irene, 19 and twins Emily and Brian, 15 have been operating the dairy farm. The four jerseys were added recently to the herd. “Last year, when my twins started FFA in ninth grade, they decided they wanted to have cows as their projects, so they got jerseys,” said Zug. But that’s not so unusual for a dairy farm. What may be so unusu al is the time and importance the family puls into the computer in helping to manage the farm budget. Sitting there ‘ ‘ I was keeping the record books all by hand and I didn’t like sitting there all those hours,” Zug said. He was spending a great deal of time placing figures into the book and wondered if there was a way to track expenses and income easier and with greater detail. In 1983, Zug bought an Apple computer with an account program (Turn to Pag* ASS) LCCD director, the Weavers have long been an example of leader ship and inspiration to others in conservation. Starting in 1975, they installed a sod waterway, con tour strips, put in an ag waste stor age system along with stormwater control. LCCD’s 39th annual dinner (Watch for an on-farm interview with the Donald and Nelson Weaver fami lies next week). meeting held at New Holland was an occasion to recognize farmers, communities, developers and others who work to conserve land Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 24,1990 “Generations Of Milk Drinkers” This photo won the photography contest at the recent Maryland Holstein Conven tion for Matthew lager, Maple Lawn Farm, Fulton MD. Matt used antique milk contain ers and fed cookies and milk to three generations of his family as they posed in their 1927 Buick. (I to r): Mark lager, brother; Mary Elizabeth lager, paternal grandmother; and Charles lager, father* VERNON ACHENBACH, JR. Lancaster Farming Staff HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) At the state capitol on Tuesday, Gov. Robert Casey signed a pro clamation and declared the state’s first Agriculture Day of the 19905. He also announced the forma tion of a nutrient management task force. The special state Agriculture Day observance coincided with National Agriculture Day and the start of National Agriculture Week, which ends Monday. Casey said such an observance is necessary because “Agriculture and water. The recipient of the 1990 out standing stormwater management award went to the Meadows Edge Subdivision. John Luecker, deve loper of the 60-acre subdivision, worked with Rettew Associations, Inc.; E.B. Abel Construction; and B.R. Kreider Excavators to con struct a 900 feet waterway and two detention basins for stormwater control. The recipient of the public ser vice award is St. Anne’s Nursing Home and Village, which com pleted a 900-feet siream improve ment project. Spring Lawn Farm of Pequea Township received the clean water (Turn to Page A 23) Ag Day Activities Feature Pennsylvania Food, Drinks is the powerful engine driving Pen nsylvania’s economy.” The proclamation he signed notes that “55,000 farm families produce $3.3 billion annually in crops and livestock and generate another $35 billion in related eco nomic activity. “Pennsylvania ranks first nationally in the production of mschrooms, milk chocolate, pre tzels and potato chips, along with the number of licensed bakeries.” The document also claims that the state’s production of milk, fro zen dairy products, chickens, eggs, cheese, peaches, apples, butter, tart cherries, grapes, com and oats ranks it among the top five states. In addition to the salutory remarks to the state’s farmer' and ag businesses, Casey announced the formation of an eight-member task force that is to research and recommend strategies for better FREDERICK, Md.— The debate on dairy policy for the 1990 farm bill is once again shap ing up as a battle between those who want to cut prices and those who want to control production. On the price cutting side, the Bush administration has weighed in with a plan that would continue the current policy of reducing the government’s milk support price in response to surplus production. Five Sections National Milk Proposes Alternative To Price Cut KARL BERGER Special Correspondent $12.50 Per Year managing nutrient pollution to both surface water and groundwa ter in Pennsylvania. According to a statement, Casey established “the governor’s Task Force on Non-Point Source Nutri ent Management to make recom mendations on how best to reduce the contribution of nutrients to sur face and groundwater pollution.” Chaired by Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy, (D) Franklin County, who is also a member of the state House Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee, the task force has been given six months to come up with a report. Apparently, the group is designed as a review and decision making group and will not initiate any new research in order to make recommendations. However, the group could suggest more research as a result of its review. (Turn to Pag* A 29) The proposal would give Secret ary of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter more latitude in adjusting the sup port price annually, a flexibility that could translate into cuts of 75 cents or even $1 a hundredweight. On the supply control side, at least partially, is the farm bill proposal recently unveiled by the National Milk Producers Federa tion, the Washington-based lobby for most of the nation’s dairy cooperatives. The National Milk plan has (Turn to Page A 44)
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