Many of you, I’m sure, have
read one or more accounts high
lighting talks given at the 1990
PFGC/PSU sponsored Forage
Conference last month. Never
the-less in this, my final column
for 1990, I’d like to add my
thoughts to those already
expressed.
To begin with, it was a great
conference, packed with well pre
sented, down-to-earth, factual
information that producers could
immediately plug into their forage
program. Unfortunately, while
overall attendance was good, there
weren’t enough producers present
It was a golden opportunity passed
up.
Here are a few of the things I
heard that you ought to know
about.
Keynote speaker Richard
Klemme, University of Wisconsin
Ag. Economist, emphasized both
the environmental and profitabili
ty advantages of forages in a lives
tock system, “Studies have
shown,” he said, “considerable
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economic benefits to rotations
containing forages”. And,
Klemme concluded, hay cash
markets can be quite profitable if
high quality hay can be produced
on a consistent basis. He drew this
conclusion from extensive experi
ences with quality hay auctions in
his state.
Pastures got plenty of attention
from Penn State researchers. Drs.
Larry Muller. Dairy Scientist, and
Forage Specialist Steve Fales. In
his comments Muller stressed that
the results of recent research at
Penn State and elsewhere definite
ly indicates intensive grazing sys
tems can make this an alternative
for the “smaller” (40 to 60 cows)
dairy farms. Muller’s statements
were echoed by Fales as he
described a number of new
cooperative pasture research stu
dies with dairy cows now under
way at Penn State.
Pasture research also received
the attention of Animal Scientist
Harold Harpster who reported the
results of new studies on beef and
B
sheep co-grazing, tall fescue in
sheep grazing systems and creep
grazing for pre-weaned calves -
studies to add s’s in the pockets of
livestock producers.
Results of recent Hay Market
ing studies were reviewed by Dr.
Cathy Hamlett of Penn State’s
Department of Ag. Economics
and Rural Sociology. She
explained how horse hay buyers
and dealers view hay quality.
Horse hay buyers, she found,
overwhelmingly prefer alfalfa and
timothy hay. And they consider
freedom from dust and a good
smell most important. On the
other hand, given a choice, they
prefer not buying hay treated with
preservatives and drying agents.
Other Penn State researchers
addressed a variety of topics of
direct concern to Pennsylvania
farmers. For example, Dr. Art
Hower, Research Entomologist,
focused in on the seriousness of
the clover root curculio as a signif
icant pest of alfalfa. While he is
still investigating management
and control practices, Hower has
conclusive evidence that this
insect can seriously reduce alfalfa
yields and shorten stand life.
Losses in hay making got the
attention of Penn State Ag. Engi
neer Dennis Buckmaster. While
there’s no way to eliminate many
losses, Buckmaster agrees,
improvements in harvesting
methods, and specifically condi
tioning treatments, hold potential
for increasing profits.
Looking ahead Buckmaster
also had positive things to say
about maceration and mat drying
of alfalfa as a new concept in hay
making. It may be several years
before maceration and mat
harvesting machinery is available
in the U.S., Buckmaster con
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cluded, “but” he says, “its eco
nomic potential has been proven.”
As a proponent of near infrared
reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) I
couldn’t help getting excited as
Penn State’s Dr. John Shenk
described new applications of this
technology now being researched
at Penn State- the possible analys
is of forage undried and unground,
and color measurements com
bined with NIR analysis to name
just two.
These are just a few of the
things covered at this year’s for
age conference. And just a sample
Farmland Trust Formed
(Continued from Page A 22)
Farmland Trust’s board. Along
with Stan Brown and Pat Sueck,
Dunn credits a planning forum
held last spring at York College as
the impetus for organizing a pri
vate trust for farmland
preservation.
“It was an idea I’d had for a
long time, and found through the
Forum planning others who
shared that same interest,” says
Dunn. “The aftermath was to
come together from the idea stage
and develop it into a reality.”
“We must look at the overall
development of land use, not only
farmland but the whole picture,”
says this planning specialist. After
years of working with a scope of
planning and zoning programs,
Dunn says that he ascribes to the
“shotgun approach, whatever
works, try it.”
Of the 72 separate municipali
ties in York County, 16 have
already instituted some measures
for preservation of farmland. In
addition, the county government
is just beginning a program of
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of the good things in store ahead
for forage growers.
Our new forage specialist, Di.
Marvin Hall, summed it up this
way. ‘‘l hope you leave this con
ference thinking not only about
the role of forages in the 90’s, but
also about the role of forage in
your farming system, and changes
that will improve your system.”
That’s a good way to end this
column, except to wish each and
everyone the best of the Holiday
Season and may 1991 be good to
all of us.
conservation easement purchases
in conjunction with the state’s
farmland preservation legislation.
In a brochure mailed to poten
tial members, these three specific
goals of the York County Farm
land Trust are outlined:
—“Promote a broader com
munity awareness of the impor
tance of agricultural land to the
County through community edu
cation and information
dissemination;”
—“Minimize the untimely con
version of farmland to non
agricultural uses by encouraging
sound land use planning while
recognizing the inevitability of
continued growth within the
County;”
—“Provide landowners with
alternatives to conversion of pro
ductive farmland to non
agricultural uses.
“I love York County and dearly
love the farmland,”
For further information on the
Trust, contact York County Farm
land Trust, P.O. Box 2026, York,
Pennsylvania 17405-2026.
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