A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 19, 1994
Lancaster Dairy Days, Tie-Stall Remodeling Meetings Set
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Lancaster County Dairy Days
are scheduled for Tuesdays,
February 22 and March 1, 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m., at the Lancaster Farm
and Home Center.
The theme for this year’s Dairy
Days is Managing High Producing
Cows Profitably. Both days fea
ture dairy consultants and practi
tioners who have a lot of field ex
perience working with successful
farms in New England, New
York, Pennsylvania and the Mid-
Atlantic states.
On February 22, Dr. Brian L.
Perkins and'Robert C. Fry will
team up to share their experiences
and thoughts on managing dairy
farms for profit with an emphasis
on nutrition, reproduction, and
management practices for helping
to improve the bottom line.
Dr. Perkins had worked several
years in the Lancaster area as a nu
tritionist before moving to Ver
mont and starting his own consult
ing service. Dairy Management
Services, Inc. He services herds
through out the New England
states and upper New York.
After working on his family’s
large dairy farm in Chestenown,
National FFA
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
GREENVILLE. N.Y. Liam
Brody, FFA eastern region vice
president, wants all FFA’ers to
know that, internationally, Japan
holds FFA in high regard.
Despite what is happening on
the trade front (with a possible
trade war looming in the spring,
according to current reports), the
message that he took to Japan from
the U.S. was positive and rein
forced the attitude that two coun
tries can work together.
Brody, 19, son of Pat and Bill
Brody, Greenville, is a member of
the Greenville FFA. He partici
pated, along with six other national
FFA officers, in the National FFA
Officer International Experience
Program at the end of January.
During their trip to Japan, the
group visited a large number of
agricultural businesses and histori
cal landmarks in Kyoto and
Tokyo.
Brody said some of the Japanese
people view our government as
“overly aggressive, almost to the
.sixm officers recei atth h National FFA Con
vention. Front row, from left, Curtis C. Childers, 20, national president, Nemo, Texas
and Andrew McCrea, 21, national secretary, Maysville, Mo. Back row, from left, Raquel
Lacey, 21, central regional vice president, Nokomis, III.; Tyler Grandll, 20, western reg
ion vice president, Gilbert, Ariz.; Steven Mitchell, 19, southern region vice president,
Plnevllle, Ark.; and Liam Brody, 19, eastern region vice president, Greenville, N.Y.
Md., Dr. Robert C. Fry set up his
own consulting service and prac
tice, Atlantic Dairy Management
Services. He advises a large range
of dairy farms, from small family
farms to large corporate enteipris
es.
Are your heifers and dry cows
in good enough condition to begin
their next lactation with a running
start? Will they consume enough
dry matter and will their ration be
formulated in a manner that will
enable them to peak well and sus
tain high levels of milk production
without losing excessive amounts
of weight and without developing
metabolic problems such as fatty
livers, ketosis, DA’s, Laminitis,
etc.? Will cows breed back well
and will they be healthy enough to
slay in the herd long enough to re
ward you with some good off
spring, some satisfaction and
some profit? That is a tremendous
challenge for today’s progressive
dairy farmers and for this
year's Dairy Days speakers.
On March 1, the focus will be
on herd health with an emphasis
on: vaccine and cows' immune
systems, reducing somatic cell
counts, controlling and preventing
mastitis and Johne’s disease, and
’er Says Japan Trip Was Great Exchange With Positive People
teacher, who simply made “learn- president <l9BB-1989), district
ing fun.” president (1990-1991), state vice
Brody garnered his project work president (1991-1992), and reg
experience at a horse farm in ional vice president (1993-1994).
Greenville and also worked on die He said that FFA continues to
Echo Vale Farm, operated by Sar- grow at a tremendous pace, up
ah Hall, also in Greenville. Echo from less than 400,000
Vale raises about 200 head of three years ago to 417,000 today
registered Montadale and Suffolk
sheep.
point of pushy,” regarding work
ing out the trade problems. He said
that one of the reasons they feel
that way is because, in years past,
because of arrangements worked
out with the two governments,
Japan reduced its rice crop produc
tion to help balance the trade defi
cit But the past growing season,
Japan experienced a drought and
must deal.with the shortage of
crop.
‘ ‘They hold the U.S. responsible
in the long run,” said Brody. How
ever, he said the experience was
“one of the greatest exchanges
with a positive people that hold a
reverence for all kinds of people.”
As a result of this learning
experience, a videotape was pre
pared that Brody and other tour
members will highlight in several
speeches across the country in the
coming months.
Included will be stops in Phi
ladelphia and Pittsburgh, and other
areas making up about 250,000
miles.
First, Brody travels this week to
Washington, D.C. as part of the
Pennsylvania’s Johne’s certifica
tion program.
These health topics will be ad
dressed by a team of practitioners
with a lot of field experience.
They include: John C. Simms,
VMD; New Bolton Veterinarian,
Ray Sweeney, Richard Bartholo
mew and Robert Whitlock; plus
Lawrence J. Hutchinson, Profes
sor of Veterinary Science at Penn
State. Also sharing their experi
ence and thoughts on Johne’s dis
ease will be a panel of local farm
ers, Larry Harnish from Washing
ton Boro and Axel Linde and
Millie Widmamr from Oxford.
Tie-Stall Barn
Remodeling and Expansion
Many farmers are thinking
about remodeling or expanding
their tie-stall dairy bams in an ef
fort to become more efficient To
help them with these ideas, a
meeting has been scheduled for
the purpose of discussing remod
eling and expansion ideas for tie
stall bams. It will be held Friday,
February 25,10 a.m. until 12 noon
at the Lancaster Farm and Home
Center.
Penn State is an affirmative ac
tion, equal opportunity university.
activities of National FFA Week,
which runs from Feb. 19-26.
There, he will be visiting U.S. rep
resentatives to speak about his
experiences abroad.
This year’s theme is “FFA
Leadership For America.” In a
release, the national organization
indicated that during FFA Week
and throughout the year, “FFA
'Chapters Conduct activities that,
develop the leadership skills of
high school students. These exper
iences will prepare them for
important leadership roles in the
future.”
While in Washington, Brody
will be speaking to several news
organizations. Brody said that
Andrew McCrea, national FFA
secretary, is scheduled to be inter
viewed on NBC’s Today Show.
Some of the highlights may
include segments of the video
taken in Japan.
Brody said that his involvement
in FFA began when he heard good
things about his FFA adviser, Wil
liam Ransom. Brody said that
many people spoke highly of the
Brian Perkins, dairy consultant from New Haven, Ver
mont, will be one of the featured speakers February 22 at
Lancaster Dairy Day. See story for program outline and
other scheduled speakers.
Brody said the first year he
cleaned the stalls and did other
tasks that helped him learn a lot
about sheep production, including
“worming, breeding, clipping,
and showing,” he said.
He also showed at several local
fairs and at the state fair. He helped
Hall show at the Eastern States
Exposition in Springfield, Mass.
Brody has served as chapter vice
Water Resource
Workshop Set
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Many rural and urban home
owners throughout Pennsylvania
own properly which contains a
surface water resource. This water
resource may be a stream, lake,
pond, or a wetland.
“What can 1 do with this wet
land?” This is a question which is
commonly asked by property
owners. Perhaps the simplest
thing to do is to enhance the wet
land vegetation to provide diver
sity, beauty, and wildlife habitat.
Does your property contain a
creek or stream? Do you know
how to tell if the stream is healthy
or if it needs “repair”? Are you
plagued by a stream with eroding
banks? What peimits do 1 need be
fore 1 start working?
These questions and many more
will be discussed during the Land
owner Water Resource Awareness
BBS
He believes that every FFA
member should have a chance to
Ifeartt abofli the international
importance of agriculture. The
career opportunities in ag will be in
sales and international agriculture.
Brody said it is important for
FFA’ers to increase their percep
tions of other cultures to help
improve the opportunities for all
members and to react positively to
all situations.
Workshop which will be held on
March 8 at the Farm and Home
Center. 1383 Arcadia Road, Lan
caster. The morning sessions will
begin at 9 a.m. and cover the top
ics of wetland ID, stream im
provement, and permits. The af
ternoon sessions will begin at 1:30
and cover the topics of wetland
enhancement and stream bank sta
bilization.
Speakers for the day will be
representatives from the Army
Corps of Engineers, Pennsylvania
Fish and Boat Commission, and
the Lancaster County Conserva
tion District. Representatives from
private industry have been invited
to display and promote their ser
vices.
For more information, contact
the Lancaster County Conserva
tion District at (717) 299-5261.