A2O-Lancasier Fanning, Saturday, March 12, 1994
National Grassland
(Continued from Pag* A 1)
In 1972 the national hay market
ing task force was formed to deter
mine methods to help find the price
of forages based on feed value.
And the task force also sought bet
ter packaging methods for long
distance hauling.
Another speaker on Tuesday’s
program, Ewing Row, managing
editor. Hoards’ Dairyman, said, in
10 to 20 years from now, whoever
can produce milk at least cost will
be in business.
’The days of support prices to
keep marginal 'dairy farmers in
business is gone,” Row said. “So
are the days when Uncle Sam will
offer to buy everything that is pro
duced. We’re in transition now.
Dairymen arc solely responsible
for die government support price
purchases in excess of seven bil
lion pounds of milk based on milk
solids equivalent They must pay
for disposing of what will not clear
the U.S. market at the current sup
port price. Ten years from now
dine will be no support price.”
Row said the goal tor dairy tarms must be to
produce one million pounds of milk per worker.
This may take the form of SO cows producing
20.000 lbs. or 40 cows producing 25,000 lbs. It’s
not necessarily being big. It’s however you can
do it.
Steve Ford, forage economist, Penn State Uni
versity, said efficiencies in the forage program
can help address declining profits on the farm.
He listed several facts that will influence profita
bility on the farm. They arc competition from
other farm areas; price variablity, reduced sup
port prices, and government regulations.
In the 60’s all the farmer needed to do was be a
good producer. In the 70’s you needed to become
a marketer. By the 80’s with the farm depression,
you needed to be a financial wizard. Now in the
90’s you need to have systems management.
Feed purchases, crop production costs, interest
and labor all need to be considered in your forage
system. In addition, feed losses occur between
harvest and storage, between storage and feed
ing, and when the animals are fed.
In our forage markets, purchases arc made not
on feed value content but on how it smells, looks
or what it weighs. “With a cow eating seven Unis
of forage, if you save $2O per ton either in
reduced inidal cost or by reducing storage and
feeding losses, you can savesl4opercow,”Ford
said. “That’s $8,400 saved in a 60 cow herd.”
Various tours for the women and the men were
conducted throughout the three-day event. This
gave the visitors an opportunity to see farming
and agri-business in Lancaster County. Many
technical and information subjects were also
coverd in seminars. Tuesday evening was Pen
nsylvania night, and a bountiful banquet of Pen
nsylvania produced foods was served in smor
gasbord style, or as one farmer at the table sug
gested, in grazing style.
The climax of the convention was the awards
banquet Wednesday night Dr. John Moore, Uni
versity of Florida, received the Medallion award.
He received his 8.5., M.S., and Ph.D degrees in
animal science from Ohio State University. In
1961 he joined the faculty of the animal science
department of the University of Florida. His
teaching assignment includes graduate classes in
animal nutrition and in principle of forage qual
ity evaluation. His research emphasizes predict
ing the quality of tropical grasses from routine
laboratory analyses, studying the relationship of
forage structure and micro-anatomy to forage
quality, and predicting the effect of supplemental
concentrates on utilization of forages.
Two presidential citations were awarded post
humously to Jack Barlett and Zur Craine.
Bartlett was a founder of the joint committee
on grassland farming and was elected its first
chairman. As head of the department of dairy sci
ence at the New Jersey Agriculture Experiment
Station, he was able to see firsthand the need for
more practical and better information for manag
ing forage crops. Bartlett died in 1961 after serv
ing for a number of years in the organization that
was to become the American Forage and Grass
land Council. The enduring contribution that
Bartlett made to grassland agriculture was his
vision and ability to develop this into a coordi
nated effort that sparked a greater awareness of
the tremendous potential from improved forages.
Craine was (me of the founders
of what is now known as the
American Forage and Grassland
Council. He was secretary of the
National Silo Association and a
long-time advocate of better qual
ity forages. In 1944, following dis
cussions with others with the same
interests, he sent out a general invi
tation to all interested in animal
and human nutrition to attend a
conference. This meeting was to
deal with information on harvest
ing, storing, and preserving gras
ses, legumes, sorghums. Com, and
all green crops. Craine served for
IS years as the first recording sec
retary of this organization before
his death in 1959.
Those receiving merit awards
are: J. Mike Phillips, Southwest
Research & Extension Center,
Hope Arkansas; Ray Hoyum,
Western Ag-Minerals, Houston,
Texas; Steven L. Fales, Penn State
University; Jerry H. Chemey, Cor-
(Turn to Pag* A2l)
ZENECA *,*«*«*
Enthusiasts Visit Dutch Country
Tours of Lancaster County were conduced each day for the many out of state visi
tors to the national convention. At the Agrl-Analist facility In Leola, George Mitchell
explains the lab testing service for forages, manure, soli, and water offered to local
farmers.
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