'Lancastir Firming, Saturday, April IS. 1994 A24-I Berks Teachers Learn (Continued from Pago A 23) Palmer showed the teachers the types of feed used and provided information on how that feed is used by the animals at different stages of growth. He showed them the calf bam and also the feedlot, where he answered a wide array of questions about the breeds he uses. Papa Farm Afterward, the group of teachers visited the Papa Farm, owned by Gilles Richard, a career consultant, north of Strausstown. The cow calf farm, with 42 cows in the herd, including 14 replacement heifers, is managed by Brian and Karen Mohn. The statuesque farm, situated near the foot of the Blue Moun tains, includes 200 tillable acres. Mohn told the teachers that he grows about 130 acres of hay and 60 acres of com, with the remain der soybeans. Also, the Mohn family is involved in a small nursery busi ness as part of the overall diversifi cation of the farm to ensure its profitability. “We try to diversify to make money,*’ he told the tour group. Stephanie DeNunzio, an art teacher from Holy Name High School, was impressed with the well-maintainted architecture of the farm and uses some of the “The animals aren’t organically raised, but are naturally raised,” said Mohn, top, center. Pastures are planted in a wide variety of grasses, including perennial rye grass, timothy, bluegrass, and fescue. The groupof teacher* visited the Papa Farm, owned by Gllles Richard, a career con sultant, north of Strausstown. The cow-calf farm, with 42 cows In the he|d, Including 14 replacement heifers, Is managed by Brian, center, and Karen Mohn. information in her classes. David Nace, fith grade teacher at Brandywine, was on hand to take back the lessons of the farm to the classroom and to obtain infor mation and ideas to market seed stock Angus on his own small cow/ calf operation. After a meal sponsored by the cattlemen’s association, the tour continued to the carefully main tained, fenced, rotational pasturing operation which borders the farm. “The cows get hay all summer long,” said Brian Mohn. He explained the intricacies of calcu lating feed for all the cows and calves while keeping costs down. ’ ‘The animals aren’t organically raised, but are naturally raised,” he said. Pastures ate planted in a wide variety of grasses, including perennial ryegrass, timothy, blue grass. and fescue. “Rotational grazing saves pro ducers money and provides a hea vier animal at weaving time,” Said Mohn. Peters Bros. Meats Next, the group touted the Peters Bros. Meats facility in Lenhartsville. Rex Peters was on hand to show the teachers how meat is slaugh tered, cut, and prepared for the consumer. Included in the tour was an Lessons About Beef During Tour explanation of the steps involved in stunning, cleaning, cutting, and further processing. Included was a tour of die com puterized smokehouse operation including the sausage-making equipment “A big part of our business still is custom-butchering and mail order," he said. He offered free taste tests of the summer sausage and a "pigsfeet" preparation. Classroom Series The Teacher Ag In the Class room Series is conducted annually through the Berks County Cooperative Extension, the county farm bureau, the chamber of com merce agribusiness council, and the farm-city council to bring com modities in this way into the class room, said Clyde Myers, extension agent ‘T wish every county would have this type of program," said Myers. "It’s sad that other coun ties don’t do more of this type of thing the promotion of agricul ture to an important group of peo ple, teachers. We could be missing the boat” In the future, other commodity organizations, including dairy, swine, and poultry, will be represented. The Berks County Extension also helps coordinate the Ag In the Classroom activities conducted throughout the county. Barbara Ftard, coordinator of the health/nutrition programs for the Pennsylvania Beef Council, showed the many different types of student instruction packages avail able. Many can be ordered through the Catalog Of Educational Mater Animal Housing Expo UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) —The 1994 Animal Housing Expo will be held July 12-13 at the 'Lebanon Fair Grounds in Leba non, Pa. The event is conducted by Penn State Cooperative Extension in conjunction with local agribusinesses. "The puipose of the expo is to help farmers in the Northeast leant more about animal bousing con cerns,” says Dan McFarland, gen eral chair of the expo and Penn State Cooperative Extension agent in York County. More than 1,400 people attended last year’s event to leant more about animal comfort, ani mal handling, building and remodeling, stall design and main tenance, ventilation, nutrient man agement and environmental reg ulations, financing, milking parlor designs, composting and more. Nationally known experts will be on hand, and a variety of i‘> IM ( . i Ihm j Spi it if} Ro.kJ P O Hoy :*IM C'h.imbor'.tnjnj, PA i/l’Oi 0/i i i Plionc 71 / 2(>3 9111 Ryder supply iab flier, which supplies the mater ials from the National Live Stock and Meat Board. Teachers who want information on how to obtain the educational materials can contact Ford at the Pennsylvania Beef Council, 4714 Orchard St., Harrisburg, PA 17109, (717) 545-6000. demonstrations and exhibits are planned. Howard Person of Michigan State University will discuss building designs that help to control rodents and birds. David Kohl of Virginia Polytechnic institute and State University will review financial planning tools. Veterinarian Lynn Sammons vill discuss cattle treatment facili ties. Stephen Spencer, professor of dairy science at Penn State, will explain new trends in milking sys tem design and management. The expo also attracts commer cial exhibitors, providing an opportunity for farmers to see available products and services and to make contacts. Forty com mercial exhibitors participated in last year’s event. For more infor mation about commercial exhi bits, contact Joe Zook, exhibit chair, at 151 East Farmersville Road, Ephrata, PA 17522, (717) 354-4271.
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