Vol. 39 No. 41
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.)
Message to tractor operators: 85
percent of accidental rear over
turns result in death.
That was the message delivered
by Dr. Tim Pierson, Penn State
research associate, to thousands of
visitors at Ag Progress Days at the
Russell E. Larson Research Center
here from Tuesday through Thurs
day this week.
Visitors to the Ag Progress Days
were able to view, at the specially
prepared rollover inspection site at
the west end of the exhibit
grounds, a remotely controlled
tractor as it overturned, pinning a
mannequin beneath thousands of
pounds of steel. The mannequin,
with the trade name ‘Tuff Kelly,”
Smith Clan
Churns Best
Ice Cream
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.)
Mud and pouring rain did not hin
der Elsie Smith and her grandchil
dren from churning their way to
the $3OO first-place prize at Ag
(Turn to Pag* A 32)
First-place winner In the Ag Progress Ice CftpJi£Jwrn-
Off Contest Is Elsie Smith, who was also last year’arehamp
lon. Her Orange-Pineapple Ice Cream bought
which she spends on a family activity with her 10 grandchil
dren who help hand churn the ice cream.
60e Per Copy
Series Of Tractor Safety Demos Held This Week At Ag Progress
Without ROPS, Tractor Overturns Kill
was used to show the effects of a
rollover on a human operator.
In this case, Tough Kelly was
prepared. A special ROPS with an
extender bar to protect the demon
stration tractor (20 horsepower)
was installed. And. just as impor
With the rollover tractor demonstration; affarge crowd of people and the commer
cial exhibits in the background, this photograph is representative of all the compo
nents of a successful Ag Progress Days held at Rockspring in Centre County this
week. You will find other stories and photographs in this Issue as seen and reported
by the Lancaster Farming staff. Photo by Evaratt Nawtwangar, managing editor.
Lencaeter Farming, Saturday, August 20, 1994
tandy. Tuff Kelly was wearing his
seatbelt
According to Dennis Murphy,
professor of ag engineering at
Penn State, those who die don’t
have a rollover protection structure
(ROPS) on their tractor.
Many Demonstrations Show The
Technical Side Of Farming
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
ROCKSPRING (Ceatjfe
Co.) Futuristic fanning:
• An automatic tomato picker
and separator that can tell the dif
ference between a red and green
tomato and harvest 30 tons an
hour.
• A manure-slurry injection sys
tem that can put about 3,500 gal
lons of manure slurry (16 percent
solids) per acre in the top four
inches of soil, but not on the exist
ing cover crop. No odor problem.
Singel Seeks Farmer Votes At Ag Progress
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
ROCKSPRING (Centre
Co.) Lt. Gov. Mark Singel
brought his Democratic guberna
torial election campaign to farmers
Wednesday with a visit to
govemment/industry day in the
activities building at Ag Progress.
After the noon luncheon, Singel
held a news conference in the Penn
State Alumni tent to announce the
endorsement of the Singel/Foley
ticket by farmers representing 27
qgitnties across Pennsylvania and
expounded upon what his
adminstration will do for farmers.
"We are here to make a strong
commitment so that agriculture
will remain Pennsylvania’s num-
Those who do, according to
facts supplied by the National
Safety Council, survive to tell
about it
In one demonstration. Tuff Kel
ly was using an improper hitch to
remove a (simulated) 6-inch tree
No manure bum to plants.
These of several pieces
tit hew tyjiaof farm equipment
that were demonstrated Tuesday
during the 1994 Penn State Ag
Progress Days event held at the
Russell E. Larson Agricultural'
Research Center, in Rockspring.
Whether or not the agricultural
community takes to the devices,
only time will tell, but that’s part of
the attraction to some of the dis
plays at Ag Progress Days the
physical demonstration of a
machine that someone had envi-
ber one industry,” Singel said. “We
will do whatever we can at the state
level to insure it’s vitality.”
While recognizing that less than
two percent of the people in Pen
nsylvania are farmers, Singel said
the other 98 percent wish they were
farmers. “What is happening in
Pennsylvania is a model for the rest
of the nation,” Singel said. “Our
farmers are tremendously produc
tive, they feed the urban areas, and
they provide the family values and
industry that are vital, not only for
goods and services, but as a model
of a way of life for Pennsylvania.”
As acting governor, Singel said
he was able to sign into law an
extension of the Ag Loan Forgive
ness Program to encourage more
Four Sections
stump. When he engaged the
gears, the front of the tractor was
tilted upward, and overturned.
Luckily, the ROPS protected Tuff
Kelly from injury.
“If not for the ROPS,” said Mur
phy, “the operator would have
been completely crushed by the
tractor.”
At the Tuesday morning demon
stration, about 1,500 visitors were
on hand to see the small tractor,
specially outfitted with ROPS,
make its way onto a 20-degree
slope. The site was specially con
structed to study the “variables”
involved in small side overturns
and to show the value of using
ROPS in conjunction with a seat
belt. according to Murphy.
While operating on a slope,
going at a high rate of speed, and
hitting certain obstacles such as
rock, groundhog holes, old logs, or
other items make a rollover even
more likely, according to Pierson.
Murphy said that rear overturns
ate the single most common type
of fatal farm accident
Improper hitching has lead to a
great many rear overturns.
Pierson said a long-term Penn
State study will examine tractor
safety and how farmers can retrofit
ROPS if their tractor isn’t outfitted
with one.
sioncd and made come true in the
hope that others would see a belter
tool and want to use it.
It is a strong example of the bet
ter mousetrap concept that is the
historic drive behind innovation,
speculation, and motivation to get
things done.
The promise of financial reward
has to bo included, for without it, it
would be difficult to attract invest
ment funding to capitalize the cre
ation of a dream.
But like a science fair, those dis
(Turn to Pag* A 26)
people to get into farming and to
forgive debt when students apply
their knowledge and go into ag
industry.
He said that the key to any ag
program is the secretary of agricul
ture. “We are proud of Boyd Wolff,
who comes to us as a dairy farmer
from central Pennsylvania,” Singel
said. “He has provided a perspec
tive that not only relates to farmers
but also to consumer groups.
“So my secretary of agriculture
is going to be someone with that
kind of expertise and the ability to
communicate and to interact with
all aspects of our society. He will
have my ear as Boyd Wolff does.”
Singel listed a number of priori
(Turn to Pago A3l)
$21.00 Per Year
(Turn to Pag* A 22)