MM-utncusier rarming, aaturoay, novemoer *o, tasw
SCC Nutrient Advisory Board To
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
(part 2 of 2)
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) The nutrient management
advisory board to the State Conser
vation Commission has accom
plished a majority of the work
needed on 17 sub-issues of what is
to be final regulations for nutrient
management on farms.
The 13-member board has been
charged with helping to create,
review and recommend regula
tions that fulfill the requirements
of the state’s Nutrient Manage
ment Act, which was passed ear
lier this year by Gov. Robert
Casey.
The expressed intent of the
board is to do more than merely
provide minimum regulations to
Penn State To Help Reintroduce Fishers
UNIVERSITY PARK (CEN
TRE Co.) The fisher, a sleek
member of the weasel family, is
poised to roam the forests of
Pennsylvania if a Penn State pro
gram to reintroduce the animals
succeeds over the next several
years.
The fisher project, which fol
lows on the heels of a successful
program to reintroduce the river
otter into Pennsylvania, is likely
to begin sometime in November,
according to Thomas Serfass, a
research associate in the School
of Forest Resources who is over-
seeing the project.
As part of a cooperative effort
between the Pennsylvania Game
Commission and the university’s
Wildlife and Fisheries Science
program, the project will release
25 to 30 fishers and track their
movements and behavior over a
ABA Selects First Princess
BRATTLEBORO, Vt.
Gwendolyn Murray of Toulon, 111.,
recently won the first-ever Ayrshire
Princess contest at the North Amer
ican International Livestock Expo
sition in Louisville, Ky.
Murray has had a life-long
involvement with Ayrshires, start
ing with the family herd of 35 Ayr
shires and 35 Milking Shorthorns.
“I can’t even remember when I
started officially working with the
breed,” she laughed. “I do know I
showed my first junior calf at the
district show when I was five. ”
An integral part of
the contest was an
swering the question,
“Why have you cho
sen to work with Ayr
shires?”
Murray’s response
was simple, because
of her family involve
ment. For her, the
more pertinent ques
tion was why stay
with Ayrshires?
“Ayrshires are effi
cient grazers, adap
table to change, hardy
and easy to raise,” she
said. “They have
excellent mammary
systems, and produce
high quantities of pro
tein. Ayrshires also
live longer and are
affordable animals.”
Her first official
activity as Ayrshire
princess was handing
out ribbons and pro
moting the breed at
the Southern Nation
al Ayrshire Show.
satisfy the expressed requirements
of the act Instead, board members
have agreed that the final base of
regulations, especially for agricul
ture, must provide the environ
mental protections, but also not
unduly burden farmers compelled
to manage their handling of lives
tock manure.
As it is, the nutrient manage
ment act targets high-density lives
tock operations for mandatory
controls of manure handling.
The threshhold for being con
sidered a farm needing nutrient
planning has been arbitrarily set in
law as those operations with 2,000
pounds liveweight of livestock per
acre, regardless of the number of
animals.
In general, the basic intent of the
year’s time to determine how the
animals will survive in Pennsyl
vania. If those fishers survive, the
researchers hope to release more
than 100 into the wild.
“This project is returning part
of Pennsylvania’s history,” Ser
fass said. “There are more practi-
cal reasons as well, but bringing
back a species that had disap
peared from the state is reason
enough.”
Fishers, which are 30 to 45
inches long and can weigh from
four to 12 pounds, were abundant
in Canada and the northern Unit-
ed States in the early and mid
1800s. In the late 19th and
early part of the 20th centuries,
extensive logging along with
unregulated trapping in the state
destroyed much of the fisher’s
natural habitat and the species
vanished from Pennsylvania.
The other two judges, who came
from other breed backgrounds, also
agreed. They were: Janet Keilley
Smith, a Kentucky Jersey breeder
who has judged several previous
contests for other breeds and Patti
McDowell Holbert, a Guernsey
breeder also from Kentucky.
First runner-up was Tami
Swartz from lowa and second run
ner up was Gretchen Greiwe from
Sidney, Ohio. Other contestants
included Amy Covey from Rose,
Okla.; Marian Myatt from Mt. Her
mon, Ky.; Karen Neville from Lit
tle Meadows, Pa.; and Jennifer
Scoon from Downing, Mo.
GOLDEN LEAF
TOBACCO CO. INC.
ATTENTION TOBACCO FARMERS
We will start receiving tobacco on Tuesday, December 6, 1994 at
our New Locations 'A mile east of Rt. 23 on Graybill Rd. in the
village of Bareville, Pa. (the old scales factory)..
Telephone No. 717-354-8177
717-656-8452
717-656-0978
Our other location is the Kirkwood Hay Auction Barn at the
intersection of Noble Rd. and Rt. 472. We will start receiving
tobacco on Wednesday. December 7, 1994.
Telephone No. 717-529-2882
Consider Golden Leaf Tobacco Co. when marketing your 609 or
41 type tobacco. A company with an outstanding reputation for
supporting Lancaster tobacco farmers year after year.
Golden Leaf Tobacco Co.
Mac Bailey
(717) 354-8177
Clark Stauffer Dennis Hess Mac Bailey Aaron Miller
(717)733-8921 (717)627-4075 (717)354-8177 Ans. Serv.
(717)575-0622 (717)575-4229 (717)656-6109
(717)738-2328
act is to ensure that nitrogen is con
trolled so as to not present a pollu
tion problem.
More specifically, the act deals
with nitrogen used with livestock
operations and in cropping opera
tions associated with livestock
operations.
Eventually, all nonpoint sources
of nitrogen are to be considered for
legal controls, but high-density
livestock operations were chosen
as first targets for control, since
they are a relatively recent phe
nomenon in the industry, driven by
low commodity prices and increas
ing production competition.
Furthermore, there have been
some obvious pollution problems
associated with such farming oper
ations, and with large industry
“The main reason fishers dis
appeared was the loss of the for
est” Serfass said. “That we are
able once again to put fishers into
Pennsylvania woods is a testa
ment to modern forestry practices
started during the past 100 years.”
Despite its aquatic name, fish
ers don’t like water much and
don’t eat fish. Serfass says their
diet includes mice, shrews, squir
rels and in the summer, nuts and
berries.. They will scavenge, eat
ing deer gut piles and deer car
casses during hunting season.
They also are one of the few
predators of porcupines, which
can be a timber nuisance in some
areas.
Fishers are strictly forest ani
mals and they have such a wide
home range that Serfass estimates
that a 50,000-acre forest could
support just 100 fishers. “They
really dislike open spaces and go
out of their way to avoid them,"
he said. “People should not
expect to see them in their back
yard.”
The fisher project, which is
overseen by Dr. Robert Brooks,
associate professor of wildlife
ecology, and Dr. Walter Tzil
kowski, associate professor of
wildlife science, will use animals
trapped live from populations in
New York’s Adirondacks Moun
tains and perhaps the White
Mountains in New Hampshire.
Bring Pieces
investment geared toward such
high-production facilities, law
makers sought to get controls in
place before that type of new agri
cultural operation grew further
without the required responsibility
to not pollute.
Under state law, water pollution
is illegal, but since the cost and
impracticably of proving in court
that a farm is responsible for pollu
tion, even if it appears obvious,
there has been little use of existing
clean water laws to control such
activities.
By requiring operators of high
density facilities to create and fol
low a management plan of nutri
ents (specifically nitrogen), it is
assumed that the commonwealth
can be better assured that illegal
Serfass said the fishers will be
shipped to Penn state, where uni
versity veterinarians will examine
the animals for disease or health
problems. After two weeks, the
fishers will be moved to a site in
northern Pennsylvania where
they will be outfitted with surgi
cally implanted radio transmitters
or radio collars. Graduate student
Denise Mitcheltree will track
each animal’s movements and
behavior.
“The radio study will tell us
how they survive, what type of
habitat serves them best and what
they’re eating,” Serfass said.
“The fisher project is modeled
very closely on Penn State’s rein
troduction of the river otter,” Ser
fass said.
If the fishers prove hardy
enough to survive in Pennsylva
nia’s forests, Serfass estimates
more than 100 animals will be
released during the course of the
project, which should take less
than three years to complete.
“Since their range is so large,
most of the fishers will live north
of Interstate 80, where much of
the state’s older forest is,” Serfass
said. “Returning this native spe
cies to its original range is going
to be exciting.”
The project is partially funded
by the Pennsylvania Wild Resource
Conservation Fund and The Center
for Rural Pennsylvania.
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and irresponsible practices aren’t
being used in order gain a competi
tive edge tv to increase profits.
As of the last meeting, held Nov.
4, the board has reported having
taken final action on six of 17 regu
latory “concepts.”
Those concepts include regula
tions covering the general provi
sions of the act; some of the gener
al requirements for submitting
nutrient management plans and
identifying CAOs; what is to be
contained in the nutrient manage
ment plan; manure management;
excess manure utilization; and the
delegation of authority to local
conservation districts.
Other aspects being woiked on
include definitions, storm water
control; criteria for manure stor
age; and financial assistance.
However, these areas still contain
a lot of uncertainty and arc under
review by committees.
Other issues which are just
being researched, or have yet to be
addressed by the board include
voluntary plans (which may
require some rewording and
reworking of regulations already
considered to be finalized), man
ure handling in emergency condi
tions, plan amendments, and
recordkeeping.
The advisory board has created
several committees to deal specifi
cally with the issues, and the com
mittees have been meeting regular
ly between board meetings in order
to have as much work accom
plished as possible for full board
consideration.
Joel Rotz, chairman of the
board, said that the board must
now begin to consider the worka
bility of the final regulatory pack
age. Mike Krempasky, secretary of
the State Conservation Commis
sion, said that some of the wording
may change after legal review, so
board members should not be sur
prised nor conclude that changes
were made behind their back.
As reported last week, uncer
tainty about the extent of changes
to the state Department of Envir
onmental Resources as promised
by Gov.-elect Tom Ridge in his
campaign platform.
Overall, the board may find it
necessary to request an extension
of deadline to finalize regulations
under the act, although members
did not concede that such a request
is imminent.
Calcium Oxide 41%
Magnesium Oxide 6%
passing 100 mesh
passing 60 mesh
passing 20 mesh