(Continued from Pago A2O)
Blue Knoll Farms claimed top
milk honors with “Supreme,” pro
ducing a 305-day record of 35,434
milk. The farm’s “Missy” earned
the Fetrow brothers a second indi
vidual award for her high 305-day
protein production of 1123
pounds. William Myers won the
high 305-day fat award with his
herd member “June,” finishing
with 1472 pounds fat.
Honors for high lifetime pro
duction went to cow No. 19 in the
herd of Melvin Lehr, East Berlin,
with a nine-lactation total of
268,178 pounds of milk. Lifetime
fat production award was won by
Wayne Myers, Dover, for the
9852-fat-pounds produced in nine
lactations by herd member Pam.
Two county dairy producers
were elected to the York DHIA
board of directors. Chosen to fill
the three-year-terms were Don
Avery and Keith Eisenhart. Neil
McCullough, Cumberland County,
regional director to the state DHIA
board, noted in his report during
the business session that producers
can and have the right to seek the
best production testing service
they can find. He urged members
to contact their board meiqbers if
their DHIA service needs are not
being adequately met.
Featured speaker was David
Slusser, executive director of the
Pennsylvania herd testing cooper
ative, who spoke about the con
stant change in the dairy industry
and the need for DHIA to respond
to those changes.
Slusscr noted that DHIA, like
most dairy farms, has had to tight-,
en its economic belt and become
more efficient. To reflect the actu-
York DHIA Awards Presented
al costs of testihg, fees have
recently been increased to reduce
the $400,000 annual deficit which
was burdening the cooperative.
“We had hoped to avoid a fee
adjustment and feel bad about that,
but we do feel good about getting
the organization into the black,”
said Slusser.
Bulk of the deficit was coming
from the prior fees on two-times
daily testing structure. Fees on 2-
X testing were running about 21-
cents per cow behind the actual
cost of servicing the herds. Most
of the recent increase, Slusser
affirmed, was on 2-X test fees,
which are now at a more equitable
level to cover the actual cost of
testing.
Pa. DHIA is also encouraging
2-X clients to move to a one-time
dailv test oroeram, which allows
field technicians to handle more
herds and increase their pay levels.
With the fee increases falling pri
marily on 2-X herds, many herds
are expected to make the switch to
one-time-monthly DHIA techni
cian visits.
“AM/PM testing is just as or
more efficient than 2-X testing,”
says Slusser, who added that testing,
like many things, is not an exact sci-
fS]
fm
ence. “We arc trying to be as accu
rate and as efficient as possible.”
Both testing lab and employee
costs have been reduced in recent
efficiency moves by the state
DHIA program. County fee and
pay structures are now more uni
form under the state consolidation,
reducing the state’s “total manage
ment nightmare” of prior years
when each county had its own pro
Pesticide Certification
HONESDALE (Wayne Co.)
Pesticide certification exami
nations will be given at the Penn.
State - Cooperative Extension,
Wayne County “North” office
meeting room, Courthouse,
Honesdale, on Tuesday, Dec. 6,
starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending at
noon.
The exam is open to anyone
wishing to become certified as pri
vate, commercial, or public appli
cators. Private applicators are
those who are farming and apply
ing restricted-use pesticides to
their own crops. Commercial
applicators are those who are
applying pesticides to property of
other people.
o
Qd
Hoffman 7353
Mean
1993 MD Soybean Variety Tests
Hoffman 7403
Mean
1993 Delaware Variety Performance Summary
Hoffman 7484
Average
Who couldn’t use an extra 6%, 10% or 20% more
yield? Now you can achieve yield gams of similar
proportions, with our top-performing soybeans
M«Hum Qroup 3 Maturity. Hoffman 7353
produced a 10% yield advantage over the mean m
trials in Lancaster and Centre counties in Pennsylvania
It emerges fast, develops a good canopy and demon
strates excellent shattering resistance, as well as
resistance to Phytopthora Root Rot.
H Hoffman Seeds, Inc., Landisville, PA 17538
' Gad TON Ruu: MMK77G-7929
Adding Value to your Seed Investment
© 1994 Hoffman Seeds, Inc
.Boost soybean
° production
by as much
as 20% ° 0
G
53.4 Bu/A
46.3 Bu/A
Ful
Season
54.8
45.7
Uncwtf Firming. Saturday. Dacamber 3, 1904-A2l
gram, according to Slusser. Sever
al more counties have recently
merged into the combined state
program, with one still to com
plete the process.
Slusser acknowledged that the
year has been “real challenging”
since he joined the state DHIA in
January as executive director,
after 23 years of operating his own
dairy herd. However, membership
The examination is a pass-fail,
open book, proctored test. Exami
nation fees are nonrefundable. The
following fees, with payment
made in advance, shall be charged:
private applicator exams are free
and commercial applicator’s core
examination is SSO plus $lO for
each category examination.
Testing is also available on
working Monday mornings at the
ADS^
$ PAY OFF! I
■ * *
Average yield
Cam.
39.4
45.6
39.8
44.7
Average yield
80.1 Bu/A
66.7 Bu/A
YMd advantage: 13.4 Bu/A
Early Group 4 Maturity. Hoffman 7403
gives you excellent emergence, standabihty, shatter
ing resistance and lodging resistance, in addition to
top yields.
Madhim Qroup 4 Maturity. Hoffman 7484
was ranked first in 1993 Delaware trials in Selbyville,
surpassing the average by 13.4 Bu/A or 20%. It
emerges quickly ana has outstanding shattering
resistance.
No matter what your specific needs, Hoffman has
a high-performing soybean variety that will give you
greater yields. Contact your Hoffman sales rep today.
numbers are growing at a four-to
one ratio, with more than 50 herds
added to the testing program in
recent months and only about ten
dropped. Cow numbers are like
wise inching upward, as herds on
test continue to increase in size.
“Pennsylvania DHIA cares and
is changing fast,” reflected
Slusser, concluding, “And, there
are more changes to come.”
Exam Set
Pa. Department of Agriculture
office on Route 92 just south of
Tunkhannock.
For examination registration or
additional information, call the
Penn State Cooperative Extension,
Wayne County office, at (717)
253-5970, ext. 239 or the Depart
ment of Agriculture in Tunkhan
nock at (717) 836-2181.
66.2 Bu/A
60.0
6.6 Bu/A
Crop
Mi
Ful
Season
40.5
40.7
39.1
38.2
tentage: 3.1 Bu/A
Double
Crop
48.2
43.0