PENNSYLVANIA
DAIRY MANAGERS
AND ADVISERS JOIN
THE INFORMATION
SUPER HIGHWAY
(INTERNET)
William Heald and Lisa Holden
Dairy And
Animal Science
Penn State
Did you ever wish that you
could have the best advice from
1,200 other fanners and dairy
advisers, including national and
international experts?
Did you ever wish you could tell
someone else your farm problem
to see if they experienced the same
thing and find out how they solve
the problem?
Want to know what they would
do differently?
Maybe you never thought about
it. If you are a computer user or
plan to be, it is time you consider
using the Internet for information
retrieval.
Communicating with other far
mers anywhere in the world at the
touch of a keyboard is not some
dream for tomorrow. It can be a
very real part of your everyday life
today!
A small group of fanners, con
sultants, veterinarians, students,
and researchers in Pennsylvania
are using the Internet to their
advantage everyday. They hear
about farm problems, offer advice,
and learn from others*
experiences.
The cost for fanners is little
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t other than the cost of a computer
attached to a telephone line and a
network company. It can be done
for $lO per month if you have a
computer and modem.
Internet (a free international
computer network) users send
notes to each other and don’t have
to worry about whether or not
someone is there to answer.
Sending notes can be done at
any time when they are free of
management duties. It is much like
sending a letter but faster and
easier (no stamps). The recipients
respond at their pleasure, when it
suits them. The response could be
in minutes, hours, or days, depend
ing when the responder next uses
their computer.
It is private, confidential, and
cheaper that telephone calls. Other
information is available such as
daily commodity prices, market
news, weather forecasts, newspap
ers, magazines, and entertainment.
Listservs, electronic gathering
places for people of common inter
ests, are the popular thing on the
Internet. One popular listserv is
Dairy-L. Other users of listservs
include graziers, cattlemen, veter
inarians, genealogists, collectors,
researchers, writers, and the list
goes on.
Foot problems, BST, green
house structures for cattle housing,
ways to store cottonseed, sugges
tions for labor management,
mycotoxins, vaccinations, rare dis
eases, ways to save bedding, how
to cool cows, milk marketing,
futures, “where do I find...” or
“what is Jack’s address,” or “have
iSSUE
lAL
RT
Pasture Walk June 21
FREDERICK, Md.—The June
Pasture Walk for Frederick Coun-
you ever seen...” are examples ot
discussion topics on the program
called Dairy-L, hosted by Marie
Varner, University of Maryland
and Rodger Cady, Washington
State University. A small number
for Pennsylvania producers, veter
inarians, consultants, county
agents, andresearchers participate.
Another such listserv is called
Graze-L for those producers inter
ested in grazing topics. Discus
sions were fast and furious this
spring regarding bloat and adjust
ing from indoor feeding to grazing
paddocks. Lately, the economics
of intensive rotational grazing and
the resources available for graziers
have been hot topics. The Graze-L
list is hosted by Noel Bridgeman
from Taranaki Polytech in New
Zealand and Michele Gale-Sinnox
at the University of Wisconsin.
Several Pennsylvania folks are
participating. Ask your county
agent or send an e-mail to Lisa
Holden at LAH7@PSU.EDU for
more information about Graze-L.
If you are interested and want
more information, ask a computer
friend. Today that could be a
neighbor, veterinarian, feed deal
er, county agent, or you can send
an e-mail to Bill Heald at
CWH3@PSU.EDU. He coordi
nates a start-up group of Pennsyl
vania users, offers classes, and
plans to offer education materials
by Internet
Ask your county agent to plan
an Internet training experience. A
national effort is under way to set
up a World Wide Web for dairy
users and the Penn State faculty are
busy developing their home page
to be browsed by Interent users.
Plan to join the informal Pennsyl
vania dairy e-mail group to keep
abreast of this fast-changing
technology.
When you are on line, send a
note to Bill and indicate whether
you want to be added to the e-mail
address list and want mail from
other Internet users.
-*>.
-
ty. Maryland will be held on Wed
nesday, June 21, from 10 a.m.
until noon. Ron and Kathy Holier
will be hosting the event
This is the first year of grazing
for Holterholm Farms. They have
about 30 bred heifers on pasture
with plans to move the 95-cow
milking herd onto pasture within a
year. Ron has been busy building
fence, installing a water system,
and planting additional acreage
into permanent pasture.
The purpose of the pasture walk
is to allow livestock producers a
chance to learn more about the use
of rotational grazing as a way to
increase agricultural profitability.
District
Conservationist
WEST CHESTER (Chester
Co.)—The Chester County Con
servation District announces the
employment of Ken Wilson as
Chesapeake Bay resource conser
vationist
Wilson is from Atglen, and
began employment with the con
servatin district on Monday, May
IS. His background includes a
lifelong farming experience asso
ciated with the operation of his
family’s southern Chester County
farm.
Wilson’s agricultural experi
ence also includes prior employ
ment with the Chester/Delaware
Counties’ Agricultural Stabil
ization Conservation Service
(ASCS), the Lancaster County
Conservation District as an ag
ronomist administering their
Chesapeake Bay Program, and
most recently as an agronomist
for Browning Ferris Industries’
(BFI) Organics Division.
As Chesapeake Bay Resource
Conservationist, Wilson will be
directly involved with Chester
Laricattef Farming, Saturday, juna 3,1995-ES
Most of the time will be spent
walking through the pastures dis
cussing plant growth, fencing,
watering systems, and animal
performance.
Holterholm Farms is located at
5627 Holler Road. From Jeffer
son, go east on Jefferson Pike to
left onto Holin' Road. Go two
miles to farm on the right From
Middletown, go south on Route 17
to immediate left onto Franklin
Street (this becomes Holier Road).
Go four miles to farm on the left
For more information, contact
Stanley W. Fultz, extension agent
dairy science, (301) 694-1594.
Employs
Resource
County’s Chesapeake Bay water
shed area. He will administer tech
nical direction to cooperating
-owners for the implemcnta
! of nutrient management plans
as well as best management
practices.
Efforts will be focused on
promotion of the wise use of nutri
ent and pesticide management and
erosion control practices. These
practices can help reduce the
amounts of nutrients, chemicals
and sediment which can pollute
area water sources due to typical
agriculture activities.
Part of the Chesapeake Bay
Program involves contacting and
working directly with agricultural
operators, collecting and analyz
ing site-specific information. This
effort, combined with regional
and county statistical data, is used
to assist landowners in developing
and implementing various compo
nents essential to maintaining a
high standard of water quality, as
well as an effective conservation
plan.