ASO-Lancattir Farming, saturdity, July 15,1995 GIS Could Reveal A Lot About Your Farm ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff MILLERSVILLE (Lancaster Co.) Think this is science fiction? In a year’s time, using computer - technology, if you’re a farm insur ance salesman, simply plug a disk into a computer, call up anarca in the county, point and click, find all the farm buildings that are at least 500 feet from a stream, tell the computer to print out a mailing list, and market your policy to clients instantly. In a few years’ time, after won dering what that new structure is on a neighboring property, call into county offices by computer, call up the maps, point and click, and find out who owns it, when it was built, and how much it’s worth. If you think it’s science fiction, you’re wrong. It’s all real. In 1996, you could purchase this technolo gy, according to a senior planner with the county planning commission. A. Jon Hallas, senior planner, administration and information services with the Lancaster County Planning Commission, demon strated the new technology on Thursday afternoon to SO individu als associated with conservation resource groups in the state. Hallas spoke at the annual meet ing and technical sesssion of the Keystone Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society at Millersville University. Using a 486 laptop with Win dows, Hallas demonstrated the Geographic Information System (CIS) software, called Arc View 2, developed by Research Inc., in Redlands* Calif. The CIS is a com puter system for holding and using information describing places on the earth’s surface, said Hallas. The system, now in the third ITHACA. N.Y.—Wouldn’t it be nice to have one book contain ing the most current information necessary to manage a modem dairy farm? Well, it’s here! Faculty and staff of The Penn sylvania Slate University have put together the third edition of the Dairy Reference Manual, a com pendium of information about all facets of dairying—from young stock to nutrition to housing. The Dairy Reference Manual, NRAES-63, is designed to allow quick access to facts about such topics as balancing a ration, designing a natural ventilation system for a freestall bam, and identifying the causes of and con trol measures for mastitis. The manual will be invaluable to extension agents, consultants, and farm planners for advising producers about a specific prob lem; veterinarians, engineers, manufacturers, and salespeople who want condensed information; and writers and educators who want to look up key facts—in short, anyone wanting a com prehensive, easy-to-use desk reference about dairy farming. The 293-page, wire-bound manual contains thirteen chapters: farm management, dairy housing, handling and behavior, young stock and dairy replacements, dairy nutrition, physiology and disease, reproduction, dairy cattle improvement, milking equipment, milk marketing policy, veal and dairy beef, dairy goats, and the 4-H dairy program. Much of the information is con- year in development, uses infor mation provided by “orthophoto graphy.” An airplane flies over the entire Lancaster County, taking aerial pictures of land. The pic tures are “digitized” and con verted to pixels. The software con tains 640 tiles of such pictures, each representing an area measur ing 5,000 by 9,000 square feet In an demonstration using a “mouse” device to point and click, Hallas retrieved information in detailed form, including five foot contours, buildings, roads, ponds, streams, and other physical characteristics of a group of farms in the Quatryville area. Also, he was able to show parcels, perime ters. and maps. Soon, the database on owners will be complete, and with a simple point and click, the computer user can retrieve owner ship and information on any type of land. Hallas pointed out that this is all public information available at the county courthouse that was con verted for use in the computer program. Regarding some of the privacy issues owning such software could create, Hallas said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if people have questions about accessing this data. But it’s all public information available at county offices.” The software would be valuable to conservation districts in draw ing out plans, for emergency ser vices such as 911 and fire and rescue teams, and planning committees. Eventually, for a price, informa tion could be "customized” for commerical industry. The "intelli gent” system could assemble mailing lists for those who want to market products to select clients. Soil information could be digi tized and also incorporated into the system. Memory size of the infor P.SU Staff Complete 3rd Edition Dairy Manual tained in 240 tables. Eighty-eight illustrations show freestall bam layouts .and dimensions: designs for pens, ventilation systems, and handling equipment; and much, much more. The chapters are supplemented by three appendices: one lists con version factors, a second gives equations for calculating grain storage capacity, and a third gives advice about how to choose a dairy computer. A list of abbrevia tions and acronyms and suggested readings for each chapter con clude die book. The Dairy Reference Manual was compiled by the following faculty and staff members of The Pennsylvania State University: Richard S. Adams, professor emeritus of dairy science; John W. Comerford, associate professor of dairy and animal science; Stephen A. Ford, assistant professor of agricultural economics; Robert E. Graves, professor of agricultural and biological engineering: C. William Heald, professor of dairy science; Arlyn J. Heinrichs, pro fessor of dairy and animal science; William R. Henning, associate professor of animal science; Lawrence J. Hutchinson, profes sor of veterinary science; Virginia A. Ishler, extension assistant in dairy and animal science: Robin B. Keyser, former assistant pro fessor of agricultural and sion education: Michael L. O’Connor, professor of dairy sci ence; Lawrence W. Specht, pro fessor of dairy science; Stephen B. mation would determine the purchase price, according to Hallas. The system will be used at the county Natural Resources Conser vation Office (NRCS, formerly SCS). John Bert, of the county NRCS, told those attending that the five-foot contour features of the software is valuable for pre planning terraces. Also at the meeting: Alan Musselman, of the Lancas ter Farmland Trust, told those pre sent that ag preservation has “become the backbone of protec tion of the countryside from growth and development.” Musselman spoke about the ongoing success of the Trust in its effort to work “one-on-one” with farm families to cultivate a long term relationship with conserva tion easement The county’s private, nonprofit Trust numbers 2,300 members. The county organization has a $240,000 annual operating budget, with an additional land preserva tion fund to acquire farms and con servation easements. In under six years, more than 1,110 land trusts have been estab lished around the country, accord ing to Musselman. Also, he pro vided successful examples of eas ments throughout the county in a wide variety of situations. He said the Trust is working to help pass a law, similar to that used in only two states, to make farm land subject to conservation ease ment exempt from property taxes at the local level. The two stales that have such laws are Maine and Maryland. At the meeting, Wendy Zwally, soil conservationist with the York NRCS, was installed as president of the Keystone Chapter. Zwally, who will serve all 240 members of the organization rep- Spencer, professor of dairy sci ence; Gabriella A. Varga, associ ate professor of animal science; and Robert D. Yonkers, assistant professor of agricultural econom ics. The Dairy Reference Manual, NRAES-63, is available for $4O from NRAES, Cooperative Exten- Sustainable Agriculture Board Holds First Meeting HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) State Agriculture Secretary Charles C. Brosius chaired the first meeting of the Pennsylvania Board of Sustainable Agriculture. The board will meet quarterly to assist the department in develop ing a long-range, sustainable plan for Pennsylvania’s number one industry. A sustainable agriculture plan would enable farms to function more efficiently and profitably by making the most use of supplies already on the farm. Farms would then be in a better position to con tinue operating by supporting themselves over time. “Gov. Ridge and I want Pen nsylvania’s farming tradition to continue,” Brosius said. “We can do that if we pay attention to our resources and profitability.” Act 129 of 1994 established the Board of Sustainable Agriculture to review and issue grant and loan At the meeting, Wendy Zwally, soil conservationist with the York NRCS, was Installed as president of the Keystone Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. Zwally will represent the state at the national meeting on Aug. 6*9 In Des Moines, lowa. resentating conservation-minded be mote emphasis on sustainable individuals, plans to have the agriculture, organic fanning, and activities and resources of the ot !js r * ssue * state I®VCl organizations branch out into the The association is open not only T , . ... to conservation district and NRCS pnvate sector. Included will be personnel but to farmers and agri emphasis on natural resource con- industry representatives. servation, including recycling, composting, and other issues. According to Zwally, featured will sion, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853-5701. Postage and handling are included for U.S. orders only. Orders from outside the U.S. must be prepaid in U.S. funds. Quantity discounts are as follows: 10-49 copies. $32 per copy: 50-99 copies $2B per copy; 100-499 copies $24 applications in accordance with guidelines set forth in the Act The board is exploring funding sources for a grant and loan prog ram to help farmers develop and use sustainable agriculture practices. The 16 members of the board and their affiliations include the following: Charles C. Brosius, agriculture secretary, board chair man; Senator Roger Madigan, Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee chairman; Senator Pat Stapleton, Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee minority chairman; Representative Raymond Bunt, House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee chairman; Rep resentative William Lloyd, House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee minority chairman; Mary Ann Keith, agricultural administrator, Mid-Slate Bank; Dr. Elwin Stewart, Penn Slate Zwally will represent the state at the national meeting on Aug. 6-9 in Des Moines, lowa. per copy; and SOO or more copies, $2O per copy. Please make checks payable to NR AES. Phone (607) 255-7654, fax (607) 255-4080, or e-mail nraes@comell.edu for more infor mation or for a free publications catalog. Cooperative Extension Service; Dr. Terry Scheltini, Rodale Insti tute; Preston Boop, PA Associa tion for Sustainable Agriculture; Garry Van De Weert, Bradford County farmer using sustainable agricultural methods; Allen Matthews, Washington County farmer using sustainable agricul tural methods; Paul Shaw. Walnut Acres Farms, Snyder County: Dr. Steven Fales, The Pennsylvania State University; Robert Junk, President, Pennsylvania Farmers Union; James Benner, Pennsylva nia Farm Bureau and Tim Bowser, Pennsylvania Association for Sus tainable Agriculture. DabyFoods
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