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.
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