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Vol. 40 NO. 45
Course To Teach Fire , Rescue Personnel About Farm Dangers
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
IRISHTOWN (Adams Co.)
When do you start to “play it
safe”? I*or Larry Fecser, Jr., it
began the day when, as a 14 year
old, his tractor almost completely
overturned. Luckily, he jumped off
the back of it unharmed.
When do you learn to play it
safe? Ask Larry’s mother, Jean. In
August, 1972, her husband, Larry.
Sr., was working alone, loading
Farmers Risk
Silo Fires From
Dry Corn Plants
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) This summer’s weather
has made com plants drier than
usual, posing Arc risks for farmers
who wish to ensile the plants for
animal feed.
At least five Pennsylvania farms
have been hit by silo fires in recent
weeks, and the conditions asM»*r
fect for more silo fires to"Blart,
warn experts in Penn State’ffCbF
lege of Agricultural Sciences;
Why does lack of com moisture
increase the risk of silo fires?
“When you foment com plants in
a silo, the fermentation process
generates heat,” said farm safety
specialist and professor of agricul
(Tum to Pag* A 23)
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) “The best handle on nutri
tion and reproduction management
can be summed up in one number
The York Fair supreme champion breeding sheep were
named Monday evening. With the champion ram are from
Tim Hall, Judge; Thelma Kitzmiller; Julie Kem, York County
Lamb and Wool Queen; and Paul Kitzmiller. The Kitzmillers
are from Woolley Breezes farm. See story page A2O.
601 Par Copy
National Farm Safety And Health Week Begins Sunda
silage. He was standing up against
the trough. For some reason, he
slipped, and his foot was caught in
the auger and started to draw his
leg in. Luckily, he grabbed onto a
com fork and pushed the off switch
to stop the auger.
But it was some time many
agonizing minutes later until
Jean, who was milking cows,
found him and was able to use a
telephone in the bam to call neigh
bors and the fire department.
Somehow, the rescue people
were able to work the foot out For
tunately, the damage wasn’t severe
but Jean knows it could have
been a lot worse.
“His foot was mangled pretty
badly.” said Jean. After several
months, Larry was able to regain
use of the foot.
When do you Anally play it
safe? Larry recalls recently, when,
at a tractor pull at the South Moun
tain Fair, several weights were sent
flying in the air. Fortunately, the
driver escaped serious harm. No
hyfetanders were hurt in the inci
dent. But it has the Feesers worried
that something far more cata
strophic could occur, and how
much are fire companies and
rescue people prepared?
“The fire service does care, and
we’re out there for farmers, as well
as anybody involved in a vehicle
accident,” said Larry Jr. “We basi
cally want to learn as much as we
Pennsylvania DHIA Brings New Technology,
Latest Management Tool Online
on the DHIA monthly report to
farmers.”
This is what officials of Pennsyl
vania DHIA are calling the new
mint urea nitrogen (MUN) testing
capabilities they are introducing to
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possibly can about the different
styles and different types of farm
machinery and how to handle the
farm accident if it occurs.”
As a seven-year member of the
Irishtown Fire Department, Larry
cooperated with the Adams Coun-
“I could talk to 200 tamers and all 200 tamers could give me a farm-related acci
dent,” said Feeser. “Fire fighters are no different. They’ve seen things, they have done
things, In the past, and they can insert at any time In a situation to handle It.”
the state dairy industry starting on
October 1.
"Milk urea testing gives us the
opportunity to have an on-going
method of consulting directly with
the cow to take a look at the link
between reproduction and nutri
tion management,” said Dave
Slusser, manager. Urea nitrogen is
the waste product from excess pro
tein in the feed. But the test will
also show if you are underfeeding
the cow. My prediction is that the
MUN test will end up affecting the
dairy more than somatic cell counts
have.”
While scientific research on
MUN tests is limited, a Cornell
Gov. Ridge Announces New Export Emphasis
At 1996 Pennsylvania Farm Show
EVERETT NEWSW ANGER
Managing Editor
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) To help reach a goal to
increase exports of farm and agri
business products produced in
Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Ridge
announced a new international day
as part of the 1996 Farm Show in
January. Ridge made the
announcement in an appearance at
the monthly Ag Issues Forum usu
ally held in Lancaster County but
moved to the Pennsylvania Depart
ty Farm Bureau when they paid for
a special course to learn about farm
accident rescue and recovery. In
mid-April this year, Larry attended
a 416 day course at Alfred State
College to teach and train rescue
personnel in the tactics of farm
University video presented to a
group of veterinarians and DHIA
personnel last week confirmed that
the new testing technology gives a
direct way to analyze the relation
ship between protein and energy in
the ration for dairy cows. Excess
protein costs extra money and puts
stress on the cow. It can hurt per
formance and hurt the environment
when excess nutrients pass through
the cow and enter the air as ammo
nia or enter the streams and under
ground water supplies as nitrates.
At the same time if the cow is
underfed, production suffers and
the cow becomes thin. MUN test
ing gives dairy farmers a new to
ment of Agriculture (PDA) build
ing to accommodate Gov. Ridge
and provide an opportunity for
interaction with PDA
representatives.
“Wc have decided as part of our
marketing and export efforts to
introduce an International Day as
part of the Farm Show,” Ridge
said. “We want to welcome these
international visitors and provide
the opportunity for these interna
tional visitors to meet with appro
priate agricultural leaders in the
Four SeeMone '
rescue.
The course, called FARMEDIC,
instructed 22 fire company rep
resentatives from Pennsylvania
and other states in the tactics and
strategies used to rescue and
(Turn to Pag* A 24)
“fine tune” their nutrition prog
rams to meet each cow’s needs.
In test herds, researchers have
determined that following recom
mendations based on MUN tests
have substantial returns on invest
ment to get the milk sample tested.
In examples given in the video,
reduced days open and increased
milk production gave a 10 to 1
retym on investment in the 100
cow herd used in the example. At
Pennsylvania DHIA the program
to members will be introduced ini
tially at .15 per cow provided the
entire herd is done, and the mem
ber’s herd is being tested for fat,
(Turn to Pago A2S)
setting of excitement that is part of
the farm show. I feel strongly that
the PDA must be aggressive in
exporting our goods.
“We need to make agriculture
more profitable. You can hear all
the speeches about the demise of
the family farm. But if we just help
farming to be more profitable, you
will not need to worry about this
demise.
“What do we need to do in Pen
nsylvania to make production agn-
(Turn to Pag* A2S)
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