Penn State
mF J Block
Bridle Club
NOTES FROM
THE PENN STATE
BLOCK AND
BRIDLE CLUB
This monthly feature to Lancas
ter Farming is provided by mem
bers of the Penn State Block and
Bridle Club for B&B alumni,
friends of the Department of Dairy
and Animal Science, and the read
ership of Lancaster Farming.
September
September events included
social, intramural, Ag Student
Council, and livestock judging
activities, which made for an
extremely busy momh for the Penn
Slate Block and Brdle Club. A
well-attended, regular'y scheduled
meeting kicked off the month fol
lowed by the annual fab picnic and
an evening playing broomball.
Attendees at the picnic enjoyed
a hamburger cookout, volleyball,
and touch football on a Sunday
afternoon at the Beef aid Sheep
Center. Two days later, members
who still had enough energy
showed up at the Penn State ice
rink fora bruising, two-hour, hard
fought battle of broomball, leaving
many participants exhausted and a
few injured. Members had ample
lime to heal before another regular
meeting, Ag Hill Olympics, and
the beginning of two important
seasons: intramural softball and
livestock judging!
The regular meeting covered
committee reports, national meet
ing details, and a program that con
sisted of summer internship exper
iences by students. Tw'' days later,
a four man team consis ing of Jay
Brchm, Scott Brown, Scott Myers,
and Tadd Burch led L'ock &
Bridle to a third place finish at the
annual Ag Hill Olympics. Bale
throwing, whe§JJ>arrow ra ing.
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lighted the day’s events.
While the Nittany Lion football
team struggled in a loss to Wiscon
sin, B&B teams had great starts to
their respective seasons. The intra
mural men’s softball team finished
September undefeated with a
record of 4-0, while the livestock
judging team finished first at the
Eastern National in Timonium,
Md.
This year’s livestock judging
team, led by coi ch Keith Bryan,
includes Kim Black, Jay Brehm,
Scott Brown, Bii. a Hrutkcy, Chris
Kling, Brian McAllister, Todd
Rabenold and Jen Sweitzer.
October
Unlike the Penn State football
team that suffered another setback
against Ohio State in October, the
intramural softball team continued
their winning ways until hitting a
roadblock in the intramural
championship semifinals.
Led by team co-captains Josh
Molnar and Scott Myers, the team
finished the season with a 6-1
record.
Club members assisted with the
Keystone International Livestock
Exposition’s livestock judging
contest. The club provided animal
holders and movers for 12 classes
of livestock throughout the morn
ing judging session on Oct. 7.
Matt Zerby and Bill Beinlich.
co-chahmen of the livestock com
mittee, organized the club’s efforts
for this event.
Anothe l- regular meeting vas
held on Oct. S and included co.. •
mittce rcp< ts, finalizing plans fi r
the Nations meeting, the start c?
the fall sausage sale, and speakei
Fadok Shab.. Shabi, who talked
about Israeli agriculture, is a Ph.D.
student at Penn State and was gra
duated from the Hebrew Universi-
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Members rtsceivecT won - bat
. ne of the departments secre '.ies
i ad to bear considerable “c .tof
pocket” expenses for health cu.e.
1 lie club “passed-the-hat” a:/J col
lected more than $2OO to help
defray costs of her health care.
The annual B&B fall me-.t sale
ha.; been expanded slightly to
include three items: pork sausage
and two sizes of beef summer
sausage.
Two-pound packages of pork
sausage are available for $3.50,
and the "beef sticks” are available
in either small ($3.50 for 14 ounce
s) or large ($6.50 for 2 pounds)
sizes. Any member of B&B would
be happy to take your order. The
incentives for this fall’s sale
include dinner for the winning
team of five and complimentary
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) —Now is the time when far
mers are considering options for
postharvest management of left
over cornstalks and other crop
residue. And the question many
are asking is, “To chop or not to
chop?”
Before deciding whether to
chop cornstalks or leave them
intact, several factors should be
considered, said Lynn Hoffman,
senior research associate in Penn
State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences.
Proper management of crop
residue has become widely
accepted as a means to reduce soil
erosion. To keep as much residue
as possible on fields, Hoffman
generally recommends leaving
cornstalks alone. If chopped, he
said, the smaller pieces may be
bio'vn or washed away by wind or
rain.
But there are circumstances in
which chopping may be the best
option. “If you plan to use secon
dary tillage equipment, such as a
field cultivator or harrow, after
planting in the spring, you’ll prob
ably waiit to chop the cornstalks,”
Hoffman said.
“A lot of secondary tillage tools
don’t have enough clearance to
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To Chop Or Not To Chop?
■><•«! ~,i p
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Octobar 2t,l^D^s
Jackets to the Christmas* semifor
mal forme two high salespersons.
Plans are under way to continue
the busy semester schedule for
club members. A new intramural
season started recently for co-ed
and men’s flag football teams. On
Saturday, Oct 21, a few Executive
Committee members will discuss
B&B programs and undergraduate
student life with juniors and
seniors in high school who will be
on campus for the annual Depart
ment of Dairy and Animal Science
Open House for Prospective Stu
dents. The club is also planning a
Halloween Party and pig roast on
OcL 28.
November
Finally, plans are coming
together for club members to
attend the 76th National Block and
allow those uncut stalks to pass
through without plugging up the
machinery,” he said. “But if the
stalks won’t present a problem
with secondary tillage, I’d recom
mend you leave them alone.”
If you use a com-picker to
harvest your com, cutting the
stalks also might help to distribute
the material more uniformly over
the field. “But if you use a com
bine,” said Hoffman, “it usually
will shred the stalks enough to
give you reasonably uniform dis
tribution without chopping them.”
Some farmers who chop their
cornstalks in the fall perform
some type of tillage operation to
partially cover the cut stalks and
keep them in place. But Hoffman
said there are nsks in that practice.
“You have to be careful that you
don’t violate the conservation plan
assigned to the farm or to that par-
Northeast Ag Program
Looks For Innovative Ideas
BURLINGTON,
Vt.—Applications are available
for The Northeast Region Sustain
able Agriculture Research and
Education (SARE) Program’s
1996 Farmer/Grower Grants
Program, The region will award
up to $lOO,OOO in grants to far
mers to try innovative production
and marketing systems.
The grants will be awarded on a
competitive basis to farmers
throughout the 12-state region.
Projects nay involve small
research trials, educational activi
ties and demonstrations. Project
activities should promote good
stewardship of natural resources,
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.Bridle Club Meeting in Louisville,
Ky., from Nov. 9-12.
This year’s National Meeting
will be hosted by the University of
Kentucky and will be held in con
junction with the North American
International Livestock
Exposition.
The meeting will be special
since our very own Dr. Harold
Harpster is up for election for
national B & B secretary. Other
events scheduled for lat.r in the
semester include the annua'
Christmas semiformal and trying
to secure a stretch of highway K
Centre County for Pennsylvania’s
Adopt-A-Highway prognm.
For more information concern
ing activities of the Penn State
Block and Bridle Club, contact
Keith Bryan at (814) 863-0569.
ticular field,” he said. “You have
to be aware of and follow normal
erosion control measures.”
Hoffman said some farmers
chop cornstalks thinking that it
will help control' insects such as
com borers. But he said that’s not
necessarily true. “We’ve never
been able to demonstrate that
chopping the stalks reduces the
number of insects enough to have
an effect on next year’s
production.”
If you plan to use a no-till drill
to plant alfalfa or oats in the early
spring, then you arc better off not
cutting leftover cornstalks,
according to Hoffman. “When
there’s stii* a little frost and the
sulks are Stuck fast to the ground,
you get less plugging of the no-till
drill when the stalks are left
inuct,” he said.
prevent agricultural pollution,
improve farm profitability and/or
enhance quality of life.
Last year, 38 grants were
awarded. They ranged in size from
S32S to $5,571. Grants must be
under the direction of at least one
producer, although collaboration
with other producers and other
members of the agricultural com
m nity is strongly encouraged.
C.ant applications are availaV.'e
fro..i the Sustainable AgricitUuie
Research and Education Program,
Hih. building. University of Ver
monr, Burlington, Vi,
0540.‘ 0082. Application deadline
is December 15, 1995.