A364.ancaster Farming, Saturdays June 22, 1996 UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) The Pennsylvania Depart ment of Agriculture’s Meat Ani mal Evaluation Center wishes to announce the annual boar perfor mance testing program and the ram performance testing programs are well under way. The 20 boar pens the center has available are all being utilized. This group of boars consists of 32 Yorkshires, 16 Durocs, 12 Hamp shires, four Berkshires, four Ches ter Whites, four Landrace, four Pietrains, and four Durocs x Hampshire crossbreds. These boars are growing extremely well. Seven of the pens have already attained a pen aver age of 230 pounds and have offi cially concluded their testing periods. The boars that have concluded their tests have been scanned with realtime ultrasound. These early results indicate that the center will have boars exhibiting record breaking growth, boars with exceptional muscle, and some very lean boars. The center is preparing for the 21st annual performance tested boar sale scheduled for Wednes day, August 14, at 6 p.m. in the Ag (Continued from Page A 34) part of the effort. Lanyon said that as a result of one survey, in relationship to stream management which along with groundwater degrada tion, poor watershed forestry prac tices, poor road drainage design, poor residential (especially older towns and villages) drainage, anda lack of knowledge and apparent financial benefit for taking better care about half of those inter viewed recognized that their oper ations may be negatively affecting stream quality. Lanyon’s point was that while farmers are seemingly somewhat aware of how their practices may be damaging streams, there is no incentive to spend any additional effort or devote time and money A banded sculpln Is found Inside an empty oyster shell among the catch of a small oyster dredge used by the Che sapeake Bay Foundation to educate on the bay’s aquatic community. Boar Sale Aug. 14 Arena on the campus of Penn State. This sale is again scheduled to coincide with Ag Progress Days. The 72 rams on test were just weighed for their 56-day weight Thus far, the rams are gaining extremely well. The rams will remain on test for another 28 days and then final weights will be taken. The rams then will have their breeding soundness and struct'iral correctness evaluated and will be scanned ultrasonicaUy to determine fat thickness and loin-eye area and have their final indexes calculated. The Performance Tested Ram Sale is scheduled for Saturday, August 3, at 3 p.m. in the Ag Are na (Mi the campus of Penn State University. There is a very full days activi ties planned for August 3. In addi tion to the Performance Tested Ram Sale and the Individual Ewe Slae, the Sheep Producers Field Day Committee consisting of Joanne Evans, Dick Kuzemchak, Bob Calvert, and Don Hunter have a tremendous program in place. Some of the topics on the prog ram are (a) Strategic Nematode Parasite Control for Pennsylvania Sheep; (b) Transcervical Artificial ADC, Dairy Network Partnership Use Trip away from the dairy and family to make changes. Also discussed were the facts that less than SO percent of the ADC milk produced is used for drinking, that milk is retailed through a limited number of out lets, most of which are mega grocery chains which operate sol ely on profit margins, to the-extent that small percentages of a cent can make a difference in getting milk sold. How to get the milk sold to a retailer, and then increase the retail price and collect the additional money was not yet worked out However, Lanyon mentioned that about 25 percent of the ADC milk is used in the manufacture of candy, seeming to suggest that per- Insemination in Sheep; (c) Don’t Pull the Wool Over Your Custom er’s Eyes (body composition of market lambs); (d) Year-Round Feeding Systems for Sheep; (e) Youth Skill-a-Thon competition; (f) How to Prepare and Present Your Market Lambs for the Show Ring: (g) Show Ring Procedures and Ethics. Other demonstrations, booths, and topics addressed include how to prepare fleece for sale, demon strations of sheep handling equip ment, spinning and weaving demonstrations, and instruction on safe and effective administration of injections. Commercial trade show ven dors are also planning to be on hand to exhibit their products and services. There also will be an opportuni ty to have fecal samples checked for internal parasite infestation in your flocks. The Held day activi ties are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the Ag Arena on the cam pus of Penn State. For more information or to request sale catalogs, contact Glenn Eberly, Director M.A.E.C., 651 Fox Hollow Road, State College. PA 16803, (814) 238-2527 or (814) 865-5857. haps a candy manufacturer could be brought into the program. Laura England, public relations for ADC, said that ADC was approached because of its large base of producers, different mark eting, and awareness of the environment Lanyon said that according to one source, there are more than 152 million consumers looking for one reason to buy a product and that marketers need to find that reason and associate their product with it Further, he said that, according to other surveys, more than 60 per cent of current consumers are looking for an environmental cause to support. The other portion of the trip was devoted to further understanding of the industries affecting the bay economies. Les Lanyon, with Penn State Cooperative Extension and part of a group called the Dairy Network Partnership, holds a graph and talks about consumer acceptance and selection for products identified with environmental responsibility. Raleigh, Ames DRPCs To Merge RALEIGH, N.C. The advis ory boards for the DHIA process ing centers located in Raleigh. North Carolina and Ames, lowa have endorsed a merger to better serve their customers. The combined organic ition is to provide DHIA records process ing services and on-farm records management software for 20 member DHIA affiliates serving 12,000 dairy producers with 1.3 million cows located in 31 states. The organization is to also pro vide contract processing services and/or on-farm software for three DHIA affiliates serving an addi tional 6,500 dairy producers with 600,000 cows. The combined total of 1.9 mil lion cows represents 43 percent of U.S. DHIA enrollment When operations are merged, the central administration and cen tral computer processing for the entire region will be in Raleigh. Through the use of telecommuni cation links, both Ames and The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's skipjack sailboat, the Stanley Norman, sits moored in the bay at Annapolis, adja cent to the junction of Compromise and Main streets. Raleigh will provide complete training and support for all pro ducts and services for a portion of the total region. Highlight color laser printing at both locations will distribute printing functions for improved turnaround time. By combining program development efforts, the merged organization will be able to reduce the time required for making software enhancements. Both on-farm software pro- grams (EBS and PCDART) will be supported until the best fea tures of both products are incor porated into one software pack age. An interim board has been ap pointed to evaluate the DHIA re ports that will be provided to DHIA members as well as to fin alize details on functions and staffing at each location. The first joint annual meeting will be held on Nov. 1, 1996. The overall conversion for pro cessing and operations will be completed in 1997. £l % “■■i
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