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.
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