A3B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 22, 1996
ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.) —
Penn State again will conduct an
agronomic field diagnostic clinic
this summer here at the Agronomy
Research Farm.
The clinic will be held on two
dates, July 23 and 2S. The same
program will be conducted both
days.
These field days are designed to
improve the agronomic manage
ment skills of industry personnel,
extension and public agents, crop
consultants, and producers. Spe
cialists from Penn State and the
agricultural community will pro
vide hands-on diagnostic training
in crop production, soil fertility
and conservation, and pest
management
Participants choose from a vari
ety of topics and have ample
opportunity to diagnose, solve, and
discuss crop management prob
lems and situations. In addition to
gaining practical agronomic
knowledge, CCA and pesticide
applicator license credits can be
obtained.
This year’s program will be
slightly different from past prog
rams. It will primarily focus on
Youth Gear Up
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.
Junior exhibitors and Limousin
enthusiasts are heading to Des
Moines, lowa July 8-13 for the
1996 National Junior Limousin
Show and Congress.
With entries from 237 exhibi
tors in 26 states, the 446 head
entered give the 20th anniversary
edition show the second largest
number of entries for a National
Junior Limousin Show and
Limousin Juniors Celebrate
25th Anniversary Show
ENGLEWOOD. Colo.
Some 250 exhibitors from 20
states are expected to attend the
20th anniversary National Junior
Limousin Show and Congress in
Des Moines, lowa July 13-18.
Returning to the site of the
national show in 1976, this year’s
event will be one of the largest
Limousin national junior shows
ever held.
“As sit has been for the last 20
years, the National Junior Show is
the premiere event for juniors
each year,” said George Hubbard,
director of marketing, shows and
junior activities for the North
American Limousin Foundation.
“Over the years, the number of
exhibitors has grown, as well as
the educational and competitive
EDGEWATER. Md. The
Maryland Agricultural Education
Foundation (MAEF) is putting a
new spin on the adage, “if Mo
hammed won’t come to the moun
tain, the mountain will go to Mo
hammed.”
With a grant of $lO,OOO from
the Maryland Grain Producers
Utilization Board and matching
funds from other commodity or
ganizations, MAEF soon will be
able to take an ag products mobile
classroom to-Maryland school
children in grades three, five, and
eight
“They just don’t teach much
about agriculture in the schools
anymore,” said Steve Connelly,
Agronomic Field Diagnostic Clinic
some of the new technologies and
their applications in crop produc
tion; however, some basics will be
covered as well.
As in the past, there will be time
for discussion and hands-on parti
cipation. The program will include
sessions on diagnostic techniques
for early season com, soybean nit
rogen requirements and inocula
tion principles, potato leafhopper
resistant alfalfa varieties and man
agement of sclerotinia in alfalfa,
herbicide-tolerant crops, uses and
economics of Bt com varieties,
and an introduction to yield moni
tors and their applications.
You are invited to attend one of
the field days on Tuesday, July 23
or Thursday, July 25. The cost of
registration is $35 and includes
lunch, refreshments, and support
materials.
Additional program details and
registration information will be
available from your local Penn
State Cooperative Extension office
or register by calling Lisa Crytser
in the Department of Agronomy at
(814) 865-2543.
Please register by July 12 so the
department can estimate luncheon
Congress,
“In the past 20 years, the
National Junior Limousin Show
has grown from 65 heifers from
six states to this year’s 400 plus
entries from 26 states,’’ said
George Hubbard, director of
marketing, shows and junior
activities for the North American
Limousin Foundation (NALF).
In addition to two da;, s of show
opportunities available to the
youth involved.”
The centerpiece of the week
will be the National Junior Limou
sin Heifer Show on Thursday July
11. Jack Ward of Roanoke, Ind.
will put the official placings on the
classes, accompanied by associate
judge Doug Satree of Montague,
Texas. On Wednesday, July 10,
juniors will showcase their own
breeding programs in the bred and
owned heifer and bull show
judged by Jerry Talsma, Edgarton,
Minn. Doug Satree will also be in
the ring Wednesday as judge of
the Limousin steer show. As in the
past two years, judges for the
National Heifer Show and bred
and owned shows will be given
Education Foundation On The Road
executive director of MAEF.
“We’re hoping to reach 30 school
sites a year with the mobile class
rooms.”
The mobile unit will be eight
feet wide and 36 feet long with a
22-foot awning to extend for out
side activities, “and plenty of sign
age,” according to Bob Keenan,
director for the Maryland Educa
tion Center for Agriculture, Sci
ence and Technology (MECAST),
a unit of MAEF. Keenan, who has
spent more than 30 years in educa
tion, came up with the idea for the
mobile units and hopes to have
four on the road eventually. There
already is an aquaculture unit in
service.
For Limousin Show
needs. For program information,
call Dwight Lingenfelter, (814)
865-2242.
Topics include:
• Basics of early season com
diagnostic techniques. Field prob
lem diagnosis and identification
are important components neces
sary for solving crop production
problems. Learn necessary tech
niques needed to effectively diag
nose Held problems. Information
on assessing com growth stages,
seeding depth, plant populations,
stand variation and other basic
parameters will also be included.
Participants will have an opportun
ity to develop their skills by diag
nosing and identifying problems
during hands-on exercises
intended to bring together these
aspects of troubleshooting.
• Soybean nitrogen require
ments and inoculation principles.
In most production systems in Pen
nsylvania, no nitrogen is applied
for soybean production. We rely
on the symbiotic relationship
between soybeans and a bacteria
species to meet the soybean nitro
gen requirements. Learn the prop
er inoculation techniques and soil
ring competition, youth will have
opportunities to compete in events
such as public speaking, sales talk,
cattle judging, cow camp, quiz
bowl and the 4th Annual Limou
sin Beef Cook-Off.
For more information on the
Limousin breed or the National
Junior Limousin Show and Con
gress, contact the NALF office at
(303) 220-1693.
expected progeny differences
(EPDs) on all cattle exhibited.
Outside the show ring, competi
tion promises to be just as fierce.
A series of satellite events taking
place over the week will offer
juniors opportunities in public
speaking, sales talk, cattle judg
ing, and a new event, cow camp.
Cow camp is a hands-on event that
will test juniors’ basic skills in
cattle management. Juniors an
also compete in the quiz bowl and
the 4th Annual Limousin Beef
Cook-Off.
For more information on the
National Junior Limousin Show
and Congress or the North Ameri
can Limousin Junior Association,
contact George Hubbard at (303)
220-1693.
“Kids have a hard time getting
away from school for things like
field trips today,” Connelly said.
That’s because of classroom de
mands of the Maryland School
Performance Action Plan, a series
of critical-thinking and problem
solving activities on which chil
dren are tested to obtain a school
performance ranking.
‘The beauty of the mobile units
is that we can take everything to
the kids without taking them out
of school,” Keenan said. Teachers
who work with the units will have
gone through a series of training
sessions and students who partici
pate will be prepared by their
classroom teachers ahead of time
environmental conditions that
must exist for this process to be
successful. In addition, particip
ants will remove and observe plant
root/nodule systems in order to
better understand this important
process.
• Alfalfa pests: out with the old
and in with the new. Potato leaf
hopper is the largest insect pest of
alfalfa in the northeastern United
States. Leant how and why new
technology may cause potato leaf
hopper to be a pest of the past.
Unfortunately, we have a relative
ly new disease, sclerotinia, that has
burst on to the alfalfa scene and is
destroying many alfalfa seedings.
Leant more about this disease and
what can be done to minimize its
impact on alfalfa establishment
• Herbicide-tolerant crops.
Herbicide-tolerant crops are
increasingly becoming a pan of
crop production systems. Leant
more about the Roundup Ready,
Liberty Link, Poast Compatible,
IMI, and STS technologies incor
porated into com and soybean var
ieties. Understand these new crops
and how to best utilize them to get
optimum weed control and yield.
See these new varieties firsthand
NDB, UDIA
Approve
Funding Structure
ROSEMONT, 111. The
boards of directors governing
Dairy Management Inc. (DMI)
each voted unanimously to revise
the budget structure to equalize
opportunities for qualified state/
regional promotion organization
representation and participation in
national dairy promotion plans
and programs.-
Effecdve with the 1997 budget,
the board voted institutes equal,
reduced fees, allowing each state
and regional organization greater
capacity to voluntarily support
and participate in national
programs.
The restructuring effectively
eliminates mandatory United
Dairy Industry Association
(UDIA) dues, which were based
on each organization’s total uni
fied budget and used to fund
national programs.
‘This is a significant step for
ward toward unifying the indus
try,” said Bob Gaebe, chairman of
the National Dairy Board (NDB)
and a dairy producer from New
Salem, N.D. “It levels the playing
Held so all qualified dairy promo
tion organizations can participate
equally and to as great a degree as
they desire.”
‘This decision signals to the
and also have follow-up materials
and activities.
“Our ultimate goal is to have
teachers who are on sabbatical
manning the units at all times,”
Connelly said. Each unit will stay
at one location for one to two
weeks.
“The grain unit will deal with
all the current traditional agricul
ture crops and will have an em
phasis on nutrition,” Keenan said.
“The kids will study about global
marketing and production and
they'll leant more about Mary
land’s products, too.”
There will be end-use product
activities such as making tofu
from soybeans.
Set
and learn how they may fit into
herbicide resistance management
programs.
• Advances in insect pest man
agement. Insect-resistant crops
and new insecticide handling sys
tems are a few of the new technolo
gies incorporated into pest man
agement systems. Leant about the
new Btrcom technology and issues
related to its management and eco
nomics. Compare varieties from
four companies for controlling
European com borer. See firsthand
new insecticide container systems
and discuss the benefits. Updates
on other insect pests include com
rootworm.
• Understanding yield monitors
and their application. Precision, or
site-specific agriculture is a hot
topic. Learn about this advanced
technology and understand the
components necessary for opera
tion. Watch a combine yield moni
tor demonstration and understand
how it works. Learn how to inter
pret yield data by considering soil
properties, cultural practices,
environmental conditions, and
other variables that may have
affected yield.
Boards
New
dairy industry that DMI programs
will be funded equitably and deve
loped with full representation
across the nation,” said Elwood
Kirkpatrick, a dairy farmer from
Kinds, Mich., who is DMI treasur
er and chairman of an ad hoc com
mittee on DMI funding structure.
“This change was set into
motion by the leadership and vis
ion of Elwood Kirkpatrick, who
chaired the DMI Budget Restruc
turing committee,” said Tom Gal
lagher. DMI chief executive offic
er. “Making these changes
removes obstacles and allows the
dairy industry to proceed with a
long-term strategic planning pro
cess that all stakeholders can
endorse.”
A unified planning process and
a focused national plan are key to
keeping the dairy industry compe
titive and helping to build a grea
ter quality of life for dairy produc
ers long term, Gallagher added.
Dairy Management Inc. is a
nonprofit organization formed by
the National Dairy Board and
United Dairy Industry Association
that conducts programs in inte
grated marketing communication,
promotion and research on behalf
of America's dairy farmers.
“We will have a series of activi
ties to be done on the unit that re
quires problem solving and criti
cal thinking that will fit right in
with the Maryland School Per
formance Action .Plan,” Keenan
said. Kqenan said he sits down
with a group of teachers with
whom he can be “perfectly hon
est,” and they design activities and
projects.
“I want these teachers to marry
agriculture,” he said.
When a unit or a project is com
pleted, the students will write a re
port to the grain board explaining
the project.