A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 29, 1996 HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Sweet com and tomato inte grated pest management (TPM) in formation will be available to commercial vegetable growers in several forms this year. The Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program and the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association have funded IPM research projects at Penn State for tomato disease control and sweet com insect control for many years. USDA, Pa., HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) The commonwealth of Penn sylvania signed its first revised agreement to strengthen its rela tionship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the commonwealth’s 66 conservation districts in Cumberland County. “The signing of this agreement will mark the renewal of a unique partnership that has existed for more than SO years among federal, state and local leaders,” said Janet L. Oertly, state conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. “This part nership has been responsible for some of the most important con servation achievements on private lands in this commonwealth.” The Mutual Agreement re places the Basic Memorandum of Understanding which have existed between the secretary of agricul ture and each of the nation’s 3,000 soil and water conservation dis tricts since the 19305. The new mutual agreement allows for changes that better reflect the ex panding conservation partnership and the changing scope and re quirements of the conservation program. The mutual agreement estab- Sweet Corn, Tomato IPM Growers can obtain the infor mation from these projects to help them time their fungicide and in secticide sprays from a toll-free recorded telephone message, from a “fax-on-demand” service, from a weekly postcard mailing, from their county extension office, and from postings at certain produce auctions. The toll-free recorded tele phone message is available 24 hours a day by calling 1-800-PENN-IPM. While the call Cumberland Conservation District Sign Agreement lishes die framework for coopera tion among USDA, the common wealth of Pennsylvania, and con servation districts. The one-page document, which serves as an um brella for all 29 USDA agencies, allows the commonwealth and conservation districts to enter into other dynamic agreements to ac cess USDA’s programs and ser vices, expertise, and human and financial resources. USDA also has a second agree ment, called the Cooperative Working Agreement. This agree ment replaces the Supplemental Memorandum of Understanding. ALBANY, N.Y. Elizabeth (Liz) Cotton Dribusch has been hired to fill the newly-created position of assistant counsel for the 25,000 member New York Farm Bureau. A recent graduate of Albany Law School, Liz also has a mas ter’s degree from SUNY Albany, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Siena College. In her new position, Liz will primarily focus on legal research ,and writing in support of Farm Bureau’s ever-increasing legal ad vocacy efforts as amicus curiae in important agriculturally-related litigation. According to Jeff Kirby. NYFB’s general counsel, “Liz N.Y. Farm Bureau Bolsters Legal Staff SALE - MANURE ► 20-25 ton trailer loads A $7 to $9/per ton depending K on distance A [ VINTAGE SALES STABLES. INC. 1 Y Paradise, PA 17562 \ L (610)458-5060 - (717)442-4181 A W L. Robert Frame, President can be dialed from either a rotary or touch-tone phone line, to access the specific information about to matoes or sweet com from a rotary phone line, the telephone set itself must be able to be switched to a touch-tone phone after the initial call is placed. The sweet com in formation is updated weekly while the tomato information is updated twice a week usually. This toll-free service has been expanded this year to provide the information via fax as well. The procedure will be explained on the The Cooperative Working Agree ment defines a relationship among Natural Resources Conservation Service or other USDA agency, the State Conservation Commis sion, and the conservation district. This document is more detailed, flexible, and adaptable to local needs and priorities. It’s intended to encourage local decisionmak ing. A state committee is develop ing that agreement to best suit the natural resource needs of Pennsyl vania. The Cooperative Working Agreement with all 66 conserva tion districts will be signed at a later date. brings to Farm Bureau not only an excellent academic record, but also very strong legal research and writing skills, and a farming back ground, all of which I think com bine to make her the perfect choice for this position. She gives Farm Bureau’s Legal Department the additional skills and resources which we need to better handle our growing involvement in the agricultural legal arena.” A native of rural Clinton Coun ty, Liz currently resides in Scho dack, N.Y. with her husband, Christian. Info Available phone line. The Vegetable Marketing and Research Board believes it is im portant to provide this IPM infor mation to growers during the sea son when they can use it to time fungicide and insecticide applica tions. Last year the program work ed with extension offices across the state to provide this informa tion on postcards sent to most growers in the state on a weekly basis for a six-week period at the height of the season. Growers overwhelmingly indicated in the Program’s grower survey last fall they wanted this service again in 1996. This series will be offered again this year, but postcards will only be sent to growers who request them. This will insure that the pro gram does not waste money send ing it to growers who cannot or choose not to use the IPM in formation. The IPM information is also available on request from county extension offices and is posted at some of the produce auctions. As the public continues to be concerned about the amount of pesticides used on their food crops, it behooves growers to do everything in their ability to limit the amount of pesticides applied. These two IPM programs sup ported over the years by grower assessment funds have been de- American Guernsey (Continued from Page At 9) County). “We were all very pleased,” Jensen said. “It was a typical sale. You always have some near the bottom you had hoped would sell for more, but overall I was very pleased with the sale.” The average price of more than $2,000 indicated the strength of the sale. Jensen said the sale was one of the AGA’s top two annual sales. He said that during the annual World Dairy Expo held at facilities in Madison, Wis., they hold the veloped to allow growers to obtain maximum crop protection with the least amount of pesticide applied at the optimum time. Both projects provide information on when the insect pest or disease pressure is the greatest. In a given year, the programs may indicate more sprays should be applied than what ordinarily would be applied by straight cal endar spray schedule in order to fully protect the crop. At other times, less sprays will be recom mended. In the final analysis, the grower stands to gain either way. If less sprays are needed, the grower has less invested in pesti cides and application costs. If more sprays are needed, the grow er has a higher quality crop to sell. Pennsylvania growers can be proud that they have supported these two IPM programs over the years and should utilize the infor mation they generate. Dr. Alan MacNab’s research on tomato dis ease forecasting laid the ground work for similar forecasting sys tems in other states. Fleischer and Spangler’s work with sweet com insect monitoring is fine-tuning this important IPM tool for grow ers. Growers who want the post cards sent to them during July and early August should call the Vege table Marketing and Research Program at (717) 473-8468. International Guernsey Classic sale. And while Jensen clarified that both sales promote a combination of type and production, the con vention sale weighs slightly hea vier in production emphasis in consignment selection, while the’ International slightly tends to con sider type over production. Of the overall convention and sale, Jensen said, “I think every body enjoyed it a lot The Mary land GB A did a good job with hav ing a lot of interesting tours and a lot of Guernsey herds to see.”