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.”