816-L«nc«»ter Farming, Saturday, July 27, 1996 Fun, Learning Come Together At Annual Farm City Day CAROLYN N. MOYER Tioga Co. Correspondent SABINSVILLE (Tioga Co.) The view from the Plummer Fami ly home is incredible. Seated 2,300 feet above sea level, it seems as if you can see forever across the roll ing Pennsylvania mountains. Just as incredible is the Plum mer’s vision for the future. The Plummer family served as the hosts for the sixth annual Tioga County Farm City Day. They are, back row from left, Bill, Luke, 1, Connie and, Paul, 13; front, from left, Alicia, 5, Joey, 3, Tim, 9, and John, 7. Kerry Gyekls, Independent forester left, and Sam Cook, Pennsylvania Department of Forestry, compare the leaf of a pin cherry, an undesirable shrub species, and the leaf of a black cherry, a valuable species In the clearcut on the Plum mer farm. evidenced by their decision to host Tioga County’s sixth annual Farm- City Day. Bill and Connie Plummer, along with their six children—Paul, 13, Timmy, 9, John, 7, Alicia, 5, Joey, 3, and Luke. 1 own and operate Woodcock Farm, a 750-acrc crop and timber operation. Sherri Elder, director of the Tio ga County Farm Service Agencies, originally approached Bill about hosting the event “She asked him if he would be interested, and he said yes, before even asking me!” said Connie, with a laugh. “We were very happy with the event. There was a lot of cooperation to pull it off. The com mittee that does it really doC»all the work. I even learned a lot on the tours about all the agencies that we have to work with.” The day combined educational touts and displays with fun games and up-close exposure to many dif ferent species of farm animals ranging from rabbits to cows and squab to sheep. 'The kids loved it,” said Connie. They did all the tours with friends.” The land where the Plummer family lives was originally pur chased by Bill’s great great grand father in 1865. Throughout the years, tracts of land were added and various enterprises pursued. At one time the farm was a dairy farm. After the sale of the dairy cattle in the late 19405, small grains were grown and softwood trees were planted. Beef cattle and sheep grazed in the pasture. There was even a coal mine on the property. Currently the farm’s acreage is divided into tracts of hardwood timber, softwood timber, and crop land. The Plummer family pays close attention to all aspects of the Visitors from all over flocked to Farm City Day. Here Maiiah Miles, of Butler holds a rabbit at the child ren’s bam. Visitors had ths opportunity to raglstar for frse lea ersam at tha annual event Hare voluntaare Kathy Monks and Susan Walch help tha guests fill out their forms. operation, carefully managing the contour strips, protecting the farm’s numerous ponds and apply ing sound forestry principals. Com, oats, and alfalfa arc grown on the farm and the family also raises a herd of SO beef animals in a cow/calf operation. Nearly 900 visitors to the farm on July 13 were able to catch a glimpse of life on a farm as they took wagon tours and walking touts of the various operations. They were also invited to visit var ious exhibits set up by area farm businesses and cooperatives. The first wagon tour headed further up the mountain making slops at one of the Plummer’s farm ponds, a field of com and a fore sted area. At the pond, viewers could hear tips on managing a healthy pond. Volunteer firefighters from the area also demonstrated the use of a dry hydrant The hydrant, which consists of a large pipe inserted through the bank of the pond below the frost line, allows fire trucks to access the pond’s water quickly in the event of a fire. Next on the tour was a stop at a com field. During this stop, tour goers had the chance to view alter nating strips of com and oats, and learn a little bit about managing the weeds and other pests. Since woodlot areas are a big part of the Plummer’s farm, the tour also focused on an area that has been clearcut. When asked what they thought of clearcuts by Tioga County Planner and inde pendent timber manager Kory Gyekis, most from the group reported that they thought of them as very bad. However, Gyekis noted that in this case, disease and dieback had so damaged the existing timber that the only feasible management solution was to clearcut. One advantage to this was that they were able to make the cuts in such a way to ensure the growth of favorable species. Among the newly grown species are cherry, maple and birch trees, ready to make a new forest In another forestry demonstra tion, forester Mike Hale explained the difference between an uneven aged stand where the timber ranges in age from the very old to the new saplings on the ground and an even-aged stand in which all the timber is basically the same age. He also warned tour takas about foresters who want to cut the dm- ber based solely on diameter. “Beware if someone tells you that they will come in and cut the big trees, so that the little ones will grow,” Hale said. Quite often what happens is that the little tree is just as old as die big tree. It’s just that it did not grow as fast “Opening up the forest now probably won’t help the smaller trees that are old grow, because they’ve already had their big growth phase,” Other wagons took groups down the mountain to tour more fields and a maple sugar camp. The first stop on the tour brought a lesson in conservation farming. Information included how ongoing practices by the Plummers help protect the soil and improve water quality. Riders on this wagon also had the opportuni ty to learn about the different types of tillage methods used by the fam ily on the farm, including no-till, minimum till, and conventional tillage. Tour-goers also received a les son in how the agricultural com munity works with other indus tries. The Plummer family uses an organic byproduct from the West field tannery to improve soil pH. Also along the route to the maple camp, visitors could witness a neighbor doing a haymaking demonstration with his horses. At the end of the road was a maple sugar camp, owned by the Patterson family. As members of the family explained the process of collecting sap and boiling it down to syrup, they also indicated the various uses for the sweet treat including the making of maple cream, cotton candy, maple jelly, and maple sugar. The Pattersons also operate a third-generation dairy farm where they milk 68 cows and raise 73 replacements. Earle Robbins, chairman o!*the event, noted that the committee tried to add something different to the program this year. This is the first year the event was not hosted on a dairy farm. They also added different events to the slate of activities while maintaining the objective of educating the public about farming. He noted that many people were involved in making the event hap pen, and he couldn’t have done it without their help. He also thanked the many businesses and organiza tions who supported the event in any way.
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