Vol. *1 No. 40 ■ Survey To Look At Dairying Into The Next Century Ag Progress Days will focus on Pennsylvania's food sys tem from farm to table. The event is held at Penn State’s Russell E. Larson Ag Research Farm at Rockspring, Tues day, Aug. 13 to Thursday, Aug. 15. Ag Progress Days Provides Public Opportunity To Learn. VERNON ACHENBACH JR. Lancaster Farming Staff STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) The 1996 Ag Progress Days has the theme, “Penn State Ag Sciences ... We’re more than you think!” rhemes are thought up by peo ple with the intention of creating in the minds of the public an attrac tive preconcept of an event Ag Progress Days probably doesn’t need a theme. There’s more going on than can probably be absorbed in a day’s visit, especially for those with spe cify- interests who desire to ask questions and pursue a better understanding of where research efforts are being focused within a specific discipline. The Russell E. Larson Agricul ture Center at Rockspring, near State College turns into a small town of demonstration areas, tents of displays, horse demonstrations and instruction, tractor driving, field work, computers, plant var ieties, insect controls, manure and nutrient management techniques, forestry, conservation. Commercial exhibitors set up their latest examples of equipment and machinery, and different agri cultuial support groups ofter edu- Six Sections cational materials. Therms places to ask the experts specific* questions. There’s the annual hay contest which serves «s a pre-entry for the state Farm Show in January. Restroom facilities are numer ous and well placed. Parking is plentiful in the large fields. Families come for the day and a frequent sight is parents with a reg wagon in tow, carrying their young children through the “streets” of the demonstration town. Tour busses with knowledgable guides offer free trips to different areas throughout the acres of research plots that extend on both sides of RL 45, from Rockspring toward Boalsburg. This year, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Meal Animal Evaluation Center has planned to hold its annual perfor mance tested boar sale in conjunc tion with the Ag Progress Days event. The sale, which offers swine breeders an opportunity at some proven breeding stock, is sche duled to be held at 6 p.m., August 14. Those with an interest in specif ic livestock information housing, behavioral considera- Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 10, 1996 Ag Progress Tuesday Through Thursday ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.) As a dairy farmer in the next cen tury, what approach will you take to dairying? What will you have to do to keep the farm viable and profitable? What challenges will you have to face? Ultimately, what changes will you have to make now to meet the demands of a new Index Of Ag Progress Stories (Please see general index on Page A 3.) Parfaits Offered 812 Experimental Orchard C 3 Equine Tribute E 3 Conservation Education E 7 Boar Sale ElO Food System Ell Health & Safety El 5 Schedule El 6 Information El 7 Map ElB Exhibitors E 23 Landscape Gardening E2B Animal Ag E3l Children, Family E3B Farm Software F 2 Forage, Crops F 3 tions, disease prevention and biosecurity, feeding, breeding can find it at the dairy and lives tock tents. Information about the Pa. Department of Agriculture is to be Do you know what it takes to transform a bushel of raw potatoes into a bag of chips at the gioccry store? Or what happens to a grain of wheat that s designed to become part of a loaf of bread or a box of crackers? If these questions intrigue you, you’ve come to the right place for answers. This year, Ag Progress Days focuses on our food system —an amazing network that begins with raw commodities growing on the farm and ends in the bounty of food on your table. A tour through the College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building will show you how these commodities are harvested, processed, and turned into finished products. You can see what “value-added” means to producers, processors and consumers and leant how our state works to make sure all of its citizens have access to the food they need. You’ll also find out some surprising facts for example, that Pennsylvania is the largest food-processing state in the Northeast. On every street of the Ag Progress Days site, you’ll find interesting things to see and do. You can taik to experts about your garden, leant about natural resource conservation, or climb on board a biand new tractor and take it for a test drive. There are about 300 commercial and non-commercial exhibitors here this year, all showing off the very latest in equipment and technology. New demon strations are devised to display innovative planting, growing and harvesting methods and how to avoid injuries. Kids can have a buggy good time at the insect zoo and learn what 4-H has to oftcr. You’ll find both old and new at Ag Progress Days. You can take a inp back in time with a visit to the Paste Museum or travel the globe by getting caught up in the World Wide Web. And since Ag Progress Days is a celebration of agriculture, please, don’t forget to eat while you’re here! You’ll find everything from fried mushrooms and funnel cakes to Penn Stale ice cream. We’re very pleased to have you here. I hope you, your family and friends have a wonderful day Theodore R. Alter Interim Dean College of Agricultural Sciences Visitors to this year’s Ag Prog ress Days in Rockspring will have a chance to take a look into their own operation and see where they may be headed as part of a special Penn State survey. The survey will ask questions to deteimine where you want to be as a dairy farmer in the next century. According to Mike O’Connor, Penn State extension coordinator, dairy and animal science, the survey will be done as a trial run available at the department’s edu cational display. There are educational games and displays for youth, concerning such things as insects, domestic and wild animals. An insect /.oo Interim Dean Alter Welcomes You $27.50 Per Year with approximately 300 herd man agers at this year’s Ag Progress Days. “The survey is being prepared as part of new educational initia tives at Penn State to help farmers face the challenges beyond the year 2000,” said O’Connor. Answers to the survey will help guide a 20-member oversight com mittee, composed of extension educators and industry representa tives, into formulating the subjects of dairy seminars m the years to come. in addition, the survey itself will act as a “yardstick” for a dairy manager to determine where his or her business will be in the next 10 years, according to Clyde Myers, Berks County extension agent Extension educators will help administer the dairy survey to dairy families beginning next Tuesday at this > car’s Ag Progress Days. The survey will be handed allows them to see the bugs close up, and learn what is harmless and what isn’t. Soils information, varieties ol vegetables and fruits being tested 6W Per Copy (Turn to Page A3S) (Turn to Page A3l)
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