DB-Uncaster Farming, Saturday. March 1, 1997
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
CLOSE BY
The Eastern Cattleman’s Sym
posium at State College has been
an annual event for a number of
years as part of the Pennsylvania
Beef Expo program.
This year the Symposium will
be held in three locations around
the state: A dams town in Lancaster
County, Selinsgrove in Snyder
County, and at State College. The
dates and locations are March 25 in
Adamstown at Weaver’s Market at
the intersection of Rt. 897 and Rt.
272, March 26 just north of Selins
grove at Mill Road and Rt. 11-15,
and March 27 in State College at
the Toftrees Resort Hotel just off
the Rt. 322 bypass at the Toftrees
exit.
We are proud to have Pfizer
Animal Health as a sponsor of the
event again this year as part of their
Cattleman’s College program.
Their support has enabled us to
provide a great program.
Featured speakers this year will
include Dr. Chuck Lambert, Dr.
Lee Myer, Henry Bergfeld, and
Dr. Ken Odde.
Dr. Lambert is the chief eco
nomist with the National Cattle
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men’s Beef Association in the
Washington, D.C. office. Cattle
markets have recently experienced
some tremendous changes, and
Chuck will discuss the forces that
made this happen as well as how
these forces will influence the beef
market in the future. Dr. Lambert
will be on the program on March
25 and March 26.
On March 27 we are pleased to
have Dr. Lee Myer join us from the
University of Kentucky. Lee will
discuss market outlook with the
State College audience as well as
bring us some perspective for the
cow-calf sector for the future.
Henry Bergfeld is manager of
Summitcrest Angus Farm in Sum
mitville, Ohio. For the past several
years, Henry has directed a breed
ing program at Summitcrest with
the objective of consumer satisfac
tion for beef. In the age of the
“consumer-driven" beef industry,
these efforts will provide a guide to
much of the future in breeding beef
cattle. Henry will be with us on
March 27 in State College.
Dr. Ken Odde is from Pollock,
S.D. and is a consulting veterina
rian with Pfizer Animal Health. He
was instrumental in setting up
Pfizer’s “Electronic Cattle Drive"
that allows prevaccinated and pre
conditioned feeder cattle to be
offered for sale on a national data
transmission system. Dr. Odde
will be discussing the value of the
precondtioned calf to the industry
at all three locations.
Other topics to be discussed
include using feed resources more
effectively, calving management,
handling facilities that work, and
management of replacement heif
ers. The cost of meeting is $2O for
each location if registered by
March 20 and the cost is $25 at the
door. The fee includes a buffet
lunch and a copy of the proceed
ings for all of the sessions.
You may register or get further
information by contacting the Pen
nsylvania Cattlemen’s Associa
tion at (814) 692-4208.
Get The
Calves Castrated
Anyone who has heard me give
a presentation about basic herd
management around the state has
heard my challenge to take all of
the rubber bands and the banders
and throw them away.
The practice of banding calves
(or not castrating male calves at
all) is one of the most costly mis
takes that can be made in a cow
calf operation. We have well docu
mented that rubber bands fail 8-10
percent of the time. This is very
costly to the feeder who has to
spend $lOO or more to fix the prob
lem, or simply takes the loss by
selling the animal. A real concern I
have is for the welfare of the ani
mal that has been banded.
We can do a better job of castra
tion that will result in 100 percent
effectiveness and be more tolerant
of the animal. That practice is
castration with a knife as soon after
birth as possible. Cut off the bot-
Paul B.
2PT 1000
• Attaches to lower ' \
3 pt arms only
• Safety chains prevent flip arouna^^^^
• 1000 lb capacity
Feed Big Round & Regular Bales
Call or write foi additional information
& the name of your nearest dealer
ERIE (Erie Co.) According
to the Fair Labor Standards Act,
minors under the age of 16 may
work outside of school hours in
farm jobs not declared particularly
hazardous. An exception is made
for youth 14 and IS years old who
may drive a tractor on a farm that
is not owned by their parents pro
vided they successfully complete
the necessary tractor safety
program.
This safety program allows
them to drive a tractor over 20
PTO horsepower and to connect
and disconnect farm implements
from these tractors. It does not
permit them to operate or assist
with the operation of any PTO
driven implements or other self
propelled machines.
This year, Crawford and Erie
County Cooperative Extension
Offices will provide the safety
training needed to allow youth 14
tom two-thirds of the scrotum, pull
the testicles completely out, and
clip any remaining tissue is how it
is done, and this will take less than
half the time of trying to band one
correctly. The calf will be at full
speed by the next day.
I calculated the value of spend
ing one minute to castrate a calf
with a knife by comparing the val
ue of feeder calves sold as bulls
and those sold as steers in a
cooperative feeder calf sale. The
result was the time spent castrating
the calf was worth about $3,000
per hour! Will you work for $3,000
per hour?
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295 Woodcorner Rd. • Lititz, PA 17543
717/738-7365
1 mile West of Ephrata
Tractor Safety
Program Set
it hitch or loader
I or 2 cylinders
mge from 1 to 2 spears
lacity
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• 1250 lb capacity
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1500 lb capacity
and IS years old to drive a tractor
on a farm other than that of their
parents. Other youth over 13 years
of age who wish to leant more
about tractor safety are encour
aged to participate, but will not
take the test on Saturday.
Sessions will be held at Valley
Tire, on Route 19 just south of
Waterford. Classroom instruction
will be on Wednesday evening,
March S, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30
p.m. and on Thursday evening,
March 6, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30
p.m. A testing session is sche
duled for Saturday morning,
March g, from 9 am. to noon. A
charge of $S per participant will
be due at the first session on
March S. Please phone in your
reservation by March 4 to the Erie
County Extension Office at (814)
825-0900.
The emphasis of this program is
the safe use of farm equipment It
is not intended to teach youth how
to drive a tractor. However, those
youth participating will need to
demonstrate their ability to drive a
tractor in the testing session on
Saturday, March 8.
MILK.
IT DOES A
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• 1500 lb capacity
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Hours
Mon -Fn 7-5
Sat 7 11