DAUPHIN (Dauphin Co.)
Individuals, families, and organi
zations are cordially invited to
attend the Dauphin County Con
servation District’s Annual
Awards Banquet on Tuesday,
March 11.
The district will honor persons
and/or groups for their outstand
ing contributions to the conserva
March Conference Focuses On New,
BETHLEHEM (Northampton
Co.) Would you like to know
more about respiratory problems
such as heaves, chronic coughs
and allergies that limit the per
formance of your horse?
Do you know how large a threat
Equine Protozoal Myeloencepha
litis is to your horse and how to
recognize the early symptoms of
the disease?
Have you wondered if all the
advertised supplements really
work for the arthritic or heavily
stressed performance horse?
Would you like to know more
about the realities of alternative
therapies?
Conservation Leadership School
Offers Unique Opportunities
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Instead of desks and
blackboards, the classrooms at
Penn State’s Conservation Lead
ership School this summer will
include an underground cave,
canoes, and sailboats on a 72-acre
lake and green leaves and shade
on 700 acres of forested land.
In this unique setting at the Uni
versity’s Stone Valley Recreation
Area near State College, Pa., sec
ondary students between the ages
of IS and 18 will learn about con
servation during two-week pro
grams that emphasize field-based,
hands-on learning, group problem
solving and environmental man
Agriculture Needs Good
CAMP HILL (Cumberland
Co.) Agriculture is successful
in Pennsylvania because of “our
great interstate system,” according
to Guy F. Donaldson, president of
the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
(PFB). The farm spokesman made
the comments recently at the
Radisson Penn Harris Hotel at a
Pennsylvania Highway Informa
tion Association (PHIA) meeting.
“During the past 40 years,"
Donaldson said, “our great inter-
MERCER (Mercer Co.) An £g
Engineering Conference is sched
uled March 10 here at the Mercer
County Cooperative Extension.
The program will be repeated
March 11 at the Northwestern
Rural Electric Association Build
ing in Cambridge Springs. This
Program will address engineering
topics related to dairy and animal
production and run from 9:30
Banquet Will Honor Local Conservationsists
don of our natural resources. This
special event will begin at 6:30
p.m. in the auditorium of the Dau
phin County Agriculture and
Natural Resources Center.
The evening will begin with a
buffet dinner. Following the meal,
an awards ceremony will recog
nize such individuals as 1996 Out
standing Conservation Educator
and 1996 Outstanding Conserva
Traditional Equine Therapies
Could acupuncture and chiro
practics benefit your horse?
If you own, ride, or train horses,
and would like to know the an
swers to these questions and
others, be sure to attend the very
exciting conference, New and
Traditional Equine Therapies,
which is being held on March 14
horn 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the
Holiday Inn, Bethlehem. The con
ference, which is sponsored by co
operative extension of Penn State
and Rutgers universities, will pro
vide very valuable information on
the treatment of a variety of un
soundnesses that can inhibit
equine performance.
agement planning.
The curriculum involves active
participation in environmental
management, resource assess
ment, and regenerative conserva
tion methods. Topics include
watershed management, citizen
action, basic ecology, land-use
planning, alternative energy sup
plies, environmental risk assess
ment and forest management.
Students provide their own
transportation to the Stone Valley
Recreation Area, where they will
stay in four-person platform tents
with cots, heated shower and
restroom facilities, complete meal
service and all educational needs.
state system has enabled Pennsyl
vania farmers to turn their small
family farms into successful agri
businesses by allowing them to
reach markets outside their own
communities.”
He stressed this point by saying
farmers have access to nearly 40
percent of the nation’s population
because of the good highway sys
tem in the Keystone State.
“Farmers need good roads to
produce and sell products,” he
said. “Without a healthy interstate
system, farmers incur substantial
Ag Engineering
Conference March 10
a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Topics will include manure
storage and handling, sand bed
ding, deregulation of electric gen
eration, feeding system design,
and heat stress. Speakers include
Richard Stowcll, Food Agricultur
al and Biological Engineering,
Ohio State University; Robert
Graves and Dennis Buffington,
Agricultural and Biological Engi
neering, Penn State University;
lion Farmer. A presentation fea
turing the making of Pennsylva
nia’s renowned wildlife videos
will conclude the evening.
Hal Korber, a video specialist
with the Pennsylvania Game
Commission, is well known for
his video compositions, especially
the producion of the commission’s
award-winning bear video.
Through a video excursion, Hal
Six well-noted veterinarians
will present information on chron
ic coughs and allergies, alternative
therapies, acupuncture, chiroprac
tics, treating common joint,
muscle and tendon injuries, and
recognizing and treating Equine
Protozoal Myeloencephalitis
(EPM).
For more information and a
registration form, contact Donna
Foulk at the Monroe County Ex
tension Office, (717) 421-6430;
Everett Chamberlain at the War
ren County Extension Office,
(980) 475-6503; or Nancy Kad
will at the Montgomery County
Extension Office, (610) 489-4315.
The $440 tuition ($495 for non-
Pennsylvania residents) covers
tuition and all other costs for the
student’s two-week stay.
The 1997 Conservation Leader
ship School dates are: Session I,
June 29-July 12; Session n, July
13-26; and Advanced Session,
August 13-26. Please note: The
Advanced Session is open only to
students who previously attended
a regular session.
To register by phone or for
more information, call
1-800-PSU-TODAY
(1-800-778-8632), or visit
htlp;//www.cde.psu.edu/C&I/Con
servationLS.html to see the
WWW page.
Highways
costs in production items, and sub
stantial losses in selling their pro
duce.”
Donaldson said that “roads and
bridges must be in good repair, if
agriculture is to be successful. A
modem highway system is critical
to our state’s well-being.”
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is a
voluntary farm organization
which represents the voice of
26,625 families in 54 county Farm
Bureaus. It is affiliated with the
4.7-million-member American
Farm Bureau Federation.
and John Tyson, Agricultural En
gineering, Erie County Coopera
tive Extension.
Cost of the conference is $lO
for lunch and registrations must be
received by Thursday, March 6.
For additional information or
registration information, contact
John Tyson at the Erie County Co
operative Extension Office at
(814) 825-0900.
will give audience members a
behind-the-scenes look at the
making of the popular “On the
Trail of Pennsylvania’s Black
Bears” video, “Pennsylvania
Whitetails Living with Change”
video and give us a sneak preview
of the upcoming Pennsylvania Elk
Video.
Tickets for the banquet are
available from the Dauphin Coun-
National Farmers Union
Applauds Responsiveness
To Dairy Producers
DENVER, Colo. National
Farmers Union (NFU) applauds
Secretary of Agriculture Dan
Glickman’s announcement Tues
day of a four-point planaimcd at
bolstering milk prices as “a good
start,” but stated that it is crucial
that additional steps be taken
adminstratively and legislatively
to address the dramatic decline in
milk prices at the bulk tank. Pro
ducer prices for milk have
dropped nearly $4 per hundred
weight over the past four months.
“All of the actions announced
by the secretary woe presented to
him by Fanners Union leaders just
prior to the holidays,” said NFU
President Leland Swenson. “NFU
is very pleased with USDA’s
responsiveness and recognition of
the economic crisis facing inde
pendent producers across the
country.”
NFU will continue to push for
further administrative and legisla
tive measures to enhance and sta
bilize milk prices over the long
term. “Farmers Union will con
tinue to push the Clinton
adminstradon to issue an execu
tive order establishing oversight
of the National Cheese Exchange
(NCE) by the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) or
the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) and to include a federal rule
prohibiting ‘trading against inter-
“NEW” CAUSE OF
DIARRHEA/WET PITS
IN PENNSYLVANIA
COMMERCIAL LAYER
FLOCKS
Dr. Patty Dunn
Dept, of Vet. Science
Several commercial egg layer
submissions involving complaints
of wet pits, wet droppings (diar
rhea), and/or increased eggshell
staining have been presented to
avian veterinarians at the Penn
State University Animal Diagnos
tic Laboratory during the last two
years.
Most of these cases do not
involve significant loss of egg pro
duction, sickness or mortality, but
do result in hardships related to pit
management, manure handling
and downgraded stained eggs.
Heavy fly- infestations and
heavy bacterial contamination (E.
coli, Salmonella sp.) are also more
likely in wet environments. Inves
tigations of these cases are com
plex because a variety of different
factors can be involved in creating
these “symptoms.” Some of these
Lancaster pmilng, Saturday, March 1, 1997-09
ty Conservation District. The cost
of the tickets are $l2 for adults, $6
for children ages 3-8 years old,
and free for children under 3 years
old. Ticket deadline is March 4.
All money is due by this date and
any cancellations after March 4
will not be refunded.
For more information about the
banquet, call (717) 921-8100.
est’ within NCE activities,” said
Swenson.
NFU will continue to request
that USDA eliminate or substan
tially reduce the influence of the
NCE in the establishment of the
basic formula price.
“In addition, it is important that
Congress be requested to urge the
secretary to establish a minimum
floor under the basic formular
price,” said Swenson. “Stabiliza
tion of milk prices is good for pro
ducers and consumers alike.
Although falling milk prices seem
to indicate otherwise, we are not
in a surplus position of milk or
dairy products. Government
stocks of butter or cheese are non
existent.”
Secretary Glickman pledged to:
•Purchase $5 million wrath of
cheese for domestic feeding pro
grams, along with accelerating
school lunch purchases already
under way.
•Increase the level of dairy pro
ducts in international food assis
tance programs.
•Reactivate the Dairy Expat
Incentive Program (DEIP) for but
terfat and increase DEIP sales fa
non-fat dry milk.
•Begin collecting pice data fa
Cheddar cheese sales at manufac
turing plants as a way of address
ing concerns about the accuracy of
reported prices.
factors are disease related, and
some are not Factors to be consid
ered include the operation of the
pit, types and arrangements of
cages and waterers, ration, genetic
strain of bird and past or current
urinary tract or gastrointestinal
tract disease.
To sort out which factors are
most likely involved, it should first
be determined if a true “diarrhea”
a “diuresis” condition exists (that
is, droppings are abnormally wet
as they are excreted from the bird),
a if the fresh droppings are normal
in consistency, but take on envir
onmental water in the dropping
guard or pit areas. Birds should be
observed in the process of defeca
tion, and fresh droppings on drop
curtains or boards should be exa
mined. If the fresh droppings are
indeed “runny,” it may be possible
to determine if the urate portion or
the fecal portion contributes more
to the moist consistency. Clear,
watery high volume urates (diure
sis) would most likely be linked to
a kidney problem or excessive
water intake, while soupy discol
(Turn to Pago DIO)