D2-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 16, 1998 FAST-GROWING FOOD INDUSTRY The food industry is expected to grow 1.6 percent per year, sur passing $BOO billion in the year 2005. Food service could capture all of the $lOO billion in incre mental sales. New concepts such as broad menu fast-food chains and supermarkets’ extensive pre pared food offerings are likely to be the fastest-growing segments. The beef industry has identified ways to build beef meal occasions and sales through the development of convenient meal solutions and home meal replacement. Industry leaders are also partnering with food service outlets to increase beef offerings through promotion and new product development Protection From The Sun In photographs, television and film, the dominant image of a fdinner usually includes a baseball big a fashion choice that could be;«nhealthy in the long run, ac cording to an expert in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Agricultural baseball caps, called “gimme” hats because they usually feature advertising for seed companies or heavy equip ment equipment manufacturers, provide little protection from the sun, said Dennis Murphy, profes sor of agricultural engineering. “Baseball caps don’t have a wide enough brim to offer much protec tion,” Murphy said. Sunshine is crucial for crops, but for farmers, prolonged unpro tected exposure to the sun’s ultra violet rays can lead to skin can cvs. Using the correct headwear c uld mean the difference be t een life and death. Baseball caps, by far the most l pular farming hat, really only protect the front part of the face, Murphy said. Wide-brimmed hats such as cowboy hats, Austral ian bush hats, and straw hats liek those worn by Amish farmers are an improvement, but even wide-brimmed hats are not fool proof. “You really need a hat that will protect the neck, ears and tem ples,” Murphy said. ' v The best style to wear is com monly known as the ‘Trench For eign Legion” hat This style fea tures the generous brim of a base ball cap and adds a protective cloth to cover the neck and ears. Another style to consider is the deerstalker cap. a double-brim med style that covers the neck. The deerstalker style is most com monly associated with the fiction al detective Sherlock Holmes. According to medical statistics, more than 600,000 Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year. Murphy says common sites for skin cancer include the face, tips of ears, hands, neck, forearms, and lips areas that farmers typically leave uncovered. To prevent skin cancer, farmers should use sunscreen regularly. Murphy suggests using a product with an SPF (sun protection fac tor) of at least IS, which will block 94 percent of the ultraviolet B rays most likely to cause skin cancer. The SPF factor is a rating that multiplies the protection naturally provided by the skin. For example, if your skin normally bums after an hour, using an SPF IS sunscreen allows you IS hours of exposure before burning. Murphy recommends dressing safely as well. Wear lightweight long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Light-colored clothing reflects heat and sunlight Workers never should go shirtless. Sunglasses also are a must Pro longed exposure to the sun can damage retinas, corneas, and the lens of the eye. The sun is strongest between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Dermatologists recommend not working during these hours, but this is not a practical solution for most farmers, which is why the use of sunscreen and protective headwear by farmer is so import- ant Strategic Deworming A workable method of controll ing internal parasites is termed strategic dewarming. This implies there is specific timing for treat ment In our area, a strategic de worming program will include treatment 4-6 weeks after the cat tle go to grass, and then a second treatment in early November. There is some discussion about the need to deworm mature beef cows. There will be a benefit in milk production and cow condi tion (and its influence on repro duction) if a deworming program is instituted and maintained for a few years. Eventually, parasite loads will be reduced to the extent treatment can be discontinued and monitored through fecal samples until there is a buildup again. The spring deworming coin cides with a good time to ear tag, castrate, implant, and vaccinate calves for clostidial diseases. Therefore, the trouble of the trip through the chute can be a very profitable one. There are several good products on the market that can be adminis tered by injection, pour-on, or pastes. The least desirable form of delivery is feeding the product be cause of variations in intake and because of cost Treatments in the fall can include products for lice and grub control that are com bined with the dewormer or can be used separately. Swine Mortality Composting Penn State Extension Swine Specialist Dr. Ken Kephait has summarized the concept of com posting swine mortality in the fol lowing paragraphs. Composting is the aerobic de composition of organic material by microorganisms. Because many aspects of composting are in exact, the process can occur over a wide range of conditions and with many materials. For optimum composting, there should be 20 to 40 times as much Fax (717) 866-7237 Glu-Lam Arches Glu-Lam Beams Glu-Lam Treated Posts MEMBER MEMBER TRUSS PLATE INSTITUTE carbon as nitrogen. Moisture con tent should be 40 to 65 percent Particle size should be V 4 to Vi inches in diameter. The pH of the mix should lie between S.S and 9.0, and there should be at least S percent oxygen in the pile. Because a pig carcass is high in water content and nitrogen (pro tein), you will need to add dry ma terial and a source of carbon. Something like sawdust or straw works well. Many producers also add a small amount of manure to the mixture as a “starter culture” to enhance the process. Build a two-stage system of bins. Load the primary bins with a layer of dry material (usually one foot), a layer of carcasses; contin ue layering until the bin is full. Be sure that the pile is covered with at least one foot of dry material after the layering is completed. A small amount of manure can be added to the layers of pigs if desired. As the composting process starts, the temperature in the pile should rise to at least 120’ F. (pre ferably 140*). If the mixture fails to reach these temperatures, there may be too much water, or not enough oxygen. After three to four weeks, move the pile to a secon dary bin. This frees up space in your primary bin for more car casses and the moving process will re-introduce air into the mix ture. Three to four weeks after mov- Foundation Name Changes ROCHESTER. N.Y. The charitable foundation formerly known as the Curtice Bums/Pro- Fac Foundation has been renamed The Agrilink Foods/Pro-Fac Foundation. This new name re flects a corporate name change last September from Curtice Bums Foods to Agrilink Foods. Snyder of Berlin, in Berlin, Pa., is an AgriLink business and the 710 E. Linden St., Richland, PA 17087 MANUFACTURERS OF: WE STOCK: Equis Quality Stall Systems Door and Wall Systems Grillwork Sections Dutch Door Systems Plyco Doors and Windows Cannonball Track and Accessories Fabral Roofing and Siding Lumber and Shingles All Types of Fasteners Over 40 years ofQuaCiiy Service Phone (717) 866 6581 Roof Trusses Floor Trusses T/G & V-Groove Decking ing the material to the secondary bin, the composting should be completed, and you can land-ap ply die remaining material. Actual composting times will vary de pending upon your conditions. Provide 30 square feet of bin space per 1,000 pounds of carcass composted annually, including primary and secondary bins. Mak ing the primary bins no larger than 12 x 16 (or at least making a long narrow windrow for the primary composting area) will help air cir culation. A field project con ducted in Lebanon County used primary bins that were about 6x7, and used a large area (resembling an aisle) behind the primary bins as one large secondary bin. This seemed to work well. Don’t allow moisture to enter the mixture. Composting can pro ceed without a roof, but if there are extended periods of rain or wet snow, the pile may get soggy and compacted, which will shut down the composting process. Some producers have successfully com posted animals without a cover by using long straw or com stalks to shed rain water. Don’t completely enclose the facility. The composting process will release a lot of moisture, so the facility should be open on three or four sides. Cold weather will not be a problem as long as the pigs are not frozen when they’re added to the pile. community receives funds from the Foundation. Created in 1966, the Founda tion provides grants to not-for profit programs operating in com munities where Agrilink Foods has facilities or where Pro-Fac members are located. Primary giv ing areas include health, com munity Service, education; youth, agricultural research and cultural programs. ‘The Symbol of Quality In Engineered Timber"
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