A44*Lahcaster Farming, Saturday, Noveml
Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association
Awards Banquet With Dairy Futures Conference
The Pennsylvania Dairymen's Association has planned its annual awards banquet to be held Thursday,
December 17, 1998, 630 p m. at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, in State College. PA A
reception will be held from 5.45 - 6 30 p m.
Historically held during the week of the Pennsylvania Farm Show, the awards banquet will be held in
conjunction with the PA Dairy Futures Conference, sponsored by the PA Dairy Stakeholders The
Pennsylvania Dairymen's Association has chosen this partnership to encourage its members and all
Pennsylvania dairymen to lend their full support and endorsement to the Dairy Stakeholders mission
Since 1976, the Pennsylvania Dairymen's Association has annually awarded its Charles E Cowan
Memorial Award to a Pennsylvania dairyman who demonstrates the ability to maintain a high level of
production in his home operation, and who also shows leadership contributing to the improvement and
promotion of the Pennsylvania dairy industry Other honorees to be named will be the recipients of the
Pennsylvania Dairymen's Association's 1999 PA Distinguished Dairy Women and Extension Awards.
The evening program will include speaker, Dr David Hettinga, Vice President of Corporate Research,
Land O'Lakes, Inc His speech is titled, "Non-Traditional Dairy Products."
The Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Dairymen's Association invites all dairymen and industry
persons to join in the evening awards banquet and to also learn from the numerous speakers who will be
addressing the PA Dairy Stakeholders Conference on December 17 and 18,1998
To register for the full conference, including the awards banquet, contact Alan Bair, Director of
Dairy Industry Relations, Pennsylvania State University, 717/948-6328.
PENNSYLVANIA DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET TICKET RESERVATION FORM
Ticket orders must be received no later than Thursday, December 10,1998.
Name/Orgamzatioi
Tickets may be reserved by contacting David R. SnAth, FA Dairymen's Association, 440 Plaza
Drive, Palmyra, PA 17078,717/838-3283. Ticket price is SlB and reservations must be made by
December 10, 1998.
It's easy to ho, ho,
It’s a very happy holiday at your participating John Deere dealership. Where you’ll find super savings
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A ‘Offers end February 28,1999. Manufacturer's suggested price. Prices and dollars off may vary by dealer. Taxes, freight, setup, and delivery not included
Thursday, December 17, 1998
Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, State College, PA
Milk punch reception 5 45 p m., Dinner 6 30 p.m.
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Soil May Mitigate
Global Warming
BALTIMORE, Md. - It is pos
sible to moderate the effects of
global warming by using plants
to pull carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and store it in the
soil?
Scientists whose specialists
include agronomy, soil science,
biology, and environmental
studies explored that questioi
in a one-day symposium on "Soi
Carbon Sequestration" in Oct. a„
the Baltimore Convention
Center.
The topic is relatively new,
according to Dr. Chuck Rice,
professor of agronomy at Kansas
State University, Manhattan,
"There's still debate about how
much carbon can be stored in
soils."
In layman's terms, the
group's discussions revolved
around these principles;
•Increasing atmospheric car
wn dioxide, a by-product of the
burning of fossil fiiel and defor
estation, is causing an enhanced
"greenhouse effect" around the
planet earth—holding heat clos
er to the earth and causing tem
peratures to rise worldwide.
•Plants need carbon dioxide
to survive, combining it with
water and light to grown and
produce their fruit. As part of
the process,plants release oxy
gen into the air and carbon into
the soil. As the plants die and
decompose, they deposit more
carbon.
•Soils have capability to
store carbon —and, in cases of
cropland, soils have actually
been depleted through the farm-
7 Utility Cart
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mg process.
"The goal is to start funda
mental discussions about the
state of soil carbon science," Rice
said. "Are there agricultural
management techniques that
increase the carbon retention?
Are there natural ecosystems—
such as forests and grasslands—
that promote soil carbon?"
Rice cited the example of a
native tallgrass prairie in
Kansas where studies were con
ducted with higher levels of car
bon dioxide over an eight-year
period. Researchers found that
large fibrous, short-lived root
systems—such as prairie grass
es—tend to deposit more carbon
in the soil.
Certain soil textures, particu
larly those with more clay (typi
cal of agricultural soils), are able
to store greater amounts of car
bon, according to Rice. He said
climate also appears to be a fac
tor with the more productive
areas having greater potentia
to store carbon.
Organic matter in soil is a
key to maintaining productivity
of cropland, Rice stated. "In the
process of storing carbon in the
soil, we might be able to do some
things to actually increase the
quality of soil and cropland."
The sessions included three
major presentations, followed by
"poster sessions" in which scien
tists described and discussed
their research. The topics cov
ered the processes of soil carbon
transformation, effects of elevat
ed carbon dioxide in the atmos
phere and evaluations of soil
carbon storage.