■u ■ ► I I /W C. D RRS H| Ki n HHBBB NN I 1 i _ V 01.44 No. 42 Gov. Ridge, Pres. Spanier Head Ag Progress Speaker's Roster EVERETT NEWSWANGER Editor ROCKSPRINGS (Centre County) - Based on a visible assessment of the number of cars Pennsylvania's Gov. Tom Ridge visited Penn State's Ag Progress Days on Wednesday. In the photo, from left, Graham Spanier, Penn State University president; Samuel Hayes, Jr., Pennsylvania secretary of agricultureißobert Steele, Penn State ag college dean, and Gov. RidgSS VnowTfy Everett Newswanger, editor. In field demonstrations at Ag Progress Days, competitive equipment can be seen working side by side. Here the haymaking demonstrations were held Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Everett Newswanger, editor. Antique tractors are lined up behind the Paste Agricultural Museum on the Penn State University Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center, site of the annual Ag Progress Days. Five Section* that streamed into the parking fields at Ag Progress Days this week, and based on the number of people who viewed the exhibits and demonstrations, you would Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 21, 1999 have to conclude the event had increased attendance this year. Of course, no official count is taken, but commercial exhibitors and Penn State officials seemed pleased. Lancaster Farming's staff members were on hand to bring you extensive coverage, and you will want to see their reports throughout this issue. A visit by Gov. Tom Ridge at the noon government day luncheon in the special events building on Wednesday, along with Penn State's President Graham Spanier and U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum headlined the speaker's roster. More than 600 invited guests attended. Gov. Ridge said that while we are here to celebrate "Harvest 2000: A Celebration of Progress," we need to tackle the problems of today—especially the unprecedented nature of the drought that faces farmers in Pennsylvania. The drought has been coming on us for several years and has been tough on the (Turn to Page A 23) $31.00 Per Year Typical of Ag Progress visitors are “Pap” Stephen Wine gardener from Blair County with daughters, Gretchen Wine gardener, Elizabeth Kaine, and his grand children, Kerra, 21 months; Emma, 3 months; Tyler, 6; and Levi, 3. As a horse farmer, Winegardener said that coming to the annual event is »tradition and an opportunity to see all the new equipment. Turn to B 2 to see more pictures of visitors and their reasons for attending the annual event. Photo by Lou Ann Good. Visitors View High Tunnel Research At Horticulture Site ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Fanning Staff ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.) High tunnels, those greenhouse type structures you see popping up on the horticultural landscape, are under close scrutiny at Penn State. While the houses can be used to gain a head start on the growing season and grow horticultural crops a lot longer, challenges remain, according to an expert who spoke dining a research tour Wednesday afternoon at Ag Prog ress Days. One research aim: find a way to “produce the most on the least amount of land,” said Bill Lamont, Penn State associate professor of vegetable crops, who guided about 55 visitors on a tour of the high tunnels at the Ag Progress Days horticultural research site. In spring of 1998, several sta tionary tunnels basically tem porary greenhouse-like structures Nutrient Management In Pennsylvania Included in this issue of Lancaster Farming is a copy of a primer for nutrient management in Pennsylvania. The special publication was created to help Pennsylvania farmers understand the context and intent of state and federal nutrient management regulations and their general purpose. Through support advertising, the publication also contains a thorough listing of nutrient management support and related businesses that can provide services to help attain nutrient management goals. 600 Per Copy were installed. But researchers at Penn State quickly noted some limitations: the sides were too small to allow access for tractors and other equipment. In addition, the structures are considered tem porary, yet once installed are too cumbersome to move. Penn State thought of a way to put the houses on a “track,” of sorts, and move them similar to rainout structures, which are used to keep the rain off of certain sites. Penn State is trying to invent ways to move the structures north and south, or east and west, as needed, to allow equipment to work the ground and to aid in crop rotation. Lamont noted the high tunnels are part of the research in “plasti culture” under way at Penn State. Plasticulture involves the use of plastics as row covers, in contain ers, in high tunnels, and other hor ticultural uses. (Turn to Page A2l)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers