Page 22—Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 22, 2000 Optimize Forage Markets KEITH OELLIG Grantville PFGC Conference Oel-Dell Farms is located along Rt. 81, approximately 12 miles north of Harrisburg. The operation began in the mid 1980 s when my father participated in the Dairy Buyout Program. At that time the operation consisted of approximately 100 acres of hay land and 200 acres of marginal corn ground. Today my operation consist of about 1,000 acres of hay, soybeans, and small grains. I have one full time employee and two part-time seasonal employees. Because of my farm’s close prox imity to the Penn National Race Track, a one-mile thoroughbred horse race track that houses 700 to 1000 horses yearly—l have concen trated my farming operation to meet the needs of this clientele. In recent years the clientele has shifted their forage needs from an alfalfa-based ration to more of a complete bagged feed supplemented with timothy grass hay. The result BUY, SELL. TRADE OR RENT THROUGH THE CLASSIFIED ADS IN Lancaster Farming PHONE 717-626-1164 OR 7 17-394-3047 FAX 717-733-6058 Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri. 8 AM to 5 PM Thurs. 7 AM to 5 PM of this has been a decrease in my al falfa production acreage to more of a timothy-based production pro gram. I am farming 350 acres of hay land. Hay making equipment includes one hyaline, two rakes, two balers, a self-propelled stacker wagon, and seven conventional wagons. All hay at the racetrack is marketed by the bale, not by the ton. The hay stack ing equipment requires a longer and heavier bale. This presented a mar keting challenge when hay is mar keted by the bale and not by the ton. Pricing and service are the keys to my marketing strategies. By pro ducing 90 percent of all hay that is marketed, I am not a hay broker. I am able to keep a consistent hay price throughout the year and from year to year. As the horse feeding systems shifted from long hay to mostly complete bagged feeds, the bedding needs shifted from straw to wood shavings. In addition to providing hay at the track, the marketing of pine shavings for bedding material has become an important sideline for me. Maximize When it comes to improving Relative Feed Value and maximizing the Crude Protein in hay, nothing outperforms the New Idea® 5209 Disc Mower Conditioner Its high-speed disc cutterbar glides through fields with ease, even in extreme conditions And the unique Ti-Cor® Conditioning Rolls gently condition the stems, speeding drydown The 5209’s reliable design keeps you mowing and conditioning year after year With the segmented cutterbar dnveshaft, a New Idea innovation, the cutterbar is truly mod ular, which makes for easy maintenance To see the disc mower conditioner that’ll exceed your expectations not your budget, visit your AGCO® New Idea dealer today Jk\ New Idea • AffTTrn BUILT FOR THE BOTTOM LINE I accept the manured bedding, brought to my farm by the horse trainers, as a component of my bed ding sales. I utilize these shavings on approximately 500 acres of timo thy and small grains. In addition I utilize poultry layer manure from nearby operations as a part of my fertility program. Food Retailers React (Continued from Page 21) the industry as an attempt to “get better control of the (food produc tion) system,” Dunn said. As a result, contracts are more the norm, which provide less auton omy, he said, for farmers. But there is no logical reason for farmers to bear the higher risk of global markets. Risk should be passed higher up, to help farmers, whose business already exists under tight margins, according to Dunn. For ag students at Penn State, however, last year “was the best year ever for finding jobs,” Dunn said. At the conference, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Council (PFGC) and the Penn State-USDA-ARS Grazing Research and Education Center, three directors were elected to serve Fanning in the Grantville/Her shey/Harrisburg area presents many opportunities and challenges. A decreasing amount of available farmland and escalating land values is resulting in a smaller production base. But the increasing interest in pleasure horses in the region can provide alternative hay markets. three-year terms: John Thompson, producer from Volant; Duane Pysher, grassland management spe cialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Harrisburg; and Ed Koncle, president-elect. According to Richard Hann, PFGC secretary-treasurer, there are 216 members of PFGC and 22 sup porting organizations, in addition to Penn State personnel. In 1999, the PFGC co-sponsored the hay show at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, the 1999 Pennsylvania Grazing and Forage Conference, the hay show at Ag Progress Days, and other events. Scholarships totalling $750 each were awarded to two Penn State students. In addition, a stu dent at Delaware Valley College was awarded a $750 scholarship. A history of the PFGC is sched uled to be completed in July. See Your AGCO - New Idea Dealer Listed Below. Delaware Georgetown Baxter Farms Maryland Dayton J.D. Mullinix Pennsylvania Bechtelsville Miller Equipment Bethel Zimmerman’s Farm Service Bloomsburg William F. Welliver Cresson Hines Equipment Glen Rock Wertz Farm & Powei Equip, Greencastle Meyers Implements Honesdale Marshall Machinery, Inc Klingerstown Stanley’s Farm Service Lebanon Umbergers of Fontana Mercer Ralph W. Kyle Oakland Mills Peoples Sales & Service Quakertown C. J. Wonsidler Quarryville A. L. Herr Somerset Lincoln Supply
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers