Ida’s Notebook by Ida Risser Our son has taken his family He will be gone for three weeks i a vacation west to Wyoming, or rather 19 days. So, my hus- Reserve Your Advertising Space Nutrient Management Reference Guide A reference guide for farmers and nutrient management planners on the new revised regulations as authorized by the Pennsylvania Conservation Commission in eration with the Penns COOj De >artment of Environmental Protection extension, and count This 80+ page, 8 Vi x 11-inch book will include introduction of recent changes in the nutrient management laws, a checklist to develop a Nutrient Management Plan, and descriptions of CAFOs and AFOs along with help to determine your farm’s status. In addition, a list of the county conservation districts and commercial nutrient management specialists will be given with contact resources. Not only will this guide be inserted into the Aug. 19, 2000 issue of Lancaster Farming, the books will be made available at Empire Days, Ag Progress Days, All American Dairy Show, Keystone International Livestock Exposition, Keystone Farm Show 2001 and Pennsylvania Farm Show 2001. For more information, contact your advertising representative at: Lancaster Farming (r A '>A V soil conservation districts Box 609,1 E. Main St. Phone: 717-626-1164 Fax: 717-733-6058 E-mail: farming@lancasterfarming.com band is trying to run the farm. You’ve heard the saying, “Ev erything that can go wrong, does go wrong.” Well, it seems that is what happened. The weather here has been quite wet and so the hay was still laying in the fields when he left with his pop up trailer. The neighbor who fi nally came to bale it had a break down with his machinery after doing four bales. The manure pump broke down twice and had to be re paired. A tanker hauled a lot of manure on the meadow. A big thunderstorm dumped three-inches of rain on us and In The Year 2000 dvania De artment of Agriculture, the Penns Ephrata, PA 17522 Penn State Universit the Conestoga River rose. One of the many heifers disappeared. Through phone calls we hear which National Parks they have visited. They put up a tent, and for three days hiked with three small children. That must have been a test of everyone’s strength. There were friends and relatives to visit along the way. They had to leave a bumper crop of black raspberries un picked. The neighbors helped themselves and I picked a few to freeze for them when they come home. My husband has planted two patches of berries with sup ports to make them easy to pick. y) / s count coo Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 8, 2000-811 We’ll certainly be glad to wel come them back as running the farm at our age has been a real chore. Although, we had not completely forgotten that things do go wrong in farming. Moth Hot Spots FLEMINGTON, N.J. This interesting season, so far, for the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Hunterdon County Garden In formation Center has been top- Ivania erative ped off by the reap pearance of gypsy moth problems in the county. An infestation “hot spot” has been noted in Holland Township by the New Jersey Gypsy Moth Suppres sion Program (NJGSP). Gypsy moth has not been a significant problem in our area or in northern New Jer sey for several years. In fact, the number of acres treated statewide through the state’s vol untary suppression program has declined to a few hundred from a peak of 88,000 acres in 1982. The number of acres defoliated by the pest declined re cently to 1,380 from a peak of 431,235 in 1990, which was al ready well below the maximum of 798.790 acres in 1981. But, as has hap pened in the past, the populations may be on the increase again in New Jersey. Pennsyl vania, which serves a bellwether for New Jersey according to the NJGSP, has experi enced an increase from 2,292 acres defoliated in 1997 to 278,182 acres in 1999. Acres defoliated in the east ern U.S. have also in creased almost tenfold since 1997. Hunterdon residents who have experienced gypsy moth damage this spring can contact their municipality. At a municipality's re quest, the state will perform an egg mass survey in the fall to de fine possible treatment areas. If treatment is found to be warranted, the municipality may voluntarily agree to share cost and partici pate in the suppression program. The gypsy moth is unlikely to ever be eradicated, but a combination of vig ilance, the state’s sup pression program, and naturally occurring caterpillar population controls such as dis eases should keep the pest from overwhelm ing our area and state again.