A36-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 15, 2000
Tioga County Celebrates
10th Annual Farm City Day
(Continued from Pago A 1)
surance Assistance Program.
“I want everyone to know
that in the Mid-Atlantic states
and New England, where we
had this disastrous drought, no
state legislature or governor has
dedicated more assistance dol
lars to agriculture than has been
the case here in Pennsylvania,”
said Hayes.
The secretary also brought
greetings from Gov. Ridge as he
read a prepared statement.
“Agriculture is the com
monwealth’s leading industry,
providing jobs for about 20 per
cent of our state’s residents and
making the link between our
rural and urban dwellers vital to
the success of our state’s econ
omy. Partnerships must be
forged between rural and urban
residents to ensure a better qual
ity of life for generations. Be
cause without our farms and
farm families, city and urban
families lose their valuable
supply of local food sources, and
without our cities and towns,
farmers lose both market centers
and processing facilities for their
products.”
The theme of farm families
and urban dwellers working to
gether was reiterated by event
chair Sherri Butters, who made
it her goal to talk to as many vis
itors as possible. With more than
2,500 people milling about the
farm and taking advantage of
the scheduled activities, that job
kept her busy for most of the
day.
“I tried to stop people as they
were walking along and I had
lots of good comments. I spoke
to one couple from Corning,
New York who had two kids.
She said this is the kind of event
she had been looking for for her
kids. She said she felt so safe!”
said Butters.
Wagon tours of the farm
Doug Wright, left, takes a moment to speak with Jenny
and Doug Lawton during the day’s events.
Richard Lee, right, feeds a spoonful of ice cream to Dean
Lee during the first Farm City ice cream eating contest.
Both Richard and Dean are from Sabinsville.
fields were packed throughout
the day. On the tour, families
learned about the history of the
farm and formed a captive audi
ence for Natural Resources Con
servation Service worker
Howard Rutledge, who talked
about conservation practices
and strip cropping.
People were also on hand to
explain the uses for many old
time tools that were displayed at
the event. Kids and adults even
got to try their hand at shelling
corn the old-fashioned way, with
an old corn sheller. Although he
admitted that this method is
much slower than the machines
of today, Art Shumway was
quick to point out that this con
traption was a lot faster than
shelling it by hand.
Children’s activities were the
highlight of the day for many
visitors. One hundred twenty-six
youngsters participated in a
pedal tractor pulling contest and
many others tried their hand at
an ice cream eating contest.
Many more children thought
that a maze constructed with
bales of hay was nothing but
fun.
One of the most popular spots
for kids and parents alike was
the petting zoo, sponsored by the
Mountaineers 4-H Club, where
emus, bunnies, chicks, ducks,
pigs, goats, and other animals
got plenty of attention.
The day will be recorded as
another successful Farm City
Day event in the annals of Tioga
County, according to Butters.
Part of the emphasis this year
was to better the relationships
with the civic organizations.
“We hosted the auction with
the Wellsboro Rotary. We said
that we would provide the place
and the advertisements if they
would solicit the items for the
auction. We ended up making
$3,600 at the auction, which will
be divided between the Farm
City Day Committee and the
Rotary Club,” she said.
The Farm City Day portion of
the money will be used to cover
necessary items such as insur
ance, tent rental, and other ex
penses. This helps ensure that
families can enjoy the day’s ac
tivities free of charge. This year
the committee also sold T-shirts
to help raise money for the
event.
Besides enjoying the day’s
featured activities, those who at
tended this year’s event haid the
opportunity to register for free
ice cream for a year, donated by
Schwan’s Sales and $520 worth
of Exxon gasoline from Acorn
Markets. Jill Marple, Coving
ton, was the lucky ice cream cer
tificate winner, and Megan
Zuchowski, Wellsboro, took
home the free gasoline certifi
cates.
Even Mother Nature cooper
ated to make the day’s events
run smoothly.
“Overall the weather was one
of the nicest days we had,” said
Butters. “It was a good family
fun day!”
Secretary of Agriculture Samuel Hayes, Rep. Matt Baker, and Sen. Roger Madigan
present a mock check to Tioga County Farmers, represented by Carl Kroeck, to show
that Tioga County farmers received more than $1 million in disaster assistance for
1999.
Capitol Region
gronomy Team
BUY A NET
AND USE IT
POTATO LEAFHOPPERS
DEVOUR ALFALFA
Mark Goodson
Penn State
Cooperative Extension
Capitol Region
Extension Agronomy Team
Here in Pennsylvania we have
adopted a system of dairy pro
duction that relies heavily on
producing high quality alfalfa
haylage and hay. Our climate
and soils are suited very well to
alfalfa. And alfalfa has the po
tential to make the dairy pro
ducer a lot of money by
providing relatively cheap
homegrown protein for the herd.
Good management is required
to produce high quality alfalfa.
Tyler Wood, Pottstown, makes his way through the hay
maze that was constructed in a corner of a field.
In my book, good management
means having a plan then doing
the right thing at the right time.
Without the plan, one never
knows what to do when the time
comes. In fact, without a plan,
we miss the boat. This article is
to encourage you to get an inte
grated pest management plan
for alfalfa, then follow it.
Potato leafhoppers migrate
into Pennsylvania every spring
and are a major pest to alfalfa.
Entomologists and agronomists
have studied leafhopper move
ment and pattern of damage.
This is a predictable pest and in
tegrated pest management
(IPM) threshold data is readily
available.
We know how to scout for it
and we know how to control it.
(See “A Pest Management Pro
gram for Alfalfa in Pennsylva
nia” Special Circular 284 from
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion). It is often a damaging pest
in second cutting and almost
always in third cutting alfalfa.
Leafhoppers damage alfalfa
in four ways, according to M.
Curtis Wilson, professor of ento
mology at Purdue University:
1. Stunting of plants. Growth
is greatly reduced, sometimes
more than half that of a normal
plant.
2. Loss of quality. Protein is
reduced. Leafhopper feeding in
jects a toxin into plants that re
duces protein production. Data
indicates that protein loss occurs
very quickly with relatively low
insect populations. Five percent
loss in protein occurred at a pop
ulation level commonly attained
when leafhoffers have not been
controlled.
3. Loss in yield. Yesterday, I
measured seven-inches more in
height where leafhoppers had
been controlled vs. no control in
the same field.
4. Loss in plant vigor. Leaf
hoppers drain alfalfa of its vigor,
resulting in serious carryover ef
fects in later cuttings. These ef
fects are reflected in:
(Turn to Pag* A 37)