Page 18—Ag Progress Section 2, Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, August 12, 2000
Penn State Uses ‘Zero Waste ’
Composting At Ag Progress
ROCKSPRING (Centre Co.)
Everyone knows how messy
it can be cleaning up after a
catered lunch. Researchers at
Penn State’s Ag Progress Days,
Aug. 15-17, will be composting
every bit of waste including
tableware, cups and trashbags
from two special event lunch
eons during the Erst two days of
the event.
The composting project is
part of a demonstration by the
Organic Materials Processing
and Education Center
(OMPEC), a collaborative effort
between the College of Agricul
tural Sciences, the Office of
Physical Plant and Housing, and
Food Services. All waste, includ
ing biodegradable place settings,
napkins, cups and plastic bags,
will be collected after each
luncheon and brought to a com
posting demonstration site near
the Conservation Tent.
“We call this ‘Zero Waste’
composting because absolutely
nothing goes to the landfill,”
said Gina Rao, OMPEC coordi
nator for the project. “The
biodegradable table settings and
plastic products all are manu
factured by Biocorp Inc., which
will demonstrate that communi
ties can use these type of prod
ucts to reduce institutional and
household waste.”
Rao said the Ag Progress
Days demonstration is part of a
larger year-round composting
project that uses food wastes
from Penn State dining halls,
leaf litter from University Park’s
12,000 trees and manure from
College of Agricultural Sciences
livestock to create a value-added
product that can be used on the
university’s landscape plant
ings.
“Right now we are compost
ing kitchen waste from seven
dining halls, the Nittany Lion
Inn, and the Penn Stater Hotel
and Conference Center at a
three-quarter-acre site on Uni
versity farmland,’’ Rao said.
“By next year, we hope to
BUY,
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THROUGH
THE
CLASSIFIED
ADS
IN
Lancaster
Farming
PHONE
717-626-1164
OR
717-394-3047
FAX
717 733-6058
expand operations to a six acre
site and compost waste from all
the dining halls and the HUB.”
Visitors to Ag Progress Days
can see the “OMPEC Lounge,”
located in a tent next to the
Headquarters farmhouse. The
rest area will feature flowers
planted in OMPEC compost,
benches, visual displays of the
project, and composting litera
ture.
At 11 a.m., visitors can take a
compost demonstration tour at
the Conservation Education
UNIVERSITY PARK
(Centre Co.) When you’re
stuck behind slow-moving farm
machinery on a busy rural high
way, it’s easy to forget that the
driver is working with complex
and sometimes hazardous
equipment. That’s exactly the
point of a special presentation
on farm equipment safety to be
held at Penn State’s Ag Progress
Days.
Representatives of the North
ern York County Regional
Police Department, based in
Dover, Pa., will present “Farm
Equipment on the Highway:
How It Applies To You,” which
looks at important aspects of
farm vehicle safety, both on and
off the farm. Officer Thomas
McCune, who created and con
ducts the presentation, says the
purpose of the training is to help
farmers and others appreciate
that combines and tractors are
very powerful equipment that
must be handled with skill and
great care.
“We want to give farmers and
non-farmers insight into how
farm vehicles should be used on
the highway, and the regulations
and restrictions that apply to the
vehicles,” McCune says. “Also,
we offer safety tips for operating
trucks, tractors and other speci
al-purpose vehicles on the
farm.”
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717-733-7155 717-687-7420
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area and see how compost piles
are mechanically turned over. A
demonstration of how compost
is screened to remove other
wastes also is part of the tour.
Rao said the compost pro
duced by the OMPEC project
has been used to renovate flower
beds at the Penn State Trial
Gardens and to rejuvenate com
pacted soil around construction
sites on campus. The compost
also is used in a research project
on soil renovation at the Penn
State Living Filter fields.
Farm Safety On Farm And Highway
McCune will review traffic
laws pertaining to farm tractors,
trucks and other farming imple
ments. For instance, the fee for
farm truck registration is less
than that for standard vehicles,
but the truck has to be used ex
clusively on the farm or for pro
duce or commodities dealing
with the farm. “You can’t take
your family down to the beach in
a truck with a farmtruck li
cense,” he says. The presenta
CARLISLE (Cumberland
Co.) Land O’Lakes, Inc., a
farmer-owned cooperative, will
participate in the 32nd annual
Ag Progress Days held at Rock
Springs, Pa., on August IS
through 17.
Land O’Lakes will showcase
its System Service and Dairy
Business Service programs for
dairy producers. Both of these
programs are designed to help
Land O’Lakes member-owners
and other dairy farmers be more
progressive and efficient in their
dairy operations.
Land O’Lakes System Service
provides farmers with milking
equipment analysis, individual
Manheim
John Ghck
717-665-2010
E. Drumore
Seeds
Henry King
717-548-3376
Lots of Seed
In Stock
Land O’Lakes Showcases Services for
Dairy Producers at Ag Progress Days
Lancaster
Ag Products
717-293-9701
Dauphin Co.
Christ F. Fisher
717-362-9038
Little Britain
Landis Weaver Churchtown
717-529-2609 Galen Martin
717-445-5782
Centre Co.
John Ghck
814-383-4529
Paul Keller Seed Service
610-589-2614 717-244-2754
Penn State Ag
tion updates farmers on rules
that have changed over time and
clarifies some gray areas.
Robert Oberheim, manager of
Ag Progress Days, says he
learned of the farm equipment
safety program through the en
thusiastic endorsements of com
mercial equipment exhibitors.
“We’re always looking for new
and interesting topics for Ag
Progress Days,” he says. “I’m
component testing, milking time
evaluation, and environmental
analysis. Through Systems Ser
vice, farmers can take advan
tage of a .milking technician
school and other programs* of
fered by Land O’Lakes.
Land O’Lakes Dairy Business
Service offers farmers assistance
in three areas Dairy Pro Ser
vices, Dairy Development, and
Dairy Accounting & Financial
Monitoring. Dairy Pro Services
Perry Co.
Glenn Martin
717-582-2730
Atglen
Sylvan Smoker
610-593-2831
Cochranville
Ag Service
610-869-9627
York Co.
Hakes Farm &
Berks Co.
Manheim
Lynn Fahnestock
717-665-7655
Lebanon Co.
Abner Stoltzfus
717-949-2486
White Deer
Isaac Belter
570-547-7118
pleased about their participa
tion.”
The presentation will be held
at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tues
day and Wednesday in the Col
lege of Agricultural Sciences
Exhibits Building Theater on
Main Street, between West 9th
and West 10th Streets (near the
farmhouse), and on Thursday at
11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the adja
cent College Building Tent.
help producers improve effi
ciency, increase profitability,
and lower financial risk. The
Dairy Development Services are
ideal for producers who are ex
panding;
The T-and O’Lakes exhibit will
be part of more than $2O million
worth of agricultural machin
ery, equipment, supplies and
services that will be displayed
during the three-day event.
MARK REHAK, Agronomist
717-394-4470 717-394-5399 fa*
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Mega Green
Sudangrass
Brown Mid-Rib
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HI Protein Corn
Brassicas
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Discount