A Dairy Farm Necessity:
NORTH CORNWALL (Leba
non Co.) Managing dairy feed
ing systems for optimum cow
performance is critically impor
tant and merits special attention,
especially when profit margins
are tight.
Penn State cooperative exten
sion will be helping producers
design and implement manage
ment systems to manage and
control feeding systems.
Through a series of three
hands-on workshops, dairy man
agers and feeders will receive “A
Feeder’s Kit” to help them
achieve optimum performance
from their dairy rations.
The first two workshops will
be at the Lebanon County Exten
sion Office March 14-21 with the
third session planned for Mead
ow Wood Farms near Lebanon
March 28. Sessions run from 9:30
USD A Tightens Bacterial
Requirements In Dry Milk Standards
WASHINGTON, D.C. The
USDA has revised the U.S. Stan
dards for Grades of Nonfat Dry
Milk (Spray Process), the U.S.
Standards for Instant Nonfat
Dry Milk, and the U.S. Stan
dards for Grades of Buttermilk
and Buttermilk Product.
The changes reduce the Stan
dard Plate Count (bacterial esti
mates) as follows:
• For U.S. Extra Grade non
fat dry milk manufactured using
the spray process, the maximum
allowable bacteria is reduced
from 40,000 per gram to 10,000
per gram.
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a.m. to 3 p.m.
A feeder’s kit will be provided
for each farm enrolled and par
ticipants will receive instruction
on how to effectively use each of
the items in the kit during the
sessions. Participants should
bring a sample of all ensiled for
ages and a TMR sample to the
program. They will have the op
portunity to practice measuring
forage dry matter, pH, and parti
cle size. Measuring, plotting, and
analyzing particle size data will
also be featured.
During the second day’s pro
gram, participants will examine
NDF intake for their herds and
demonstrate their understanding
of this fiber management tool. A
hands-on computer lab will fea
ture two spreadsheets that will
help managers and feeders moni
tor ration changes and help con
• For U.S. Extra Grade in
stant nonfat dry milk, the maxi
mum allowable bacteria is re
duced from 30,000 per gram to
10,000 per gram.
• For U.S. Extra Grade but
termilk and buttermilk product,
the maximum allowable bacteria
is reduced from 50,000 per gram
to 20,000 per gram.
• For U.S. Standard Grade
buttermilk and buttermilk prod
uct, the maximum allowable bac
teria is reduced from 200,000 per
gram to 75,000 per gram.
These changes in bacterial es
timates will strengthen the quali
Lebanon,,
717-228-2600
800-298-1558
Call 8 AM-5 PM M-F
trol TMR mixes. The afternoon
segment will feature carbohy
drate management in dairy ra
tions.
The final session at Meadow
Wood Farms will begin with in
struction on silage sampling and
pH assessment in ensiled forages.
Feedbunk observations, includ
ing the particle size of the TMR,
feed refusal, and cow observa
tions will be featured. Feeding fa
cilities fundamentals will be
taught including bunk issues and
design, feeding area surfaces,
and interactions of nutrition and
dairy facilities including air qual
ity, temperature, cooling, cow
comfort, and cud chewing time.
Registration fee including the
take-home items in the feeler’s
kit is $5OO per farm (one feeder’s
kit included). The fee for addi
tional participants from the same
ty requirements of the standards
to reflect improvements that
have taken place in the dry milk
industry and improve the com
petitiveness of U.S. dairy prod
ucts in international markets.
A notice soliciting comments
to the proposed changes was
published in the Sept. 8 Federal
Register. Based on public com
ments, USDA has determined
that changes are appropriate and
has revised the standards accord
ingly. All become effective Feb. 2.
USDA grade standards are
voluntary standards developed to
facilitate the marketing process.
* Manufacturers of
dairy products are free
to choose whether or
not to use these grade
standards.
The revised Stan
dards are available
from Duane R. Spom
er, Chief, Dairy Stan
dardization Branch,
Dairy Programs, Agri
cultural Marketing
Service, U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture,
Room 2746, South
Building, Stop 0230,
P.O. Box 96456,
Washington, D.C.
20090-6456 or by ac
cessing the AMS
Home Page at
www.ams.usda.gov/
dairy/stand.htm
6 A Feeder’s Kit’
farm is $4O per person to cover
meal and refreshment costs. The
program is limited to 10 farms so
that individual assistance can be
provided during the many
hands-on activities planned.
To register for the sessions,
contact the customer service desk
Farm Entry Strategies
Work For Beginners
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
With less than two percent of
Americans calling themselves
farmers and many of those earn
ing more than half of their in
come off the farm, beginners ask,
“How can I get into farming in
the current farm economy? What
does it take?’
Pennsylvania Farm Link’s Be
ginning Farmer workshop Feb.
17 will emphasize that a success
ful farm start-up is not depen
dent on age, size, type of farm
operation, or previous career se
lection. Instead, success relies
more on negotiating a good fit
between your personal and fin
ancial resources, your farm and
family goals, and the way you
decide to enter farming.
Keynote speaker Steve Steven
son from the University of Wis
consin will present the results of
his research, with more than 325
beginning farmers who started
farming between 1993 and 1995.
He will provide insight for new
farmers on what other beginning
farmers used to be successful.
Career entry pathways include
taking over your family farm,
at the York extension office at
112 Pleasant Acres Road, York,
PA 17402-9041, (717) 840-7408,
fax: (717) 755-5968, or e-mail
Tim Beck at tbeck@
psu.edu.
taking over another family farm,
starting from scratch, and doing
an apprenticeship in production
agriculture.
The workshop will also in
clude real-world discussions with
Pennsylvania’s innovative begin
ning farmers from a variety of
backgrounds and enterprises.
Hear from those taking the reins
from other family members, tak
ing over a non-family operation,
or starting on their own from
scratch. Types of farms include
dairy, beef, fruit and vegetables,
speciality crops, cooperative
members, direct marketers, and
wholesalers.
The workshop will be Satur
day, Feb. 17, at the Holiday Inn
in Grantville, from 8 a.m. to 4
p.m. Cost of the workshop is $3O
for an individual, $5O for a cou
ple, and $2O for a student. Regis
tration is required by Feb[. 12 and
includes lunch.
Contact Pennsylvania Fafm
Link at (717) 664-7077 or e-maU
at pafarmlink@redrose.iiet for'
more information and a bro-*
chure.
ireenhouse, and more
tool,
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