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Vol. 46 No. 25
CHURCHTOWN (Lancaster Co.) Cows enjoy some fresh pasture as
warmer temperatures settle in. Rain also pushes lush spring grazing
growth. The milking herd of Galen Martin near Churchtown is making
the most of a ryegrass/clover mix along with some orchardgrass. Martin
milks about 65 cows.
According to the Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service (PASS),
for the week ending April 15, conditions were poor for fieldwork. Soil
moisture was rated 49 percent adequate and 51 percent surplus for the
Lefever Joins
Lancaster Farming
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
Dave Lefever recently joined
Lancaster Farming as the new
dairy staff writer.
Lefever’s agricultural experi
ence began on the farm where he
grew up in northern Lebanon
Dave Lefever has joined the Lancaster Farming staff as
dairy writer.
www.lancasterfarming.com
County, helping his father, Abe,
tend a herd of about 45 Hol
steins.
Most recently, Lefever helped
to manage a sheep, hay, and or
ganic vegetable farm in Freder
(Turn to Pace A 36)
Five Sections
‘Boot Camp ’ Teaches
Ag Conservation Basics
MICHELLE RANCK
Lancaster Farming Staff
FORT INDIANTOWN
GAP (Lebanon Co.) Penn
sylvania agriculture conserva
tion technicians (ACTs) took
advantage of a training oppor
tunity to attend a weeklong
“boot camp” and learn the
basics of agronomy or engi
neering in agriculture.
The participants, from or
ganizations spanning Pennsyl
vania, are part of a program
exclusive to the common
wealth.
In its second year, the pro
gram added 25-30 new posi
tions when a special
appropriation of more than $1
million was allotted to aid pro
duction farmers.
The majority of the appro
priation dollars are going into
the agriculture conservation
technician program, said Agri
culture Secretary Samuel
Hayes, who opened the week.
Hayes noted that the funds are
tagged for farmers and the con
servation commission.
He pointed out the impor
tance of “infrastructure at the
service point of the program,”
Saturday, April 21, 2001
state, with spring plowing, planting oats and other crops, fixing fences,
applying lime and fertilizer, and other work under way.
PASS reports that pasture growth is very slow, and some farmers are
still bringing stored feed to livestock. Thirty-eight percent of the pas
ture land is rated good to excellent compared to 29 percent the previ
ous week.
The grazing season has begun. And The spring issue of Foraging
Around is included this issue. Photo by Stan Hall
which is the one-on-one work
of the technicians.
According to training coor
dinator Bill Bowers, Natural
Resource Conservation Service
(NRCS) Harrisburg, individual
attention to the producer is the
hallmark of the program.
Technicians give advice on
soil erosion, soil health, water
runoff, manure handling, or
wildlife habitat. “The whole
program is targeted to one-on
one assistance,” he said.
Bowers said that partici
pants are studying “what those
of us in this business see as
basic needs.” The training is
designed to dovetail with other
training given by other organ
izations.
Noting the drop in the num-
bers of NRC employees,
Bowers said that the program
helps to fill that gap and move
from fewer federal to more
local employees.
The week was part of several
training sessions conducted to
help the ACTs further their ed
ucation. A boot camp was con
ducted in March for ACTs with
less on-the-job experience.
(Turn to Page A 36)
$32.00 Per Year
Pa. Dairies
Benefit From
DMLA Program
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Fanning Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Dairy farmers eligible
for new relief funds from the
federal government must sign
up through their county USDA
l?arm Service Agency (FSA)
Office by April 30 in order to
receive payment.
The additional payments of
fered through the new Dairy
Market Loss Assistance Pro
gram (DMLA III) are for farm
ers with new dairy operations or
farmers who received payments
under DMLA II for less than 12
months of milk production.
Dauphin County dairyman
Bill Capp Jr. said he signed up
for the new program when it was
first announced in late February
of this year.
Along with his family and an
other hired couple, Capp man
ages 210 Holsteins with a rolling
herd average of 26,000 pounds
near Hershey.
Capp said it took him a few
minutes to fill out the applica
tion and it was time well spent.
Within a week after applying
for the funds, he received a
(Turn to Page A 36)
600 Per Copy