Pa,‘Vegetable Industry Gives More Than $60,000 For Research RICHFIELD (Juniata Co.) Nineteen vegetable projects will be funded jointly by the Pennsyl vania Vegetable Growers Associ ation (PVGA) and the Pennsyl vania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program. The Marketing and Research Program will be contributing more than $30,000 to the vege table research projects. PVGA will contribute $25,000 toward vegetable research and $5,000 to ward small fruit research. In the past 13 years, PVGA has contributed $215,000 to vege table and small fruit research. This has been made possible sole ly through the profits earned at the association’s food booths at the Farm Show and Ag Progress Days. The Vegetable Marketing and Research Program is a statewide checkoff program dedicated to funding practical vegetable re search and promoting Pennsylva nia vegetables. All growers in the state are required to pay an an nual assessment of $25 plus $1.50 for each acre over 10 acres. The vegetable projects chosen for funding and their objectives are as follows: • Varietal resistance to blights and fruit rots in processing toma toes, Alan Mac Nab, Penn State, $2,500, to evaluate processing to mato varieties for ripening time and tolerance to diseases. • Breeding line resistance to bacterial canker in processing to mato, Alan Mac Nab, Penn State, $2,500, to evaluate processing to mato breeding lines for ripening time and severity of bacterial canker. • Vegetable disease forecast ing, Alan Mac Nab, Penn State, $3,000, to operate a disease fore cast network for Pennsylvania vegetable producers and provide to growers timely information on HAMMER MILLS for Grinding High Moisture & Dry Grains (Att^rer Grinds Finer than Roller Mills: Call Us For Your Nearest Dealer! WE CUSTOM MAMUiICTURE Fainted, Galvanized and Stainless Steel Fabrication, Feed 61ns, Cdyeif, Dump Pits, Augers, and CorrtrOl Systems to Automate Your. Operation. favorability of the environment for disease development and times when fungicide coverage is most important. Also, to explore a low-cost method to evaluate new sources of environmental data. • Development of early blight and late blight resistant tomatoes, Majid Foolad, Penn State, $6,000, to develop tomato cultivars resis tant to early blight and late blight and other tomato diseases in Pennsylvania and which are adapted to Pennsylvania condi tions. • Development of tomato cul tivars with improved lycopene and other fruit quality character istics, Majid Foolad, Penn State, $6,000, to develop processing and fresh-market tomato cultivars with enhanced fruit lycopene, sugar, and vitamin contents and to develop high-yielding tomato cultivars adapted to Pennsylva nia conditions. • Optimizing plant population and row spacing in processing to matoes, Lowell Luft and Wesley Martin, Brubaker Consulting Group, $3,750, to determine the effects that row spacing and plant population has on the yield and quality of processing toma toes. The standard row spacing of five-feet will be compared to nar rower spacing at the same popu lations to determine if yields in crease without sacrificing quality. • Processing tomato variety trial, Lowell Luft and Wesley Martin, Brubaker Consulting Group, $5,000, to identify variet ies that will consistently provide high quality and yields under eastern growing conditions. • Snap bean insect manage ment: alternatives to organophos phates and carbamates, and de veloping potato leafhopper thresholds, Lee Stivers and Tom Kuhar, Cornell University, and nbn.com m**# * CUSTOM MADE AUGERS Galvanized • Carbon • Stainlasa U-TROUGHS «*ags“” AUGER INSTALLATIONS ✓ In feedlots ✓ Conuneraa| S,emS Standard Auger Specifications applications | | 4 " | 6" | 8” 1 10" ✓ At feedmills or elevators ✓ Around poultry & dairy barns ✓ At your gram bins or bulk tanks ✓ Replacement Augers for feed mixers and farm equipment Tube Gauge Flight Thickness Bu7Hr Call Us For Custom Specifications Shelby Fleischer and Tom Butzl er, Penn State, $3,888, to evalu ate nonorganophosphate and car bamate insecticides for efficacy in controlling potato leafhopper, European com borer, and other insect pests of snap beans. Also, to assess the relative impact of these insecticides on natural enemy populations and to pro vide supporting data for the re finement of potato leafhopper thresholds based on plant growth stage and moisture stress. • Replacing starter phospho rus for early processing snap beans, Thomas Bjorkman, Steve Reiners, and Alan Taylor, Cor nell University, $2,411, to de termine to what extent Pennsyl vania vegetable soils are susceptible to potassium bicarbo nate for releasing soil phospho rus. Also, to determine whether snap bean growth in cold Penn sylvania soils is enhanced by phosphate release and to provide Pennsylvania snap bean growers with a tool for managing phos phorus use, and specific guidance on its suitability for various re gions within Pennsylvania. • Breeding for white mold re sistance in snap beans, Phillip D. Griffiths, Cornell University, $2,900, to advance crosses made between lines showing the highest levels of white mold resistance and commercial types to the F 4 generation, and field test all lines generated for white mold resis tance during summer 2001. Also, •r y. '■% tTOf * * .*■/ v ' if « >, 4* s * * * . /V r Heavy DOW 00^°" 3/16” 3/16” 3/16" 2000 to screen white mold resistant field selections in the greenhouse, and advance the generations with further screens to determine re sistant types with good horticul tural characteristics. • Comparison of 1 1 1 fertilizer versus 1 3 1 fertil izer banded at planting time for processing snap beans, Jeff Mizer and Michael Orzolek, Penn State, $609, to determine whether ap plication of excessive amounts of phosphorus causes luxury con sumption by the beans, resulting in weak-rooted plants that can not reach their full yield poten tial. Also, to reduce both nitrogen and phosphorus applications rates so as to reduce the amounts of nitrates and phosphates that enter the Susquehanna River and eventually the Chesapeake Bay. • Weed control in sweet com: alternatives to Atrazine, includ ing Buctril, Michael Orzolek, Penn State, $4,000, to evaluate both experimental and nonla beled herbicides which may be acceptable alternatives to atrzine application in sweet com. Also, to develop date which may help support a Section 18 labels for new experimental herbicides in sweet com for Pennsylvania growers. • Monitoring thermal per formance in “grow tunnel” im provements in nonfossil fuel heated greenhouses used for win ter greens and herb production, Stephen and Joshua Moore, Maryland Hereford Association Field 7 At Woodbine WOODBINE, Md. The Summer Field Day of the Maryland Hereford Association will take place here on Saturday, July 7, at the Mullinix Bros. Cattail Connection on A.E. Mullinix Road. Beginning with a feedlot tour at 1 p.m., the program includes presentations by Doug Velisek on “N” Sync; Chris Mullinix on cattle selection; John Meents, American Hereford Association (AHA) representative, on the AHA and Whole Herd Update; and Gene Mullinix on culling. A herd and pasture tour will close out the afternoon activities. The field day program will conclude with a barbecue picnic and board meeting beginning about 5 p.m. X 20 Year rust thru guarantee 3000 X High Quality X Affordable Prices Lebanon Valley Enterprises, Inc. Manufacturing * Powder Coating • Precast RO. Box 187, Myerstown, PA 17067 • (717) 866-2030 Sonnewald Natural Foods, Har mony Essentials, $995, to evalu ate using existing computer mon itoring equipment, the thermal performance of the “new grow tunnel” by comparing it with the “old grow tunnel” system. • Pumpkin disease control and yield improvement using sili con nutrition, Joseph Heckman and others, Rutgers University, $3,000, to determine the effec tiveness of soil-applied silicon for control of diseases on pumpkin. Also, to determine pumpkin yield response to silicon fertilization and to conduct leaf tissue analy sis and soil tests to monitor the effects of silicon treatment. • Tomato, pepper, and musk melon production in commercial sized high tunnels, William La ment and Michael Orzolek, Penn State, $6,000, to construct two commercial-size high tunnels (17-foot by 96-foot) at the Penn State High Tunnel Research and Education Research Facility lo cated at the Horticulture Farm at Rockspring to determine both the production and economics of growing tomatoes, peppers, and muskmelons for the early market in commercial-size high tunnels and how the information col lected correlates to smaller re search size tunnels. The ability to conduct crop production research in commercial-size high tunnels will ensure that the information X Baked on High Gloss, high impact and acid resistant TGIC polyester powder coating X Adjustable head rail to accommodate different size animals X Wide lunge area for superior cow comfort X Constructed from 12 ga. 2 3/3" OD tubing X Optional lengths available upon request (Turn to Page A3B)