A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 21,2001
Tarm -Shelf
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ISool<s cm 3 magazines of interest to Cancaster farming readers
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
THE BOTANY OF DESIRE,
by Michael Pollan. Random
House, 2001, 286 pp.,
$24.95. ISBN
0-375-50129-0
In what ways have we changed
the very nature of plants? In
what ways have they changed
us?
Those two basic questions are
introduced early and often
throughout BOTANY, subtitled,
appropriately, “A plant’s-eye
view of the world.”
Author Michael Pollan notes,
in his introduction, that “the
seeds of this book were first
planted in my garden while I
was planting seeds, as a matter of
fact. Sowing seed is pleasant, des
ultory, not terribly challenging
work; there’s plenty of space left
over for thinking about other
things while you’re doing it. On
this particular May afternoo
n ... I found myself think
ing what existential differ
ence is there between the human
being’s role in this (or any) gar
den and the bumblebee’s?”
The bee picks up and scatters
pollen, thereby creating new vari
eties of life for flowers and vege
tables. The human task, one that
has been ongoing for centuries, is
similar: we select and adopt new
cultivars for color, or sweetness,
Two State Golf Tournaments
To Benefit FFA Foundation
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) Because of overwhelming
support, the Pennsylvania FFA
Foundation has planned two sep
arate Hoss’s Fore FFA golf tour
naments this year.
The first event is the Hatfield
Fore East tournament Monday,
July 23. As in the past, it will be
based at the Foxchase course
near Denver.
The nearby Galen Hall golf
course will also be used to accom
modate as many golfers as possi
ble. Last year both courses were
filled with a total capacity of 288
entiies. Golfers are assigned to a
course in the order that registra
tions are received.
The second golf tournament,
the Moss’s Fore FFA West tour-
USDA Announces Grant To
MD A And Howard County
COLUMBIA, Md. The
Maryland Department of Agri
culture and the Howard County
Economic Development Authori
ty were recently awarded a
$1,500 grant provided under the
Federal-State Marketing Im
provement Program to conduct a
feasibility study for an on-line
virtual community support agri
culture (CSA) program to attract
consumer subscriptions for local
produce.
The feasibility study will col
lect information useful in gaug
ing the interest that busy profes
sionals working in the Columbia,
Maryland area have in joining a
virtual CSA to receive a weekly
or pest resistance, or for thou
sands of traits that we’ve come to
like.
And the plants have followed
along quite nicely because, like
domesticated livestock, their sur
vival is entwined with ours.
Pollan notes, “we have spent
the last few thousand years re
making these species through ar
tificial selection, transforming a
tiny, toxic root node into a fat,
nourishing potato and a short,
unprepossessing wildflower into
a tall, ravishing tulip. What is
much less obvious, at least to us,
is that these plants have, at the
same time, been going about the
business of remaking us.”
To prove his point, Pollan
takes readers on an emotionally
and mentally involving journey
to several places, including the
many homesteads of Johnny Ap
pleseed (John Chapman) in his
voyages to spread apple genetics
throughout the Ohio River Valley
and beyond. Pollan even recounts
his own trips to an orchard ex
pressly planted with wild apples
in upstate New York, bringing
back samples of wild apples to
his own garden, to see what ge
netic magic they can make with
his own fruit trees.
Pollan focuses on the vital
need for genetic diversity in the
garden in fact, for agriculture
in general. Monocultures can per-
nament, is scheduled for Aug. 13
at Scotch Valley Country Club in
Hollidaysburg, Blair County.
Hosting the golf tournament is
a notable addition to the impres
sive list of Hoss’s and the Camp
bell family’s efforts to support
youth programs, especially live
stock. The restaurant chain has
purchased the Farm Show grand
champion steer for several years
and thus is a very strong support
er of the Farm Show Scholarship
Fund.
The Hoss’s Fore FFA West
FFA tournament is being con
ducted at a golf course near their
home base in Duncansville. No
more than 144 entries can be ac
cepted. Entries are accepted in
the order they are received.
market basket delivered to a site
close to their work. The survey
will collect consumer preference
for items to be included in the
subscription baskets, the variety
of items to include desired quan
tity and price of produce and the
most desirable time of day for de
livery and pick-up near the cus
tomers’ workplace.
The grants provided under the
Federal-State Marketing Im
provement Program are used to
improve marketing systems for
food and agricultural products or
to identify new market opportu
nities for farm products.
haps be too much of a technologi
cal challenge, he asserts, with hu
mankind relying more on genetic
technology to combat plant chal
lenges.
But agriculture is a chiefly and
uniquely human enterprise. On
page 186, Pollan notes: “One the
ory of the origins of agriculture
holds that domesticated plants
first emerged on dump heaps,
where the discarded seeds of the
wild plants that people gathered
and ate already unconsciously
selected for sweetness or size or
power took root, flourished,
and eventually hybridized. In
time, people gave the best of
these hybrids a place in the gar
den, and there, together, the peo
ple and the plants embarked on a
series of experiments in co-evolu
tion that would change them
both forever.”
Pollan looks not only at apples,
but at the Dutch tulip mania that
gripped Holland between
1634-1637; about the illegal
growing of plants and human
kind’s strange obsession with
plant contraband; and tops the
whole book off with a history of
the world’s obsession with pota
toes, and how one Ireland famine
rivaled the Black Plague in dev
astation.
But Pollan, when writing about
potatoes, also compares the ge
netic breakthroughs made to give
plant’s internal resistance to
pests. The remarkable technology
could be. a bold, forward leap
an advance so great, who knows
what this will lead to in human
agricultural endeavor?
BOTANY OF DESIRE is a
landmark book for those fasci
nated with the history of our ob
sessions over gardens; over the
beautiful connection we have
with the garden, with the earth,
and agriculture; and about our
own striving for ultimate techno
logical control on our planet.
To participate, the charge for
either tournament is $lOO per
person, a large part of which goes
to the FFA organization. Plus the
charge includes a round of golf
with cart, a complimentary mul
ligan, shotgun scramble, refresh
ments along the course, lunch,
complimentary “Happy Hour,”
and dinner.
At the evening dinner, awards
will be presented and a special
auction is planned. Prizes will be
awarded in team and individual
contest categories. Registration
begins at 10:30 a.m. for both
events.
Sponsorship categories include
Grand Champion, Hole in One
Contest, Show Champion Spon
sor, Driving Range Sponsor, 19th
Hole Sponsor, Refreshment Sta
tion, Par Three Contest, Putting
Contest or Longest Drive Con
test, Hole Sponsor and Team
Awards Sponsor.
Hatfield Quality Meats and
Hoss’s Steak and Sea House are
the major sponsors and hosts of
the two FFA golf tournaments.
Many agribusinesses join them in
supporting the FFA by providing
“a great day of golf.”
For more information or to
participate, contact The Pennsyl
vania FFA Foundation, Inc. at
(814) 880-0013.
American Heart
Association.^^
Fighting Heart Disaasa and Strok*
Choose
Healthful
Foods
Penn State Cooperative Extension
Capitol Region Dairy Team
HEAT STRESS
ON DRY COWS
Philip E. Wagner
Extension Agent Dairy
Franklin County
As I write this article today,
it is 92 degrees under blazing
sunshine. A few hours ago I
drove by an open pasture with
a group of dry cows huddled
in the middle of the field. I
thought to myself, “Should we
be spending time, effort, and
dollars to cool dry cows like
we do lactating cows?”
Dry cows are less affected
by heat stress than are lactat
ing cows because they do not
have to deal with large
amounts of heat produced be
cause of milk production.
However, they should not be
overlooked, especially those
animals in the late dry period.
Research has shown that cool
ing dry cows helps get the next
lactation off to a healthier
start and increases milk pro
duction.
The dairy cow goes through
many physiological changes
during the dry period. These
changes are related to contin
ued growth of the fetus, reduc
tion of dry matter intake dur
ing the end of gestation, and
the initiation of lactation at
parturition.
More than 60 percent of
total fetal growth occurs dur
ing the last two months of ges
tation. This fetal growth
causes a significant nutritional
burden on the dry cow. To fur
ther complicate matters, there
is a reduction in dry matter in
take 5 to 7 days prior to calv
ing. As much as 30 percent re
duction in dry matter intake
has been reported.
The late pregnant cow un
dergoes a series of complex
metabolic changes as she ap
proaches parturition. Add to
this the effects of heat stress
and you increase the chances
of problems at calving time.
Cow comfort is especially im
portant for these mothers-to
be.
Milk production is related
to birth weight of the calf.
Cows giving birth to large
calves give more milk in a lac
tation than cows giving birth
to small calves. Heat stress
during late pregnancy has
been shown to reduce calf
birth weight and postpartum
milk yield of the dam. Re
search has shown that cows
housed under shade during
the last trimester of pregnancy
gave birth to larger calves
than cows with no access to
shade and went on to produce
more milk during the lacta
tion. Numerous research trials
have found that cooling dry
cows with fans and sprinklers
increased calf weights and
150-day milk weights when
compared to control cows.
Dairy producers need to
Philip E. Wagner
provide the basics of water,
shade, airflow, and air ex
change to help reduce heat
stress. This is especially crit
ical during the last trimester of
pregnancy. Provide plenty of
water at one or more locatipns
depending on the size of the
group. Remember, water in
take per cow can double on
hot summer days when com
pared to a winter day.
Make sure adequate natural'
or artificial shade is available.
Although shades do not gener
ally reduce ambient tempera
tures, they do decrease the
heat load on cows by blocking
solar radiation. Shaded cows
have lower rectal tempera
tures and lower respiration
rates. Providing 45-50 square
feet of shade per cow is ade
quate to reduce solar radia
tion. For dry cows on pasture
without access to natural
shade, consideration should be
given to constructing an artifi
cial shade structure. To obtain
plans, e-mail pewl@psu.edu
or call (717) 263-9226.
Many dry cows are housed
in bedded pack facilities. The
design criteria is generally for
80-100 square feet of pack
area per cow. If possible, aim
to give each cow more “space”
in the hot summer months to
reduce heat stress. Aim for
100-150 square feet per cow.
So, what is the answer to
my question at the beginning
of this article? Research has
shown many times that cool
ing the dry cow improves milk
production and overall health.
In Pennsylvania, we need to
focus first on reducing heat
stress in the lactating herd.
Then we should focus our ef
forts on the dry cows, especial
ly those animals in the last tri
mester of pregnancy.
Yes, dairy producers should
be spending time, effort, and
dollars to reduce heat stress on
dry cows. Dr. Richard Adams,
professor emeritus of dairy sci
ence at Penn State, said many
times, “Take care of the dry
cow and she will take care of
you.”