A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 15,2001 First-Time Champions For Both Denver Swine Exhibitors ANDY ANDREWS Editor DENVER (Lancaster Co.) Gary Martin and Renee Hoover both had something to celebrate on a gloomy day Tuesday. Though the pall from the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history was felt by all, they both managed to capture their first championship ribbons at the Denver Fair Hog Show. Gary Martin, 20, son of Clarence and Marilyn Martin, New Holland, exhibited a 240-pound Yorkshire cross bred gilt to grand champion. Nicknamed “Frisky,” judge Kent Good said “everything stands out about the hog - it’s free-moving, clean up in the jowl and chest, is very lean, with a nice rump and nice set of loins.” Gary’s first champion rib bon at Denver was obtained by showing a hog he obtained from a private sale in Mary land. He is a 2000 graduate of Garden Spot and Brownstown Vo-Tech, and works as a crewman/driver at Conestoga Pole Building. Reserve champion, a gilt which Good liked because of its “tremendous length and movement,” was a 255-pound Duroc crossbred exhibited by Renee Hoover. Gary Martin, right, won grand champion hog Tuesday evening at Denver Fair. Kent Good Judged the show. Renee Hoover, right, won reserve champion hog at Denver Fair. Judge for the show was Kent Good. We Salute Our Farming Industry Renee, 18, is the daughter of Marty and Lois Hoover, Schoeneck. The 2001 Cocalico High School graduate said she was happy to have a champi on her last year of showing at the fair. She exhibited a home bred hog, which she exercised every day. There were 26 hogs and 11 exhibitors. Following is a list of show placings. DENVER FAIR SWINE SHOW RESULTS Class 1 (225-227 lbs). 1. Gerald Mar tin 2. Sarah Boyd. 3. Gerald Martin Class 2 (230-235 lbs.) 1 Gary Martin 2 Sarah Boyd 3 Chelsea Hoover. Class 3 (240-247 lbs.): 1. Gary Martin. 2 Jenny Hughes 3 Willis Hoover Class 4 (245-255 lbs.) 1 Jenny Hughes 2 Jason Martin 3. Wesley Hoover Class 5 (253-260 lbs.) 1 Renee Hoo ver 2 Jenny Hughes. 3 Wesley Hoo- Class 6 (265-270 lbs.) 1. Willis Hoo ver 2 Sarah Boyd 3 Justin Martin Class 7 (280-285 lbs)' 1 Jonathan Rupert 2. Jonathan Rupert. GRAND CHAMPION Gary Martin RESERVE Renee Hoover SHOWMANSHIP 16 And Over 1 Sarah Boyd 2 Gary Martin 3 Renee Hoover. 12-15 Year Olds'l Jenny Hughes 2 Wesley Hoover 3 Chelsea Hoover 11 & Under. 1 Willis Hoover CHAMPION Sarah Boyd Can Farms Survive Phosphorous- Based Nutrient Planning? ANDY ANDREWS Editor MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.) If the state nutrient management board performs a review of the current nutrient management act and decides to adopt a phospho rous-based plan, farmers are like ly to need two to three times the land base to accommodate the manure they apply now. That was the message given to about three dozen poultry pro ducers and agri-industry repre sentatives Monday at the Penn State-sponsored Poultry Health and Management Seminar at Kreider’s Restaurant in Man heim. Jerry Martin, dairy/ environment agent at the Lancas ter County extension office, said that the current Act 6 will be up for possible review in 2002. The USDA Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) adopted pro posal is to consider phosphorous site index planning for the state. Martin spoke about regulatory changes facing Pennsylvania farmers and “what we can do to anticipate changes and prepare for them,” he said. A USDA/EPA Unified Nation al Strategy was proposed in March 1999 that could have great impact on animal operations in the state. One such proposal under consideration is subjecting “anyone with confined animal operations,” Martin said, to pro visions to have some type of nu trient management plan. For the poultry industry, how ever, what has bqen considered, during a review period for pro posed changes to federal Wafer quality rules for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), is that all poultry oper ations are under the CAFO regu lations. Co-permitting could also have significant impact for jtouf try producers and those in the in dustry. The EPA invited. comments from the proposed CAFO rules until the end of July this year. The agency is scheduled to re lease final regulations on Dec. 15, 2002. Those regulations may not be published until January 2003, Martin noted. These regulations “could have significant impacts on all ag pro ducers,” Martin said. “What can we do to prepare?” Right now, the unified strategy has looked closely at the phos phorous site index, based on re search at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Pasture Lab Farm in Klingerstown, Schuylkill County. The lab dis covered, on a watershed basis, that 90 percent of phosphorous leaves a watershed from 10 per cent of a land area. A small amount of land could contribute to a lot of phosphorous loss. The site index would take a look at potential high source areas, identify them, and nutrient management plans would have to be in place to manage them. Pressure could be exerted on Act 6, the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Act written in May 1993 and put into affect Oct. 1, 1997, to include phosphorous based planning. A requirement was that the State Conservation Commission must review CAO status and cri teria at the five-year anniversary of the plan’s enactment which occurs in 2002. Oct. 1, 2002 marks five years. “What’s going to happen?” Mar tin said. “I have no idea.” Regulators could lower the an- Jerry Martin, Lancaster County daily/envlronment agent, left, with Paul Patterson, with the Penn State poul try science department. Dr. Robert Elki professor and head of the Penn State Department of Poultry Science, right, introduces Phillip Clauer, new senior extension associate of the depart ment. imal density formula from 2to ent management plans. Right 1.7 S or 1.5. And how does thk now would be a good time to get affect farms that soil test high or, the soil test, and soil test on a off the charts for phosphorous al- basis (every three years), ready? They would be faced with to identify fields “near or more having to route the manure away than 200 parts per million of from those fields or off the farm according to Mar- entirely. Discussion will continue for some time at the review date. Martin noted while some can speculate, it is like “trying to read the crystal ball,” when so many factors have to be considered, he noted. From a federal standpoint, storage and confinement areas would be under tougher regula tions to ensure they could contain material from a 25-year, 24-hour storm. That would entail “no re lease of nutrients, period,” said Martin. Producers would take note to identify, now, how water travels through their farm, and to ensure they have current and imple mented conservation and nutri tin. If a" phosphorous-based plan is implemented, producers would also havfe to evaluate and im prove water flow on the farm, in cluding identifying streams, wa terways, ditdhes, terrace outlets, and subsurface drainage. They would have to identify fields within 100 feet of surface water or 150 feet of a stream. “These are things to do to get a handle on the potential for how this may impact you down the road,” Martin said. But the plan raises concerns, because if phosphorous-based planning is implemented, it “could kill our ag industry in Lancaster County if we get too stringent with phosphorous,*’ according to Martin. >
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