10-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 29,2001
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5 I Agriculture Counts
By Marc Tosiano
Pa. State Statistician
DAIRY HERD HEALTH
Editor’s Note: This is a
monthly column from the
Pennsylvania Ag Statistics
Service (PASS), a field office
of USDA’s National Agri
cultural Statistics Service
(NASS) in cooperation with
the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Agriculture (FDA).
The Website is
www.usda.gov/nass/.
In 2002, the health of the
Pennsylvania and national
dairy herd will be measured as
part of USDA’s National Ani
mal Health Monitoring Sys
tem (NAHMS). Different spe
cies have been studied in
recent years, with dairy last
done in 1996.
Pennsylvania is one of 21
major dairy states included in
this valuable study. The select
ed states include 80 percent of
the dairy herds and 80 percent
of the milk cows nationwide.
Other nearby states in the
study include New York, Ver
mont, Ohio, and Virginia.
The NAHMS study is a co
operative effort of NASS and
the veterinary services division
of APHIS (Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service).
In January and February,
about 400 Pennsylvania dair
ies will be asked for their help
in measuring herd health. The
study includes various health
issues such as Johne’s disease,
biosecurity, animal waste sys
tems, food safety, and opin
ions about animal identifica
tion.
After the initial NASS inter
view, dairymen will be offered
free tests from APHIS staff,
including bulk tank milk cul
tures, Johne’s disease evalua
tion, fecal cultures, and blood
tests. Information from both
the NASS and APHIS surveys
are strictly confidential. For
more information about
NAHMS, see
www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/
cahm.
Free Catalog
The “NASS 2002 Guide to
Products And Services” is
available by calling (800)
727-9540. This 30-page book
let describes the national pro
gram of agricultural statistics
provided by USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS).
All national reports are list
ed with instructions for how to
access the reports at no charge
via the Internet, e-mail sub
scriptions, and a fax service
known as NASSFax. The
paper reports can also be or
dered for a fee.
Year-End
Surveys Continue
Last month I discussed the
year-end surveys done in De
cember for crops, hogs, and
poultry. In January, we ask
growers for your help to mea
sure production of other com
modities during 2001.
Once again, the surveys
mentioned below are con
ducted in all major states to
generate national along with
state production statistics for
2001. To see the results of all
these surveys, see our Website
at www.usda.gov/nass/.
I hope you can find the time
to help us make the most ac
curate “Agriculture Counts”
by returning your survey form
as soon as possible or answer
ing our questions over the tele
phone.
Growers Crucial
To Accurate Numbers
Recently I have been asked
how we generate our agricul
tural statistics. The source of
nearly all our information
comes from growers who are
most knowledgeable about the
commodities they raise.
Most growers take the time
to answer our surveys. Thanks
to the confidential information
provided by growers, we can
generate timely and accurate
statistics about agriculture.
Thanks to you all. If you
have questions, call us at (800)
498-1518.
Now, here is a brief list of
the end-of-year surveys hap
pening now through January.
Jan. 1 Cattle
And Sheep Surveys
These two surveys provide
the only state-level measure of
cattle and sheep herds. In
July, only the largest opera
tions are contacted for input
to national-level data.
The cattle survey generates
inventories for beef cows,
milk, cows, bulls, heifers,
steers, and calves. The survey
also asks and publishes data
about death loss, calves bom,
cattle on feed, and value of
breeding stock.
The sheep survey targets in
ventories and values of ewes,
rams, lambs for breeding, and
market lambs by weight
group. Other data requested
includes lambs bom, death
losses, wool production, and
wool prices received by farm
ers.
A letter was sent to about
1,600 cattle growers and 300
sheep farmers that were select
ed and we will ask for your
help during early January.
Both the “Cattle” and “Sheep
And Goats” reports will be is
sued Feb. 1, 2002 (see
www.usda.gov/nass/
search.htm). Both reports in
clude number of operations
and inventories by size groups.
Floriculture Production
The greenhouse and nursery
industry is consistently among
the top five sectors of Pennsyl
vania agriculture. The annual
survey provides a measure of
the floriculture portion of this
industry. (The nursery portion
is only measured every other
year and was last done for
2000 production.)
The annual floriculture sur
vey was recently mailed to
about 1,000 producers in
Pennsylvania as part of a
36-state survey across the na
tion. The results of the survey
include information about
production and average prices
received for various crops: an
nual bedding plants, herba
ceous perennials, flowering
potted plants, cut flowers, cut
(florist) greens, foliage plants,
and propagative material.
Some growers have used the
report to evaluate their own
pnces against the state aver
age and surrounding states.
The “Floriculture Crops, 2001
Summary” will be issued April
25, 2002 (see www.usda.gov/
nass/search.htm).
Honey Production
This program generates
state ana national statistics
about number of colonies,
honey production, stocks on
hand, and average prices.
In Pennsylvania, about 250
apiarists have already been
sent the annual survey. Tele
phone calls will be made to
nonrespondents in late Janu
ary. The “Honey” report will
be published Feb. 28,2002 (see
www.usda.gov/nass/
search.htm).
to Cancasfer farming readers
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
TRUE NAMES, AND THE
OPENING OF THE CYBER
SPACE FRONTIER, by Ver
nor Vinge, ed. by James
Frenkel. TOR, 2001, 352
pp., $14.95. ISBN
0-312-86207-5
Exactly how much impact has
the Internet had on agriculture?
We at Lancaster Farming de
pend very heavily on the Internet
for newsgathering. We could be
that much less without it.
But Vinge looks at how the In
ternet has affected the very soul
of being American our intellec
tual rights, property rights, and
personal privacy in an age when
there are Internet companies that
can track you anywhere, any
time, throughout the world.
In an age of “cookies” and
banking privacy privileges,
TRUE NAMES begins in the
summer of 1979. As Vinge writes,
“True Names was the first story I
ever wrote with a word processor:
a TECO editor running in a
Heathkit LSI 11/03. For me, the
writing environment was heaven
on earth!” The story appeared in
a Dell Binary Star “double
novel” book (along with “Night
flyers” by George R.R. Martin) in
early 1981. The “mere science fic
tion” novella, which spoke about
maintaining personal privacy in
an era of the Internet, was in and
out of print since, Vinge noted in
his introduction to the volume.
And the ideas actually spumed
research being conducted now.
But the future comes onto us
so strongly that all industries, not
just agriculture, are affected. On
page 30, one of the book’s con
tributing essayists, Danny Hillis,
writes: “Our problem is that, lit
erally, we cannot imagine the fit-
Pocket Computer
Innovation For Herd
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Fanning Staff
GETTYSBURG (Adams Co.)
Dairy producers had a chance
to learn the details on operating a
pocket computer or “palm data
base” that manages their cow
data during a five-hour workshop
put on by the Penn State exten
sion here Dec. 18.
“It’s a way to have immediate
information in the bam,” said
Dale Brown of Jobo Holsteins,
one of several Adams County
dairymen at the workshop.
The Pocket Dairy is offered by
Dairy Record Management Sys
tem (DRMS), Raleigh, N.C., in
conjunction with their PCDart
herd management program. It of
fers a wide range of easily acces
sible data to herd managers as
they go about their work.
Vinton Smith of the Penn State
extension demonstrated the array
of functions available on the
small computer.
Managers can instantly enter
ture. The pace of technological
Changefis so great that we cannot
know what type of world we are
leaving for our children. If we
plant atoms, we cannot reasona
bly expect that our children will
sit under the oak trees. Or that
they will even want to. The world
is changing too fast for
that Much of our generation
is employed at jobs our parents
never imagined.”
In another essay, “How is the
Nil Like a Prison?”, Alan Wex
elblat, who works for a small
software company, pointed out
that the formal name of the In
ternet is the National Informa
tion Infrastructure (Nil)- On
page 109, Wexelblat notes how
often we simply give up informa
tion for commercial transactions,
and how that information can be
used and processed either for
or at what times may seem
against us.
Again and again, consumer in
formation leads inevitably to
product marketing. The author
notes that “in response to our
manufactured needs, we will be
fed a steady diet of 500+ chan
nels, each with its content care
fully labeled to avoid potentially
offending anyone, just as CDs
and video games are labeled and
rated. These ratings will be the
result of panoptic classifications
and the people who buy them can
expect to have their preferences
recorded and analyzed so that
the next offerings to reach their
homes, cars, and offices will be
closer to their expected tastes and
values.” (page 114-115).
Many references are made to
the “downside” of the Internet.
Authors point to the “Four
Horsemen” of the Nil drug
dealers, unnamed foreign terror
ists, organized crime, and child
pomographers. And even those
troublemakers can use cryptogra
phy, and hide themselves... so
“true names” becomes even more
of an issue
A lot has come true in this
book about “cyberspace, comput
ers, and in some their direct rela
tions to True Names,” and the
novella, written more than two
decades ago, has developed into a
sort of icon for the Internet
world. The story is included here,
too.
CURIOSITY:
BETTER BABY CONTESTS,
The Scientific Quest For
Perfect Childhood Health in
the Early 20th Century, by
Annette K. Vance Dorey.
and access information on indi
vidual cows or groups of cows,
including health, reproductive,
and production records. Informa
tion can then easily be trans
ferred between the Pocket Dairy
and the PCDart computer locat
ed in the house or office.
“The functionality of (Pocket-
Dairy) is that fits into day to day
work,” Smith said.
Besides allowing managers to
quickly check the status of indi
vidual cows, Pocket Dairy also al
lows cow data to be grouped
according to specific criteria
Farm Show Issue Deadlines
On New Year’s Day, Tuesday, January I, Lancaster Farming office will be
closed. The office will reopen Wednesday, January 2.
For the January 5 Farm Show issue, there are some early deadline changes;
Public Sale and Mailbox ads, 5 p.m., Friday, December 28.
Classified, Section D ads - 4 p.m., Monday, December 31.
Classified, Section C, Farm Equipment ads, 9 a.m., Wednesday, January 2
General News - noon, Wednesday, January 2.
McFarland and Company,
1909, 271 pp„ $38.50.
ISBN 0-7864-0617-8
In the early part of last cen
tury, Believe it or not, state fairs
across the country conducted
“better baby” contests. Infants
were poked and prodded,
weighed and measured, and then
rated on scale of 1-100,100 being
“perfect.” Just like making
Grade A cattle, there was a
movement on that, through bet
ter health and infant develop
ment, “prize babies” could be
made.
The movement peaked in
about 1914, then faded into ob
scurity.
The baby health contest identi
fied the healthiest infants in a re
gion “while teaching parents how
breeding and environment could
produce a ’superior crop,’”
according to McFarland and
Company.
The author is an educator spe
cializing in teacher education and
parenting issues. She researched
this book in the 19905. The book
has lots of photos detailing the
history of the contests, who or
ganized some of the bureaus, and
the importance of maternal edu
cation in the decades since.
KEEPING LIVESTOCK
HEALTHY, Fourth Edition,
by N. Bruce Haynes, DVM.
Storey Books, 2001, 348
pp., $19.95. ISBN
1-58017-436-3
In the author’s preface, the
book, KEEPING LIVESTOCK
HEALTHY, “is based on my con
viction after almost fifty years’
experience in private practice, as
extension veterinarian at Cornell
University, and as a veterinary
consultant that the great ma
jority of farm animal disease
problems are preventable. On
economic grounds alone, any sick
animal nd matter how effective
the treatment or how speedy the
recovery represents a loss.
“Farm animals provide us with
food, fiber, financial income, and
pleasure. In return, we owe them
comfortable quarters, adequate
feed, compassion, and good
health.” (page VI)
The book explains a lot about
the nature of disease and how to
prevent it. And the book covers a
lot of ground including overall
nutrition and health, calf care, fa
cilities, with loads of photos on
proper animal husbandry.
KEEPING LIVESTOCK
HEALTHY should be part of
every farm shelf.
Handy
Managers
such as cows expected to calve
within one week.
Smith said the variety of Pock
et Dairy functions can be adapted
to meet the needs of different op
erations, including smaller herds.
Alan Zepp, who manages a
100 cow herd near New Oxford,
said he has been using Pocket D
airy for about 3 months. The
workshop helped him understand
different aspects of setting up the
database, he said.
For more information about
palm databases for dairy applica
tions, contact your county exten
sion agent.