f Va. Association Sale Upcoming HARRISONBURG, Va. The first six Hereford bulls certified as Virginia’s Finest by the Virginia Hereford Association (VHA) and Vir ginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) have been consigned to the Hereford Association’s annual sale on April 19, during the Virginia Beef Expo in Harrisonburg, Va. The Virginia’s Finest Trademark Program identifies and promotes outstanding Virginia agricultural products that consistently meet the high quality standards proposed by industry and approved by the De partment. Six of the twenty bulls that started the performance tests in August 2001 met the qualifications for Virginia’s Finest certification and sale criteria. During the testing period each bull was monitored for rate of gain and underwent ultrasound tests for intramuscular fat, backfat and ribeye size. Livestock Marketing Specialists from VDACS evaluated and scored each bull for muscling, structural soundness and overall quality. “Our goal is to make the Hereford cattle industry more profitable in Virginia. We expect many of these bulls to end up in black herds, where the Hereford breed has a tremendous amount to offer in hybrid vigor,” said Sid Rogers, Chairman of the VHA Bull Development Pro gram. The sale will take place on April 19, 2002 at 3:30 p.m. at the Rock ingham County Fairgrounds in Harrisonburg, Virginia. For additional information, contact the Virginia Hereford Association at (540) 347-6663. Organic Mulches May Boost Transition From Plowed Land To No-Till WOOSTER, Ohio Farmers looking to convert their plowed land to no-till may be able to con trol disease pressure and improve soil fertility by spreading organic mulches such as animal manures and composts. Ohio State University re searchers have found that adding organic mulches helped to de crease the time it took to convert from plow-till to no-till, with the benefits of the mulches showing up within the first year of appli cation. “It usually takes a few years, two to five, to successfully con vert plow-till to no-till, especially with clay soils, because there are more insect and disease prob lems,” said Wafren pick, a soil science researcher with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Devel opment Center (OARDC). “We found that the organic amend ments helped to stimulate the mi crobes in the soil to counteract disease organisms and reduce their expression in the field.” Dick said that adding manures to fields to improve soil fertility is common, but using high rates of manures (or composts) to aid in the transition of plow-till to no till is a relatively new idea. Dick will discuss how the impact of various mulches can jump start no-till practices at the Conserva tion Tillage and Technology Con ference, Feb. 25-26 in Ada, Ohio. Over 50 speakers from land grant universities, the farming sector and agricultural industries and organizations will be speak ing at the two-day conference. The program will cover a wide range of topics including agricul ture-related panel discussions, strip till research, weed and pest management, soil fertility, GMO crops, value-added farming, crop consulting, soil and water quality issues, precision agriculture and producer programs. “The organic mulches provide a slow release of nutrients, like nitrogen, phosphorus and potas sium that tends to match the re- quirements of the crops through- out the growing season,” said Dick. “In our studies, we found that we didn’t have the yield de pressions that you normally see when planting into clay soils that had been tilled but now are being converted to no-till.” He recommends a one-time high rate mulch application of about 15-to 20 dry tons per acre and then an annual three-to five dry ton per acre application for as long as the farmer is able to apply the organic amendments. “Depending on the location of the farm, organic mulches, like animal manures and yard trim mings, are easy to come by and are cheap,” said Dick. “If farm ers do use organic mulches, we recommend they add the mulch in the fall to give the decomposi tion process time to get started.” Sixty-percent of corn and 24 percent of soybeans in Ohio are grown on no-till land. In 2000, crops were grown on over 50 mil lion acres of no-till land through out the country. Part of the Ohio State study was conducted at OARDC, where researchers have been managing no-till for 40 years, the longest continuously maintained no-till test plots in the world. Registration after Feb. 11 is $3O a day or $4O for both days. For a copy of the agenda, regis tration information, or directions to Ohio Northern University, contact the Hancock County Ohio State Extension office at (419) 422-3851 or the Allen County Soil and Water Conserva tion District at (419) 223-0040 Tee Times Golf Outing Set UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) The Penn State Depart ment of Dairy and Animal Sci ence invites you to enjoy a day of golf and fellowship at their sec ond annual “Tee Times for Tui tion” golf outing. This year’s event is scheduled for Tuesday, June 18, at the Penn State Blue Course along Route 26 in State College. Individual sponsorships start with a $lOO fee, which covers the participants’ greens fees, cart, continental breakfast, and barbe que dinner. Various levels of sponsorship are available beyond the individual level, from the $250 “event sponsor” to the “out ing sponsor,” which offers incen tives based on each $l,OOO donat ed. The primary goal is to raise money to fund student schol arships. The department’s schol arship honors represent 14.3 per cent of the total tuition expense for the 70 students receiving awards. There is no rain date for the event. Preregistration is neces sary. Visit http:// www. das.psu.e du for more information on regis tering for “Tee Times for Tuition.” If you do not have web access or if you have any ques tions concerning the outing, con tact Sylvia Way at (814) 865-1362 or sway @ psu.edu. NFU Urges Caution On Cattle Imports FT. COLLINS, Colo. Na tional Farmers Union (NFU) has urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) to use extreme caution when impoiting foreign cattle into the US. “Wide-scale importation of foreign animals, such as commer cial feeder cattle from Australia, is a bad idea,” said Rocky Moun tain Farmers Union President John Stencel, who testified at the APHIS public meeting in Fort Collins, Colo., on behalf of NFU. “It jeopardizes the safety of our U.S. beef supply, the health of domestic livestock and the liveli hood of U.S. livestock produc ers.” Stencel, who represents pro ducers from Colorado, Mex- ico and Wyoming, said pro- ducers are concerned about the safety of their herds and N.Y. Legislation To Propose Ag Venture Capital Program ALBANY, N.Y. Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Bill Magee (D-Nelson) is plan ning to introduce a bill to create the AgriDevelopment Venture Capital Program which would allow the State Comptroller to in vest public retirement funds in new and existing agribusinesses. “The agriculture industry, just like the high tech" sector, is in need of the investment capital that this Program would pro vide,” Magee said. “There is no doubt that with an infusion of eq uity farms, farmers and agribusi nesses across the state will begin to grow in profitability and num bers.” The AgriDevelopment Venture Capital Program is patterned after a similar program enacted in 1999 which allowed the Comp troller to invest the assets of the Common Retirement Fund in privately owned businesses but is not specific to the unique needs of agriculture and perhaps has the tendency to focus more on telecommunications and high tech companies. “Too often, agriculture is not looked at as a means to improve the state’s economy, but the fact is that when you talk about the are apprehensive about USDA’s ability to protect them. “Now is not the time to take shortcuts on health and safety protocols for imported cattle,” he said. “In the wake of global re ports of livestock disease out breaks, both livestock producers and consumers are experiencing a high level of anxiety.” Stencel pointed out that USDA’s Office of Inspector Gen eral (OIG) acknowledged last July that more stringent controls were needed to ensure the U.S. was not accepting meat products from countries with foot and mouth disease. The OIG also re vealed that hundreds of thou sands of pounds of prohibited meats were discovered in USDA- inspected warehouses. Stringent testing and import WATERLESS TOILETS “SUN-MAR” Composting Toilets Several models available including non-electric. • NO Septic System • NO Chemicals Save the Environment! Recycle Back to Nature! FREE: 12 P- Color' Heating/Cooling Bills got you down??? Our Free Estimate Includes: • A Heat/Cool Load Circulation Survey • A Yearly Operating Cost Comparison With Your Present System • Attractive Equipment Warranties • Financing Plans May Be Available Systems Available for New or Replacement Applications: Geothermal (Ground Source Heat Pumps) Gas or Propane Systems Oil Fired Systems Air Conditioning Systems Air/Air Heat Pumps CUE E.>S LE ELECT. JC INCT . t Y!!! S w 610-693-5938 or TOLL FREE 866-693-5938 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 16,2002-A43 Upstate economy you have to talk about agriculture,” Magee commented. “The creation of an AgriDevelopment Venture Capi tal Program clearly shines the light on the need for equity in vestments in farming and agri culture.” Initially, the bill would allow the Comptroller to invest up to $25 million in assets of the state’s over $lOO billion Common Re tirement Fund to be matched equitably by private dollars cre ating an investment infusion of up to $5O million into the agricul ture industry of New York State. Among his other goals this ses sion, Magee is pushing an agri culture agenda that provides a whole package of services for farmers, food processors, agri marketing associations and con sumers. This includes the cre ation of the state’s first AgriDevelopment Zones; a new focus on agricultural education in schools that would entice young people to enter farming as a ca reer; as well as the continued push on marketing “locally grown, locally known” New York agricultural products. regulations for live cattle are crit ical to protecting the nation’s livestock populations, Stencel said. But he also stressed that “absence of evidence is not evi dence of absence” when it comes to livestock diseases. NFU suggested that, at the very minimum, mandatory coun try-of-origin labeling for meat products should be enacted to better inform consumers and to potentially trace sources of con taminated products back to the country in which it was pro duced. “Another significant and threatening disease that should not be overlooked is the ‘disease’ of market-depressing prices to the livestock industry,” Stencel said. “The importation of cattle threatens the economic K m health of the cattle sec- tor, as well as the en tire livestock indus try.”
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