C6-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 11, 2002 Farm Computing Booklet Available Free Online RED WING, Minn. The popular booklet “How to Com puterize Your Farm Records” is now available for free download on the Internet by pointing your browser to www.redwingsoft ware.com. “How to Computerize Your Farm Records” not only tells the reader how to go about the search for the “right” software, but it also gives recommenda tions for choosing the “right” computer. There are guidelines and checklists to help the first-time computer user (or the user look ing to upgrade their system) choose the hardware and soft ware that best fits his farm’s needs. This booklet simplifies the complicated, time-consuming Renowned Geneticist: Ag Technology Preserving Land, Feeding The World COLUMBUS, Ohio Ad vances in agricultural technol ogy, from chemical fertilizers to genetically modified crops, are the keys to feeding more than six billion people worldwide while preserving vast expanses of un cultivated land for other pur poses, says a renowned geneticist. Nobel Laureate Norman Bor laug said such limitations as availability of water and natural plant nutrients makes biotech nology and improved crop pro duction methods that much more important in stabilizing agricultural land and battling starvation. Borlaug offered his views on agriculture, global crop produc tion and risk taking during a recent presentation at Ohio State University and the Woos ter branch of the Ohio Agricul tural Research and Development Center (OARDC). Borlaug is an agricultural ge neticist. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his con tributions to the “Green Revolu tion,” a food production movement of the 1960 s that helped lift many countries out of starvation through the introduc tion of high-yielding wheat vari eties. He’s lived in food-deprived countries for more than 55 years. Feeding the world has been possible because of agricultural technology, Borlaug said. In creased use of irrigation has made it possible to grow crops in areas that might not have been able to sustain them. Borlaug applauded the use of organic fertilizers but said they cannot replace chemical fertilizers. “Cereals, such as rice, maize and wheat make up 70 percent of the world’s food supply,” he said. “In reality, 99 percent of all edible dry matter comes from the land but only one percent of Earth’s water can be used to support that production. “And when it comes to or ganic fertilizers, I say without process of evaluating software and choosing the right com puter. The publisher, Red Wing Business Systems, Inc., is a full service supplier of software to the agricultural industry. The company’s staff includes farm ers, programmers and computer analysts who have combined their expertise to develop the first practical guide for farmers choosing to computerize their farm records. The 2002 version of “How to Computerize Your Farm Records” is available at no charge from Red Wing Business Systems, Inc., 491 Highway 19, Red Wing, MN 55066. The pub lication can also be requested in printed form by calling Red Wing Business Systems, Inc. toll-free at 800-732-9464. qualification, use all there is, but don’t let anyone tell you that we can feed 6.2 billion people with out the use of chemical nitro gen.” Nearly 80 million tons of ni trogen is consumed annually through synthetic applications. To maintain that amount through organic sources live stock manure, for example, U.S. cattle-numbers would need to in crease from 1.5 billion head to 10 billion head, Borlaug said. Because of improved crop production techniques, China, India and Pakistan have in creased grain production as much as sevenfold since the 19605, Borlaug said. Global grain production has jumped 23 percent in the past 50 years, from 650 million tons to more than one billion tons. “These improvements in yield are due to high-yielding varie ties, agronomic practices, weed control, fertilizers and seeding dates, combined with economic policies that farmers have adopted and put into practice,” Borlaug said. “Plus, we are pro ducing more food on less land than we were in 1940 all of this due to technology.” Genetically modified crops, commonly known as GMOs, will continue to play an important part in crop production, Borlaug said. “I’m convinced biotechnology is going to help us,” he said. “There’s fear, but biotechnology has been going on since the be ginning of time. Mother Nature was crossing plant genes long before scientific man and agri cultural man began doing it. If you like to eat spaghetti, you are eating a GMO that Mother Nature made. It’s a natural cross of two wild wheat plants.” Agricultural land used for transgenic crop production has increased thirtyfold over the past five years. The United States leads the world in transgenic crop production, fol lowed by Argentina, Canada GREELEY, Colo. With today’s focus on biosecurity, livestock and poultry producers can’t afford to ignore the dust that collects in and around animal premises. “Farm dust may look harm less enough, but when you take a closer look you find that farm dust contains many unseen, harmful fungi, bacteria, mold spores and other disease-causing micro-organisms,” said Thomas Quan, Ph.D., microbiologist, Imu-Tec International, Fort Collins, Colo. “Cleaning and di sinfection should be the first step in controlling these dust borne organisms in order to pre vent the spread of disease in livestock operations.” Loveland Industries of Green ley, Colo., is helping poultry, swine and other livestock pro ducers take a closer look at their barnyard dust with a unique “Key Customer Dust Evalua tion Program.” This program evaluates the non-designated bacteria load on farms and tailors site-specific disinfectant programs. In swine operations, dust col lection focuses on farrowing, nursery and confinement areas. In poultry operations dust is col lected from hatchery and poul- and China, and use of such crops has boosted yields and re - duced costs. With world population ex pected to reach 7.6 billion people by 2020 and the demand for grain production likely to in crease-40 percent to 50 percent, agricultural technology ad vances should not be ignored, Borlaug said. “There’s always fear when you change,” he said. “We did everything that the book told us not to do, and when we moved all that wheat to India in the 19605, they were saying that we were mad and insane, playing with the lives of millions. “There’s little or no starva tion in Pakistan and India today, and if you travel through China you won’t see emaciated people. You don’t know what’s going to happen when you change something, but you have to change it to try to improve it.” New Tools For Raising Identity-Preserved Corn And Soybeans AMES, lowa New seed technologies and special grain production opportunities are giving Midwest corn and soy beans producers the chance to produce consistent, high-quality grains and oilseeds. These prod ucts often earn higher prices re sulting in more income for these growers. With those premiums come requirements that strict identity preservation practices be used when growing and har vesting these crops. A new tool is now available to help farmers protect the identity of these specialty crops during the planting process. lowa State University (ISU) Extension, Pio neer Hi-Bred International, Inc. and the lowa Grain Quality Ini tiative (1GQI) have teamed up to develop the “Planter Clean out Procedures for Corn and Soybeans” video. “Planting is the one step in From Dust To Dust: What You Can’t See Can Hurt try grow out and housing units. At other livestock facilities, dust is collected from side rails, feeder and water equipment and along building cracks and crev ices, then analyzed in a labora tory. Cleaning with disinfectants specifically formulated to con trol farm pathogens is essential to reducing the disease chal lenges that animal environments present, said Fred Schneider, animal technology unit mana ger, Loveland Industries. “Di sinfection helps tackle the immunosuppressive viruses that are difficult to kill, as well as the common bugs known to reduce productivity such as E.coli and salmonella. This is especially important in farrowing units, hatcheries and nurseries, since newborn animals haven’t devel oped their immune systems to help fight off diseases. “Studies show that at least 50 New Herbicide Gives RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. Since their in ception in the late 1980 s, sul fonylurea (SU) herbicides have been an important part of man aging unwanted grasses in corn fields, but few have been effective at providing the one two pum;h of controlling grasses and key broadleaf weeds. Until now. Option®, an SU herbicide from Aventis Crop Science that recently was registered by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsyl vania Department of Agricul ture, controls grasses such as Johnsongrass, foxtails, fall pani cum, quackgrass, shattercane, wirestem muhly, barnyardgrass, and wild proso millet. Option also controls key broadleaf weeds such as velvetleaf, pigweed, and .nightshade, and provides suppression on sun flower, cocklebur, lambsquarter, and giant and common ragweed, as well as perennial broadleaves. Option also provides growers with the flexibility to make man agement decisions during the growing season. Option allows growers to control grasses and key broadleaf weeds while main taining the flexibility to rotate to any crop within 60 days. Cur rently, most SU herbicides re- the production process where a grower can do the most to con trol the identity of grain and oilseeds,” says Mark Hanna, ISU Extension agricultural engi neer. Based on a publication de veloped by Hanna, the program provides an overview of why planter clean-out is important, general planter clean-out proce dures and specific clean-out pro cedures for several planter types. The VHS video can be or dered through the ISU Exten sion Website: http://www. extension.iastate.edu/pubs/ Order.html. The video identifi cation number is VID 41. Click ing on the “Order Publications” link on the far left side of the page will bring up specific or dering instructions. The cost is $2O, plus shipping, for lowa resi dents and $25, plus shipping, for all others. Growers Option percent of animal mortality occurs during the earliest growth stages,” Schneider said, “and a fast-acting product with residual helps newborn animals and chicks get through that crit ical early-growth period, until they can start making antibodies on their own. Good sanitation is even more important as live stock and poultry producers are forced to cut back on the use of preventative antibiotic re gimes.” Following disinfection, recon tamination must be prevented to keep disease organisms at the lowest possible level. For that, Schneider notes, everyone enter ing the animal premises should be required to use a two-step footbath that first washes away manure and dirt, then disinfects with a fast-acting product such as Loveland’s DC&R® Disinfec tant. quire that growers wait up to 18 months before rotating to some crops, such as sugarbeets. According to Mark Bishop, Option product lead for Aventis Crop Science, the flexibility to make decisions during the grow ing season is something growers want. “No matter how much planning a grower does, there usually is something that causes plans to change,” said Bishop, “and sometimes changing plans can take away from a grower’s bottom line.” He continues, “Option will be tough on weeds and allow growers to make im portant management decisions without sacrificing yield or pro fitability.” Rob Kauffman, owner of Mid- Atlantic Independent Tech Ser vices in Mount Joy agrees that growers will appreciate the flexi bility of Option and its control of grasses and broadleaf weeds. Kauffman managed an Option experimental use plot (EUP) in 2001, during the testing stage of Option development. He was impressed with how well the product worked. “Option picked up a good amount of broadleaves. It even suppressed lambsquarters, which were eight inches tall when we applied it,” he said. His EUP was approxi mately one-half acre and Option was applied to 12-inch corn around June 1. Kauffman predicts Option will be a good alternative to Accent®. “It did just as good as Accent in controlling giant and green foxtails, shattercane, and Johnsongrass. We also saw it control crabgrass, and Option picks up more broadleaves than Accent,” he said. The label recommends apply ing Option anytime from emer gence through V 5 or 16-inch corn, giving growers a wide ap plication window during which they can make weed control de cisions. Additionally, the label recommends an external adju vant system of MSO plus UAN (28-32 percent) or AMS, and Option has the flexibility of tankmixing with a variety of products, .including atrazine, Distinct®, Clarity®, Hornet”, and Northstar®.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers