To Blanket Or Not To Blanket: That Is The Question Glenn Michalak If you are winter riding, show- Equestrian Center Manager ing, or own an older horse, a Delaware Valley College blanket is a must. Now that the days have be- Winter blankets will keep your come colder, the discussion for horse warm and during the cold many horse owners revolves winter months, but they will not around whether or not to blanket, stop your horse from growing a If you allow your horse to grow winter coat, in its natural winter coat, you Blanketing must always go may not need a blanket, but blan- hand in hand with body clipping keting can be useful even with a ® horse. You are removing a natural coat horse s natural insulation when doing so. Body clipping makes it easier for groom ing and reduces sweating in the winter. LAPP’S Bi 5935 OLD PHILADELPHIA PIKE, (PA RT. 340) GAP, PA 17527 ; PHONE: 717-442-8134 ‘ FAX 717-442-3112 SALES & SERVICE y X)cwy 1 LANCO DAIRY FARMS CO-OP INC. 1373 Beaver Dam Rd., Honey Brook, PA 19344 LANCO wants you to check out our numbers: 60 cent Somatic Cell premium Broken in 5 segments down to 400,000 55 cent over order premium. 50 cent hauling - No stop charge for milk pickup Over 800 members in PA 8 MD Seven field men to cover all your needs Eleven local haulers No equity deductions, marketing fees, market administrator test fees, or membership fees. We are a farmer-run and farmer controlled grassroots co-op and a milk marketing division of Allied Federated Co-op, Canton, NY CALL US TODAY! We are truly Farmers coming and working together. For More Info Call 315-858-0312 or 717-789-9685 or 717-993-6808 If nights are going to drop HJIPMENT. INC. below 40 degrees, use a medium weight turnout blanket. Use them only at night, as the inner lining of sorts will make the blanket too hot for the horse during the day. These blankets are also water proof and windproof. These blan kets are good for most winter days in this region. If the temperature drops below 0 degrees, place a polar fleece under blanket on your horse or have a blanket available suitable for colder temperatures. Make sure your blankets have withers protection and a shoulder gusset. For anyone exercising his or her horse in a cold arena, use a quarter or half sheet until the an imal is properly warmed up. Doing so reduces the chance of pulled and tom muscles because the body is unusually cold and is working too quickly. After exer cise, place a blanket on the hind quarters to prevent stiffening muscles later. Stable blankets are important during the winter months if your horse is stalled for long periods. There are good stable blankets available in light, medium, and heavy weights. You will need to watch how the temperature fluc tuates in the barn and outside to decide what is best for your blan keting system. You may have to change blan kets when a horse is going out, and when back in the barn. Some How does your brand compare? If you're not planting Pioneer® brand hybrids, you might be giving up what matters most! Make the best choice for 2003. See your Pioneer sales professional about high-yielding Pioneer hybrids today! ttW nriitrfc an *ea*slkS mti/Ki Ss tt* Mi 4t>3 mime- a* e«K»i» «tK* ere re?; a! thf *»»*; sna a*.'as» -toraHMW (tail Is * «nS «t« ?et?t«s WfWv kjoetw, ifil ttrrt»S» ® iW TW hjterwtn j« am* »vx*s 'rgnhwi 3*b*k: Is *k talitoß TECHNOLOGY THAT YIELDS. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 7, 2002-A2l Sign-Up For Livestock Compensation Program Ends Dec. 13 WASHINGTON, D.C. The 19, 2002. A county that had a U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretarial disaster designation has announced that sign-up for request pending for drought as of the Livestock Compensation Pro- Sept. 19 and was subsequently gram (TCP) for cattle, sheep, approved as a primary county, is goats and buffalo producers will also eligible. Counties named as end on Dec. 13. contiguous counties are not eligi- Sign-up began on Oct. 1 for producers with livestock head quarters operations physically lo cated in counties that have re ceived a Secretarial primary disaster designation for drought between Jan. 1, 2001 and Sept. days, you may not need a blanket on when going out. Again, please understand this is a time-con suming system for your horse, and one blanket is not going to do the trick. You need to help your horse as much as you can if you choose this system. You will need to in vest in several blankets to make it work well for him or her. Never theless, if you are willing to do this, it makes it easier to cool and groom your horse. ble for LCP. Payments are based on stan dard feed consumption data for each eligible type of livestock. Types of livestock adjusted by these factors and payment rates are: Beef Cows $lB/head Dairy Cows $31.50/head Stockers $13.50/head • Buffalo and Beefalo $lB/ head • Goats $4.50/head • Sheep $4.50/head As of Nov. 20, applications for LCP benefits have been received from and payments issued to more than 310,000 livestock pro ducers in 41 drought impacted states. For more information about this program and other drought and weather-related information, visit USDA’s Website at http:// www.usda.gov. AMMmmt