ElB-Foragmg Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 22, 2003 Quality Forage Conference Offers Variety Of Information CAROLYN MOYER Tioga Co. Correspondent MANSFIELD (Tioga Co.) - Growing better forage, identi fying pests and learning about new technology were the top ics at the recent Northeast Pennsylvania Quality Forage Conferences. Sponsored by Penn State Cooperative Extension, USDA, NRCS, the Pennsylva nia Department of Environ mental Protection’s Growing Greener Program, and the Po cono and Endless Mountains chapters of RC&D, the con ferences were designed to pro vide information to all farm ers who rely on quality forages as part of a balanced ration. The two conferences took here and in Mayfield, Lackawanna County. Sid Bosworth of the Univer sity of Vermont kicked off the program with an in-depth look at new forage varieties that improve overall forage quality. Bosworth noted that there are many factors affecting quality including cutting and grazing management, the for age species (legumes versus grasses), liming and fertiliza tion and the forage variety. “We have wonderful oppor tunities to select varieties that will mature whenever we need them,’’ he said as he noted the new varieties of orchard grass, reed canarygrass, fescue and ryegrass. He also explained that many factors make up forage quality. We Salute Our Farming Industry Bring It In, Feed It Out With Farmco DuraW®, affordable equipment that keeps working a long as you do Bale Wagons Hound Bale «**. Carriers Call Your Local Dealer About Our Complete Line Today! Dee Edwards Fields Implement Longeneckers Inc Far Hills NJ • 903/234-2043 Eighty Four PA • 412/222-1154 Williamsburg PA • 814/793-3731 Delaware Hoober Equipment Middletown DE • 800/341 4028 Jays Barns Frankford DE • 302/732 6040 Maryland George Hines Equipment Union Bridge MD • 410/775-2629 Potomac Valley Supply Hagerstown MD • 301/223 6877 Walter G Coale Inc Churchville MD • 410/838 6470 New Jersey Brodhecker Farm Newton NJ • 973/383 3592 “There’s the nutritive value, like protein, energy, minerals, vitamins and fiber. Then there’s the intake and the pal atability. Then there’s a whole group of factors I call the anti quality factors which include plant chemicals that cause an ( (That first time through your pasture or hayfield and you see some thing’s wrong, maybe you ought to remember that you might want to slow down, get down and look a little closer. Don’t be happy just to say you don’t know what it is. It’s easy to overlook these pests. 5 5 imal disorders,” Bosworth said. New orchardgrass varieties on the market have a low crown and are better suited for pastures than traditional orchard grass varieties. Al though they are not higher yielding, they feature im proved quality and palatabili ty than other varieties. Also in the development pipeline are low alkaloid varieties of reed canarygrass. These new vari eties increase palatability. There are also crosses between Italian ryegrass and meadow fescue called festulolium vari eties. These, according to Bos worth, combine the disease re sistance and winter hardiness of meadow fescue with the high quality and season-long production of Italian ryegrass. There are also varieties of low entophyte tall fescue, which eliminate the animal health problems associated with tall It’s the Way To Hay! wwiii fPvimi Hingi Quality Structures Gunther Heussman Inc Marshall Machinery Flemmgton NJ • 908/782 7408 Emmaus PA • 215/965 5203 Honesdale PA • 717/729-7117 Pennsylvania Blue Mt Diesel New Tripoli PA • 610/298 3483 Hoober Inc Intercourse PA * 717/768 8231 Erb & Henry Equipment New Berlmville PA • 215/367 2169 Farmers Supply & Equipment Airville PA • 800/419 5456 l-ARMCO MFC. * . . . 2037 Inshtown Road * Ronks.'PA 17572 • 717/708-7760 Mod* 818WS All steel bedframe w! wood flooring, shown Wagon 8 ton stmm Glenn Wagoner Newswanger Machinery Darlington PA • 412/827 2184 Kutztown PA • 610/683 5970 James Bergen Reiffs Farm Service Slate Hill NY • 914/355 4571 Shippensburg PA • 717/532-8601 Leaders Farm Equipment Everett PA • 814/652 2809 Lebanon Valley Implement Rovendale Ag & Barn Richland PA • 717/866 7518 Watsontown PA • 717/538-9564 fescue, but are much less per sistent than high endophyte varieties. When choosing the best va riety, Bosworth suggests re searching company informa tion and state variety testing information. He also notes that you should “be wary of any variety without adapta tion and yield data from your region, especially if the variety was developed in a different climatic zone or outside the United States.” Paul Craig of Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Capi tal Region Agronomy team challenged conference partici pants to “get down on your belly,” when looking for for age pests. As an agronomist, Craig quickly learned not to take early reports of pest de velopment lightly. “That first time through your pasture or hayfield and you see something’s wrong, maybe you ought to re member that you might want to slow down, get down and look a little closer. Don’t be happy just to say you don’t know what it is,” said Romberger Farm Supply Ktmgerstown PA • 717/648 2081 Wyn Koop Farm Equipment Marion Center PA • 412/397 4960 Craig. “It’s easy to overlook these pests.” In his research of pest prob lems on actual Pennsylvania farms, Craig has seen an in crease in many pest varieties and infestation in recent years. One such pest is the alfalfa weevil, which has caused major and widespread dam age in the past few years. “Those tiny weevils are hard to find when they first hatch, and they never stop eating,” he said. Craig doesn’t have an exact answer to the increase in pop ulations of some pests, he can only speculate as to the rea sons for the increased popula tions. “What has happened? I re- BINKLEY & HURST BROS. INC. YOUR DEALER FOR QUALITY PLANTING EQUIPMENT DESIGNED FOR YOUR NEEDS WITH SERVICE TO GET YOU STARTED! AfONOSENL PNEUMATIC PLANTER MODEL MS jhw _ -dHßri w a JS* rW!£*9B 'I MNKIMIRST 133 R p.o s r sr Rd » wf* OOA6 TMf 1 j Lititz > PA 17543-0395 *v5T 9 W*- * WW. (717) 626-4705 Fax 717-626-0996 1-800-414-4705 S ■IVm eotFFl himauMl ally don’t know all of what happened, but what we’ve seen happen more than any thing is a bunch of mild falls and generally typically mild winters and whatever popula tions were there seemed to be surviving very well from sum mer into the fall period. They were laying eggs in the fall and a lot of those eggs were surviving and starting out very early in the spring,” said Craig. Craig highlighted other pest problems that have surfaced in the past few years. The armyworm was also a problem pest that was made worse because of weather con ditions. Paul Craig Forage Agent “We had dry conditions and hot conditions which were very conducive to their surviv al,” said Craig. Their eggs and their young larvae are very susceptible to bacteria, fungus and molds. If we had the right conditions at the right time, we can naturally cause some of these degradations.” Another pest that has been on the rise are aphids. Several In Stock For Winter Savings * 2 Row to 12 Row Unmatched Accuracy In The Metering & Placement Of Corn, Sweet Corn, Edible Beans, Squash, Melons, Cucumbers, Sun flowers, Sorghum & More. * 4* ~ * (Turn to Page E2O)
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