Gov. Rendell Urged To Support Classroom Standards For Agriculture Studies
PHILADELPHIA An alli
ance of organizations represent
ing Pennsylvania agriculture
urged Gov. Ed Rendell to sup
port adoption of a state curric
ulum standard for teaching about
modem agriculture and inform
ing students about careers related
to agriculture and the food indus
try.
Rendell joined with a
statewide Agricultural Education
Coalition for a celebration of Na
tional FFA Week at the Walter
Biddle Saul High School, an
event which also included Penn
sylvania’s Secretary of Agricul
ture Dennis Wolff.
“Everyone benefits when our
children leam about food produc
tion and know about exciting ca
reer opportunities in the vast in
dustry related to agriculture,”
said Michael Pechart, Pennsylva
nia Farm Bureau’s director of
local government affairs. “Guide
Pa. Certified Organic Celebrates 6 Years
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) In an event that show
cased product integrity, diversity,
and environmental stewardship,
Pennsylvania Certified Organic
(PCO) concucted its annual
meeting at the Pennsylvania
Farm Show Complex Jan. 22.
Executive Director Leslie Zuck
underscored the organization’s
accomplishments throughout the
course of the past year. She noted
that PCO was one of about 28
U.S. certifiers to be accredited by
the USDA.
In addition to implementing
existing National Organic Stan
dards, PCO has plays an active
role in shaping and defining
forthcoming policy, Zuck said.
Zuck serves on a steering com
mittee of the Organic Trade As
sociation, which helps different
national certifying agencies
maintain uniformity.
PCO’s Materials Team in 2002
published a list of substances that
are allowed or prohibited in an
organic system. PCO also pub
lished a list of organic seed and
seedling resources.
Zuck emphasized that Penn
sylvania consumers are fortunate
to have diverse organic food
choices. She pointed out the vast
array organic products that had
been provided by attendees of the
meeting, which ranged from
A Look At The Economic Advantages Of Polled Cattle
Fred Hendricks
Sun Shower Acres
Longmont, Colo.
Incorporating polled genetics
in your breeding program results
in fewer calves that require de
horning. While this fact may
seem elementary, few dairy farm
ers contemplate the economic ad
vantages. Most often farmers re
spond with “dehoming is part of
our routine operation, so it’s not
an important factor.”
Breeding a typical dairy herd
to polled bulls results in a min
imum 50 percent hornless calves.
In just one generation, a herd can
become half polled. The polled
gene is dominant and needs to be
present in only one parent.
While dehoming may be a rou
tine operation on most dairy
farms, there an significant costs
associated withLdchorning. These
costs vary a «*t deal, depend
ing on the size ft dairy, personnel
employed to ao the dehoming,
and equipment utilized. The most
difficult cost to ascertain is the
setback a calf goes through re
sulting from dehorning.
Reid Hoover, Hoover Farms,
Lebanon, indicates his dehorning
lines for teaching about agricul
ture are buried in other curric
ulum requirements and need to
be established as separate curric
ulum standards.”
Greeted by hundreds of FFA
members and agriculture repre
sentatives, Rendell and Wolff
were provided a tour of the agri
cultural sections of W.B. Saul
High School, which has the larg
est FFA chapter in the northeast
ern U.S.
The Agriculture Education Co
alition consists of the Pennsylva
nia Association of Agricultural
Educators, Pennsylvania Young
Farmers Association, Agriculture
Awareness Foundation, PennAg
Industries Association, Pennsyl
vania Farm Bureau, Franklin
County Farm Bureau, Penn State
University Agricultural and Edu
cation Extension, the Council of
Farm Organizations, and the
Pennsylvania FFA Association.
beets, eggs, mushrooms, and
pretzels to flour, apple pies, and
calf feed.
Zuck underscored the impor
tance of strengthening the con
nection between the growers and
the consumers. To achieve this,
PCO will endeavor to increase
the availability of regional organ
ic food by publishing resources
for consumers and by working
with farmers markets, growers’
cooperatives, community sup
ported farms, and the internet.
Representatives from PCO’s
cbmmittees also spoke at the an-
K 1 meeting. President Mike
wnback reminisced that in
1996, visionary organic farmers
and processors had met at the
Farm Show Complex to organize
and start PCO. In 2003, PCO is
both a USDA-accredited certify
ing agent and is internationally
accredited to perform certifica
tion services.
Alfred Walker, PCO Certifica
tion Committee Chair, reported
that PCO certified 251 operations
in 2002, including more than 200
organic field crop farms, 35 pro
cessor-handlers, 16 farmer-pro
cessors, 84 dairy farms, 96 vege
table growers, 25 poultry
producers, 18 other livestock
farms, maple syrup operations,
and mushroom producers. Walk
er also stressed that PCO has the
costs to be $lO per head on young
calves and up to $2O per head on
older calves. “Equipment and
labor are the costs involved.
When they are older, it sets them
back, and you lose growth and ef
ficiency,” said Hoover.
Hoover said, “These costs and
the time factor to do this job well
have made me think about using
polled bulls. We have used a few
and have liked the results with
polled calves.”
Enhanced Efficiency
Lonny Ward, manager of BYU
Dairy, Spanish Fork, Utah, tags
their dehorning costs at about $2
per head. “This figure does not
calculate a cost for the setback
losses, because there is too much
variation in those costs.”
Ward points out that polled
cattle enhance their dairy’s effi
ciency. “To survive in the dairy
industry today, you have to be as
efficient as possible. Any time
you can eliminate a cost without
a negative consequence, you are
better off. Dehorning is an area
where improvements can be
made genetically to eliminate a
labor cost and stress on the ani
mal. If we can integrate the
Gov. Edward Rendell, center right, joined Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff and the
State FFA Officer team at W.B. Saul High School in Philadelphia to celebrate National
FFA Week.
opportunity to help to further de
fine some of the forthcoming live
stock standards, such as poultry
outdoor access, on the national
level.
Jeff Moyer, co-chair of the ed
ucation committee, stressed that
organic farmers are the best edu
cators when they talk to their
customers. He introduced a new
website sponsored by the Rodale
Institute: www.newfarm.org.
Other organizations repre
sented at the annual meeting in
cluded the Pennsylvania Associa
tion for Sustainable Agriculture
(PASA).
Brian Snyder, PASA executive
director, outlined some of the
common goals of both organiza
tions, ranging from political ac
tion to supporting concerns of in
dividual farmers and consumers.
According to Snyder, cooperation
between PASA and PCO serves
to strengthen the missions of both
the organizations and their sup
porters.
Anyone who is interested in be
coming a member or learning
more about organic certification
is encouraged to contact PCO at
(814) 364-1344 or info@paorgani
c.org.
Certification information and
organic standards are available at
www.paorganic.org or by con
tacting PCO.
polled gene into the Holsteins
without losing in other areas, we
will have taken a step forward.”
Iv-Ann Holsteins, Minister,
Ohio, indicates the setback to
their calves is their biggest cost.
“In our opinion, the cost of de
horning is very hard to quantify
since we do our own work. How
ever, we think our biggest cost is
the setback in the growth of the
animal caused by the dehoming
trauma.”
Ivo Osterloh, owner of Iv-Ann
Holsteins, said “The cost is not
the only factor we consider in our
use of polled bulls. Dehoming is
not a very pleasant job—and very
often it is delayed too long.”
Origin Of Polled Dairy Cattle
Polled Holstein Historian Dr.
Larry Specht, professor emeritus
of Penn State, noted “The history
books tell us that the ancestors of
our modem cattle did not have
horns, and that mutations must
have occurred that gave rise to
horns. Homed cattle proliferated,
and it is now thought that the oc
currence of polled animals in
modem times is the result of an
other mutation back to the horn
less condition.”
Homs served a useful purpose
Northern Tier Offers
Dairy/Grain Teleconference
TOWANDA (Bradford Co.)
and WELLSBORO (Tioga Co.)
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion in Bradford and Tioga
Counties will host a Dairy/Grain
Outlook Tele-Conference March
6 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Via television, Lou Moore and
Ken Bailey will be discussing the
outlook for dairy, grain, and the
general economy. Phil Plourd, a
dairy futures broker and consul
tant from Wisconsin will discuss
the dairy outlook, with particular
emphasis on what is going on at
the Chicago Mercantile Ex
change with Class 111 contracts.
Organic Certification Workshop Set
(Lancaster
Co.) r-*- Pennsylvania Certified
Organic, (PCO) will host a spring
meeting and certification work
shop on Wednesday, March 5.
The meeting will take place from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Bird-in-Hand
Family Inn and Restaurant,
Bird-In-Hand.
The meeting and workshop are
free, and will provide informa
tion on how to write an organic
system plan or update, where to
apply for cost-share funds, and
what crop, livestock, and han
dling practices are acceptable for
organic production.
prior to cattle being domesticat
ed. They were a defense mecha
nism and served to survive the
species. In some countries, farm
ers tether their cattle by the
horns. In modem dairy farm op
erations, horns have no purpose—
therefore the practice of dehorn
ing.
While it is not clear when
polled cattle began appearing in
U.S. dairy cattle, Specht found
the earliest recorded polled bull
in the Holstein Association herd
book to be bom April 22, 1889.
Various breeders propagated the
polled gene over time to where
the polled gene now occurs far
more frequently in today’s dairy
cattle herds.
In his Bouic Polled Holstein
Newsletter, Frank Bouic reports
“There are over 25 polled Hol
stein bulls in AI, including prov
en bulls, sires-in-waiting, and
sample sires.”
Bouic noted “The genetics
available in the polled segment of
the Holstein breed is improving
rapidly, in some cases approach
ing the best of the Holstein breed.
The Burket-Falls, East Freedom,
Pennsylvania (Dave Burket Fam
ily) and Hickorymea, Airville,
Participants at each session
will have an opportunity to ask
questions.
To register for the Tioga Coun
ty tele-conference, call the exten
sion office at (570) 724-9120 to
register. The conference will take
place at the Tioga County FSA
Office.
To register for the Bradford
County event, call the extension
office at (570) 265-2896. The con
ference will be conducted at the
Bradford County Extension Of
fice.
At both locations, a $5 pizza
lunch will be available at 11:30
a.m.
Workshdp participant's will re
ceive sample recordkeeping
forms, National Organic Stan
dards, allowed and prohibited
materials lists, organic system
plans, and other forms.
A question and answer session
will take place.
For more information, contact
Pennsylvania Certified Organic,
1919 General Potter Highway,
Centre Hall, PA 16828, (814)
364-1344, info
paorganic.org.
Certification Information and
Organic Standards can be found
at www.paorganic.org or by con
tacting the PCO Office.
Pennsylvania (T. Edwin Johnson
Family) herds in particular have
contributed to the supply of AI
bulls.”
The polled gene has been pres
ent in Red and White dairy cattle
for many years. Therefore, the
Red and White population has a
significantly large selection of
polled red and white carrier bulls.
Second-generation polled Jer
sey breeder Paul Chittenden,
Dutch Hollow Farm, Schodack
Landing, N.Y. indicates that his
father, Stanley Chittenden,
bought his first polled Jersey in
1952. The Chittendens have been
leading breeders of polled Jersey
cattle ever since. The Dutch Hol
low prefix can be found on sever
al proven sires in AI.
The polled gene is also well
documented in both the Ayrshire
and Milking Shorthorn breeds.
In conclusion, utilizing the
polled gene is easier than ever be
fore with additional sires avail
able through AI. The financial
savings through labor, time,
equipment, and sustained growth
of the animal can be substantial.
And a herd can be converted to
Eoll in short order with polled
ring dominant.