A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 12, 2003 Dairy Alliance, MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.) A new training program from Dairy Alliance called Milking Management Systems focuses on managing and improving per formance in milking centers. “A lot of producers and their advisors know the technical de tails on how to do these things,” said Richard Stup of Penn State’s Dairy Alliance. “The problem comes in trying to implement the systems.” Lancaster DHIA will host this innovative milking management system workshop at their Man heim office on Friday, April 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Stup said participants in the workshop will leam to implement a system of milking management on their dairy that will maximize milk production, milk quality, and employee performance. Par ticipants will leam • how to build practices into their systems that promote milk production and udder health; • how to design Standard Op erating Procedures (SOPs); • how to measure and improve key performance indicators; • how to increase employee motivation, support, and cooper ation; and • how to communicate more effectively with employees and advisors. Participants will receive a manual with helpful guides and reference material, a CD-ROM with example SOPs, templates, and a computer software pack age that facilitates the SOP de sign process. Dairy managers and employ ees with management responsi- 63 Bulls Average $1,635 At Pennsylvania Sale STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) Sixty-three bulls sold for an average of $1,635 at the Penn sylvania Department of Agricul ture’s 30th Annual Performance Tested Bull Sale, March 28, dur ing the Pennsylvania Beef Expo. The Honorable Dennis C. Wolfe, Secretary of Agriculture for Pennsylvania, addressed the huge crowd in attendance and of fered some insight into the new administration’s policies and their commitment to assisting and supporting the state’s beef producers as well as all people in production agriculture. Pennsylvania’s performance testing programs are a coopera tive effort between the Pennsyl vania Department of Agriculture, Penn State University, and the respective species organizations. Penn State College of Agricul ture’s Dean, Dr. Robert D. Steele and the Head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Sciences, Dr. Terry Etherton, welcomed the crowd. Starting the sale was an Angus bull who received an award from the Pennsylvania Cattleman’s Association for being the top-in dexing bull over all breeds on test. This bull was bred by Joe and Bobbi McMullen, Peach Bot tom, and was purchased by Stoney Acres of Honesdale, for $2,200. The highest selling Angus bull, consigned by Oren Smith, sold to Nittany Farms of State College, for $2,900. The second highest selling Angus was a bull bred by Nancy Meyers that sold for $2,400 to Watchtower Farm of For further information on the Walkhill, N.Y. The 33 Angus Pa. Performance Bull Test or sold for an average of $1,714. other livestock testing programs The top indexing Charolais which the PDA offers, contact bull owned by Raymond Bratton, Glenn Eberly, director, at (814) and the second highest selling 238-2527; (814) 865-5857 phone/ Charolais owned by John Meyers fax; or e-mail; geberly@sta- ancaster DHIA Offer Milking bility for milking operations should attend the workshop. Dairy advisors who are interested in helping their clients adopt a systems approach to milking management will find many use ful tools at this workshop. Ship, human resource special ist with Dairy Alliance, and An drew Young, dairy manager with Red Knob Farm, will co-teach con, Puerto Rico. The highest selling Bull of the day was a Cha rolais consigned by John Meyers which sold to Muncy Charolais of Pipestem, W.Va. for $3,750. The four Charolais attained the high breed average with the selling price of $2,213. The top-indexing Simmental was from Jamie Cowell and sold to Andrew Neff Jr. of Westover for $2,000. The top-selling Sim mental bull owned by William Shoemaker sold for $2,900 to E & R Farms and Dale and Max Curfman. The Simmental bull average on 17 head was $1,465. The top-selling Hereford was the red-necked bull consigned by F-ank Phoenix, which sold to Lyn-Jon Acres of Midland for $2,600. The second high selling Hereford consigned by Dustin Heeter and Amy West, sold to Tom Mullinix Jr. for USDA at Union Bridge, Md. The five Herefords, averaged $1,510. The lone Limousin, from David and Linda Miller was pur chased by Bourbon Springs Farm, Newville, and the Short horn bred by Rinkhoff Ag Enter prises sold to James Hilty, Mount Pleasant. The sale preceded the opening of a state of the art facility for fu ture livestock performance test ing programs that is being built at Rocksprings by the Pennsylva nia Department of Agriculture (PDA). The New Livestock Eval uation Center will house next year's performance tests and sales. the program. The workshop in corporates techniques that effec tively maintain interest and promote learning. Participants will gain hands-on experience and tools that they can immedi ately put to work in their own dairy operation. The Milking Management Sys tems workshop will focus on the milking center. Management in this area is particularly impor tant because many people must work together to consistently per form the vital work of harvesting quality milk in an efficient man ner. The emphasis will be on building systems to ensure that Hands-On Experience: Ephrata Students Leant On Their Own Farm KARI MARTIN Special To Lancaster Farming EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.) This spring, Ephrata High School agriculture students will have the opportunity to exchange their textbooks for “hands-on” train ing. For more than a year, the Eph rata Area School District has owned a 79-acre farm adjacent to the middle school, and rumors of a farm program have been circu lated ever since. Now, last-minute plans and details are being worked out to bring those rumors to reality. The committee that is respon sible for getting the farm project off the ground is the Agro-Sci ence Committee. This group in cludes administrators, engineers, and teachers, including Agricul ture Department Chair Ernest Orr. The committee has worked to gether to head up plans and cost estimates for the farm program. Although not all the acres will be available for students, some will be used for farming and agricul ture purposes. Most students and teachers do not consider themselves farmers, but the farm will have four differ ent areas that will serve both the students and the community. Local farmer Tom Bollinger will farm most of the 79 acres. He will be planting com this spring. There is a second area that will include com trails. These trails will enable students to see how different methods of growing af fect the overall yield of com. Stu dents will come in contact with anagement Systems Workshop Where? Lancaster DHIA Office 1592 Old Line Road Manheim PA 17W-8222 From the South Follow Rt 72 north into Manheim Drive through Manheim turning left on West Colebrook St, the last left turn bclore leaving town West Colebrook St becomes Old Line Rd Follow Old Line Rd for 2 miles out of town Lancaster DHIA is on (he right Fi om the PA Turnpike and the North Follow Rt 72 south to Manheim Take the first street right when entering town (West Colebrook St) West Colebrook St becomes Old Line Rd Follow Old Line Rd for 2 miles out of town Lancaster DHIA is on the right From the East Follow Rt 322 East to Rt 72 and follow the directions from the north What are producers saying about Management Systems workshops 7 • This hos one of the most helpful workshops that I've been to Mam workshops are so general and only touch the surface and let vou know that an issue exists This one actually presented useful steps to take in order to resolve the issue Thanks • 7am motivated to get SOPs h ntten • The part about getting employees to buy- into systems uas important for me Workshop Registration Form Pre-registration: Required Name Registrations are limited so , . Name, sign up immediately Name Cost: $65 per person Make checks payable to: Address “Penn State University” ' Hail Registrations to: Dairy Alliance 324 Henning Building University Park, PA 16802 Email Phone: I 888-373-PADA Total Payment (at $65 per person) = $. Fax:(814)865-4686 work is done correctly and con sistently. Participants will receive example materials and practical learning experiences that they can use in their own operations. A related workshop on Repro ductive Management Systems will take place in Greensburg, Westmoreland County. This workshop will focus on standard operating procedures (SOPs), monitoring tactics, and feedback tools that dairy farms need in order to improve herd reproduc tion. Reproductive Management Systems will b£ conducted Wednesday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Donahoe Center in Greensburg. different varieties of com, tilling methods, and population density. These areas of learning will also be available for the third sta tion in a soybean trail. The last area will be comprised of several 25 by 25 foot plots that students will be able to do various projects in. The agricultural students will mostly use the farm, but the op portunity will present itself to ev eryone in the school district, according to Orr. “The farm will be available to every department for extracurric ular work,” he said. This means that students involved in the sci ence fair and the FFA chapter will be able and encouraged to use the farm. Work on the farm is taking place. Buildings are being re stored or tom down, depending on their condition. This spring, agricultural students will be set- Biodiesel Meetings Set LEESPORT (Berks Co.) and GETTYSBURG (Adams Co.) Two informational meetings have been scheduled on the prospects of building a biodiesel production facility in southcentral Pennsyl vania. Meetings are scheduled for April 16 at the Berks County Ag Center, Leesport, and April 21 at the USDA Service Center in Get tysburg. Both meetings will begin at 7 p.m. The meetings will be led by the Harrisburg-based Regional Eco nomic Development District Ini- Friday, April 25th 2003 Registration begins at 8 30 AM Program begins at 9 00 AM and ends at 3 30 PM Phone. Registration for each work shop is $65 and includes all soft ware, educational materials, and meals. For more information, or to register for either workshop, call the Dairy Alliance office at (888) 373-PAD A. Land. O’ Lakes Cooperative is a key sponsor of Milking Man agement Systems. For questions about the program, contact Rich ard Stup at (814) 652-6430 or HYPERLINK “mailto:Rich- Stup@psu.edu” RichStup@psu.e du. Visit the Dairy Alliance web site at HYPERLINK “www.dairyalliance.org” www.dairyalliance.org. ting up the trail plots for corn and soybeans. By fall, students will be checking on yields, and in between these two intervals, plant growth and weed control will also be inspected. Overall, students in the Ephra ta Area School District will be given the chance to leam by “hands-on” experience and also look into career choices as they take their knowledge to a new level. It will not only serve them now, but later in their careers, as well. “I’m excited about the oppor tunities that this will give stu dents in Ephrata, from kinder garten to the 12th grade,” said Orr. Editor’s note: Story originally was published in the April 1 issue of the Ephrata High School newspaper, The Mountaineer, and is reproduced courtesy of *he school. tiative (REDDI), which covers eight southcentral counties. According to REDDI, if a fea sibility study would show positive potential for such a project, the next step would be to form a group of fanners to invest and launch it. A biodiesel plant in the area would use soybeans and possibly waste kitchen oils to produce a replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel. Call (717) 920-8454 for more information. When? Sponsors Lancaster DHIA Land O Lakes Cooperative sir
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers