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OPINION
Af Long Last, A History
Of A Great Department
We learned late last week that Penn State has recently completed a
history of the Dairy and Animal Science Department and is making
the story available online at www.das.psu.edu/history.
The product of a committee of seven emeritus faculty, the history
describes the origins of animal research and extension activities at
Penn State, when Dr. Henry Armsby became director of the Agricul
tural Experiment Station in 1887. The story continues to the present
day, highlighting the many achievements in research, extension, and
education; the evolution of the department; and the many people that
made it all happen.
In the introduction to the history, Department Head Terry D.
Etherton writes, “I invite you to read about the long and storied histo
ry of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science. The origins of the
present-day department date back to 1887! As you can imagine, since
the first days of the university and department, much has happened,
and thousands of individuals have passed through the gates of “Dear
Old State.” We in the department think it is important to share this
wonderful legacy with you! I think you will be amazed at the impact
our people and programs have had.
“The impetus for this project was the recognition that we did not
have a written history of the department. As is always the case, as
events and time move ahead, what has happened in the past can fade
away. I think it is invaluable to have a written history of the depart
ment to provide a foundation for our successors to appreciate the
“lives and times” of so many who have been “touched” by the depart
ment.”
Etherton noted the idea to develop a history of the department was
shared with some former faculty who launched the effort. This group
(Don Ace, chair; Lester Burdette, Bob Cowan, Tom Merritt, Grant
Sherritt, Larry Specht, and John Zeigler) “did a marvelous job of ex
ploring the many, many documents and photos dispersed around
campus. They worked hard to capture the history of the department.
There are many entertaining stories they can share about “digging”
out historical information that resides in the university archives. My
observation is that they had much fun, and I am very, very apprecia
tive of their dedication and hard work.”
Let us (and Penn State) know what you think. We can be reached
via e-mail at farming@lancasterfarming.com. Etherton can be reached
at tetherton@psu.edu.
Saturday, October 4
Pa. Make It Yourself With Wool
Contest, (814)443-3189.
Central Pa. Woodland Manag
ment Workshop, Cambria
County Extension, 9 a.m.-4
p.m., (814) 472-7986.
Pa. Graded Cattle Sale, Indian
Farmers’ Livestock Market,
Homer City, 7 p.m., (724)
397-4087.
3rd Annual Alpaca Heritage
Side, Brumm’s Lullaby Farm,
Fountainville, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.,
(215) 345-4804.
Pa. Angus on Parade, Farm
Show Complex, 2 p.m., (540)
337-3001.
National Apple Harvest Festival,
Arendtsville, Adams County,
thru Oct. 5, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.,
(717) 677-9413.
How To Reach Us
To address a letter to the editor:
• By fax: (717) 733-6058
• By regular mail:
Editor, Lancaster Farming
P.O. Box 609,1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
• By e-mail;
farming@lancasterfarming.com
Please note: Include your full
name, return address, and
phone number on the letter.
Lancaster Farming reserves the
right to edit the letter to fit and
is not responsible for returning
unsolicited mail.
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❖ Farm Calendar ❖
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Sunday, October 5
Fall Fest and Harvest Day, Lings
Gap Environmental Educa
tion Center, Huntsdale, 1
p.m.-5 p.m.
Fall Horse Show for Riders with
Disabilities, Thomcroft Thera
peutic Riding, Malvern, (610)
644-1963.
Central Susquehanna Land Own
ers’ Chain Saw Safety and
Technique, Martynowych
Property, near Danville, (570)
784-8490.
Open Gate Farm Tour, North
ampton County, noon-5 p.m.,
(610) 746-1970.
Coast Day at University of Dela
ware, Hugh R. Shays Campus,
Lewes, Delaware, 11 a.m.-5
p.m.
National 4-H Week thru Oct. 11.
Monday, October 6
Hollidaysburg Community Fair,
thru Oct. 9.
Manheim Community Farm
Show, thru Oct. 10.
Western Pa. Turfgrass Golf
Tournament, Pittsburgh Field
Club, Pittsburgh, (412)
855-6702.
Dairy Hedging Workshop, Acorn
Farms, Rt. 283 and 772, 7
p.m.-lO p.m. also Oct. 7, Holi
day Inn, Grantville, 9 a.m.-
3:30 p.m., (814) 865-0469.
USDA Conference on Survival
Strategies for Small Farmers,
(Turn to Page A 25)
To Manage Harvest Of
Wind-Damaged Com
The wind damage caused by Trop
ical Storm Isabel has significantly
disrupted com silage harvest in the
areas that were impacted by the
storm. This has especially impacted
farms who normally harvest with
horses and binders who now need to
wait on a custom chopper since their
normal equipment cannot handle the
badly damaged crop.
This means that there are many
more farmers this year waiting for
custom harvest services than in past
years. The net result is many farmers
are not all going to be able to harvest
their crop at desirable moisture lev
els. This is combined with the chal
lenges of extra mold inoculum in the
fields because of the wet growing sea
son and unusually high amounts of
soil contamination in the harvested
silage.
In order to minimize quality prob
lems, there are a number of things
farmers should keep in mind. Efr.
Limin Rung Jr., professor of rumi
nant nutrition and microbiology at
the University of Delaware, is an ex
pert in the fermentation process and
shares the following insights on deal
ing with this storm-damaged crop.
If you are forced to harvest the
crop too wet because of the availabili
ty of harvesting equipment, no inocu-
Background Scripture:
1 Peter 1:1 through 2:10.
Devotional Reading:
Leviticus 19:1-10.
On Sunday mornings, churches in
Britain and Europe are inhabited by
congregations continually diminish
ing in size. In the U.S., while there
are some “megachurches” to the con
trary, generally church membership
and attendance are declining.
For many people this has pro
duced, if not a loss of faith, at least a
greatly diminished hope this in a
world where war, poverty, economic
recession, and ecological disasters
have been joined by stifling material
ism and appalling selfishness.
In “The Family Reunion,” T.S.
Eliot writes;
You do not know what hope is,
until you have lost it.
You only know what it is
not to hope;
You do not know what it is to have
hope taken from you,
Or to fling it away, to join the
legion of the hopeless.
Lancaster Farming
An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper
• PDA Friend of Agriculture Award, 2003
• Keystone Awards 1993,1995 • PennAg Industries 1992
• PACD Media Award 1996 • Berks Ag-Busmess Council 2000
• Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the
Northeast Farm Communicators
AIM AT
HEAVEN
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lants are recommended. You will
have problems with seepage, but you
are still likely to have reasonably
good fermentation without the use of
inocuiants. If it is possible, it would
be better to allow the custom harvest
er to move on to other farms and re
turn later when your crop has dried
to better moisture levels.
Harvesting the silage after it is too
dry (less than 60 percent moisture) is
a bigger problem. The number one
problem under this scenario is to get
the silage to pack well enough to
allow for fermentation. In order to do
this, one needs to chop the com to a
finer particle size. Under good condi
tions a particle size of Vi inch is nor
mally recommended. However, if the
silage is too dry, Rung recommends
a particle length of Vi inch. While
this will lead to other challenges with
rumen function, he believes the most
important problem to solve is getting
fermentation.
Under these conditions, farmers
should apply an inoculant of Lacto
bacillus buchneri bacteria which will
help control mold growth. This is
fairly new inoculant and is available
from Pioneer and Renaissance Nutri
tion. This inoculant promotes the
rapid development of lactic acid in
the fermentation process. The other
alternative is to use buffered propi
onic acid. Propionic acid is less avail
able, harder to apply, and is likely to
be more costly than using the Lacto
bacillus buchneri inoculant.
To Be Safe
Around Silo Gas
Each year at silo filling time comes
the danger of silo gas. This threat has
been around since the first use of
silos and it is easy to take shortcuts
or become complacent about the dan
gers associated with silo filling. The
fact that many have worked around
this for years without a problem con
tributes to not taking this seriously.
However, a simple mistake could
cost you your life, so take the time to
use adequate precautions.
Those who normally fill their silos
with a binder over a longer period of
time will learn that silos filled quick
ly with a chopper produce gas rapid
ly after the silo is full. Under these
circumstances, you may have much
more gas to deal with than what you
are used to seeing.
Silo gas is formed by the natural
fermentation of chopped forages in
the silo. Several gases are formal and
the type of silo the forage is stored in
Legion Of
The Hopeless
Overwhelmed by a world that, for
all of our technological wizardry, be
comes more and more unmanage
able, many people are silently joining
“the legion of the hopeless.” Nothing
seems to work to achieve what it
promises, and every new solution is
eclipsed by a new and more ominous
crisis.
Many Christians are alarmed at
the growth of Islam, but to me, the
most alarming portent is not the
growth of other religions but the loss
of Christian vitality. People are not
rushing to join churches where there
seems to be no more genuine hope
than elsewhere. If we were offering
and living the Christian hope, our
church rolls would not be diminish
ing. “They” are not the problem;
“we” are.
One of the great appeals of primi
tive Christianity was the “living
hope” to which 1 Peter 1:3 tells us all
Christians are “bom anew.” What is
“a living hope”? Just as “living wa
ters” are those that flow from a per
ennial spring, so a living hope is one
that neither trials, tribulations, nor
crises can destroy or take from us,
because our hope is based upon the
resurrection which was not just
about how Jesus conquered death on
a cross, but how Christians are resur
rected from defeat to victory in that
very same power.
A Living Hope
Sooner or later everything in this
world upon which we bank our hope
determines the amount of different
gases. In a conventional or open-top
silo, nitrogen dioxide is the major gas
formed. This gas is characterized by
a strong bleach-like odor and low
lying yellow, red, or dark-brown
fumes. It reaches a peak about three
days after filling and quickly begins
to decrease shortly thereafter, espe
cially if the silo is ventilated. After
two weeks it is unlikely that any
more gas will be formed, but some
could still be present if it was trapped
and unable to escape the silo.
Nitrogen dioxide is dangerous be
cause it causes severe irritation to the
nose and throat and could cause in
flammation of the lungs. It is espe
cially dangerous because low-level
exposure is often accompanied by
only slight irritation or pain. Al
though death can occur immediately,
a farmer could breathe the gas with
out any immediate serious symptoms
and then die in his sleep hours later
from fluid collecting in his lungs.
Many victims have relapses one to
two weeks after the initial exposure
with symptoms similar to pneumo
nia. If you are exposed to the gas, it
is critical that you seek medical at
tention!
ideally, everyone should avoid the
silo during the critical period when
gases are forming. Since this is not
always possible, it is best to use a
self-contained breathing apparatus
when entering during the danger pe
riod. This is the only breathing de
vice that is certain to protect you
from all silo gases. Dust masks or
even chemical cartridge respirators
do not provide sufficient protection
and are not intended to be used
where gases are extremely toxic or
where the air has been replaced by
gases such as carbon dioxide.
If you do not have access to a self
contained breathing device, it is pos
sible to enter the silo safely if the fol
lowing precautions are followed.
First ventilate the silo and adjacent
areas by running the blower 15-20
minutes before entering. All doors
should be opened down to the level
of the settled silage and the windows
in the feed room should be opened.
Leave the blower running the entire
time you are inside. Never enter the
silo unless another adult is present
who can go for help if needed. This
person should maintain visual con
tact with you. Although it will not
protect you from silo gases, wear a
(Turn to Page A 25)
will perish. You can’t even “go home
again,” because “home” is always
caught up in change, too. If, how
ever, we put our trust in the “living
hope” of Christ’s gospel, we have, as
1 Peter puts it, “an inheritance which
is imperishable, undeliled, and un
fading” (1:3,4).
Our life in Jesus Christ is forward
looking in that the greater part is yet
to come. As Prof. Elmer G. Homrig
hausen put it, “Early Christians were
characterized by the spirit of tri
umph. Their worship and work were
done in the spirit of joy and anticipa
tion. They were already ‘raised with
Christ.’” So are we!
Our faith, although it is in what is
yet to come, also has ramifications
for where we are right now. So, “set
your hope fully upon the grace that is
coming to you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ” (1:13). But we do not
wait for that day idly, for “As obedi
ent children, do not be conformed to
the passions of your former igno
rance, but as he who called you is
holy, be holy yourselves in all your
conduct ” (1:14,15).
<( C.S. Lewis reminds us that
“... Christians who did most for the
present world were just those who
thought most of the next Aim at
Heaven and you will get earth
“thrown in”; aim at earth and you
will get neither.”
Lancaster Panning
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Gphrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Gphrata, PA 17522
—by—
Lancaster Farming, Inc
A Steinman Enterprise
William J Burgess General Manager
Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2003 by Lancaster Farming