A3B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 22, 2003
DART volunteers, from left, are Gary Heckman, Jim Ferguson, Brian Reed, Tom Oyler,
Kirk Sattazahn, Dennis Milhoan, Andy Terrell, Beth Grove, Scott Owens, and John Wil
liamson.
Dairy Advocacy & Resource Team Meets
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
Dairy industry representatives
from southeastern Pennsylvania
met Sept. 11 to form the Dairy
Advocacy & Resource Team
(DART).
DART is a project of the Penn
sylvania Dairy Stakeholders to
bring together the sales and serv
ice personnel working in the
dairy industry. The groups’ close
ties with producers will aid in de
livering a positive message about
the Pennsylvania dairy industry
and encourage participation in
the many educational programs
available. The goals are increased
production per cow and greater
profitability for producers.
Over 60 professionals from the
sales and service sectors of the
dairy industry attended the meet
ing.
“We thought that the best way
to encourage producers to adopt
new technology and business
methods was to have this influen
tial group take the message to
them directly. It is more than en
couraging to see this many peo
ple so interested in the growth
and viability of our Pennsylvania
dairy industry,” Pennsylvania
Dairy Stakeholders President
Gary Heckman said.
Those in attendance identified
the following as issues that
should be addressed by the team:
milk quality, forage quality, “real
world” expansion process and
management, labor issues, busi
ness succession, accounting and
records, business decision-mak
ing, risk management, and com
munity and public relations.
The group also questioned how
Cumberland Co.
Compete In
SHIPPENSBURG (Cumber
land Co.) - The top winners of
each breed in the recent Cumber
land County 2003 4-H Dairy
Roundup at the Shippensburg
Fairgrounds competed in the
Pennsylvania Junior Dairy Show
Sept. 22 in Harrisburg.
Amy Packard, Elizabethtown,
selected the following breed
grand champions in Cumberland
County: Jennifer Zinn, Newburg,
Ayrshire; Aaron Cornman, Boil
ing Springs, Brown Swiss; Brian
Nailor, Mechanicsburg, Guern
sey; Aaron Comman, Boiling
Springs, Holstein; Scott Walton,
Carlisle, Jersey; and Brian Nai
lor, Mechanicsburg, Milking
Shorthorn.
The results of the breed com
petitions follow:
to package educational informa
tion and decided that each pro
gram must have a specific target
audience.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Ag
riculture Dennis Wolff and Penn
State Dairy Alliance’s Bradley
Hilty spoke to the group about
the concept of the Dairy Advoca
cy & Resource Team and why it
is needed in the state. Heckman
and Alan Bair, director of dairy
industry relations for Penn State,
also spoke to the group repre
senting the Pennsylvania Dairy
Stakeholders.
“Strength in dairy is important
to all segments of the dairy in
dustry from producers to proces
sors and consuming public. We
need strong and profitable dairy
farms to keep the infrastructure
and to encourage the next
generation of producers in Penn
sylvania,” Wolff said.
The concept of DART is to or
ganize local “chapters” made up
of sales and service personnel
working together to get valid in
formation to producers and to
encourage those producers to re
main progressive in their busi
nesses. ‘We would like to get this
group started and then move on
to another region of Pennsylva
nia. It is our hope that soon there
will be DART chapters through
out the state,” Heckman said.
Bair presented the industry
professionals with several tools
available for use in assisting and
educating producers. Milk Pro
duction Records for Management
Control charts allow producers to
record production per cow each
day to track those management
4-H Dairy Roundup Winners
State Junior Dairy Show
AYRSHIRE
Junior Champion; Michael Woods.
Reserve Junior Champion: Janel Zinn.
Senior Champion: Jennifer Zinn.
Reserve Senior Champion; Janel Zinn
GRAND CHAMPION
Jennifer Zinn
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Janel Zinn
BROWN SWISS
Junior Champion: Sarah Wickard
Reserve Junior Champion; Kern Wiok
ard.
Senior Champion: Aaron Cornman.
Reserve Senior Champion: Sarah Wick
ard.
GRAND CHAMPION
Aaron Cornman
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Sarah Wickard
GUERNSEY
Junior Champion; Brian Nailor
Reserve Junior Champion. Michael
Woods.
GRAND CHAMPION
Brian Nailor
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Michael Woods
changes that influence milk pro
duction the most. The charts are
available through the Dairy Alli
ance office at (888) 373-7232 or
HYPERLINK “mailto;m
moyer@psu.edu” mmoyer@p
su.edu . The Dairy Development
web site ( HYPERLINK “http://
dairydevelopment.psu.edu”
http://dairydevelopment.psu.edu
) lists consultants producers can
contact for help with any aspect
of milk production. The Dairy
Alliance calendar (at HYPER
LINK “http://
dairyalliance.psu.edu” http://
dairyalliance.psu.edu ) shows
producers what educational
events are going on around the
state. Industry professionals
should also consult this calendar
before scheduling programs to
avoid date conflicts with other
meetings.
According to Heckman, each
DART chapter will have volun
teer “leaders.” Volunteers from
last week’s meeting include Suz
anne Demeester, Elanco Animal
Health; Jim Ferguson, University
of Pennsylvania; Dan Card,
Monsanto Dairy Business; Beth
Grove, Penn State Cooperative
Extension; Tim Horn, Pennfield
Feeds; Dennis Milhoan, Lancas
ter Dairy Farm Automation;
Scott Owens, AgChoice Farm
Credit; Tom Oyler, Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture; Brian
Reed, Ag Veterinary Associates;
Glenn Shirk, Shirk’s Dairy Sense;
Andy Terrell, Mid Atlantic Farm
Credit; and John Williamson,
Team Ag.
For more information, contact
the Pennsylvania Dairy Stake
holders at (717) 948-6328.
HOLSTEIN
Junior Champion: Melissa Detman.
Reserve Junior Champion: Clayton
Weber.
Senior Champion; Aaron Comman.
Reserve Senior Champion: Morgan
Creek.
GRAND CHAMPION
Aaron Comman
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Melissa Detman
JERSEY
Junior Champion; Ton Fuller.
Reserve Junior Champion: Manah Pay
nter.
Senior Champion: Scott Walton.
Reserve Senior Champion: Ton Fuller.
GRAND CHAMPION
Scott Walton
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Ton Fuller
MILKING SHORTHORN
Junior Champion: Madison Miller
Reserve Junior Champion: Madison Mill
er.
Senior Champion- Bnan Nailor.
Reserve Senior Champion: Brian Nailor.
GRAND CHAMPION
Brian Nailor
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION
Brian Nailor
Angus Breeders
Vie For Honors At
Pennsylvania Show
HUNTINGDON (Hunting
don Co.) Angus exhibitors
showed 106 entries at the 2003
Pennsylvania Angus Breeders’
Show, July 5 in Huntingdon.
Willard Lemaster, College
Park, Md., evaluated the 82
heifers, 16 bulls and eight cow
calf pairs.
Rains Skylight Pizazz
NIFPN won grand champion
female honors. Dale Rains,
Mercer, exhibited the Febru
ary 2002 daughter of Northern
Improvement 4480 GF. She
first won junior champion.
Gambles Famous Lady 859
was named the reserve grand
champion female. She’s an
October 2002 daughter of Fa
mous 7001. She first won sen
ior heifer calf champion. Holly
Gamble, Clinton, Tenn., and
Mountain Valley Angus, Li
titz, exhibited the winning
entry.
Bill Dean, New Castle, ex
hibited the grand champion
bull. Krugers 20 Belles of D C
C is a September 2002 son of
B C Sasquatch 20-20 4139.
Dale Rains, Mercer, exhibi
ted the reserve grand champi
on bull. Rains Charles in
Charge RFRT is an April 2002
son of Gdar Russ 8346.
J E A Widespread Mascara
won grand champion cow-calf
pair. She’s an August 1998
daughter of Whitestone Wide-
Agriculture Secretary Announces
Reappointment Of Dairy Farmer
To Conservation Commission
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) State Secretary of Agri
culture Dennis C Wolff this week
announced that a Clearfield
County dairy farmer has been re
appointed to the 11-member
State Conservation Commission
(SCC).
Wolff said dairy farmer Ross
Omer of Rockton was recently
confirmed by the state Senate to
another 4-year term on the SCC.
Wolff said Omer has been a val
ued member of the Commission.
First appointed to the SCC in
1994, Omer is a farmer-represen
tative on the SCC. He operates a
525-acre (owned and rented)
dairy operation with his brother
Dave, cousin Frank, and uncle
Russ. Together, the three families
milk about 100 head of Holstein
and registered Guernsey dairy
Correction
Lancaster Farming is
responding to misinforma
tion supplied about a story
that appeared on pages
A 34-35 of the Nov. 8 issue.
According to David Den
nis, Arrowhead Springs as
sistant manager, one of the
principle owners is Ed
mund, not Edward. Sec
ond, Arrowhead Springs
runs a fee-fishing opera
tion, not a free-fishing oper
ation. Third, the Pennsyl
vania Game Commission
has had nothing to do with
the local co-op. That co-op
is spearheaded by Steve
Homyack, a dentist in Den
ver and resident and land
owner on the South/Texter
Mountain.
Lancaster Farming re
lies heavily on the accuracy
of reports supplied to the
newspaper.
spread MB, and she had a
February 2003 daughter of
Bushs flashback 880, at side.
Jennifer Hower, Bethlehem,
exhibited the winning entry.
Herman Hake, Etters, ex
hibited the reserve grand
champion cow-calf pair. Wea
verland Scaara Charley is a
January 2001 daughter of Sitz
Traveler 8180. She had a Jan
uary 2003 daughter of W V F
HB Atlantic Natl Merit, at
side.
A complete list of winners
follows:
HEIFERS
Senior heifer calf champion: Holly
Gamble and Mountain Valley Angus.
Reserve senior heifer calf champion:
Jennifer Hower.
Intermediate champion heifer Dale
Rains.
Reserve intermediate champion heif
er Bill Dean.
Junior champion heifer Dale Rams.
Reserve junior champion heifer Mar
shall McKean.
Senior champion female; Katrina
Frey.
Grand champion female: Dale Rains.
Reserve grand champion female-
Holly Gamble and Mountain Valley
Angus.
BULLS
Grand champion bull: Bill Dean.
Reserve grand champion bull: Dale
Rams.
GROUP CLASSES
Best six head: Weaverland Valley
Farms.
PREMIER BREEDER
Weaverland Valley Farms
PREMIER EXHIBITOR
Dale and Brenda Rams
cattle, and keep about 85 replace
ment animals. They raise about
178 acres of com, 170 acres of al
falfa- grass hay, 30 acres of grass
hay, and use 75 acres for rota
tional grazing and pasture. An
other 100 acres of forest is man
aged primarily for hardwood
production.
The Omers also operate a
unique worm-based composting
system (vermi-composting), uti
lizing two flow-through red worm
beds. The compost and byprod
ucts are marketed commercially.
Omer first was appointed to
the Clearfield County Conserva
tion district as an associate direc
tor in 1984, and then in 1988 was
appointed as a district director.
He served as chairman of the
Clearfield County Conservation
District from 1991 until 2002,
when he stepped down to reas
sume a position as an associate
district director.
Office Closed
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day,
Thursday, Nov. 27, Lan
caster Farming office is
closed. The office will re
open Friday, Nov. 28.
For the Nov. 29 issue,
there are some deadline
changes:
Public Sale and Mail
box ads, 5 p.m., Friday,
Nov. 21.
Classified, Section D
ads 4 p.m., Tuesday,
Nov. 25.
Classified, Section C,
Farm Equipment ads, 4
p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 25.
Section A ad deadline
4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25.
General News noon,
Wednesday, Nov. 26.