Ohio No-Tiller Encourages Experimenting on the Farm

Carol Ann Gregg
Western Pa. Correspondent

WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. — Ohio farmer Dave Brandt drew more than 180 people to the recent 13th Annual Tri-State No-till Conference here in Mercer County.

Brandt switched to no-till in 1971 and started experimenting with cover crops in 1979.

Bay Farm Network Holds First Conference

Nitrogen Monitoring Can Help Bay, Bottom Line

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

LANCASTER, Pa. — When it comes to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, farmers have often struggled with the conflict between doing something environmentally sound and at the same time making a profit.

That’s where programs like the Bay Farms On-Farm Network come into play.

Started in 2004 with only a handful of farmers, the network has grown to include 130 farmers in five Pennsylvania counties along with a few farmers in Virginia.

The goal is to come up with sensible solutions to controlling problems such as nitrogen runoff, but doing it in a way that is economically feasible for farmers.

On Feb.

Redding Takes to the Classroom for ‘Teach Ag Day’

Ayleen Stellhorn
Southcentral Pa. Correspondent

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania State Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding visited his alma mater last week to deliver an important message: today’s students can learn valuable lessons in agriculture from their school’s cafeteria.

Redding, who graduated from Gettysburg High School in 1978 and was a member of the school’s Battlefield FFA, spoke to GHS ag students as part of Pennsylvania’s newly established Teach Agriculture Day.

Maryland Dairy Convention a Celebration of State's Industry

New and Time-Honored Awards Presented

Laurie Savage
Maryland Correspondent

FREDERICK, Md. — The day-long Maryland Dairy Convention honored dairy farmers and industry supporters with both new and time-honored awards.

For the first time, 14 Maryland Dairy of Distinction award winners were honored by the Maryland Dairy Industry Association, and three Maryland Dairy Shrine honorees were inducted into the organization that was founded in 1963 to recognize leaders of Maryland’s dairy industry and help preserve its legacy and history.

EPA Looking to Credit Farmers for Conservation Practices

Bay TMDL Deadline Less Than Nine Months Away

Andrew Jenner
Virginia Correspondent

During an online press conference last week, EPA staff emphasized the agency’s commitment to complete and detailed accounting for all conservation practices in place throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed as it develops a TMDL for the entire bay.

“We want to be sure we give every farmer credit for what [they] are doing out there,” said Richard Batiuk, associate director of science for the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office.

As the draft TMDL for the Bay has been developed over the past year, concern has arisen among farmers that the EPA’s data on agricultural conservation has excluded voluntary practices not installed under any public cost-share program.

NFFC: Dairy Farm Families Need Help

Charlene M. Shupp
Espenshade
Special Sections Editor

National Farm Family Coalition (NFFC) Dairy Subcommittee members this week shared how the past year’s losses have impacted their farms. Because of the continued stresses on many farms, they called on the Congress and USDA to take action or risk losing family dairy farms.

The coalition conducted a teleconference Tuesday and invited members of the media to join.

As Brenda Cochran, a Pennsylvania dairy farmer, described the situation, “farmers have their necks between a pair of scissors” and are at risk of losing everything.

During the hour-long teleconference, dairy farmers shared how they have cut back on expenses, trying to live within the boundaries of their milk checks, but now find themselves in precarious situations.

Paul Rozwadowski, NFFC Dairy Subcommittee chairman and Wisconsin dairy farmer, said that the committee has sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack asking for him to intervene on the behalf of dairy farmers regarding the “low milk prices and the pending disaster that is imminent if nothing is done.”

Citing a dairy accountant with a client base reaching across the country, Rozwadowski said farmers are losing their farm credit line.

Presenting Sorghum as Superior Bioenergy Crop

Maegan Crandall
Central N.Y. Correspondent

ITHACA, N.Y. — The New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI) and the Institute for Genomic Diversity (IGD) recently invited local farmers, engineers, agricultural professionals, and bioenergy business entrepreneurs to discuss the potential of producing sorghum as a bioenergy crop.

Sorghum — a naturally low-lignin grass related to maize and sugar cane — has proven highly productive under low fertilizer, water, and pest conditions, is widely adaptable to many climates and growing conditions, has a small carbon footprint, and grows where other grasses will not such as arid and nutrient-poor soils.

“It’s very drought tolerant.

What’s Old Is New Again

Working With Heritage Breeds at Colonial Williamsburg

Tracy Sutton
Regional Editor

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — “People who’ve kept heritage breeds are very stubborn people. They don’t care about fashion, they keep these animals because their grandfather kept them.” This pigheadedness is a good thing, according to Elaine Shirley, manager of the Rare Breeds program at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Milroy Farms: Boiling Maple Syrup Since 1942

Sandra Lepley
Southwestern Pa. Correspondent

SALISBURY, Pa. — Milroy Farms, near Salisbury in Somerset County, started off in 1942 as a simple sideline maple syrup business for the late Mildred and Roy Blocher, dairy farmers who diversified their farming enterprise during the spring maple season.

Their son, Gary Blocher, who is the current owner and operates the camp with his wife, Frances, and son, Jason, has taken that simple country business and turned it into a year-round operation.

“Just about every farmer boiled maple syrup in the spring season years ago because it was a traditional way of life here in Somerset County,” said Blocher.

In his lifetime, Gary Blocher has seen some tremendous changes in regards to the technology, science and marketing in the maple industry.