by Sally Colby
A dairy farm that’s milking 1,550 cows in a four times a day system while maintaining a 30,000 pound herd average and a SCC of 150,000 is doing a lot of things right, starting with forage management.
That’s the case at Mercer Vu Farms, Inc., in Mercersburg, PA, where the Hissong family recently hosted a Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania (PDMP) issues forum. One topic of interest for many who attended was forage management. Troy Brown, national forage consultant for Cargill, addressed silage harvest and bunker management.
“Harvesting at the correct moisture level is critical, whether it’s corn silage or haylage,” said Brown. “Then we need the right additive for each situation, whether it’s a bag, baleage, a traditional upright silo, a bunker or a drive-over pile.” Continue reading
Category Archives: Mid Atlantic
Burleson family keep innovating — but wet weather means a late season for all crops
by Karl H. Kazaks
RICHFIELD, NC — “We’ve had a season unknown to most of us around today,” Ronnie Burleson said. “A wetter spring and summer than we can remember.”
So it has been — as in much of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast — in Stanly County, headquarters of Thurman Burleson & Sons Farm — a family partnership between Ronnie, his brother Dennis, son Andrew, and nephew Aaron. The Burlesons grow cotton, corn, beans, and wheat on 4,000 acres in five counties within a 50-mile radius of their home farm here.
Planting was delayed by about two weeks at the Burlesons’ operation.
With the cool wet spring, they could only plant corn “for a day or two before we’d have to wait,” Burleson said. They even sent some corn seed back, as they wanted to focus on planting 2,400 acres of cotton. “Hindsight being what it is, even late corn looks good,” Burleson said.
They weren’t able to make up lost time when planting cotton, though. Because of all the rain, some cotton plants experienced damping off. “We’ve got bare spots,” Burleson said. “Some of it just drowned. About all you can do is spray the weeds and keep up with the good stands.”
Persistent rain also delayed the Burlesons’ wheat harvest.
“We should be planting double-crop soybeans by June 30,” Burleson said. “Half of our wheat wasn’t harvested by then.” Because of the late wheat harvest, the Burlesons decided not to plant several hundred acres of beans, figuring the risk of planting so late just wasn’t worth it. Continue reading
Share this:
Preserving an old breed at Old Gjerpen Farm
by Sally Colby
When Richard and Donna Larson’s children headed off to college, the couple sold the horses that had been part of the farm and chose a species that both could manage easily.
“I’m a farm boy, she’s a city girl,” said Richard, who grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. “The compromise was to get something small that Donna was comfortable with, and that would allow me to do some breeding and showing.” The Larsons chose sheep, and although Richard hadn’t raised sheep before acquiring Leicester Longwools, he has studied the breed extensively and enjoys working with and showing the best of his flock.
The Larsons’ Old Gjerpen Farm in Culpeper, VA is named after the Gjerpen Church in Norway where Richard’s family farmed for centuries. The farm is currently home to 40 sheep — 20 ewes and 20 rams. Richard admits that it’s an unusual ratio, but there’s a reason. “The Leicester Longwool is a rare breed,” he said. “We have three distinct bloodlines.”
To start their flock, the Larsons purchased Leicester Longwool sheep from Colonial Williamsburg. “They did the original importation (of that breed) around 1990,” he said. “I wanted to close the flock, but in order to do that, I needed diversity.” Williamsburg’s A.I. breeding program involved the use of imported semen that represented the Riverside, Beechwood and Ravenswood bloodlines from New Zealand. Richard was satisfied these bloodlines would allow him to maintain internal genetic diversity. Continue reading
Share this:
Government and Industry Day luncheon highlights Wednesday activities at Ag Progress Days
by Jon M. Casey
While the unseasonably cool weather took center stage at this year’s Ag Progress Days Wednesday Aug. 14, the Government and Industry Day luncheon was warm and friendly where approximately 300 members of Pennsylvania’s Ag community gathered at midday for an update on the latest in agriculture. Barbara Christ, Sr. Associate Dean at the College of Agricultural Sciences, who is currently serving as interim Dean began by saying that despite the changes in funding and departmental leadership, the overall effort continues under her leadership at the same level of “ownership, pride and passion” as it did in the past. She said the support of local and state governmental officials during the restructuring of the PSU Ag Extension Service, has been excellent and appreciated by all within the university system. These changes are the result of reduced funding.
Penn State President, Rodney Erickson, said while there have been a number of challenges during the past year including federal financial sequestration, at the same time, Penn State University has been named as one of the top 10 universities for Agricultural and Forestry education, worldwide. He noted the efforts of researchers at the university who are looking for a solution to the ongoing problem with the disappearance of pollinators like the honeybee and certain butterflies, continues as well. At the same time as this year’s Ag Progress Days, there is an international conference on Pollinator Biology taking place at the nearby Nittany Lion Inn. According to Penn State information, “Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research is a consortium of more than 25 faculty members involved in research, education and extension efforts focused on improving pollinator health, conservation and ecosystems services.” Continue reading