UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The 1998 Pennsylvania Grazing and Forage Conference, featuring two lectures by a dairy grazing expert from Northern Ireland, will be held March 4-5 at the Holiday Inn in Grantville, Pa.
Sinclair Mayne, head of the milk production research program at the Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland in Hillsborough, County Down, will speak on "Forage Productivity and Utilization to Optimize Profits," Wednesday, March 4 at 9:15 a.m. He will address "Are We Selecting the Correct Dairy Cows for Grazing?" Thursday, March 5 at 9:15 a.m.
Mayne's area of expertise is dairy cattle grazing performance. He earned his Ph.D. from Queen's University, Northern Ireland. He was head of milk production research at the North Wyke Centre of the Grassland Research Institute in Devon, Great Britain, from 1983 to 1987.
Mayne also co-sponsors, with Larry Muller, Penn State professor of dairy science, an informal student exchange program between the institute and Penn State. In 1997, two Penn State undergraduates, Mark Mosemann and Amy Packard, traveled to Northern Ireland for a three-month exchange from May to August.
In addition, dairy farmer Lewis Stuttle, of Dryden, N.Y., will present "Grazing Dairy My Way," Wednesday at 11:15 a.m.
The rest of Wednesday's schedule includes sessions on managing summer slump, fencing, manure application, dairy parasites and dairy grazing economics. At 5:30 p.m., the Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Council will hold its awards reception, followed by an informal discussion addressing such topics as fencing, dairy, beef and the Internet.
Thursday's presentations include "Alfalfa: Grazing and No-Till" by Warren Thompson, forage scientist with the Alfalfa Breeders Institute at 8:15 a.m. At 8:45 a.m., Marvin Hall, associate professor of forage management at Penn State, will speak on "New Zealand: All That Glitters is not Gold."
Thursday's morning sessions will address new dairying technologies, poisonous plants and the economics of hay-making. In the afternoon, session topics include animal health issues, new forage varieties and the use of hay or silage in pasture-based dairies.
The conference ends with a 2:15 p.m. talk on "Integrated Farming Systems" by Alan Rotz, a scientist with the USDA Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Laboratory at University Park.
The $70 registration fee is due Feb. 21 and includes lunches and materials. To register, send fees to Richard Hann, P.O. Box 355, Hershey, PA 17033. Make checks payable to Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Council.
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Contact: John Wall jtw3@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax