Livestock

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Penn State Cooperative Extension is offering a home study livestock course in sheep, meat goat or beef. If you are interested in starting or running a livestock operation, this program will give you the information you need; plus, you get to study in your own home and on your own time schedule. There are no meetings to attend. The course materials will be mailed to you, or you can take the sheep or meat goat course on the Internet. The courses will start in February and materials will be available weekly for six weeks.

Old Man Winter has reared his head and folks have taken notice. I was listening to the radio last week during one of our snow events and a woman was saying how she was preparing for the pending weather and one of her precautions was putting plastic on the windows of the horse barn. All I could think of was, "are you kidding me?" Sealing up a barn is the worst thing a person can do for livestock. For the record, barns were primarily built for human comfort, not animal comfort.

o If you like reading Tim Rowland, you'll love watching him. See what else Tim has to say Other people may think that Animals on the Loose are funny, but not me. On the realities of farming, Washington County Extension Agent Jeff Semler says, "If you have livestock, sooner or later you're going to have deadstock. " And to take it one step further, if you have livestock, sooner or later you're going to have escapedstock. Believe me, I know. So I felt for Keedysville farmers Imre and Linda Jarmy when two of their sheep bolted from the grounds of Four States Livestock Auction in Hagerstown and immediately booked tickets for Key West.

Four head of cattle escaped in Hagerstown Wednesday while being transported to the Four States Livestock Auction. Personnel from Four States were called to help round up the livestock. One of the escapees had to be shot with a tranqulizer gun before it could be captured.

Tractor Supply Co. held a grand opening April 28 at 1040 Somerset Blvd. in Charles Town. The event featured antique tractors, animals, pedal car races for children and product demonstrations. Food vendors also were on-site. The Charles Town location is Tractor Supply Co.'s 22nd store in West Virginia and employs approximately 25 team members. The facility has 19,097 square feet, including sales floor and support service space. Tractor Supply Co. is the largest retail farm and ranch supply store chain in the United States, and has been operating in West Virginia since 2002.

Krystle Stoy  A lot of hard work goes into raising livestock, and the Ag Expo provides the public the opportunity to see it, 14-year-old Krystle Stoy said.  "The more you're around events like this, the more you get educated about livestock," Krystle said Friday.  The Williamsport High School student, who enjoys hanging out with her friends at the fair, said it is very important to educate people about the importance of  agriculture.  "These events are very educational not only for 4-H'ers but for the public as well," the 4-H Beef Club member said.

Farmer forced to improvise By SARAH MULLIN / Staff Writer A month ago, farmer John Schnebly never thought he would soon be on a waiting list for a new well. Then, about three weeks ago, the well that has provided his home and farm with water since the late 1960s suddenly started to go dry. Now he has no idea when a new well will be drilled because well drilling companies in the area are backed up with requests from others whose wells also have dried up. "I hope we can get bumped up the list because of the livestock," Schnebly said.

Spring is well on its way with welcome showers and warmer temperatures. This is the time when the corner planters will be hitting the fields and livestock will be turned out on pasture. Pasture management will be our topic of discussion today. It is one of the least understood or so it seems the least practiced management strategy in the agrarians' tool box. The major problems I see range from too many horses on a plot of land to people who choose not to move their cattle off the pasture.

Agriculture is defined by Webster as the science, art or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising livestock. Common synonyms are farming and husbandry. As you probably know, our area produces acres of wheat, barley, corn and soybeans as well as tons of forage for livestock consumption. This forage is either harvested mechanically by the farmer or directly by grazing animals. It is grazing livestock that is my focus in this article. Animals have been grazing for thousands of years.

While this past year has been good for livestock and dairy producers because of better than average prices for meat and milk, it is not without its challenges. The problem - much of the Tri-State area has suffered through a drought from June through October. This followed a spring that was also on the low side of moisture needs, which resulted in a reduction in the first cutting of hay. Much of the second and third cuttings of grass hay were almost nonexistent and alfalfa yields were also significantly reduced in quantity.

Owners of even one horse, sheep, cow or pig in Pennsylvania are now required to maintain a written manure management plan, and that's no bull. The conservation district offices in Franklin and Fulton counties have workbooks to aid backyard farmers and owners of larger-scale operations in developing their manure management plans. The planning requirement from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection went into effect last October. DEP inspectors could request record-keeping associated with the written plan when investigating complaints.

Cool Pines Farm in Hagerstown has entered four beef heifers in the Angus division of the 39th annual North American International Livestock Exposition, scheduled for Nov. 3 to 16 in Louisville, Ky. The event takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. Shane Heizer, 17, will be showing the four Angus heifers at the expo. Heizer is a senior at Smithsburg High School and also takes courses at Hagerstown Community College through its ESSENCE program. He will graduate in June and hopes to attend either Oklahoma State University or Kansas State University and major in animal science and agribusiness.

Tractor Supply Co. held a grand opening April 28 at 1040 Somerset Blvd. in Charles Town. The event featured antique tractors, animals, pedal car races for children and product demonstrations. Food vendors also were on-site. The Charles Town location is Tractor Supply Co.'s 22nd store in West Virginia and employs approximately 25 team members. The facility has 19,097 square feet, including sales floor and support service space. Tractor Supply Co. is the largest retail farm and ranch supply store chain in the United States, and has been operating in West Virginia since 2002.

Tractor Supply Co. BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Construction is under way on two new Tractor Supply Co. stores in the Tri-State area. The Frederick, Md., store will be in a former RV dealer space at 7631 Devilbiss Bridge Road, and will employ 12 to 17 full- and part-time team members. The 19,800-square-foot store will include sales floor and support service space. A fenced exterior space will be used for storage and displaying items such as fencing, sprayers and livestock equipment.

About 40 Black Angus cattle were killed or euthanized after a livestock trailer overturned on Interstate 68 near Sideling Hill Thursday afternoon, according to Maryland State Police. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Jason Braithwhite of Points, W.Va., had only minor injuries, Senior Trooper Robert Care said. Braithwhite was the independent owner of the tractor-trailer which was transporting 96 cattle from a farm in Greencastle, Pa., to a facility in Nebraska where they were to be fattened up for sale, Care said.

Shane Heizer of Hagerstown entered two head of Angus cattle in the beef division of the 38th annual North American International Livestock Exhibition. The event is recognized as the world's largest purebred livestock show with more than 23,000 entries and nearly $700,000 in prizes and awards. It is scheduled for Nov. 15 to 18 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky. For more information, go to www.livestockexpo.org .

Three pigs were euthanized Thursday after the truck and trailer hauling them struck a utility pole, caught fire and took down eight other utility poles, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. The accident occurred around 7:48 p.m. near the intersection of Slabtown and Orchard Ridge roads just east of Hancock, sheriff's office Lt. Tom Newton said. Newton said the driver of the truck was attempting to turn from Slabtown Road onto Orchard Ridge Road, but took the turn too sharply and struck a utility pole.

A cotton swab dabbed with a little petroleum jelly, a disposable razor and a toothbrush can help make your hens look pretty, but winning the grand champion poultry showmanship trophy at the Berkeley County Youth Fair requires much more work. Just ask this year's winner, Michael Lithrow, who placed second three times before winning the top honor in Tuesday's poultry show at the fair. “You pretty much have to know the bird inside and out,” Lithrow said as he held one of his three Rhode Island Red hens outside their cage at the fairgrounds.

Krystle Stoy  A lot of hard work goes into raising livestock, and the Ag Expo provides the public the opportunity to see it, 14-year-old Krystle Stoy said.  "The more you're around events like this, the more you get educated about livestock," Krystle said Friday.  The Williamsport High School student, who enjoys hanging out with her friends at the fair, said it is very important to educate people about the importance of  agriculture.  "These events are very educational not only for 4-H'ers but for the public as well," the 4-H Beef Club member said.

Agriculture is defined by Webster as the science, art or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising livestock. Common synonyms are farming and husbandry. As you probably know, our area produces acres of wheat, barley, corn and soybeans as well as tons of forage for livestock consumption. This forage is either harvested mechanically by the farmer or directly by grazing animals. It is grazing livestock that is my focus in this article. Animals have been grazing for thousands of years.