UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- As biosciences, computer technologies and other innovations impact every phase of animal agriculture, it gets tougher for livestock and dairy producers to keep up. Producers who want to stay current should visit the Animal Sciences Exhibits Area at Penn State's Ag Progress Days, Aug. 14-16.

The exhibits, sponsored by Penn State's departments of dairy and animal science and veterinary science, will feature the best available technologies to make them accessible to farmers and producers, according to Bill Heald, professor of dairy science and exhibit coordinator.

"We're highlighting the best of the new and the old, to help farmers sort out what's available," he says. "There are so many new inventions and initiatives, sometimes it's good to have an expert there to help you decide what's a real innovation, and what's a flash in the pan.

"We want the animal industry to show us what they're doing and have the opportunity to ask us for advice. We can discover what the producers want, they can see what we have to offer, and we can forge a relationship to improve Pennsylvania's agriculture industry."

A great example is the hog odor remediation exhibit in the Animal Sciences facility. Developed by Penn State researchers, it's a comparison of several technologies for controlling odor emissions from swine and other livestock facilities. Visitors can talk with the experts about the relative strengths of each system and consider the factors that would make a system most effective for a particular location.

Even the building housing the exhibits is innovative. Called an "animal greenhouse," it's a low-cost and surprisingly sturdy farm building that uses a metal tubing frame and plastic sheeting to fulfill all of the functions of traditional wood-and-steel barns, at a fraction of the cost.

A new addition for 2001 is a display from the Dairy Alliance, a partnership between Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State Cooperative Extension and dairy producers to enhance the economic development of the Pennsylvania dairy industry through focused educational efforts. The alliance helps individual farmers with issues of labor and business management, information technologies and nutrient management.

The popular Youth Lamb Show and Skillathon returns with a new wrinkle on Wednesday, Aug. 17, at the Junior Livestock Exhibition Tent. Pennsylvania 4-H and FFA members in four age groups will test their knowledge about lamb production in a multi-phase competition that includes a showmanship competition, a written test and a series of identification stations, followed by a traditional lamb show. This year, 4-H and FFA members with lamb projects can compete without showing an animal.

Other displays will address the dynamics of milk market pricing, milking machine testing and improvement, and opportunities in undergraduate education.

Because of concerns over the possible transmission of foot-and-mouth disease and other foreign animal diseases, visitors who have been overseas within two weeks of attending Ag Progress Days are asked not to visit the event's live-animal exhibit areas.

Penn State's Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday. Admission and parking are free.

For more information, call (800) PSU-1010 toll-free from July 9 to August 16 or visit the Ag Progress Days Web site at http://apd.cas.psu.edu.

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EDITORS: For more information on the Animal Sciences Facility, contact Bill Heald at 814-863-3918. For more information on Penn State's Ag Progress Days, contact Chuck Gill at 814-863-2713.

Contacts:

Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax