December 2007

DELAWARE VALLEY COLLEGE DAIRY EARNS NATIONAL ATTENTION/AWARDS

DOYLESTOWN, PA, -- (December 17, 2007) - Much good news has been coming out of the Delaware Valley College Dairy in recent weeks.

First, Delaware Valley College's small Ayrshire dairy herd was named the top herd in the United States for 2007 by the National Ayrshire Breeders Association. The award is given annually to a herd of Ayrshire dairy cattle that maintains a herd of 5 to 14 milking Ayrshire cows for a year. The DelVal herd consisted of 12 cows amongst other breeds for 2007. The DelVal herd produced an average of 23,300 pounds of milk per cow during the year, a production level considered extremely high for Ayrshires according to Larry Morris, chair of the Department of Dairy Science.

Other news from the Dairy was that the 2007 Delaware Valley College Dairy Judging Team ranked second at the 2007 North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky on November 5, 2007.

Four DelVal students competed against 24 colleges and universities in the United States with 96 total contestants. DelVal team members included sophormore Joshua Detweiler of Shirleysburg, PA, and senior Tara Fetzer of Bethlehem, PA, both large animal science majors and sophomores Eric Forgy of McVeytown, PA and Matthew Puskas of Somerset, NJ, both dairy science majors. Detweiler earned enough points to finish sixth highest individually in the contest.

During the competition, students look for the traits that make a good milking cow and orally defend their decisions and rationale when discussing their rankings with the judges. They earn points against their rankings verses where the competition judges ranked the animals.

"Dairy judging is an important part of studying dairy science," said Dr. James E. Diamond, Dean for Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at DelVal. "Students learn how to recognize outstanding dairy cattle traits, and these are life-long skills that students will take with them into their respective careers."

"Our students and staff in both of these cases of recognition should be quite proud, particularly because we compete against schools that are much larger in terms of financial and facility resources as well as their student body and herd sizes," added Diamond.

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DELAWARE VALLEY COLLEGE STUDENTS CREATE LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE PLAN FOR LOCAL PARK

DOYLESTOWN, PA, -- (December 6, 2007) - Nine environmental design majors currently taking Delaware Valley College's "Major Native Landscapes" course have created a sustainable landscape management plan for Plains Park located on Orvilla Road at Plains Mennonite Church in Hatfield. The students will present their ideas to the church's leadership at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 11.

As part of the project, students evaluated the status of native plants and looked at plant landscapes as well as wildlife habitats in the 12-acre park that is open to the public. In addition, they considered the parks current storm water management system.

The group worked under the leadership of Eve Springwood Minson, assistant professor of Environmental Design at DelVal whose background and specialty is creating sustainable landscapes.

"Students in our environmental design program are well versed in landscape design, restoration and sustainable landscapes," said Minson. "This plan provides a process for restoring the park's native landscapes, a storm-water management plan that has been a problem in the past and ongoing, sustainable landscape and land management."

Jim King, owner of KJ Plastics, a plastics recycling firm in Lansdale, and chair of the Plains Park Advisory Board responsible for this project, knows full well the importance of long-term landscape management and planning.

"We realized that once we made the park more attractive to the community and had hundreds of visitors on a regular basis, that we also needed a way to manage and sustain the natural and native landscaping into the future," King said. "We wanted to bring professional people from the area in to help us prepare an appropriate plan to help manage the park for the community and for the future and the Delaware Valley College students embraced the project with professionalism and some great ideas."

After the students present the plan, the church will consider implementation timing and necessary help from Delaware Valley College. Delaware Valley College offers this service of creating sustainable landscape plans for the Bucks County area. For more information, contact Eve Minson at 215-489-2330.