ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 26, 1995 TAG: 9512270015
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: DAVID REED Associated Press
When rancher Brian Bennett shoots the breeze at the auction barn these days, the talk is as likely to be about megabytes and the World Wide Web as steers and heifers.
Bennett, a third-generation cattleman who helps his parents and three brothers manage their 2,300-acre farm in Campbell County, says his 286 microprocessor just doesn't cut it anymore, and he's itching to get a modem. That way, he can check the Internet for market prices, weather forecasts or the latest university research on breeding techniques and disease prevention.
``I've gotten pretty outdated quite quick,'' said Bennett, 30, .
Farming magazines are now published on the Internet. There are even chat rooms that let online farmers talk shop in real time without driving to the local feed-and-seed outlet.
Gordon Groover, a Virginia Cooperative Extension agricultural economist, estimates that 15 percent of Virginia's farmers now have personal computers.
It's a sign of things to come.
Farmers will have to depend more on computers for information and less on extension agents, said Andy Swiger, dean of Virginia Tech's college of agriculture. Since 1990, the state has cut the number of agents from 450 to less than 300.
``Instead of the county agent coming out and leaning on a fence post and talking to you, you'll be talking to a computer,'' Swiger told farmers at a Virginia Farm Bureau Federation meeting.
The extension service will ask the General Assembly in January to allocate an additional $2 million to develop software to help farmers and to provide computer training for agents and farmers, Swiger said.
In December, Groover coordinated computer workshops in James City, Pittsylvania and Halifax counties. About 30 more will be offered around the state next year.
``I've seen a drastic increase in requests made by farmers for these types of workshops and in phone calls related to computer use,'' Groover said.
For an investment of $1,500 to $2,500, Groover said, farmers can get a computer system that lets them use software customized for their needs.
Programs such as SprayMan and QuickPay help keep accurate records of pesticide use and payrolls. Another called CHAPS keeps track of cows' weight gain, health, milk production and reproduction cycles.
Bennett Cassell, an extension genetics specialist, said it's no coincidence that milk yields have shot up in Virginia since farmers began using computerized information. Dairy cows set a state record this year by producing more than 19,000 pounds of milk a year per animal, or almost six gallons of milk per day.``It happened at the same time,'' ``Herd sizes are going up, and a farmer can't rely on memory anymore,'' Cassell said.
But computers down on the farm are still rare. Of the 118,000 dairy farms in Virginia, only 45 use computers and modems to access computer data from the state's Dairy Herd Improvement Association.
``There are a lot of farmers that don't want anything to do with a computer, even the good ones,'' Cassell said.
Larry McPeters, Halifax County's extension agent, said farmers are often too busy to find the time it takes to learn how to use a computer and type in all the information needed to make it useful.
``The work must go on outside,'' McPeters said. ``The chores must be done, the fields must be plowed.''
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Brian Bennett wants to be able to check the Internetby CNBfor market prices, weather forecasts or the latest university
research on breeding techniques and disease prevention. color.