Vol. 17 No. 20
On his first day on the Kauffman farm, Theo Neher helped
to bring this calf into the world while its mother looks on
proudly.
Lancaster County 1972
Wheat-Feel Grain Program
' There are a total of 638 farms
enrolled in the 1972 wheat and-or
feed grain program 442 for
feed grain and 530 for wheat,
according to Miss Dorothy Neel,
Lancaster County executive
director of ASCS.
Wheat farmers have agreed to
set-aside 1,829 acres and feed
grain farmers agreed to set-aside
3,281 acres.
In addition to this, the
Department will accept the
Special Hog Sale for
FFA and 4-H Projects
A special feeder pig sale for
FFA and 4-H projects, for youth
only, will be held at 1 p.m.
Saturday, April 15 at Charles
Myers Black and White Farm,
sponsored by the Lancaster
County Swine Producers
Association.
Approximately 200 hogs have
Butz Criticizes
Corn Import Levies
Secretary of Agriculture Earl
L. Butz issued the following
statement:
“I am extremely disappointed
at the increase in protection
resulting from decisions taken
last week by the European
Community. This new action to
raise the barrier against our com
is a serious disappointment and a
setback to world trade.
“The variable levy system
applied to com imports has
already resulted in an expansion
in com production within the
European Community—a high
priced production that works
against European consumers as
well as U.S. com producers. It is
unreasonable and inconsistent
additional five or 10 per cent of
the feed grain base offered by
farmers.
Farmers will earn payments on
the set-aside acreage and be
eligible for price-support loans on
wheat or feed grain grown.
The set-aside acres must be
cropland of average productivity.
It cannot be harvested in 1972, but
may be pastured after September
1.
been consigned for the special
sale. Most breeds will be
represented.
Wilbur Hosier will serve' as
auctioneer for the new venture.
Warren Leininger, Denver, is
chairman of the committee. For
further information, contact him
at 215-267-5517.
with constructive trade policy
that American farmers who are
efficient producers of com should
be reducing their plantings of
com while European farmers
who are less efficient are en
couraged to expand theirs
through increased protection.
“We asked the Community to
consider the level of its variable
(Continued On Page 40)
In This Issue
Classified Ads 41,42,4?
Market Section 2,3,4
Sale Register 36,37,38
Thoughts in Passing 16
Women’s News 26,27,28
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 8,1972
Then Meher
Young Theodore Neher has
lived on a farm most of his life.
He wants to go to college, get his
degree and then get his doctorate
so that he might teach in some
area of agriculture. He’s hard
working, enthusiastic and
knowledgeable.
Now so far there is nothing here
that would make Theo any dif
ferent from most Lancaster
County young farmers. But there
is one major difference. Theo is a
twenty-one-year old German
farmer in this country for one
year to get practical farm ex
perience.
Theo arrived in the United
States just this week and is
staying with the Robert H.
Kauffman’s, Elizabethtown RDI.
He applied for the visit to
America while a student in
Germany. His request was
relayed to Charles Larson of the
National Holstein-Fresian
(See Pictures on Page 40)
John M. Shank looks over a hive of bees on his woodland in West Hempfield
Township.
John M. Shank
A Honey of a Beekeeper
John M. Shank, 1954 Larch
Avenue, East Petersburg,
recently celebrated his 50th
anniversary. No, not a wedding
anniversary but his 50th year in
beekeeping. Now maybe this type
of anniversary is not as im
portant as the one involving
wedding bliss but to Shank it does
have some significance.
“I bought my first hive from a
New Danville fruit grower about
a year after I became interested
in bees. So that would make it
about 1922. I had been reading
about bees in various farming
magazines and they seemed
Welcome to Lancaster County
“Everything in America is so
big,” said Neher as he devoured a
large plate of ice cream m the
spacious kitchen of the Kauffman
farmhouse. “In Germany things
are smaller, much smaller.”
Neher and his parents lived on
an 88-acre farm near Ot
terswang, Germany. His parents
have 50 per cent of their land in
pasture, 35 per cent m grain, such
as wheat, barley and oats, and 15
per cent in corn, which is used for
silage. The Nehers have 20 cows
“Our farm in Germany would
be called a middle farm. The
Kauffman farm, to me, is a large
farm,” he continued. Theo has a
farm background having worked
on farms in Germany plus being
involved in a Young Farmer
Club. He has also worked in a
tractor factory and done some
construction work.
interesting to me. So I bought a
hive. I was 19 years old at the
time,” recalls Shank.
The ownership of the bees was
fairly short-lived as the lure of
the West was in the bones of this
New Danville farmboy. After
working on a ranch in Oregon,
Shank returned to Lancaster
County and married Emma B.
Ober from Kissel Hill. It wasn’t
until 1949 that Shank returned to
the business of raising bees. He’s
been at it ever since.
“I now have seven hives on my
three-acre tract of land in West
Hempfield Township. I have had
Association. Larson, in turn,
contacted the Kauffmans who
extended the invitation.
His first day on the Kauffman
$2.00 Per Year
farm was a memorable one as he
helped to bring a calf into the
world. This is all part of the
learning experiences which will
help Theodore Neher teach
agriculture in his native land
Farm Calendar
Saturday, April 8
Pennsylvania Holstein
Association Calf sale, Small
Arena, Farm Show Budding,
Harrisburg.
Fulton Grange 66 annual supper,
Oakryn.
Tuesday, April 11
8 a.m - 4 30 p.m Lancaster
County Holstein Association
annual tour, Lancaster County
farms
7:30 p.m. Farm and Home
Foundation board of directors
meeting, Farm and Home
Center.
7:30 p.m. Ephrata Young
(Continued on Page 40)
bees all over Lancaster County,
back at Clay, below Willow
Street, below Millersville and
even at my former home along
the Oregon Pike in Manheim
Township. One of the most im
portant rules of beekeeping is not
to have more bees than you can
properly care for,” notes Shank.
It’s fairly easy for a beginner to
get started in beekeeping. “First,
you must have a genuine interest
in bees and a willingness to take
care of the hives. Secondly, you
should join the Lancaster County
Beekeeping Association. We have
(Continued On Page 33)