Getting Their Farm
DEKALB SUPAy BRAND
FOR SUMMER PASTURE
For Green Chop or
DEPEND ON
DEKALB
DEKALI >s * t'equtered trademark
Cover Crop.
IConUiundFrowFagtll
caster Farming," Andricn
said. “I don't think we’ll get
anything in Chester County.
In our area, West Bradford
Township, just about all the
farmers have been ap
proached by developers who
want to buy their farms. Just
a few inonths ago, a farmer
near here sold 33 acres for
$250,000. You Just can’t pay
that kind of money for a
farm and expect to make
enough from farming to pay
off the mortgage.’’
Ten years ago in Bradford
Township there were
perhaps 40 milk shippers.
Today there are only ten,
and the Andriens, with their
seven milking cows, are one
of those.
How do you make any
money with seven cows, we
asked Andrien. “Well, we
don’t. The farming operation
is in the red sometimes, and
sometimes it’s in the black.
We’ve put about $20,000 into
buildings, animals and
equipment so far, and we’re
just about breaking even. We
made some profit over the
summer, but mostly because
we were picking up prize
money at fairs.
“Actually, the dairy
operation would probably be
self-sufficient right now,
even with milk prices down,
if it weren’t for the
freeloaders.”
“You’re not selling the
horses!” Mrs. Andrien and
the children said almost in
unison. The horses are one of
the things the Andriens like
about living in the country.
They also like making their
own butter, eating eggs from
their own chickens, drinking
milk from their own cows,
and eating beef from their
own steers.
Denise, the 15-year-old daughter of catalyst who started the family on the
Bruce and Loraine Andrien, was the road to farming.
“We even make our own
fudge,” Lorin said.
Both Bruce and Loraine
Andrien are Chester County
natives. Bruce grew up on
his grandfather’s GO-acre
farm. Mrs. Andrien never
lived on a farm but enjoyed
visits to a relative’s farm as
a child. Many of those early
experiences helped them to
decide that they wanted to
become a full-time farm
family. That, and a daughter
who wanted “just on cow”.
Denise is now a frehsman
at Downingtown Junior High
School. She said she’s always
loved animals, and that she
hopes to become a
UncMttr Farming. Saturday, Feb. 22.197 S
veterinarian. Denise is also
responsible for that lone
Guernsey in the Andrien
herd. She’s in love with
Guernseys, she said. Why?
“I like their eyes.”
Denise and her two
brothers are all members of
the Tri-Community 4-H club.
But her father’s in love
with Jerseys. “When we do
get a farm. I’d like to stick
with purebred Jerseys. I like
their temperment,
especially with children in
the barn. They’re easy to
control, and they seem more
intelligent to me than the
other breeds. And they take
less feed and less work for
the amount of milk you get.”
Andrien now ships all his
milk to the Lengachre
cheese plant in Kinzers. This
means all his output is sold
at manufacturing milk
prices, but Adrien said it’s
an inconvenience he’ll put up
with until he gets better
milking facilities. Because
he wasn’t planning on doing
any milking, the barn wasn’t
built for milking, Andrien
explained. All the cows in the
herd are enrolled in the
DHIA testing program.
TRYA
CLASSIFIED
AD!
19