ds.r attoB Uto eW '' l / «J|t ***" -*■ mm^m Vol. 20 No. 40 Potato market ‘very active' By Dieter Krieg MANHEIM Like many other potato growers across the country, Noah Kreider and Sons grew less of the crop this year than in previous years. But their reason for cutting back may not be the same as for most others. Potato acreage was cut back much more than ex pected for 1975, according to government crop statisticians, because of the big supplies and low prices which occurred last season. Although the Kreiders were by no means immune to these marketing develop ments, their choice to cut back was made primarily because of extra land being needed to meet the feed requirements of their dairy herd. Noah Kreider, Jr., who with his father, and brother, Richard, operates the 1,000 • acre agricultural enterprise, says this year’s potato crop is about the same as last year’s. They have been harvesting some of the earlier varieties since early August, and expect to con tinue the digging until mid October. The family has 300 acres planted in Superior, Norchip, and Katahdin spuds, most of which are used for potato chips. Kreider’s receipts thus far show a slightly lower price A summer afternoon in a hayfield near Hamburg, northern Berks County for potatoes than what was being paid last year, and like in most other farm operations, this is occurring at a time when production costs are multiplying. “Labor, machines, Witmer receives national honor WILLOW STREET Peter Witmer, the winner of the Dairy Shrine Club’s 1975 Student Recognition Contest, hasn’t always been sure about choosing a career on the farm. “I have not always been completely positive that I wanted to continue in dairy farming,” the young man said. Witmer explained that while in both high school and Kauffman cow wins York show By Dieter Krieg YORK For the second year in a row, a cow out of the Robert Kauffman herd, Elizabethtown, has won the grand champion banner at the Southcentral Cham pionship Holstein Show held here on Thursday. “Andfar Astronaut Cin derella,” a three year old. Serving The Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania Areas Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 23,1975 chemicals, and fuel are especially high,” Kreider said. In spite of the poorer economic conditions, the Kreiders are planning to stay in the potato business, college he was exposed to many different vocations, and with his father being a bank director, he at times thought maybe ‘things were greener on the other side of tile fence’. “But I have talked to a number of people who have left the farm for other lines of work ... and these people without fail have recommended staying on the farm if at all possitjkT won over “Fought Land Eagle Ingra,” an aged cow owned by Russell Kline, Denver. These two animals finished in the same order at the Lancaster County Open Holstein Show held at the Guernsey Sales Pavilion on July 31. Hie premier breeder and exhibitor of the show was mainly because they are set up for it with equipment. When Lancaster Farming visited the family’s potato facilities earlier this month, a total of 20 people were employed on the harvesters and they wished they csfild go back.” Witmer, a 1974 graduate of Penn State University, has decided to stay on the farm. Looking back now, he said it was the wedks and months spent away at school which convinced him his best future is in the dairy business. He has also learned to appreciate a dairying career more than George M. Knight, Wood bine. The York County breeder took first place in the best three females class, 100,000 pound class, dam daughter pair, as well as several other categories. The junior champion of the show was Cindy Knight’s “Woodbine Elevation Florence.” Taking reserve In This Issue FARM CALENDAR 10 Markets 2-6 Sale Register 75 Fanners Almanac 8 Classified Ads 25-26 Editorials 10 Homestead Notes 52 Home on the Range 54 Junior Cooking Edition 55 Country Corner 52 What’s New 62 Lancaster DHIA 64 Ag Progress Days 42 York DHIA 48 Lebanon DHIA 18 Ag Americana 20 York Dairy Roundup 14 and grading machines, turning out as much as 125 tons of potatoes per day. Giant potato digging machines, powered by some of the biggest two-wheel drive tractors on the market, he did before and looks to that business with en thusiasm and optimism. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Witmer, Willow Street, young Witmer will receive a $5OO cash award from the Dairy Shrine Club. He was selected by a panel of judges from a group of 32 outstanding dairy science (Contimied on Page 15] junior champion honors was a heifer belonging to Russell Kline. Kline also showed the winning bull of the show, which was judged by Maryland dairyman, William Hill, Jr. The reserve grand champion bull [Continued on Page 24] $3.00 Per Year Lancaster Fanwii Photo by Dieter Kriet crawled across long, level fields, filling one of five bin wagons every 10 minutes. The crop was then hauled to the warehouse for cleaning,' washing, grading, and loading. At times two loads were backed up to the conveyors at the same time Electric motors whirred as potatoes tumbled am bounced on their way to thr tractor and trailer waiting a< the other end of the line Washing was accomplishe* by way of an artificial! created “stream,” - in whicl the churning action cleanse*, the crop of all soil. It take about an hour and a half b load a tractor trailer whicl has a capacity of 25 tons. Kreider reported thi. year’s yield to be around 25' to 300 hundredweights pe acre. That estimate ma change since it was mad fairly early in the season. H also noted that not every da comes with the good hai vesting conditions he wa experiencing in mid August No serious problems wer encountered in growing thi year’s crop, although it wa a little dry, Kreider saic That isi a situation whic they can tolerate since all c their potato acreage is set u to be irrigated if necessan The Lancaster Count grower sells most of h> potatoes by contract and th [Continued on Page 9]
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