SO—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, -June 26,-1976-
Sandy Lent* enjoys
farm promotion
“It’s the best life,” Mrs. Robert. R. Lentz said with
conviction as she spoke of her life on a dairy farm. But she
explained that she didn’t always feel that way.
When she was growing up on a farm in Fredericksburg
with her four sisters and one brother, the sisters all
agreed that they would not marry farmers. Sandy said,
“We all worked hard - milking, baling and working the
combine.” Her parents are Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Shirk.
But she and two of her sisters did marry farmers and
she says, “I really enjoy it. You work hard, but in the
winter it is not quite so demanding. It is a good place for
kids to grow up.”
Sandy has been a member of the Lebanon County Dairy
Princess Committee for three years and despite her relief
that it is over for another year she says, “I think
promotion is good • definitely. It’s really needed - con
sumers don’t realize what it takes to make a gallon of milk
or a pound of meat. Many consumers think farmers have
an easy life.”
She related a story about a visit to the Pennsylvania
State Farm Show where she overheard someone asking
the price of a huge piece of equipment. When the iftan
heard the high price he said, “Farmers must really have
money to be able to buy that kind of equipment.” Saqdy
said with'a laugh, “People think if a farmer needs a new
tractor he just buys one.” No one thinks of the debts, she
said.
She explained about Lebanon County’s dairy.promotion
along with their Dairy Princess contest. It was held at the
Lebanon Valley Mall, and on Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday there were exhibits in the mall, climaxing with
the contest itself on Saturday evening.
Young Fanners, 4-H’ers, and dairy suppliers made the
exhibits which showed daily equipment, what cows eat,
the different parts of the cow, how to prepare cows for
showing and other dairy-related information. To attract
attention the Dairy Council used their life-sized model,
“Geraldine,” and there was a live cow and two calves
there each day. A cow milking contest for young children
also resulted in a lot of “pinching and pulling,” Sandy
said.
Sandy’s husband farms 440 acres with his two brothers
Jay and Gary. They have 90 milk cows which they put
through a double-six herringbone milking parlor, and 130
head of young cattle.
Sandy calls herself the “substitute milker,” and says
that now she helps to milk only when the others are busy.
Keeping the weeds out of the flowers is
sometimes a big job. Here Sandy tries to keep
ahead.
By SALLY BAIR
Feature Writer
She said, “This is the time of year when I do the most
milking.” When she and her husband first started in the -
dairy business they both did the milking, and Sandy
. recalls that she milked in the morning before going to her
job as secretary for Quaker Alloy.
She said she doesn’t work in the fields very much, but
she does know a lot about the farm operation because she
keeps “all of the records.” She said she feelsjt’s good for
the wife to be involved in the farming operation in this
way.
“I enjoy working with books. There’s a lot more to it
than I thought it would be. I’m not always caught up, but I
take care of all the accounts,” she says.
She said she prepares the papers for registration for the
Holsteins and added, “We strive for a full registered herd,
although it may take a while.” The herd is on Dairy Herd
Improvement testing, and the latest average wps 15,738
pounds of milk, 3.7 percent, 576 fat. The Lentz’s also
participate in classification with their registered cattle.
Their prefix is San-Bo Holsteins. ‘
Homestead Notes
The Lentz’s now live on Bob’s grandfather’s farm which
Elmer Gibbel purchased in 1921. His father Ray pur
chased it from the Gibbels in 1959.
Sandy is a full-time homemaker and
mother who cares for three children. Brenda is 12 and a
member of the 4-H dairy club. She helps with feeding the
calves and heifers and helps in the bam during the
milking. She will go to Northern Lebanon Junior High in
the fall. ' J
David is four and a half and “helps with everything,”
his mother says. Indeed, during the interview he asked if
it was time to go bring in the cows. Karen is 21 months old,
and likes “cows and tractors.” Sandy says even at this
tender age she is completely a tomboy. " '■
Sandy has “a rather large garden” and does a lot of
canning' and freezing. She said, “I plant almost any kind
of vegetable. Every other year we make chow-chow.” She
By JOANNESPAHR
There will be no humor today. I declare a
moratorium on funny material. Of course' there's
always the possibility that you haven't realized I've
been striving for lightheartedness in this column.
Then," again, there’s the other possibility that
nobody’s been reading this column in the first
place. But, for those who have and are reading, I’d
like to change my style for a little.
And, farm wives can make a big difference in
farming, I believe. I don’t mean the typical situation
where somebody has to drive tractor, or pitch in
-with the milking on the spur of the moment. I mean,
make a difference by getting active and supporting
agricultural groups, especially the ag groups
designed for women. You can do so much that your
husband can’t because of time limitations on him.
Of course, I'm aware that being a farmer’s wife is
not a simple task. I know because I’m a farmer’s
daughter and have seen how really overly busy.my
mother has been at times just doing her part to
help keep the farrif going. But, I’ve also seen her get
more actively involved in farming in the past few
years and know that the little bit she has done has
made a difference. And it's made an important
contribution to her life, also.
Several of the articles this week are centered
around women active in farm organizations, and
one of these women said to me, "I think women
who weren’t raised oh a farm make better farm
wives than farmers’ daughters do because they
don’t know what they’re getting into.”
That may be true enough, but there are many
cases in which it isn’t. It is really the type of woman
who marries the farmer that makes all the dif
ference.
I Continued on Page 51]
My Thoughts and Welcome to Them
. /
oung
r
In the few quiet moments that come her way,
Sandy enjoys doing her embroidery. - '
(With apologies to James Thurber)
Groups like Agri-Women,-Agriculture. Council of
America, and Farmer's Union to name a few are all
working, first, to promote agriculture itself, and,
second, to understanding between the
farmer and the consumer. Any time the agricultural
sector and the non-agncultural sector of the
country communicate with each other, there is
bound to be better cooperation between the two
We need this, and we need more active farm
women to be spokesmen for our often misun
derstood part of the economy.
Now that I've given my pitch for getting active in
farm organizations, I’d like to give my pitch for
getting active in helping me with LANCASTER
FARMING. I want to make the woman’s section as'
interesting to you as possible. I know what I’d like:
to see in it, but I’m not all that sure if my ideas go
along with yours. For that reason, I would
any suggestions on articles or series of articles that j
you would like printed in the paper.
I am presently beginning a craft column. My
meager start is in the following section. As I state in
the forward to thatrarticle, I would appreciate any
craft or hobby which you might have that you think
would be interesting to other women. Don’t be shy
if you like a craft, you can be pretty sure
.someone else will also.
To go even further than this, I would welcome
any other suggestions which you might offer It's
your paper and I am willing to at least try to ac
commodate your wishes. “Try” of course, has to be
emphasized, since many times ideas are good, but
too time consuming or difficult to carry out. But, as
I said, I want to honor any suggestion you might
make, and then, hopefully, act on it.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon
iavn
tsaglassol
XXX
from his mother,
•• - - *•%'