Lancaster Farmim 34 9 4 Jaycees name Outstanding Young Farmer By JUDY MITCHELL Berks Co. Reporter FLEETWOOD, Pa. - Larry Mertz, named Outstanding Young Fanner at the Kutz town Jaycees banquet this past Saturday, says he doesn’t consider that “I’m doing anything great. I’m just doing what I’ve always done,” Larry told Lancaster Farming during an in terview at the Mertz farm in Fleetwood R 2. Mertz says he has worked on a dairy farm “all my life, first on my parent’s farm, and then I just decided to go into it myself.” Lany doesn’t see that there is any real “key” to successful fanning. “It’s a struggle all the time,” he observed, “and it always will be - just lots of hard work and family cooperation.” According to his wife Carol, real success depends on how an individual sees himself. “If you are successful in your own mind,” she says, “it doesn’t matter what other people say.” “Average Shirtsleeves” More Popular More and more retailers are adding “average shirt sleeve-length” shirts to their collections, points out Mrs. Ruth Ann Wilson, Extension clothing and textiles specialist at Penn State University. By stocking shirts with an average length and fewer of those made to specific lengths, stores can keep a wider range of colors, styles, and patterns on hand. © CLASSIFIED Pure, delicious. sparkling fresh, drinking water! SEAGULL 500 WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM Seagull *5OO AC series purifiers destroy harmful bacteria, removes sediment, iron, hydrogen sulfide, bod taste, odor, color, traces amounts of gas and pesticides and neutralizes acidic and corrosive water all at (he some time Provides you with safe, delicious, sparkling fresh water at low cost and little maintenance 1 j YES lam mtirnltd in abtaininf m*r* information NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE TELEPHONE _ GERMAN BROTHERS DISTRS. R Dr 1 (BOX 290) EAST EARL, PA 17519 Pf**'Vß (215) (4S-C272 Saturda' But obviously “other people” do consider Larry a success, and he admits that the Jaycees have been after him for some years to accept the Outstanding Young Fanner honor. Granting that he is making a go of fanning at a time when there are becoming fewer and fewer young farmers in the area, Larry says he “owes what I have first of all to my parents” who had faith in him and provided the backing needed to get started. “If it wasn’t for my mother and father,” he observed, “I wouldn’t be doing what I am now.” But Larry added that he owes his success today “most of all to my wife and children, because I couldn’t do it all without them.” Doing it all, for the Mertz’- s, means running two 100- acre farms and a 100-head herd of dairy cattle, about 55 of which are milking. The family grows mostly com, alfalfa, and small grain; and although they have been able to get some parttime help during the crop season, for the greater part of the year, they handle the farm work themselves. Carol and Larry do the milking, each morning and evening together, and their children, Michael, age 12, Steven, 11, and Michelle, seven, help with the chores after school. Of Carol, Larry says, “I would be lost without her.” And the boys, he observed “are great tractor drivers.” Carol doesn’t mind getting up to milk in the morning and says “it would be the same as if I had a job.” Carol recalled, however, that she didn’t always feel that way. She had never been around cows before she married Larry, and she remembers that “the first time I milked a cow, I was ready to leave, I was so scared.” The first Mertz family farm, purchased by Larry’s great-grandfather, is located fThc Saogutt *5OO can pvrrfy waltr far an antira haute or restaurant and larger inslallo tien 6 sizes te fit any need larger units -can be utilized by hospitals and condomin iums' Engineered for long life and safety FINANCING AVAILABLE Jan. 29. 1977 a short distance from the farm where Larry and his family live. The second farm was purchased by his father, Larry recalls, and when Larry took over the operation more than 10 years ago, what is now the home farm was not equipped for dairying. Larry decided in favor of a free-stall with a milking parlor set-up although “it was pretty new in the area at that time.” “Luck, weatherwise and with the animals,” is something Larry considers to be an important factor in making a farm go. And although the Mertz’s are I ZIP SNYDERS PLANT FOOD CO. An efficient milk house is just part of the free stall barn and milking parlor setup that Larry and SAVE $ $ $ $ $ BUY DIRECT FROM PA'S ONLY MANUFACTURER OF LIQUID FERTILIZER SOLUTIONS. With our modern mixing facilities, you are assured of receiving an accurate formulation of’ your required analysis. YOU CAN PURCHASE YOUR HI-SCORE LIQUID FERTILIZER SOLUTIONS WITH POSSIBLE SAVINGS OF 100’S OF DOLLARS. ANALYSIS AVAILABLE FOR SPRING DELIVERY 10-20-10 F 9-18-9 F 10-10-10 In Addition - Early order and pre-payment Discounts Available. Fertilizer delivered direct to your farm. Mail To: I I SNYDERS PLANT FOOD COMPANY j j RD No 2, Lititz, Pa. 17543 } | □ Please send details on Hi-Score Products I j Name I 1 Address I City I Phones L 1 11l W. Newport Road, Lititz, Pa. 17543 pretty pleased with the way things have been going recently, it seems luck wasn’t always on their side. A serious problem with mastitis that was causing them to lose a number of cattle four or five years ago was just one of the setbacks Larry recalls. Larry had called in specialists from Penn State before the problem was traced to clepsiella. “I guess you could say we were kind of pioneers” in the discovery that the bacteria was being transferred to the cows through the unheated green sawdust, Larry observed. Zip State (Area) Code) For Information on Price-Quality-Service Call 717-626-8909 Carol Mert; installed when they took over the Mertz family farms 11 years ago. He’d been using the sawdust successfully for a number of years, but it turned out that the demand for the green sawdust was becoming so great with the increasing numbers of free-stall operations that it wasn’t being left standing long enough for die fermentation that had been killing the bacteria to take place. In spite of the problems The Better Idea Purchase Plan Select any Ford ag tractor or any of a long list of farm implements. Take delivery now. If your trade-in covers the down payment, there’ll be no installment payments until May, subject to prior credit approval. After May 1, 1977, the credit plan you had selected goes into effect. You may pay monthly, semi-annually or by the crop, depending on the plan that meets your needs. Well show you lots of other good reasons to buy now. like great new Ford tractors with the Ford-built cab. Plus new plows! New discs! New planters, and other new Ford implements soon to be announced. If you buy now you can take your investment tax credit deduction from your 1976 income tax. And start your depreciation schedule. You may earn substantial savings while increasing productivity with Ford products. Come in today! Get full details on the Better Idea Purchase Flan. Tractors Equipment I { Buffalo Springs 717-949-6502 Route 419 Between Schaeffersfown & Cornwall encountered over the years, farming is still the only way of life for the Mertz family. Larry says he realizes that according to bankers and investment experts, fanning gives a poor return on the investment dollar. But “we like what we are doing,” Larry comments, and for this young farm family, that’s what makes it wor thwhile. KELLER BROS. TRACTOR CO. Lebanon County
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