—Lancaster Farming.S«turday. March-12. 1977
50
Here Sandy cares for some of
the many plants throughout her
farm home.
SandyYocum looksoversome
of the weather records she
keeps for the United
Weather Bureau.
Sandy Yocum quickly learned
to appreciate agriculture
“There are definite advantages to living where we
do. People are terrific around here.” These en
thusiastic words come from Sandy Yocu, Manheim R 7,
who lives in a 200-year-old farm house on 88 acres of
land, and is a Lancaster County farm wife-of-sorts.
Sandy is married to John Yocum, assistant professor
of agronomy, who is in charge of the Southeastern
Field. Research Laboratory of the Pennsylvania State
University. She works closely with her husband and
enjoys being involved with his work, just like a great
many farm women in this area.
A city girl from Bloomsburg in Columbia County,
Sandy confesses that she has learned a lot about far
ming since marrying John and moving to the research
farm at Landisville 15 years ago. Now, she says, “I
wouldn’t want to move bade to town. It is really pretty
out here.”
She also admits to being very vocal about the far
mers’ situation sometimes. She said, “Town people
just don’t realize the problems farmers have. They
think when they go in a store the products will be
there.” She begins to say more, but checks herself and
says, “I don’t want to get on my bandbox.
Sandy is on Penn State’s payroll, and works about
four hours daily on research farm business. She said
her own involvement helps her have an understanding
of her husband’s work.
Sandy is deep into a long term project of organizing a
“working library” at the office, which means collec
ting and organizing all the booklets and pamphlets
from Penn State and from the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.
A big put of Sandy’s job is taking care of the
weather records which go monthly to the United States
Weather Bureau. The research farm is headquarters
for an official weather station, which is used heavily by
local industry. The station records rainfall, relative
humidity, high and low temperatures, and other im
portant aspects of the daily weather scene.
Sandy also does calculations on yields and other
information which is recorded faithfully from field
experiments.
Payroll is a part of Sandy’s work, and involves
records of two full time bßogiesd technicians, and two
part time Summer workers. Sandy praised the full
time workers as being “very conscientious and very
careful” in their work in the field. She explained,
“Everything must be recorded - it is very tedious."
Sandy laughs when she talks about some of the
comments they receive from friends and neighbors
when they see some of the research that goes on at the
farm. The research plots are given lots of dose at
tention, sometimes ukng strange apparatus.
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By SALLY BAIR
Feature Writer
WT'S&xiS.'
> S V* ~
Homestead Notes
Sandy explained that all of the work which goes on at
the Landisville farm is designed to find varieties which
grow ’and yield well in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Finding disease resistant varities poses a constant
challenge, since, Sandy says, “Plants keep getting new
disease just as humans do.”
The research lab grows a wide range of crops, from a
corn nursery where new varieties are developed, to
soybeans, small grains and potatoes. Tobacco is a
speciality at the Landisville laboratory and the in
formation they have on tobacco is the most up-to-date
anywhere. There is a vineyard and there is some
research presently being done on flowers. The number
of crops grown has tripled since the Yocums first
arrived there.
Sandy notes that all the research is a “cooperative
thing,” with professors from Penn State working on
planting and harvesting the test plots. Plant
pathologists and weed specialists are frequent visitors
to the lab. She said John spends a lot of “planning
time,” but also likes to “work right along with the
plots. He is really devoted.”
Sandy takes great pride in the accomplishments of
her husband, and notes that he received six awards in
the last .four years from young fanner groups and
others. She said he frequently speaks to groups about
the research being conducted at the research lab,
adding that all of the results get passed right along to
farmers through the Penn State Extension Service.
One of Sandy’s jobs is answering the phone, and she’s
had some interesting calls. She said they get a high
percentage of calls from people who really are trying
to contact the Extendon Service at the Farm and
Home Center. For these calls, she Just gives the proper
phone number.
Some calls are not so easily handled, however. Many
people do not know the work of the research lab, and so
calls come which belong to other agencies. Without
qualification, Sandy says the most unusual call she
ever received was from a woman who asked, “Do you
buy bodies? ” Sandy Just laughed and said she assumed
the woman, was trying to locate the Hersbey Medical
Center, also a branch of Penn State.
The research station is open for pre-arranged tours,
Sandy said. “We have had people from Japan,
Rhodesia, France, and Germany. They are all nice
people. John is the host, but I usually go and talk with
the women and answer as mud) as I can,” she
remarked.
She said they get a lot of school groups. “Young
students are very inquisitive. There is a lot more in
terest than there once was,” noted Mrs. Yocum.
The Yocum’s two daughters, Jennifer, IS, and
Jeanne, 12, are both students at Manheim Central, and
both enjoy meeting visitors who come to the farm.
Sandy and John Yocum go
over some of the records which
must be kept to make the
research information useful to
farmers. Although born a city
girl, Sandy has learned to ap
preciate agriculture and is on
the staff of Penn State
University as a part-time em
ployee. |
Sandy is currently president of Farm Women Society
5 even though she has been a member only five years.
Modestly, she says, “People just assumeyou'can do
things like being president.” She said she feels her
Society is “happy mixture” of older and younger
women. “The young ones feel they can team from the
older members and the older ones feel they can learn
from us.”
Singing is a true talent of Sandy’s which she used a
lot as a teenager, but which was dormant until a few
years ago. As a senior high school student in Bloom
sburg she had sung soprano with a dance band. She
also sang at many weddings which produced, “oodles
and oodles of jewelry from brides.”
Reluctantly, Sandy confessed to another singing
venture as a tenager. She sang hymns as part of an
early morning farm program and was followed by the
County Extension agent’s report.
And so, with a background as rich as that, Sandy
volunteered to organize a singing group when her
program committee at the Parent Teacher Society
needed some entertainment. The result of that is a
gospel group called the “Glory Heirs,” which en
tertains at meetings and church functions. Mrs. Albert
Fry and Mrs. Gerald Emrich are the other members of
the trio.
Sandy is a regular volunteer with the Manheim
Farm Show, taking entries for vegetables. The family
belongs to Salem United Methodist Church, Manheim.
She formerly was very involved with the Shared
Holiday program at the Lancaster YWCA, was a Girt
Scout leader and taught Sunday School. She gave up
those tilings because, “I gave my all. I needed a
spare time, Sandy enjoys playing the organ
and the piano and likes to sew. A craft which she
developed is decoupaging old slate shingles, which
results in an attractive wall decoration.
The Yocum’s have a large vegetable garden, but
Sandy gets asthma so this limits her involvement to
fraccing and canning the produce.
Sandy joked about being from the same county as
Pennsylvania’s new Secretary of Agriculture Kent
Sbelhamer. She said die knew Shelhamer when she
worked in the Boy Scout office in Bloomaburg, and be
was a scout master. When she left be said he hoped
they would meet again, so she is hoping he will attend
one of the many functions sponsored by the research
farm so she can renew his acquaintance.
For Sandy Yocum the research farm is home - and a
happy home. Sandy is justifiably proud of the work
which is carried out there, and in the ultimate way in
which It helps fanners, and contributes to the whole
southeastern Pennsylvania community.
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