—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 15,1977
58
LIFE on the farm
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Life on the
farm” columns are written as en
tertainment for farmers and to
promote better understanding
between rural and urban folks. All are
based on actual recollections and are
designed to portray the joys, sorrows,
frustrations, daily work and triumphs
of life on a Pennsylvania dairy farm.
The columns are 'distributed to
several Pennsylvania newspapers
and have a sizable urban following.
On many farms, life on the farm
isn’t what it used to be just a few
years ago For example, last
Saturday I had the pleasure of
operating a modern 210-horsepower
tractor, pulling a 3-row corn chopper
and 3-axle forage wagon.
What a difference from the way it
used to be done back home when a
50-horsepower tractor pulled a
single row chopper and ‘“toy” of a
wagon. Not surprisingly, the dif
ferences don’t end with just size
Up until last week, I have been
used to running a chopper and
listening to it work In fact, the noises
from it often signaled the machine’s
progress You could tell if you were
By Dieter Krieg, Editor
going too fast, if something was
caught somewhere, or if a part
needed a shot of grease.
That wasn’t true last week with the
low-profile machine pulled by a
smooth-running 6-cylmder Diesel. 1
sat in that totally enclosed cab and
could only monitor the machine with
one sense - my vision. What little
noise the machine made was
inaudible inside the tractor. It was
almost as though the activity on the
other side of the safety glass was
nothing but a silent movie.
The wagon trailing behind the
chopper had a capacity of 10 tons.
Six big tires carried the load, which
was nearly three times as much as
what we used to put on a wagon at
home
The tractor itself rode as smoothly
as my Buick. Equipped with power
steering, power brakes, power
shifting, and a luxuriously padded
interior, it was no wonder. It was also
quiet -- offering a whole new concept
of farming to at least this individual
Back at the silo, more evidence of
the changing times became ap-
parent It took just four minutes to
btow 10 tons of silage into a silo
standing 65 feet high That, I think, is
as much of an engineering marvel as
being able to chop 10 tons of silage in
12 minutes That works out to 50
tons of silage chopped per hour -
fast enough to fill a big 20 to 60 silo in
Conservation Dist. wins award
jnservation let won it ice awai best
Environmental Conservation Education Program by a conservation district in
the Northeastern U.S. The district was awarded $2OO cash and the plaque
pictured above. The contest is co-sponsored by the National Association of
Conservation Districts and the Allis-Chalmers Corporation. Seen receiving the
award from Bruce F. Holbrook, (on right), field representative of the State
Conservation Commission, is Clair Gerberich, the executive assistant of the
Lebanon Co. Conservation District.
mon
ifSHUi
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day. It used to take us nearly two
weeks at home.
It’s a different kind of life on the
farm, and I’m thankful to be getting a
taste of it now and then. It's good to
keep in touch with the work I still
love, and write about today.
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