Market (Continued from Page 1) ticular holiday market because the Greeks eat strictly lamb. According to butchers and livestock market officials spoken to this week, Easter is one of the biggest lamb and goat markets held all year. This Monday, Lan caster Stockyards sold over 1000 Spring lambs and 150 goats and on Wednesday auctioned off about 125 lambs for the Easter trade. During the Summer months the average number of fat lambs runs about 300 at that market, according to Horace Plank with Walter M. Dunlap & Sons, Inc. lamb Keister’s Middleburg Auction Sales Inc. was another auction which held a special Easter sale. They numbered 550 lambs and goats this year at their sale, when, normally, at other times of the year they only average 35 to 40 such animals. New Holland Sales Stables held special sales both this week and last week. Last Thursday’s sale had about 500 lambs and 65 goats with choice lambs ranging from $1 to $1.40 per pound. This Thursday’s sale of 270 lambs and 80 goats commanded prices of $1 to $1.14 per pound for lambs. Abram Diffenbach, owner, estimates that lambs will be coming to the sale bam right through to the Greek Easter and getting much the same prices as they did for these markets. Most of these animals go th the major Eastern Seaboard cities such as New York and Philadelphia. The buyers, themselves, come from all over the eastern seaboard. One such buyer is George Dealaman, whose wholesale business, Dealaman En terprises Inc., Warren, N.J., deals mainly in suckling pigs, baby lambs, and kid goats. Between the Italian and Greek Easters Dealaman will slaughter about 2000 goats and lambs. His average for the rest of the year is about 40 per week. Most of the animals he slaughters will go to New York City.'Some of the New York trade prefers to buy the slaughtered animal with the hide on for preserving purposes. If a sale is made in this fashion, the coat must be curry combed and com pletely clean, free of all contamination, and in spected thoroughly, ac cording to Elmo Manieri, a butcher from Bechtelsville, Pa. Ninty per cent of Manieri’s trade goes to Philadelphia, and he mostly tries to sell his meat completely dressed. Lamb and goat is sold either whole, halved, or quartered, and is prepared in a multitude of ways. On the average, these little animals will yield about 72 per cent when dressed. Raising goats and lambs for the Easter market can sometimes be tricky. This year was a little more dif ficult than others because the holiday came so early. Paul Deiter, Manheun R 7, who owns 300 Suffolk and three-way crossbred ewes, starts lambing the first of September through until the end of March. He sells to a Christmas lamb trade, as well. He admits it is definitely more difficult to get the early lambs and suggests with a laugh that the more ewes you have, the better off you are. Deiter’s secret is to take the ram away from the flock in late October, keep the ewes and ram separate all Winter, and then put the ram back the first of April. With his Spring lambs, Deiter cashes in his lighter animals for the Italian Easter since this ethnic group prefer this type of animal, and he holds onto some bigger lambs for the Greek Easter, which is a market for slightly heavier lambs. Although the prices are good for this holday market, Deiter admits that there’s not too much profit in these little animals. “I figure I should get $4O to $45 with lambs, and depending on the market, these little lambs get close to that,” ho says. Raising goats for the Easter market takes a calendar and some figuring. According to Roy and LaVerne Mentzer, New Holland R 2, the animals should be bred at the end of August and beginning of Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 25,1978- These market lambs were sold at auction on Monday. September for Easter kids, lids is the natural time for goats to breed (they breed in three-week cycles from September through mid- February), so this is not as difficult as getting them to breed in the Fall. The most important factor is knowing when the holidays fall each year. The Menteers are milking 35 does and have 83 goats including yearlings, bucks, kids, and dry females. They sell their Easter kids to a buyer directly off the farm. therefore saving them time, shipping costs, and com mission. They also sell for the Christmas trade. Both agree that Easter is their best market. Another market at this time of year is for goats as Eater pets. For a more detailed informatioaon this subject, refer to a feature article eleswhere in this section of Lancaster Far ming. 19
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers