—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 22,1978
34
Stonesifer
(Continued from Page 29)
“Anyone open-minded
enough to try something can
do it,” believes Stonesifer.
“But you’ve got to be willing
to try.”
Two years ago, the family
moved into the 140-acre farm
at 1120 Baust Church Road,
near Union Bridge. An ad
ditional 350 acres are rented
for the cropping program of
com, hay, small grams and
pasture. A free-stall bam
and double-four milking
parlor house the almost
completely registered
Holstein herd.
Rolling herd average on
DHLA for the 135 milking
string is 16,300 pounds of
milk and 598 pounds of fat.
Cows are split into two
production groups, with a
cutoff point at 60 pounds
milk per day for cows and 55
pounds for heifers. A 20 per
cent complete protein feed
complements the forages of
com silage and timothy -
clover - alfalfa hay. High
moisture eared com is to be
incorporated into the feeding
program as well.
Stonesifer’s herd has
racked up impressive marks
in type scoring. During
recent classification, five
new animals were upgraded
to the converted Excellent
designation, giving
Stonesifer a total of seven
head, including an Elevation
son, in the top scoring
bracket. The unofficial BAA
(Breed Age Average) of the
herd is 104 points, boosted by
42 cows scored Very Good
and 50 head at Good Plus.
Several of the highest
rated cows trace back to
the purchase of an animal
from 4-H’er Gary Duerr.
Duerr is now employed by
Stonesifer, along with recent
high school graduate John
Miller
“We have really terrific
fellows for us,” emphasized
both Betty and Jim, with
mothmg but the highest
praise for the job per
formance of Duerr and
Miller “We value very
highly the people we’ve
come to know through the
dairy and the registered
Holstein business.”
Activities within the 4-H
program are claiming a
large portion of interest
from the younger members
of the Stonesifer family.
These outgoing youngsters
display a keen interest in the
farm and are already
assuming responsibilities in
the day-to-day chores.
Chris, the oldest, is eleven
and will be m seventh grade.
Her 4-H show animal has
been scored Excellent and
has given the youngster
three daughters as a bonus,
a record that many career
dairymen would eye with
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off for Chris.
“I want to see that the
youngsters get good foun
dation heifers,” figures
Stonesifer. “They get two
gift animals to start; from
then on, they must buy their
own.”
Ten-year-old Susie is a
sixth grader and nature
lover who is happiest when
she can be off and playing in
the woods and fields of the
farm. Like the other
children, Susie helps with
rounding up the cows at
milking time, feeding the
calves in the hillside hut
ches, and keeps busy with 4-
H projects.
Betty Stonesifer is
dedicated to bringing up her
children to enjoy reading
and takes them regularly to
a nearby library. Brian, who
is eight and will enter fourth
grade, is “the reader,” says
his mother. After exhausting
borrowed library materials,
Brian has been known to
resort to pouring over the
family encyclopedia in
search of new information.
Also a 4-H’er, he’s quite fond
of working with baby calves.
Karen, though the
youngest at seven, has found
her own special way to make
a most valuable contribution
to the farm. Jim terms
Karen, “the heat detector.”
At milking time, two of the
children stand guard bet
ween the pasture and the
bam and two others, ac
companied by the family’s
collie, Pixie, go to bring in
the cows. Karen knows
almost all the cows by name
and has become very ef
ficient at alerting Jim to the
herd individuals showing
signs of heat. If she doesn’t
know the animal’s name,
Karen menially notes the
eartag and relays that in
formation.
Betty manages to raise her
family, help around the
farm, maintain a garden,
and still work full time as a
secretary at American
Telephone and Telegraph in
nearby Fmksburg. She’s
also served on planning
committees for the district’s
middle school and day care
center and helps with
congregational activities at
nearby Baust United Church
of Christ
One of Betty’s concerns is
that too many food con
sumers today don’t really
know what a fresh, whole,
cold glass of milk should
taste like. Promotion is one
area of the dairy industry
that she feels must receive
more attention and par
ticipation by every dairy
producer.
“We must not completely
rely on promotional agencies
to do all our public relations
Already assuming responsibilities within the
Stonesifer family dairy operation are, from left:
work for us,” insist the
Stonesifer couple. “Each
farm family must do their
own part toward telling the
dairy story.”
Jim and Betty have jomed
with neighboring dairymen
in forming Genuine
Genetics, a sire sampling
and breeding syndicate. By
working together, the
syndicate members can
spread out the considerable
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cost involved in testing new
bulls and gather more data
on daughters bred by group
participants in the program.
The aim of the localized
syndicate is to test a new sire
every 18 months.
Devoted to the belief that
“someone must take time to
get involved,” Betty and Jim
are avid supporters of breed
and related farm groups.
In 1974, they were selected
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Susie, Karen, Chris and Brian, flanked by Pixie,
the devoted pet collie.
Maryland Outstanding
Young Farmer couple by the
Junior Chamber of Com
merce. Active in the local
and state Holstein
organizations, Jim has
served in a variety of offices
within the group, including
the presidency of the Carroll
County Association. He’s
president of the local district
and a state director of the
Maryland Artifical Breeders
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“But our farming
operation today would not
exist if Mom and Dad hadn’t
taken us in and been willing
to serve as partners with
us,” credits Jim. “Dad helps
with the operation every
day. It’s a family farm
and we want it to always
stay that way.”
(§&)
m
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