Eastburn shifts
d
CLAYTON, De. - The up
and-coming Cedarcrest-Vu
Farm near Clayton,
Delaware had its beginnings
in a gas station on the busy
Kirkwood Highway between
Newark and Wilmington.
Donald Eastburn, Sr.,
owner of the service station,
lhad no farm or veterinary
background, just a sharp eye
for a business opportunity.
Though his service station
was turning a profit, he was
intrigued by some of the
things he saw happening at
the University of Delaware
Agricultural Experiment
Station Farm in Newark,
particularly Dr. George
Haenlem’s work with veal
calves.
In 1970, with help from
Haenlem and retired
Delaware extension dairy
specialist Dr. Wilbur
Hesseltine, Eastburn set up
a veal calf operation right
next to his gas station
During part of the year,
Eastburn filled vacant calf
pens with local dogs in need
of lodging during the sum
mer vacation period,
thereby creating the only
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PETERMAN FARM EQUIPMENT LEBANON VALLEY IMPLEMENT CO. ABRACZINSKA’S FARM EQUIP. INC.
225 York Road
Carlisle. PA
Ph (717)249-5338
GUS FARM EaiIIPMENT INC.
Int 214&616
Seven Valleys.PA 17360
Ph (717)428 1967
N.H. FLICKER & SONS, INC.
Maxatawny, PA
Ph (215)683-7252
combination veal-gas farm
station-boarding kennel on
the Kirkwood Highway.
At about the same time,
Hesseltine involved Donald,
Jr. in raising his own
Holstein calf to show in the
New Castle County Holstein
Show. He caught on quickly,
soon becoming an en
thusiastic 4-H member.
Between county fairs, the
dairy calf just joined the
“menagerie” at the filling
station.
After a couple of years,
veal prices took a dip so
Eastburn phased out that
operation in favor of the
more lucrative dog-boarding
business. But the Eastburns
hadn’t given up on the idea of
farming.
When the family ac
companied Hesseltine on an
Extension Service sponsored
dairy farm tour of Europe,
they came home with a
strong desire to try out some
of the ingenious techniques
they’d seen. By that time
young Don’s calf was almost
old enough to milk or sell, so
the Eastburns decided to
milk.
700 E Linden St
Richland, PA
Ph (717)866-7518
S.G. LEWIS AND SON
West Grove. PA
Ph (215)869-9440
869-2214
from pumping gas
They kept the gas station
but also rented 1800 acres
where they grew grain,
gradually buying land and
farm machinery and
traveling around neigh
boring states to bid on high
quality dairy cows. A
neighboring farmer, Ronnie
Nelson, milked the cows and
gave the Eastbums back the
calves.
By June of 1979 they had
25 head, some still kept at
the service station next to
Shue School. The Eastburns
realized they needed to fmd
a more suitable location for
their animals, so they made
the decision to commit
themselves fully to farming.
Eastbum came to the
Delaware Cooperative
Extension Service seeking
help from several specialists
in designing plans for a
farm. He needed the plans to
support his application for a
Farmers Home Ad
ministration loan to pur
chase cattle.
The loan was approved
and on June 15, 1979, the
family moved into a mobile
home on their land m
<- >
ARNETTS GARAGE
Rt 9 Box 125
Hagerstown. MO
Ph (301)733-0515
RDI, Catawissa, PA
7173562323
(South on Rt 42)
MARLIN W. SCHREFFLER
Pitman, PA
Ph (717)648-1120
M. M. WEAVER & SON
N Groffdaleßd
Leola, PA 17540
Ph (717)656-2321
Clayton and started building
a modern dairy operation
from the ground up.
In a sense, Eastburn’s
inexperience has been an
asset. Not having grown up
on a farm, he’s not burdened
by prejudices in favor of
familiar old ways of doing
things. Instead, he’s lear
ning the latest scientifically
tested, cost-efficient
techniques from the Ex
tension Service and farm
magazines. Thus, his up-to
date dairy barn is com
pletely automated and
designed for easy cleaning
and manure recycling.
One way Eastbum defies
the conventional wisdom,
with Haenlem’s complete
approval, is by making
haylage instead of hay. In
Delaware, Haenlein ex
plains, it generally rams
when it’s time to make hay
in the spring, resulting in
delays and ruined hay.
Instead of waiting in vain
for ideal hay-making con
ditions, Eastbum chops the
partially wilted alfalfa and
blows it into a silo. This
haylage is just as nutritious
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 2, £9BO—CIS
to piping milk
Donald Eastburn Senior and Junior stand
flanked by the shining new silos of their Cedar
crest-Vu Farm near Clayton, Delaware.
for cows as hay, and East
burn is spared the
frustration and financial loss
of having ram rum his first
hay cutting.
Rather than selling his
gram, Eastburn keeps it to
feed his own cows. He puts
some of it into the silo while
still somewhat wet. There it
ferments into so-called
“high-moisture com.”
The combination of or
dinary silage, high-moisture
'corn, haylage plus a small
amount of concentrates and
minerals gives Eastbum’s
cows a balanced diet and
saves him more money than
he would have made selling
his crops and then going out
to buy feed for his cows.
Another unconventional
decision Eastbum made was
to build a traditional stan-
chion barn rather than loose
housing or a pre-fabricated
corrugated metal barn.
Eastbum has a bigger
investment in housing, he
admits, but he’s building a
top-quality registered
Holstein herd, and he wants
to be able to show it off to
best advantage when buyers
come to call, particularly
since the annual meeting of
the American Holstein-
Fnesian Association is
coming to Baltimore,
Maryland next year, and top
buyers from all over
America will be touring area
farms.
Eastbum is building his
farm with an eye toward the
future his family’s future.
Donald, Jr. has graduated
(Turn to Page Cl 6)