ClS—Uncaster Farming, Saturday, April 5,1980
Oregon Dairy Farm expands facilities, herd
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
OREGON A modestly
sized building, in which the
retail sale of milk began five
years ago from a jugging
operation, still stands along
the roadway leading into
Oregon Dairy Farm.
Less than a year ago, the
retail operation moved to a
massive new full-line farm
market on a knoll just to the
north.
Retail space was in
creased nearly 10-fold in the
move.
Now, on another knoll to
the south, looking down on
Rt. 272, an even larger
rambling farm structure has
risen as the latest phase of
expansion at Oregon Dairy.
This latest new structure,
a free stall dairy bam-with a
350-cow capacity, is large
enough to hold 20 of the
buildings in which the milk
sales were launched only a
half-decade ago.
“We started the jugging
operation in a building that
measured just 40 feet by 44
feet,” George Hurst
recalled.
“Last May, the larger
farm market was opened
with 17,000 square feet of
retail space.
“Then, we found we had to
expand our farm facilities to
handle our growing herd of
registered Holstems, which
is being steadily mcreased to
try and keep up with the
greater demand for dairy
products at the market.”
The new tree stall bam is
long enough to hold a football
field, complete with end
zones, and still have plenty
of space left over.
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Wide central aisle will permit more efficient drive-through feeding with a
mixer-wagon in the 412-foot-long barn at Oregon Dairy Farm.
The mam bam structure is
412 feet long and 86 feet wide.
“We now have about 200
head and are milking about
175,” Hurst said.
“It has become just too
inefficient to milk that many
cows in a stanchion bam.”
The new free stall bam is
replacing two stanchion
bams that are being used,
one with 42 stalls and the
other with 53 stalls.
“We were switching three
groups of cows through the
42-stall bam,” Hurst ex
plained.
“It was taking about three
hours to milk the 120 cows in
the three groups.
“Now, we hope to milk
that many cows in one
hour.”
Hurst explained that the
Holstein herd will continue
to be expanded to meet
present demands for dairy
products at the market.
“Our initial goal is to be up
to 300 head by the end of the
year,” he said.
The herd will be expanded
through a continuing on
farm breeding program and
the purchase of bred heifers,
according to Hurst.
“With 300 cows, we expect
to meet the current demand
at the market, which is
running between 7,000 and
8,000 gallons a week,” Hurst
said.
“Presently, we’re only
able to supply about 6,000 to
6,500 gallons a week and find
ourselves running out at the
market.”
When the jugging
operation began five years
ago, retail sales averaged
about 1,500 gallons a week.
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New free stall barn with a 350-cow capacity and
pair of 80-foot silos highlight expansion program at
“By the time we moved
into the new, larger market
last May,” Hurst said, “we
were producing and selling
about 3,000 gallons a week.”
In less than a year, even
though production has more
than doubled at Oregon
Dairy, the milk supply still
trailed demand, requiring
the bam expansion launched
already last August.
In addition to the mam
bam structure designed to
hold 350 cows, a smaller
wing, measuring 35 by 123
feet, contains a holding area,
a 24-stall Polygon milking
parlor, cooling equipment
and tank.
A tube cooling system will
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be used in processing the
milk.
“We expect to cool the
milk down to 37 degrees in a
minute’s tune before it goes
into the tank,” Hurst said.
Heated water recovered
from the cooling system will
be utilized in the parlor area.
“Hot water from the
compressors which run the
ice builder will be used to
wash the cows and for
washing out the milk line,”
Hurst said.
Besides the newer and
more modern milking
facilities, the new bam also
provides efficiencies in both
feeding and manure han
dling.
“Now, we will be using
drive-through feeding with a
mixer wagon,” Hurst ex
plained.
The present method in
cluded some hand feeding of
roughage, combined with
bunk feeding.
The manure handling
system features alley
scrapers and a shuttle
stroke cross gutter cleaner
for moving the wastes to a
ram pump.
The pump rams the wastes
about 100 feet into a lagoon
storage area with a picket
dam. Liquids are permitted
to filter through the picket
dam into a lower
evaporation pond.
“The lagoon will provide
six months worth of
storage,” Hurst said.
“We’ll be spreading the
seiru-suiids in the spring and
fall. This will replace our
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Polygon milking parlor will handle 24 cows at one time in new free stall barn.
Oregon Dairy Farm located along Rt. 272 about half
way between Lancaster and Ephrata.
George Hurst, right, and Tom Miller, herdsman,
discuss plans for increasing size of registered
Holstein herd to meet increasing demand for dairy
products at Oregon dairy.
daily spreading and provide
for better and more efficient
use of the nutrients in the
manure.”
Hurst farms a total of 350
acres of cropland, including
100 acres of hay and the
remainder in corn. Rye and
barley, cut for haylage, are
double-cropped.
The ration fed the herd
includes silage, haylage and
high moisture com, along
with a 30 percent sup
plement
The herd production
average is 14,700 pounds
with 3.5 percent butterfat.
The current expansion
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program also included two
new silos, one measuring 24
by 80 feet and the other 30 by
80 feet.
The mam older bam on the
farm will now be used as a
calving facility and for
growing heifers, according
to Hurst
“We’ve been stressing the
dairy end of the business in
the market,” Hurst said.
“These new facilities
should help us reach our two
mam goals of meetmg the
growing demand at the
market and supply as good a
product as possible. ”
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