VOL 26 No. 12
Armstrong Co, steer
tagged grand champ
BY SHEILA MILLER
FARM SHOW - The
grand champion Junior beef
steer of the 65th Penn
sylvania Farm Show was a
1255 pound crossbred, called
Monkey Lap by an Arm
strong County youth who
showed the big black steer to
• the top honors.
Seventeen-year-old Blame
Clowser led the heavyweight
Limousin x Chiamna x
Angus crossbred to win his
first Farm Show grand
championship. The youth
and steer basked in the
limelight of blazing
television cameras and news
reporters’ microphones
seconds after Judge Doug
Farrett of Urbana, Illinois
delivered the traditional
Grand Champ slap.
Judge Parrett described
the top Farm Show steer as
one that combines the traits
consumers and cattlemen
need to look for in order to
Bankert hog wins
jr. market swine
BY DICKANGLESTEIN
FARM SHOW - Puiebred
Durocs captured the two top
placings in Thursday’s
junior market swine com
petition, in which entries
were cut by one-fourth due to
non-compliance with
pseudorabies regulations
The grand champion
Duroc, which came out of the
final heavyweight group to
enter the small arena, was
shown by Michele Bankert,
R 3, Hanover It was her first
major placing at the Farm
Show
The reserve grand
champion “red,” a light
heavyweight, was exhibited
by nine-year-old Eric Sheiss,
of Chambersburg, whose
older brother, Donald, took
the grand championship last
year.
In all, there were 143
entries judged m the dozen
groups of competition.
Some 46 entries, scheduled
to be shown by 23 youth,
were disqualified from
competing because they
didn’t have the necessary
laboratory certification
declaring the hogs free of
pseudorabies.
Some of these entries were
turned away and not ad
mitted to the Show
complex Other students
planning to show didn’t bring
their hogs to the show.
Entries from Chester
make money for the whole
beef industry.
“A grand champion steer
needs to meet certain
minimum standards.
“It needs to be growthy
a steer that will be efficient
and - save money for the
cattleman
“It-needs the right volume
of muscling to produce the
most pounds of meat
‘ And it needs the right
amount of fat to reach the
choice grade. In our society,
corn-fed beef is a status of
high quality meat
Our meat industry is
changing because of the
amount of ground beef used
and the type of meat
processing available. But, a
grand champion steer still
needs enough fat for high
quality but not too much
fat that it’s inefficient ”
dowser’s steer put ail
these tr£fits* together in one
neat package, and gave the
youth the thrill of victory in a
field of tough competition.
County and parts of Berks
County were - disqualified
from entering the complex
because of the lack of cer
tification Other students,
such as those from Carbon
Qbunty, didn’t bring their
entries
Judge Charles Andrews
Jr , of Eloomingburg, Ohio,
who also judged last year’s
competition, had high praise
for the quality of this year’s
hogs
“The overall quality of all
of the hogs is just super,” he
told the youthful exhibitors
before naming the grand
champion
“J[’m particularly im
pressed with the quality in
the bottom end of the
classes The bottom end
quality is at least 50 percent
better than last year. They
(Turn to Page A 37)
In this issue
SECTION A: Editorials, 10; Dairy awards, 16, Potato
Banquet, 23; Guernsey champion, 26; Maple awards, 29;
Holstein rosettes, 30; Beef show, 34-35.
SECTION B: Top com growers, 2; Open sheep, 4;
Dairy blue ribbons, 6; Grange leadership, 8; Jr. sheep,
10.
SECTION C: Homestead notes, 2; Home on range, 6;
Joyce Bupp, 9; Farm women meet, 10; Milk handling,
12; Master Farmers, 16; Gilt sales, 17; Farm Show
opening, 19 Bred gilts, 20; Belgians, 25; Sheep awards,
27; Tobacco, 31
SECTION D: Rural crime, 2; Ask VMD, 6, Granger
looks at Reagan, 7; Bradford DHIA, 10; Lebanon DHIA,
14; Dairy business, 16; Huntingdon DHIA, 17; Seed'
spies, 22.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 17,1981
dowser’s first Farm Show
victory will be his last,
however. The senior at
Dayton High School will be
joining the students at Penn
State this September,
dowser said the money he
gets from the sale of his
champion steer will be used
for his education.
The son of Roger and
Charlotte dowser used his
livestock judging ability
when selecting his steei
(Turn to Page A2O)
A highlight of the Farm Show dairy competition
came at the very end of the show when Ginny
Thornburgh, the Governor’s wife, presented
special awards to each of the breed grand
champion award winners. Sam Yoder, left, with is
State’s first lady honors top cows
FARM SHOW - When
Ginny Thornburgh handed
out plaques to the dairy
grand champions on
Tuesday afternoon, she
performed a service to the
show which some of the
exhibitors hoped afterwards
would become an annual
feature of the dairy com
petition.
Most years, the dairy'
competition just kind of
With camera lights burning and television reporters itching for on-the-spot
interviews, seventeen-year-old Blain Clowswer of Dayton, Armstrong County
and his grand champion Farm Show steer, Monkey Lip, bask in the limelight with
Pa! Secretary of Agriculture Penrose Halloweil.
Presents awards to each breed cham
trailed off, with judges
clearmg the tables, two or
three cows tied to a rail at
one end of the arena looking
fomlorn and lost, and most
of the spectators beating out
of the stands hours before
the last cow left the rmg.
Even the parade of
.champions, and the selection
of a supreme grand
champion in some years
seemed to fall a little flat
But there was electricity
in the air on Tuesday, when
the Governor's wife, Mrs.
Thornburgh, swept into the
arena late in the afternoon
judging, bringing with her a
retinue that included
Agriculture Secretary
Penrose Hallowell, both
deputy secretaries, a hand
ful of state troopers and
others.
She paused to congratulate
the owner of the grand
champion Holstein, picked
just moments before. Mrs
Thornburgh grasped the
best-of-breed cow, accepted his plaque from Mrs.
Thornburgh while Agriculture Secretary Penrose
Hallowell and Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Cindy
Neely looked on.
animal’s halter <hke a cityt
girl while a .small army of
people with cameras
surrounded her, the owner,
Ben Jackson of Bradford
County, and the magnificent
four-year-old that captured
the top breed honors, Royal
Kauffman named
FFA Star Farmer
BY DEBBIE KOONTZ
FARM SHOW - Lan
caster County sported a lot
of winners at this year’s
Farm Show but one m
particular that will long be
remembered is Steve
Kauffman of Elizabethtown
who received the coveted
title of Pennsylvania Star
Farmer
Kauffman was cited for his
eftorts at the Keystone
Awards Banquet Wednesday
at the Forum of the
$7.50 Per Year
Haven Unique Crisco.
“In all my years at the
Farm Show, that was one of
the nicest things I ever
saw,” said Sam Yoder,
who’s been coming to the
(Turn to Page A 25)
Education Building.
Another Eastern Region
FFA’er, Glenn Wenger of
Lebanon, was naiped State
Star Agribusmessman. Look
for more information on
these two star farmers on
page Al 7.
Over 1800 people attending
the convention watched as
Keystone Farmers, parents,
and businesses were cited
for their support and ac-
(TurntoPage Al 7)