A32—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, February 7,1981
OYF awards
(Continued from Page Al>
“You could say that we had some
good freeze-dried hay.”
As Engle admits, he doesn’t
make a practice of midwinter hay
baling and m this instance, it
turned out well due to favorable
weather conditions
But it illustrates that farming
practices can involve rolling with
the punches and making the best of
a situation as it may exist
Among Engle’s more long-term
and planned practices are such
activities as his breeding program
A good bit of his breeding
program centers around one of two
bulls he keeps on the farm, located
just off Rt. 441 northwest of
Marietta
Total dairy stock includes a
milking herd of 147, some 212
young stock, 20 Holstein steers and
two bulls
The younger of the bulls is kept
as a sire for the heifers and the
older bull is in the midst of being
proven
The older bull is Banner View
Dale Jumbo 747, a maternal
brother of Jemim He’s now a six
year-old out of Jem by Elevation
Thus far, Engle has 42 heifers
from Jumbo and he’s been used in
13 other herds.
And the results are quite
promising
Jumbo was first used by Engle at
Wivell
BY DEBBIE KOONTZ
COLUMBIA - When Joseph
Wivell, Lancaster County Out
standing Young Farmer, was ten
years old, his only birthday wish
was to milk his father’s herd of 28
Holstein cows by himself. The wish
was granted and carried out
Now it’s almost 20 years later
and Joe is milking .'bout 90 cows on
the same farm But there is one
difference now the R 3 Columbia
farm belongs to him and his wife
Becky Thus Joe’s second wish is
completed
His third 9 Well it has been
reached too Joe has been named
an Outstanding Young Farmer
both locallv and regionally for his
exceptional involvement in far
ming and it s various
organizations
Joe serves as chairman of the
Insurance Committee for the
Lancaster County Farmers'
Association, director of the I Lan
caster County Holstein Club, and is
a member of the Mt Joy Farmer’s
Co-op and the Elizabethtown
Young Farmers
But farming at the Wivell
homestead is a family affair
Becky is a member of the
president’s cabinet, newsletter
editor and chairman of the
Women’s Committee for the
Lancaster County Farmers’
Association Joe and Becky are
both chairmen of the Advisory
Council for the Association and
members of the Mount Trinity
Lutheran Church
Joe, who was also a 4-H member
for nine years began farming on
his own at age 20 After three years
of working for his mom, Joe and
Becky decided to buy the two-farm
operation Today, seven years
later, Joe farms 250 acres on these
farms plus another farm he rents
“I enjoyed milking cows more
than feeding, so I started helping
my dad when I was only nine years
old Now what I hope to do is
become more diversified with my
dairy cattle and possibly sell at
consignment sales," Joe said I’d
rather work right now at im
proving my herd average instead
of making the herd larger I’m
shooting for a goal of 8000 pounds
of fat last year we produced a
million and a half pounds of
milk, so we’re pleased with that ”
One attempt at improving herd
average was to engage in super
Looking over ydung stock is Irwin Engle, R 1 Marietta, of the
Elizabethtown Young Farmers.
a time when he had to rebuild his
herd with quite a few cows he had
to purchase
While these first dams were
milking only in about the 10,000-lb.
range, Jumbo’s heifers are now
producing in the 14,000 to 18,000-lb
range.
His first two daughters following
their first lactation have shown a
herdsmate comparison of plus
5,070 lbs And with the projected
production of the next four
daughters included the com
parison still shows a plus 3740 lbs
Jumbo is also looking favorable
as a sire with some of his better
producing cows
One of his daughters out of a
fourth-calf dam producing some
18,000 lbs is already producing
only 1600 lbs less in her first
lactation
named Outstanding Young Farmer
■'*' <* w
* *
Joe Wivell and hired hand Jay Brackbill finish working in
the barn after milking the 90 registered Holstein cows.
ovulating last May Joe says he
hopes to produce homebred ex
cellent cows and to market their
off-spnng
“The first calf was just born
recently and it was a heifer, so
we’re pleased with the results so
far,” he said
The Wivells milk their cows with
pipeline because “when you house
them in tie stall barns, you can
give them more personal at
tention,” Becky explained
Joe farms with the help of what
he calls, the best hired hand
we’ve ever had here ”He is Jay
Brackbill, 17, and he boards with
the Wivells
Joe and Becky, along with
children, Niki, Janelle, and Jason.
State officials meet
HARRISBUKG - Gov Dick
Thornburgh Monday said he has
sent two state officials to meet with
representatives of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency
and four other states to discuss
projected needs for assistance to
the drought-stricken northeast and
to explore options for federal
assistance to cope with the current
problem
FEMA officials from three
Classified 86, Jumbo has an aAa
analysis of 651423
“One of the best characteristics
of Jumbo is the ease of calving,”
Engle explained
“His calves are smaller, usually
about 85 to 90 pounds, and are very
typy. We’ve had very little trouble
in calving.”
Other characteristics from
Jumbo are a good conception rate,
good rear udders and legs
Engle has utihzed other bulls in
his breeding program, but a good
bit of his herd building is now
based on the home-farm bull.
The Engle farm, which has been
in the family for eight generations,
covers 230 acres. In addition to
primarily corn and alfalfa, about
28 acres of barley are grown
Another 120 acres of tillable land
are rented, along with 90 acres of
*v*» r
live in a farmhouse built in 1810
According to Joe the original part
of the bam was built near the same
time But since then they’ve added
to the barn and just recently have
finished adding a liquid manure
system
Besides his 90 milking cows, Joe
has 70 head of young cattle - We
are strictly dairy here because
that’s how we enjoy working,' he
added
Joe has a herd classification of 2
excellent, 42 very good, 41 good
plus and 12 good
As a regional winner, Joe is also
a candidate for the title of State
Outstanding Young Farmer to be
announced February 10
federal regions encompassing
drought-affected sections of New
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Delaware and Connecticut will be
present at the meeting.
The governor said he hoped
voluntary and local conservation
measures now in effect will be
sufficient to avoid the need to
request a federal disaster area
declaration, but that state officials
are working closely with
. _ A
Jraer ****** A
| , *
Irwin Engle, who was named a regional Outstanding Young
Farmer in the over-30 category, with his wife, Grace.
pasture
Facilities include a large 90 X
184-foot free-stall barn, containing
164 stalls. Milking is done in 16
lever stalls
The groundwork has already
been started for future expansion
The milk house has a 3000-gallon
tank and there’s an area set aside
for the possibility of a parlor in the
future
Engle attributes a good bit of his
selection as a regional Outstanding
Young Farmer to the
Elizabethtown Chapter advisor.
Bill Erickson
Joseph Wivell, Outstanding Ydung Farmer, poses with wife
Becky and son Jason Their other two children, Niki and
Janelle were in school when the picture was taken
to talk drought aid
legislators from affected areas . i
keep abreast of the situation.
In a related action, Thornburgh
said he has asked PEMA
Executive Director Gen Dewitt
Smith and DER Secretary Clifford
L Jones to report to him per
sonally as soon as possible on the
effects of the drought in the most
impacted communities in eastern
and central Pennsylvania.
Thornburgh declared a drought
This marks the first year since
the chapter was organized six
years ago that Elizabethtown has
competed in regional and state
competition. And in the first at
tempt, top regional placmgs were
taken in both the under and over
30-year categories
But, as in the case of Engle, this
success was also due to good, basic
farming practices - some of the
more unusual variety and some of
the planned, long-range type
5
Tfv'V
■i
emergency Nov. 19,1980, m part or
all of 50 eastern and central
Pennsylvania counties in the
Delaware, Susquehanna and
Potomac River Basins.
A total of 79 water suppliers in
the Commonwealth are ex
periencing critical water shor
tages More than 440,000 Penn
sylvania residents are living in
areas severely affected by the
drought.