A34—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 24,1981
Blosers team up with new, modem dairy complex
BY BETH HEMMINGER
Staff Correspondent
CARLISLE “After my two
sons were bom, I hoped one would
be interested in farming, but I
wasn't going to force them. My
wife and I gave them the op
portunity to learn about the far
ming industry, the good and bad,”
said Marlin Bloser and wife,
Dorothy, of Carlisle.
“Their interest in farming was
evident after they were both old
enough to help with the feeding,
carrying milk and pitching hay;
they never complained and always
seemed to enjoy what they were
doing. Even during high school,
their interest in farming never
waned, always doing their chores
before - and after school,” said
Bloser.
Steve, 23, and Tom, 19, both
remarked, “We never thought of
doing or being anything else, we
have been fanning all our lives and
plan to continue if possible. ”
Today, after viewing the new
farming complex at the Bloser’s
Open House, one can see the
desires and dreams ot tather and
sons becoming a reality.
Featured at the Open House
were the large 100-cow Ireestall
bam, High-Tech milking parlor
wing, Temp-Matic controlled bulk
tank and other unique facilities
that will provide the opportunity
needed for herd expansion and
increased production.
“People have asked why did you
build this modern farming
The new dairy barn is situated across soils-produce the feed necessary to keep their
Barnstable Road from the Blosers’ old bank cows content,
barn and home. The rich Cumberland County
new freestall barn is equipped with all partitions for quick-catches of cattle
the latest equipment, including the head-lock
facility,” Bloser said. “Well, Tom
and Steve expressed their ideas
about expansion because they both
wish to stay on the farm. After
talking to the experts from Surge,
Agri-Inc., Penn State and others,
my wife, myself and my sons
decided to build a new facility that
would give the Bloser families’
dairy business room to grow.”
Steve remarked, “Expansion
and improvements to the old bam
would have been costly and limited
compared to the facility we now
have.”
With the new complex, the herd
will gradually be increased. In the
old bam, the Blosers were milking
67 cows in two shifts. Now, they
will soon be running 100 cows
through the 10-station milking
parlor in less than an hour.
With the influence of the in
dustries’ experts, the contractor,
Agri-Inc., and the Bloser family,
the new facility is a display of
innovative equipment.
The bulk tank contains one of the
newest features on the market
today. The tank is monitored by a
computer, the Temp-Matic solid
state recorder/controUer. This
small computer offers precision to
monitor, record, control and
display the cooler/washer func
tions. The built in time and tem
perature recorder provides an
hourly record on adding machine
tape and also prints out every ten
minutes when a change in tem
perature occurs.
Large digital readouts provide a
It was a choice of remodeling their old dairy for a future in the dairy business for sons Tom
barn or starting from scratch for the Marlin and Steve, from left, meant a brand new
and Dorothy Bldser family of Carlisle. They facility,
reached a mutual agreement that preparing
constant display of temperature
and cooler/washing functions.
Steve explained that, in the event
of a power failure, a battery back
up activates an alter-light circuit
and continues to function while a
warning signal flashes in the
parlor area.
While the plans were underway
for the new complex, the Blosers
learned about the increasing
problem of stray voltage that is
facing farmers who milk in parlors
or carousels.
Steve said, “The static elec
tricity can drop production levels
drastically because a cow is ten
tunes as sensitive as a human and
can feel as little as one volt of
electricity.”
The engineers were called in and
recommended that everything in
the parlor be constructed with one
common grid. One common
material breaks down the voltage,
minimizing the amount of static
the cow actually feels,” explained
Steve.
“Nutrition is important to the
herd’s productivity,” added Steve.
“We felt the mixer-feeder was a
must for our new operation.”
The mixer-feeder mixes the
different grains and minerals
thoroughly by a push, of a button.
Then it is used for feeding in the
new barn by driving through.
“This method of feeding is
nutritionally fullproof,” stated
Steve. “Like humans, cows like to
pick and choose what is appealing
to their tastebuds, which is not
always beneficial. Therefore, with
all the grains and minerals mixed
thoroughly the cows have to eat
everything.”
To reach the herds full milking
Farm Calendar
Stanton Grange, Flemington, Lebanon Farmland Preservation
N.J.,7p.m. Meeting, 7:30 p.m., Municipal
Farm application of municipal Auditorium, Court House,
sludge, demonstration. Get- Lebanon,
tysburg Sr. High-School, 7:30 AgWay Annual Meeting, Syracuse,
p.m. - N.Y., continues tomorrow. -nn
Lancaster County Poultry Friday, Oct. 30
Association annual banquet, York Fanners Forum, 7 p.m.,
6:30p.m., Historic Strasburg. Airville Fire Hall.
->-■ i
• H ” <• 1
potential, they are divided into two
production groups, high and low
producers. The top producers on
■the one side have supplemental
gains and protein added to their
feeds. The low producers amount
of feed is minimized and contains
less of the added supplements.
Bloser’s dry cows also
special attention. They leave thife-%
free stall barn and are placed in
the ‘hospital’ area, an added *
feature of the new barn where it is
clean, dry and dietary needs are
provided for.
“With the sloping terrain,’it was
logical to use the gravity flow
manure system,” said Bloser.
"Keeping this barn clean will only
take minutes. Manure from the
entire freestall area will be
scraped by tractor into a pit. From -
there it will flow into the storage
area by gravity. Our system had a
six-month storage area, after
which it will be loaded onto the
manure spreader automatically.”
“It is really remarkable to see
all the changes that have taken
place in the industry compared to
30 years ago when I began my own
milking operation across the
road,” said Bloser. “There were
few conveniences then. The Bar j)J
was cleaned with a fork, a wheel,
barrow and a lot of muscle. The
milk was carried by buckets.
“Who would have ever thought
30 years later that I would be
milking in an air conditioned
parlor.
“Fanning is an ever changing
and vital part of our economy and I
am proud that I am able to join my
sons in this endeavor with the
modern farming facility and the
Bloser partnership. ’ *
(Continued from Page Al 2)
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