DiO— Lancaster FarmirifV&tu relay. Jun 4 5,1982
Ambition, learning lead couple to mill business
BY GINGER SECRIST MYERS
Staff Correspondent
HANOVER Sometimes it’s not
what you know, but how much
you’re willing to learn, that can
determine where your vocational
talents will lead you.
That’s what the husband and
wife team of Dick and Janet
Hamilton have discovered in their
quest to own and operate their own
feedrmll business. Neither Dick or
Jane come from farm families, but
they have combined Dick’s
knowledge of animal nutrition and
salesmanship with Janet’s
business background to take over
W.L Mummert Feeds in Hanover,
the last of five feedmills to survive
in the area
Dick, a 20-year veteran of the
Navy, got into the feed business by
what he calls an accident After
leaving the service, he worked for
the Lancaster Planning Com
mission. Not satisfied there, he
answered an ad for a manager for
a hog operation The owner didn’t
hire Dick, but told him that with
his sales pitch, he should think
about becoming a salesman. Dick
did just that and joined West
Willows Farmers, Lancaster.
With no formal education in
animal nutrition, Dick began
absorbing information from every
source available, Dick began
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absorbing information from every
source available. “I went to Purina
job training courses,” he recalled
I read about feeds, and I talked to
anyone who would talk back to me
about it. I really liked working with
dairy from the start
“The best teacher I had was Skip
Weaver, a district sales manager
for Purina. The more I learned, the
more I realized that learning the
business is just a matter of ap
plying yourself.”
Dick and Janet have given
themselves ample opportunity to
learn how to run a business Janet,
who has had extensive formal
training in accounting, worked as a
freelance accountant for a number
of businesses in the Frederick
area. Dick worked for Farmers
Supply Co as sales manager from
1977 to 1981
In 1981, the Hamiltons really got
their feet wet in the agribusiness
community when they formed the
North Glade Feed Co in Keymar,
Md They owned 30 percent of the
Company with Dick holding the
position of vice president and
manager and Janet serving as
office manager. However, this
experience only served to whet
their appetites.
"You can only work for someone
else so long, and then you see
things you want to do, and you
The satisfaction that comes
from doing a soot) job
of fanning
Liming is one of the most important iactors
in keeping your soil in the highest pro
ductive range By raising the pH from a
level below 6 0 to 6 5 or higher you can
expect to harvest 8 more tons of alfalfa
per acre with similar increases for all
other forage and cash crops
- W
lt f s Tilley
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want to do them your way,” he tor sale, me couple traveled to Feeds “It was two days before
said. Hanover to visit William Spahr, Christmas when Janet and I came
On the rumor that a feedmill was former owner of W L Mummert (Turn to Page Dll)
Dick and Janet Hamilton examine some of Feeds, Hanover. The couple is establishing a
the chicks which are marketed through their Purina dealership, specializing in dairy and
newly acquired feed business, W.L. Mummert poultry feeds.
Route 30 West at The Centerville Exit
Designers of Qualify Systems for Poultiy, Swine and Grain Handling.
TITf
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255 PLANE TREE DRIVE,
LANCASTER, PA. 17603
(717)393-5807
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