02— Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 25,1982
Reading Fair honors
county’s agricultural leaders
By Laurel Schaeffer
FLEETWOOD - In keeping
with tradition dating back more
than thirty years, the Beading Fair
executive committee held their
annual pre-fair banquet last week
to honor an outstanding farm
family and a boy and girl from the
Berks County 4-H program and
Berks County FFA chapter.
Selected for these prestigious
honors were the Kenneth Grimes
famdy of Strausstown; Deborah
Miller, Wernersville and Michael
Mertz Fleetwood, of the FFA; and
Jamie Batz, Richland and Jan
Adam, Hamburg of the 4-H clubs.
The Grimes were selected as the
Reading Fair Farm Family from
entries submitted by various
Granges within Berks county. Ail
are active members of the Shar-
Uesville Grange, Kenneth has
served as assistant steward for the
past three years, while wife
Barbara worked with the Junior
Grange. Kenneth and Barbara
have two children, Jonathan, 10,
and Jennifer, 7. The family farms
about 450 acres and presently
milks 130 cows.
Deborah Miller, selected as this
year’s FFA girl is currently ser
ving as State FFA Reporter. She is
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Richard Miller, Wernersville. A
graduate of Conrad Weiser High
School, Deborah has completed
two years at Penn State where she
is studying dairy production and
agriculture education.
As an FFA member Deborah has
served in many capacities m-
By Laurel Schaeffer
STRAUSSTOWN - The year
1982 will probably be eteched into
the minds of the Kenneth Grimes
family of Strausstown, Berks
County as one of successes. Not
only did they, and several of their
neighbors, win a battle over land
condemnation with the Penn
sylvania Department of Tran
sportation, but more recently these
young farmers were feted as the
1982 Reading Fair Farm Family,
an honor that dates back to 1956
when the first farm family was
selected.
The Grimes won this honor when
they were chosen from entries
submitted by various Granges
The weeks preceding the Reading Fair are busy ones for
the Grimes family. This week finds Kenneth trying to keep
one load ahead of the demanding silage blower
eluding chapter reporter and techniques. Deborah has earned
collegiate chaplain as well as the Keystone Farmer Degree.
participating in leadership Michael Mertz, son of Mr. and
training, public speaking, Mrs. Larry Mertz, Fleetwood, was
parliamentary procedure and awarded the honor of being this
dairy judging competitions. She year’s FFA boy. Michael is a
also has worked on three different granduate of Kutztown Area High
dairy farms within the county to School where he has held the of
learn various management (Torn to Page 04)
Selected as the Reading Fair Farm Family for 1982 is the
Kenneth Grimes family from Strausstown. Ken and Barbara
operate a dairy farm in Upper Tulpehocken Township with
the help of their two children, Jonathan and Jennifer, and
some part-time farm hands.
Grimes family wins special honor
within Berks County. The Grimes
are active members of the Shar
tlesville Grange when Kenneth has
served as assistant steward for the
past three years. Kenneth’s wife,
Barbara, and children, Jonathan,
10, and Jennifer, 7, also are active
members.
The Grimeses farm 450 acres
and are milking 100 cows. An
enthusiastic dairyman, Grimes
strongly believes that dairymen
should strive to produce a higher
quality product through tougher
standards. “If we produce a
consistently good quality product,
consumers will come back," he
said. “Poor quality milk is hurting
all dairymen.”
Stressing Ken’s point, Barbara
explained they are “fussy” dairy
farmers. “Each cow is cleaned
before milking with a clean, new
paper towel and dipped after
milking,’’she said.
“The better you treat cows, the
better they will treat you,” Grimes
continued. “Our cows are tame
and friendly. Some will come into
the holding pen before milking
time themselves.”
He related how valuable tame
cows and heifers are by recounting
an experience of when his heifers
got loose. Because they were so
tame all he had to do was find and
call them and they followed him
Barbara Grimes finds the dairying life a skills. But along with the paper work, Barbara
fulfillment of her collegiate training, having is no stranger to the farm’s hungry heifers who
studied bookkeeping and other secretarial wait impatiently for hay.
Winners of the Reading Fair 4-H honors are Jamie Batz of
Richland, left, and Jan Adam, Hamburg.
Mike Mertz, Fleetwood, left, and Deborah Miller, Wer
nersville, are this year’s Reading Fair’s honored FFA’ers.
home to the surprise of his
neighbors.
Grimes added he seldom has a
problem getting newly freshened
heifers accustomed to their double-
five herringbone milking parlor.
He attributes this to the fact that
the cows are fed inthe parlor and
are held close to each other.
“The older cows have a calming
effect on the nervous heifers,”
Grimes said. “I have always
remembered a story from an
elementary reading class about a
race horse that was always ner
vous when put into a starting gate
until it’s trainer would put the
horse’s stablemate into line next to
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him. The stablemate would lean
against the race horse and have a
calming effect upon him. I believe
the more mature cows have the
same effect on new heifers. ”
The grimes built their milking
parlor in 1968 and added automatic
take-offs in 1979. “I wasn’t too
crazy about them at first,” he
admitted, “but wouldn’t do without
them now. “They work well if cows
are started off on them. But cows
that are used ot being manually
massaged to finish don’t adapt
very well.
“With automatic take-offs every
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(Turn to Page D 4)
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