A2B—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 25,1982
What makes car dealer enter dairy breeding?
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
KEMPTON What prompts a
successful car dealer to enter the
dairy industry in a big way with a
brand new, multi-million-dollar
breeding and merchandising
center that will likely become an
international showcase facility of
the world of Holsteins?
In the first couple of minutes of
conversation with Bruce Rothrock,
whose energy and enthusiasm
bubble forth like a colt first feeling
its legs on pasture, a series of
likely reasons emerge, \Vhich are
as multi-faceted as the man
himself.
-Is one of the reasons tied to the
return of a farm boy to the land
and a life that once included killing
and dressing chickens for his
father’s door-to-door retail poultry
route?
That’s part of it.
-Does another reason involve a
successful businessman and en
trepreneur in a series of ventures
searching for new challenges tp
conquer and goals to meet?
That’s another part of it?
-And in seeking new challenges,
does his desire to breed and sell top
dairy cows show a need to work
with warm, living and breathing
products, as opposed to the cold,
hard steel of cars and trucks.
That seems to be part of it, too.
But is this yen to return to his
agricultural roots and climb new
professional mountains coloring
his business expertise and
background that has brought him
through more than two decades of
success?
Not in the slightest.
“After 22 years in business, from
autos to kitchen cabinets, I’ve
learned one basic thing - business,
no • matter what field it is,
primarily involves dealing with
people,” Rothrock explained
amidst the hub-bub of an open
house on Wednesday.
“I like to work with people and
will apply this basic experience
and knowledge I’ve gained in other
fields to breeding and mer
chandising better cows.
“Whatever it takes in facilities,
personnel, efficiency,
management and stock selection,
there will be no short-changing in
our dedication toward developing
top animals.”
And the open house of the
completed dairy bam and other
facilities, which will be finished in
a couple of months, showed the
large throng of rainy-day visitors
an eye-opening preview of what is
to come.
The 52-animal dairy barn
features the latest in cow-comfort
technology. And going one step
even farther it uses the cows to
literally keep the staff more
comfortable in a unique, energy-
Arrow points to condenser units in Rothrock it to heat adjoining offices and staff apart
barn which harvest body heat off cows and use merits.
Rothrock Golden Holsteins holds open house
Shown in brand new dairy barn of Rothrock Golden
Holsteins Farms are, from the left, Jim Shrawder, farm
saving measure that may be a first
for Pennsylvania.
Four condensing units are
scattered throughout the bam and
literally harvest the body heat of
the cows and use it to warm the
offices and apartments located in
the European farm dwelling
complex.
In effect, the system is a cow
heat pump that draws away the
body heat, filters it, removes the
moisture and pipes it as hot air for
heating three offices, two apart
ments, reception area and con
ference room.
The two apartments, which are
immediately adjacent and con
nected to the animal facilities, will
be occupied by milking staff, who
will be only a matter of a few feet
from cows and younger stock even
in the middle of the night.
Other features of the barn:
-A double ventilation system
that not only brings fresh air in
from the outside, down over the
walls to keep them dry, but also
includes a back wall that is a large
evaporative cooling unit to provide
additional comfort for the cows.
-A three-inch pipeline, stainless
steel welded double loop, to
provide plenty of capacity to ac
Large and spacious box stalls feature split special drainage under bedding to maximize
construction —■ concrete front area for feeding - cow comfort and health,
and milking and rear area with gravel base and
comodate the heavy milkers — addition to the 40 tie stalls, a
already in the herd and destined to dozen box stalls, also served by the
join it within the next few months. pipeline. Each box stall also has its
own drainage system, with dram
and laterals in an eight-inch gravel
base. Chopped straw and shaving
bedding provides comfort over the
rear two-thirds of the stall with the
gravel, while the front third is
concrete with just shavings for
eating and milking sanitation.
-Just over 600 feet of barn
cleaner in four gutters, including
box stalls, tie area and calf
facilities, that drops into second
gutter cleaner for pumping 190 feet
underground to a Slurrystore.
manager; Bruce Rothrock, owner; and Jack Miller, herd
manager.
-Using the heat taken off the
milk in the 1250-gallon bulk cooler
to not only heat the barn water, but
also that for the apartments and
offices.
-And still to come in the dairy
bam is a stereo system with a
balanced speaker system.
And what is to come yet during
the next couple of months of
continued construction?
-A fining room will also serve as
an embryo transfer facility. The
vet will be able to pull his vehicle
right into the area and ai. adjacent..
box stall will hold the recipient
heifers.
-Calf facilities will have a
capacity for 40.
-A loose-housing heifer wing will
have spa.ce for about 160.
Next to the facilities still under
construction already stand, in
addition to the blue Slurrystore, a
trio of 25 by 65-foot Harvestores -
silage, alfalfa haylage and high
moisture shelled com - that
figures into the total mixed ration.
And what is the future
timetable?
--Completion of remaining
facilities by the end of November.
-Acquisition of additional
daughters of brood cow sires by the
end of the year.
“We’re concentrating on indexes
from proven cow families,” ex
plains herd manager Jack Miller,
who came over from Kill-Dee.
“And, 1 be able to
transmit. We want to see
sisters.”
Then, the Super-ovulated
breeding and embryo transfers
already started - and mer
chandising can move at an ac-,
celerating pace toward a goal v of
(Turn to Page A3l)