A24—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 8,1983
Sycamore Meade
(Continued from P«f«A2l)
Betty bull put us back on the map
as far as production goes,”
Brubaker explains. In fact,
Brubaker recalls, that the bull’s
high PD was popular among
commercial Holstein herds, during
the 19605.
“Earl Keefer was one of the first
breeders in the state to get the
Betty blood in his herd. And for the
last ten years, his herd has been in
the top ten for the breed in
production,” Brubaker says.
But the Betty bull came closer to
the butcher shop than he did to A.I.
service, Brubaker recalls. His
Canadian breeder, Selwood Farm
provided a New York A.I.
a bull in the late 19505. However, a
bam fire at the stud killed several
bulls, including the Selwood
delegate, explains Brubaker.
Meanwhile, the Betty bull was
slated for baloney but instead was
used to replace the bull killed in the
bam fire. The rest, as they say, is
history.
With the influence of the great
bull behind him, Earl Keefer
admits that his breeding is geared
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more for production.
“We breed for milk. We’re
concerned about type but we don’t
breed for a show string,” he says.
And as the herd averages roll
along, so, it seems, does type. The
Sycamore Meade bam currently
boasts about a dozen Excellents.
On Tuesday in the Farm Show
large arena, the Keefer-Shetterly
clan will make the most of a
breeding philosophy developed
over the past quarter century.
The 112-acre Dauphin County
farm has been in Keefer’s family
since William Penn handed out
deeds centuries ago. Earl’s dad
was a school teacher and left the
farming duties up to his sons.
“The farm was pretty rundown
then," Earl recalls. The mixed
herd was milked by hand for a
while until bucket milkers
replaced the tedious task.
Eventually, Keefer phased out
all other breeds to concentrate on
his favorite the Ayrshire cow.
“I’m fond of them for.a number
of reasons,” he explains. ‘'They’re
efficient feed converters. You
don’t often see a bad udder on an
Ayrshire and calving problems are
almost unheard of.”
As is on most family-run farms,
Earl and Annabel, who was raised
on a general farm in western Ohio,
provided much of the early
foundation work while their
children were small.
Until a decade ago, the Keefers
milked their growing herd on two
separate farms, which were about
three miles apart.
Annabel recounts one of the
worst winters to hit Dauphin
County. A heavy Thanksgiving
snowstorm had downed several
power lines, shutting electricity to
both farms. Without an auxiliary
generator, the Keefers worked
long, long hours to tend the herd.
“We had to take the cows down
to the run for water," she
Their Thanksgiving dinner con
sisted of Soup, which Annabel
cooked with canned heat and
hamburgers.
“The refrigerator wasn’t
working and the ice cream melted,
so we drank ice cream, that day,”
Earl adds.
At first, the Keefers tried to milk
by hand but quickly abandoned the
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practice.
“We finally hooked a pump up to
a tractor. It took us all day to milk.
It was hardest on the heavy
producers,” notes Earl.
“About a half-dozen cows were
in their peak, but after that they
never came back,” he adds.
Needless to day, the Keefers now
have a generator.
“But we haven’t used it yet,”
laughs Annabel.
Today, the Sycamore Meade
labor force includes Earl, Donald
Shetterly and Earl, Jr.
Replacement raising has passed
from mother to daughter as
Sandra is chief calf raiser.
The 87-head milking herd
benefits from a home grain mix
ture. A 14 percent protein mix of
soybean meal, oats and ear corn,
plus vitamins and minerals are
part of a total mixed ration fed
three times a day. Computed for 45
pounds of daily production, the
TMR, which is fed in the free-stall
bunk, includes (on a per head
basis) 18 pounds of grain, 14
pounds of com silage and 16
pounds of alfalfa haylage.
Cows producing more than 45
pounds get an additional slug of
grain (a 20 percent protein mix) in
the stall barn during milking.
ALLENS. SHIRK
Meanwhile at the Farm Show
complex, Sandra, Donald and
brood, will be putting the final
touches on the show string. In 1981,
the Keefers and Shetterlys walked
away with virtually all the marbles
when they collected the Grand
Champion rosette and the Premier
Breeder and Exhibitor banners.
In addition to the competition,
the family looks forward to
fellowship with other exhibitors
and visiting with the non-farm
public.
Earl chuckles as be recalls one
Farm Show when the animals were
bedded with straw that was stored
at a friend’s bam. The farmer had
a few guinea hens on his place and
evidently an egg was lodged on a
bale. Before the day ended, Earl
says at least one city visitor
walked away thinking he had just
met the first egg-laying cow.
In just one more week. Farm
Show 1983 will be history. The
Keefers and Shetterlys along with
hundreds of other farm families
will have collected more memories
and hopefully more ribbons.
But more importantly, their
participation and pride in showing
and breeding quality animals are
tools that can be shared with the
non-farm public.
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