A32—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 29,1983
BY IRISH WILLIAMS
PEACH BOTTOM - The ex
citement is starting to build in
Lancaster County, as Pa. Brown
Swiss breeders ready for the 103rd
National Convention they will host
here November 9-12.
Don Trimble, Peach Bottom
dairyman and president of the Pa.
Brown Swiss Association is co
chairman of the convention
steering committee. Along with co
chairman, Audrey Queitzsch, the
two have directed the efforts of
other members in planning a four
day event that will provide
fellowship, facts, top pedigree
cattle, and fond memraories for
the 400 delegates expected to at
tend.
Carol, Don’s wife, has been busy
planning the ladies activities, and
Cindy, their daughter, has been
involved in planning youth ac
tivities. At home on their Donsdell
Farm, the whole family gets in
volved too.
Cindy, 16, and her brother Scott,
13, alternate the responsibility of
helping their dad with the evening
milking. Scott is the clean-up man
after the evening milking, while
Cindy feeds the calves.
The 80-cow herd is about half
registered Brown Swiss and half
Holsteins. About one third of the
Holsteins are also registered.
Trimble, who has served as
president of the Pa. Brown Swiss
Assn, for five years, began
dairying in a partnership on the
Cindy Trimble enjoys feeding the calves, especially this one,
her own “Angel.” Cindy is a junior at Solanco High School and
has been active in planning the youth activities for the
convention.
, president of the Pennsylvania Brown Swiss Association, his wife Carol,
and children Cindy and Scott, stand before their stone farmhouse built in 1814.
Trimbles welcome Brown Swiss breeder to convention
present farm in 1969. In 1975 he and
Carol bought the farm.
Starting out with about one third
of the herd being Brown Swiss, that
percentage has increased to about
half, and Trimble anticipates that
the percentage of Brown Swiss in
the herd will continue to increase,
eventually becoming entirely
registered Brown Swiss. This
change reflects a national trend.
“The number of Brown Swiss
cattle in Pennsylvania and across
the nation is on the rise,” Trimble
stated proudly. “I think there will
be more color breed animals,
especially Brown Swiss and Jer
sey, in the next 20 years, because
of component pricing. There is
already a lot of Brown Swiss stock
in Holstein herds across Penn
sylvania."
“We find the Brown Swiss are
better able to hold up under our
confinement system,” says
Trimble. “They have stronger feet
and legs and better udders than the
Holsteins, giving them greater
longevity in the herd. We can get
more lactations out of Brown
Swiss.”
The strength of the Brown Swiss
breed is not just internal, the milk
Brown Swiss cows produce is also
higher in protein than Holsteins,
explained Trimble.
‘ ‘ In September we completed our
first protein testing. The Holsteins
averaged 3.3 percent protein, while
the Brown Swiss averaged 3.5
percent protein. Our rolling herd
Cindy, Don and Scott Trimble share their enthusiasm for Brown Swiss cattle with
breeders from across the nation. They are encouraging delegates to the national con
vention to visit their Donsdell Farm and view their herd of Brown Swiss.
average on the Brown Swiss last
year was 14,600 pounds of milk and
630 pounds of fat.”
Trimble points to descendants of
the Shellbume Farms bloodlines
as being important to his herd’s
breeding program. He bought five
Shellburne descendants from
Rohrer Witmer, which have served
as foundation cows for his herd.
One of the cows, Witla Talisman
Novel, is rated 23th on the national
CPI. Novel is classified VG 86 and
her record reads, ME milk 22,441;
ME fat 809; Cl milk + 1944; Cl fat
+4B.
Another foundation cow, Don
sdell Beautician Amber, with a
daughter producing over 25,000
pounds of milk. Amber has the
greatest number of descendants in
the Donsdell herd and has a
lifetime production record over
100,000. She is nine years old.
Trimble who exhibited the grand
champion Brown Swiss at the
Farm Show in 1974,75, and 76, with
three different cows, will selling a
3-year-old in the convention sale.
The convention sale is scheduled
to take place Saturday, November
12 at the Lebanon Fairgrounds. All
other convention activities will
take place at convention
headquarters, The Host Farm
Corral, east of Lancaster on route
30.
Don Trimble has found a way to recylce Lancaster Fanning.
He cuts the pages in four and uses them to dry the cows
udder before milking.
Convention activities include meeting, entertainment, and youth
tours of Lancaster County, three and ladies activities.
' hr P' State dairy