VOL. 29 No. 17
Pa. Holstein breeders meet in Altoona
SWD Valiant ET tops sale at $ 130,000
Pen-Col Chairman Dede-ET was high selling female at the 1984 Pa. Holstein Con
vention Sale. She sold for $41,000 to the Dede Synicate.
Direct marketers, gather in Lancaster
BY TRISH WILLIAMS
LANCASTER Direct farm
marketers from Pennsylvania,
Maryland, New Jersey and
Delaware convened this Tuesday
through Thursday at the Host
Farm Resort for an informative
session on selling their produce
directly to consumers.
The three day conference
provided participants with a
variety of educational sessions on
merchandising, advertising,
promotion and personnel
management. But probably as
much information was exchanged
outside of the formal program, in
informal conversation between
growers
The Mid-Atlantic Direct
Marketing Conference has come to
be known among farm marketers
as a forum for exchange of ideas.
Many solutions to problems
common to marketing were
swapped by those in attendence.
Participation from Delaware
Former dairyman, Ray Bratton
selected as Cattleman of Year
BY LAURA ENGLAND
BOALSBURG - The 1984 Cat
tleman of the Year, selected by the
Pa Cattlemen’s Association, is a
dairyman turned cattleman who
bought his first herd of Charolais in
1964.
Ray Bratton, of McVeytown,
said smiling that he was “tired of
the seven day a week routine” but
wanted to stay in farming. His
choice was beef cattle.
Bratton and his wife Susan
currently raise a 250-head herd of
purebred Charolais cattle. The
breed, Bratton said, is an efficient
producer of red meat and is in good
demand. These qualities prompted
him to raise Charolais
Four Sections
growers wa&fow this year because
farmers were discouraged from
attending by the Delaware
Department of Agriculture due to
the Avian Influenza plaqumg
Lancaster County.
Over 30 commercial exhibitors
displayed their products and
services in an accompanying trade
show. Exhibitors included vendors
of complementary food products,
equipment dealers, and
manufacturers of food packaging.
Between formal sessions and
during free time conference goers
toured the display area to see the
latest products in marketing and
merchandising.
1 A tour of three direct farm
markets located in Lancaster
County was first on the con
ference’s busy agenda. Included on
(’'e tour waStCherry Hill Orchards
Outlet, Pine View Acres, and
Lancaster Central Market.
. Cherry Hill Orchards Outlet,
located in New Danville, is owned
Along with his switch from dairy
to beef, Bratton joined cattle
organizations and has been active
in the industry. He is treasurer of
the Pa. Cattlemen’s Association
and is a director of the Pa.
Charolais Association. He is also a
director of the Colonial Charolais
Association and is its past
president.
Bratton received his honor
during the Pa. Cattlemen’s
Association banquet held at
Boalsburg Feb. 17. A committee of
cattlemen J. Paul Espy, Les
Burdette, Ralph Dotterer and Rose
Scneider selected Bratton from
among the state’s beef producers
In other honors, 19-year-old
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 25,1984
and operated by Richard Haas.
Haas is a veteran in the fruit and
vegetable business. With more
than 25 years of production ex
perience he decided to open up his
own retail store rather than selling
his produce wholesale. He opened
his new farm market in August
1982. He received financing for the
attractive store from the Pa.
Department of Agriculture’s Farm
Market Loan Program. This a low
interest loan program started by
the department to encourage
farmers to market their own goods
directly to consumers.
With more than 150 farm
markets in the county, Haas
thought it more distinctive to call
his store an outlet than a farm
market. He said, outlet better
denotes what we are trying to do
here, produce fruit and vegetables
and provide them for sale at a
better price to the customer.
Pine View Acres dairy store is
(Turn to Page A3O)
Heather Schofield of Millerstown,
Juniata County, was selected the
1984 Cattlemen’s Queen. The
daughter of Michael and Imogene
Schofield, Heather grew up on a
sheep farm but fell in love with
beef cattle while in seventh grade.
A Penn State sophomore,
Heather has shown cattle in 4-H
and someday hopes to have a
purebred Angus herd. This she
plans to accomplish through her
accounting degree which she is
gearing towards work in
agriculture.
I want to get my CPA," she
said, "and then work in the
(T urn to Page A 39)
BY LAURA ENGLAND
ALTOONA - A SWD Valiant
sired embryo transfer iET) calf
sold for a whopping $130,000 to lead
the 39 head of cattle sold at the 1984
Pa. Holstein Convention sale at the
Altoona Sheraton Wednesday
night
The first consignment on the sale
block, bidding for the yet unborn
calf began at $lOO,OOO and quickly
climbed to the $130,000 mark. The
successful bidder of the ET was the
Cordova Syndicate in care of
Rappaport
Sired by Valiant, five ET calves
are due in June and August, and
the Cordova Syndicate will have its
choice of the first male calf. The
dam, Mowry-K Starhte Cordova-
ET, is an excellent cow owned by
Kenneth R Mowry of Roaring
Spring. As a 4-year-old, Cordova
produced 42,840 pounds of milk at a
4.0 butterfat test.
$12,276 average
The high bidding on Cordova’s
Valiant ET male helped boost the
sale total to $478,000 for an average
of $12,276 per head.
The second high seller was a Cal-
Clark Board Chairman ET
daughter, Pen-Col Chairman
Dede-ET. The 7-month old calf was
consigned by Dennis Wolff,
Millville, and sold for $41,000 to the
Dede Syndicate in care of Lewis
Berkley.
Dede’s dam, Pen-Col Wayne
Deena, scored very good at 88
points as a 5-year-old and carries a
three year record of 32,226 pounds
of milk at 4.1 percent butterfat. A
maternal brother to Dede, Pen-Col
Dazzler-ET, sold for $lOO,OOO at the
1983 National Holstein Sale
Burket-Falls Maretta-Red-ET,
consigned by Burket Falls Farm,
East Freedom, was third high
seller at $35,000. The 3-year-old
Vincent View Molly Chief daughter
was bought by Ronald A. Wasson,
Pine Grove Mills.
Maretta scored good plus at 84
points and produced 15,792 pounds
of milk with a 4 4 percent butterfat
test as a 2-year-old Her dam,
Burket-Falls Star Minerva, has
Ray Bratton, left, and wife Susan, McVeytown, accept 1984
Cattleman of the Year award from Robert Coleman, director
of Pa Cattleman's Association.
17.50 per Year
National nominee
John Cope, of Ashcombe
Farms, is Pa. nominee for
national Holstein
association’s board of
directors.
consistently averaged over a 4.0
butterfat test for seven lactations.
Other top sellers were:
Nixonacres Conductor Arlinda,
consigned by Dale W. Hoove*-,
Martinsburg, and bought by
Howard Hammand, Corry, for
$25,000; Dumbelle Conductor
Sadie, consigned by Dumbelle
Farms, Landisburg, and bought by
Rebecca A. Reisinger, Elliotsburg,
for $15,500; and Shelmar-Acres
Nugget May, consigned by
Shellenberger Bros., Mt. Joy, and
bought by Paul J. Wangsness,
representing Penn State’s
Department of Dairy and Animal
Science, for $13,500.
Selections for the sale were
made by James E. Howes,
Warriors Mark, and Michael D
Weimer, State College Auc
tioneers were R. Charles and
Horace A Backus.
More Holstein
Convention
news on A 26