A 22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 19,1984
East German immigrant finds pleasure in U.S. farming
BY BARBARA RADER
Staff Correspondent
SLIPPERY ROCK - The 51-cow
Holstein herd of a former East
German refugee, who is now living
on a picturesque farm east of
Slippery Rock, topped Butler
County’s 1983 DHIA record for the
second consecutive year with a
record of 21,499 pounds of milk and
759 pounds of butterfat.
Joe Lange’s dairy operation has
come a long way since he and his
family fled from East Germany in
1953. Joe, his parents Paul and
Erika Lange, sister Lisa and
bother Paul left behind them their
family farm, all their possesions
and tiie Communist-rule only to
live in refugee camps. After a
year’s correspondence with Ewald
Lange, Joe’s uncle, the family
moved to the United States in 1954.
Ewald Lange had agreed to
sponsor the family for the
following five years, enabling
them to immigrate to the United
States and settle in Pennsylvania.
Speaking no English and the
children having only an Bth grade
education, the family, with the
help of Uncle Ewald, got jobs at a
resort being constructed at Seven
Springs.
As time passed, the family ex
perienced unhappiness at not being
able to do what they liked best -
Hutches for smallfry
Clean calf hutches are part of the managemei practices
used by Joe Lange, left, and hired hand Mike Campbell.
This picturesque (arm is home to East German immigrant Joe Lange and his family.
dairy farming. So a farm was
sought and Joe’s parents rented a
176-acre farm which is now the
main homestead. The milking
operation is located on this farm,
and is the home of hired hand Mike
Campbell and his wife, Laura, and
four children.
The farm was rented for four
years until 1959 when Mellon Bank
in Harrisvilie agreed to finance the
Langes at a five percent interest
rate. Starting out with a mixed
herd of 25 to 30 Jerseys, Guern
seys, Holsteins and one Ayrshire,
the Langes began dairy farming in
Pennsylvania. Three years later,
in July 1962, the entire family took
its oaths at the Butler County
Courthouse and became U.S.
Citizens.
Within 10 years, the main farm
stead was paid for, and Joe was
looking at expansion. In 1968, he
purchased the 163-acre farm where
his family now resides. The
previous owner carried the
mortgage at six percent interest,
and the farm was paid for over a
14-year period. To connect this
farm and the original homestead,
Joe purchased an additional 43
acres.
In February 1969, Joe married
Martha Pizor, a girl who lived on a
dairy farm herself and had been
employed by Agway. “If he hadn’t
Picturesque farm is now home
Just before milking, Joe Lange sweeps the feed back in front of the cows.
come to Agway for seed,” Martha
recalled, “I would have never met
him.”
Martha’s acquired knowledge
through her work at Agway gave
her the responsibilities of being the
farm’s main bookkeeper, along
with bearing two sons, Ron and
Steve, who are now 12 and 8-years
old and attending Slippery Rock
Area School.
Three years following his
marriage, tragedy struck when
both Joe’s parents passed away.
But in 1974 things were looking up
when the Sunbeam Coal Company
began strip mining for coal. This
they did until 1977.
Joe said he wanted to reinvest
the money into the farm, so he
developed a better feeding
program for his cows. That’s when
a Harvester Silo for corn was
erected, followed a year later by
another Harvester for haylage. In
1979 a Harvester Slurrystore liquid
manure system was added, as well
as up-dated farm equipment which
enabled Joe to spend more time
with his cows.
The dairy herd was enrolled in
the county DHIA program in 1968.
The mixed herd of 46 Guernseys
and Holsteins topped the county
records with 16,301 pounds of milk
and 628 pounds of butterfat. In
creasing cow numbers to 53, the
herd again topped the charts with
17,437 pounds of milk and 676
pounds of butterfat in 1974.
Maintaining the herd at 53 cows,
this time all Holsteins, Joe’s cows
set another high record of 19,834
pounds of milk and 694 pounds of
butterfat in 1982. Joe remained on
top this year in the county DHIA
(Turn to Page A 32)
Getting close to milking time
Hired hand Mike Campbell is in charge of keeping the barn
and cows clean.
ige, ...
the (arm's top milk producers.
Mike Campbell helps out
One of top producers
Lon,