814—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Novtmber 17,1984 York farmers open doors to visitors BY JOYCE BUPP Staff Correspondent YORK - A cross section of York County agriculture goes on display tomorrow, as six farms in the York New Salem, Spring Grove area open their doors to visitors on the annual Farm-City tour. Sponsored by the Agri-business committee of the York Area Chamber of Commerce, the tour highlights the annual Farm-City week activities while focusing public attention on food and fiber production. Along with production facilities opened for inspection at the various farms, local related commodity groups will be on hand at some sites with food samples and recipe handouts. Farms to be visited are Stump Acres Dairy, Ronald Workman swine breeding, the Greg Strausbaugh sheep operation, Twin Pine Farms with beef, butchering and fresh produce, Dave Sprenkle beef breeding and feedlot, and the Paul and Chris Hurlbert horse farm. A hundred head of tr Home-style honey sweetened bolognas are customer favorites at the llyes family's Twin Pine beef and meat production business. Daughter-in-law Neta llyes hangs bolognas just off the processing line. BY SUZANNE KEENE LEBANON Pennsylvania farm products, commodity queens, industry representatives and lots of laughter provided all the necessary ingredients to get Pennsylvania Farm City Week off to a running start. Hosted by the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, this year’s Farm City Week Kick-Off Lun cheon was held at the Lebanon County Area Vocational Technical School at noon on Nov. 9. Farm-City Week is a week-long series of activities aimed at bringing about better un derstanding between rural and urban people, while at the same time focusing on the variety and quality of Pennsylvania’s farm products. Following a delicious luncheon featuring Pennsylvania farm products, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture E. Chester Heim shared Gov. Dick Thornburgh’s proclamation declaring the week of Nov. 16-22 Pennsylvania Farm- City Week. “Pennsylvania’s 59,000 farm families and its thousands of agribusinesses make agriculture the state’s number one industry and the single largest source of on Farm CHy Tour registered Holstein cows, along with calves and heifers, fill the attractive dairy production and raw milk retailing centers at the Stump Acres dairy operation. Joe Stump’s dairying career began at age 18, when Iris father died and the young man assumed the care of the family milking herd on the home farm west of York. In 1967, Stump, his wife Glendora and their four children built their spacious free-stall milking parlor and retail store facility just outside York New Salem. Herd average is one of the county’s tops, at over 18,700 milk and 759 fat, with a four percent fat test. Cropland covers 1200 acres, owned and rented, planted to com hay, wheat barley and oats. Sales of registered breeding stock have put the farm’s homebreds in numerous states and other countries. In recent years. Stump has developed the popular sire Keystone Elevation Camaro, leased to Select Sires. Other family members involved in the operation are son Dennis, the herdsman, and his wife Charlotte, ■oduci Lebanon Co. hosts Pa. Farm-City Week kick-off luncheon jobs in the Keystone state,” Heim read from the proclamation. “Truly, the joint effort of our farms and cities is part of a 300 year heritage that continues to grow stronger year by year.” County native Betty Groff, a noted restauranteur and food writer, was present to add her touch to the affair. Betty and her husband Abe, operate Groff’s Farm Restaurant, the in ternationally famous four-star restaurant and the histone Cameron Estate Inn in Mount Joy. They also manage two dairy operations including 160 milking cows. Betty urged business and agriculture leaders to work together to make Pennsylvania a better place to live. “I’m proud to be a Pennsylvanian, but mostly I’m proud because we can all work together so well,” she said. She shared a number of her restaurant and farm experiences with a delighted audience of members of the Pennsylvania Farm-City Council, represen tatives of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania commodity queens and business representatives. (Turn to Page B 16) son Terry, employed full tune on the farm, and nine-year-old Katrina who lends a hand at the retail store. Eldest daughter Shemlynn is a registered nurse. Also on hand to greet visitors will be Stump’s long-time farm field manager Jerry Yohe, with the family operation since he was a teenager. Dairy princess Judy Perry will be available to welcome guests as well and answer dairy-related questions. Since anyone who enters the Ronald Workman swine con finement house must first shower, tour visitors will view this closed environment farrowing set-up through the picture windows that overlook the facility from the barn’s office. A herd of 240 cross-bred sows farrow twice yearly, keeping the farrowing rooms full year round. Litter weaning average is a commendable ten pigs per sow. From the gestation rooms, piglets move to the nursery, where they are raised until they reach 50 ids. Feeders at this wei r it On hand to help kick-off Farm City Week were from left Deputy Secretary of Agriculture E. Chester Heim: Dalton E. Paul. Pennsylvania farm-city council chairman; Betty Groff, honorary farm-city chairman; and Dave Walls from the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce. Pork producer Ron Workman and herdswoman Deb Orr check the feeding system bins putside the Workman’s 240- sow controlled environmental farrowing house. then go to a separate facility for finishing. Herds woman Deb Orr assists Workman with herd management and record keeping at the office,a and record keeping at the office, and will have on display a layout of photographs of the hog raising procedures. Mike Tome is in charge of all the farm’s main tenance activities. The Workman’s have been in business at their Spring Grove R 1 location since 1979, and the family also includes wife Diane, Brian, 11, and Bille Sue, 9. York Pork Producer members will answer questions and distribute literature on pork nutrition and preparation. Greg and Chris Strausbaugh’s 45-acre sheep farm at York R 6 focuses on the breeding and raising of purebred Dorsets. A flock of 50 ewes are lambed both spring and fall, the foundation of the total 125 head on display. Visitors will enjoy as well two burros that the Strausbaughs t * Jr# »?JT recently adopted from the Wild Horse and Burro Center at Lewisberry. Another attraction is their Giant Pyrenees puppy, a breed of dog especially developed to protect flocks of sheep from predators. A shearing demonstration at the Strausbaugh farm features professional shearer Carl Kauff man of Bedford County. County 4- H Lamb Club members are planning a food sales stand and samples of lamb bologna will be available for tasting. Driving up the lane, past a pond called home by the farm’s geese, farm tour guests stopping by Twin Pine Farm will wind around a small pear orchard on their way to the main feedlot and butchering facility. From this neatly-kept Seven Valleys R 1 cow-calf to finish operation, with its variety of fresh produce and speciality butchered meats, the Robert Ilyes family has been retailing at local farmers’ (Turn to Page BIS)
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