A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 1,1985
Getting
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
NEW PARK - Yes, you can
build a dairy barn without going
into hock for life. Jim and Norma
Warner, New Park Rl, can vouch
for that. They’ve done it.
Following their rigid, self
imposed philosophy of “don’t buy
it unless you have the money,” the
Warners two years ago saw a
dream of some twenty years come
true. They shipped their first milk
from their first cows from their
very own barn.
And they didn t go into debt one
cent to build or equip it.
moved into their
Hopewell Center Farm home when
they married in October 1960.
Jim’s family were dairy and crop
farmers, and he went into business
with his father, Wilbur, and
brother, William. The three still
crop farm together, raising
potatoes, corn and hay, but the
partnership’s herd of milk cows
was dispersed in the last year.
Norma did volunteer work for
awhile while raising their three
youngsters, Francine, Todd and
Tun. Then she worked for a period
as a teachers’ aide, and later spent
six months on the night shift of a
local manufacturer. But, that
made it difficult to be available to
take part in the growing number of
FFA and 4-H activities with which
sons Todd and Tim had become
involved.
Plus, the dream of their own
da: herd, althr ;hdr it, had
Their sons' interest in dairy projects was a contributing
factor in Warners commitment to built their new barn. This
Jersey heifer being haltered by Tim and Jim and is the latest
4-H exhibit addition.
•ugh the Warners have lived on their Hopewell Center farm for twenty years, it
got a new look three years ago when they added the hip-roofed, tie-stall milking barn.
started in dairying without borrowed money
never been forgotten. In 1981, when
the boys’ three registered Holstein
project calves moved into their
pens adjacent to the machine shed,
the dream revitalized. With a trio
of heifers that would freshen in a
year, the Warners stepped up their
survey of types of dairying barns
and equipment and committed
their family to the decision to
dairy.
Of one thing they were ab
solutely certain: they would not go
deeply in debt to do so. Jim would
remain a part of the Warner family
operation. ' Norma, and their
youngest son Tim, would be the
core of the home dairying team.
Knowing the types of supplies
and equipment they’d eventually
need, Norma and Jim began
purchasing bargains, at close out
sales in ag supply stores and
through farm sales.
“I got a manure scraper for a
quarter,” Norma relates with a
pleased grin. “We’re still using it.”
Another time she came home with
twenty-five-cent stainless steel
balling guns, recognizing them as
an item needed, but not precisely
sure what tor.
Floor drains for the milk house
were found at an Agway close-out.
A breeding wheel on sale was
added to the growing collection.
As actual construction began,
oak lumber cut from nearby woods
became material for joists.
Cement block seconds were
located and hauled home for use in
the walls. Jim turned up a supply
New Park’s Warner
With a 40-head stall barn, built without borrowing and
Jim, Norma and Tim Warner are satisfied their decision to
savvy shopping, he found new steel
I-beams at a price cheaper than
that quoted for used ones he’d been
considering. Even the metal
support beams for the barn were
unearthed in a Lancaster
junkyard.
Labor was hired for digging out
the foundation and laying block,
but relatives, friends and neigh
bors volunteered on a regular basis
to complete most other con
struction details
‘i cooked for a lot of people on
weekends,” Norma remembers.
They included Norma’s parents,
Francis and Mary Braun, their
son-in-law Richard Seitz, Jr., and a
good friend, Jim Loader, who
showed up nearly every evening
after work and supervised most of
the construction. Jim’s family lent
a hand whenever possible, and his
brother William handled evening
milkings by himself as Jim needed
time to help with the bam building.
Their son, Todd, also took Jim’s
place to help milk at tunes.
Show-Ease stalls, windows and
the materials for the upper parts
and flooring of the barn were
among the new items purchased.
Electrical wiring, brand new b-*
on sale, was purchased ahead a.<J
held until needed.
The basic equipment in the barn
milkers, pipeline, tank-are all
used. In fact, the tank they’d
originally planned to buy wasn’t
available when the Warners were
ready to ship milk. Norma hap
pened to see a 400-gallon Girton at
a farm sale, had it checked to be
amih:
—«y pp<-
> for items she knew the family would need to start dairying on
their own. Among her “buys" were a 25-cent manure scraper
and the $250 tank.
sure it was operating properly, and
paid $250 for it. It’s still cooling
milk in the milkhouse.
“We started with three cows,”
she says. For the first many
months, they milked eight head,
generally increasing to 20 as they
could afford to add cows.
Herd size has since grown to 25,
and the production is climbing, at
an average now of 52 pounds per
day, with a rolling herd average
projected by the end of the year to
over 15,000. Test gets careful
scrutiny, and one particular
milker is a five-percent-fat tester.
“We don’t want any more than
30, so we must keep high producers
to keep it going,” Jim emphasizes.
“No freeloaders.”
He milks in the morning, with
Tun sometimes crawling out of bed
early to lend a hand before heading
off to his seventh grade classes at
Southeastern Middle School. Tim
and assistant Randy McKee
generally handle the evening
milking, and sometimes Norma’s
sister Renee helps. Feeding is all
done by Norma, who also handles
daily clean up and oversees
records.
Feed for the herd is purchased
from the Warner family part
nership. Most replacements are
raised, with a dozen yearlings and
17 calves in the heifer pen addition
to the farm machine shed.
When the Warners determined
that they would have to have a
tractor, they sold the family’s
camper to purchase a Massey 235
model. Later, as finances allowed,
.a manure spreader was added.
Prior to that, they had borrowed a
tractor and spreader from the
family business for hauling chores.
As the herd production and
milkcheck have increased, a
\ > *
by bargain hunting,
the right one.
equipped
dairy was
combination feed and hay wagon,
and a silo unloader have been
added to the equipment line. And,
although she searched diligently
for quite awhile for a used barn
cleaner, Norma never did find
what she needed. Careful
budgeting just allowed for a
purchase of a new one.
“We were both brought up, all
our lives, to think about things
before we buy them” both agree.
“And I count a lot on God,”
Norma quickly adds.
Son Todd is currently employed
off the farm at Tri-Boro Concrete
but Tim already plans to be the
next Warner dairyman. Active in
dairy judging, dairy bowl and 4-H
exhibiting, he will join the Ken
nard-Dale FFA chapter as a high
school freshman.
Jim is a former American
Farmer degree winner, and he and
the whole family continue as
strong FFA supporters, and
chaperone and serve as advisors
for various activities. Both he and
Norma have honorary chapter
degrees and Jim was recently
chosen the Kennard-Dale FFA
distinguished service award
winner. One of the chapter’s dairy
calf chain heifers was donated by
Tim.
Their camper is no longer
available for family outings, but 4-
H FFA and Holstein events instead
keep their schedules full. And,
evenings after the milking chores
are finished, Tim and his mom
often go fishing until dark.
“This is something we’ve
thought about ever since we were
first married,” agree the Warner
couple.
“We all work together.”
“And we don’t buy something
unless we can pay for it.”