BY JOYCE BUPP Staff Correspondent YORK - Hellam Township is the site for the sixth annual York Farmers’ Association’s farm tour, Saturday, June 15, from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. “The purpose of the tour is to promote better understanding farmers and their urban neigh bors,” according to tour chairman Jack Dehoff, a Red Lion dairy farmer. There is no charge for the tour, which takes participants, via haywagon rides, to three farms serving as this year’s hosts. Opening their operations are William and Louise Flinchbaugh and their son Ritchie, operators of a fruit, livestock and poultry farm, Pearl and Paul Mills, owners of Willow Tree Horse Farm, and dairy farmers Harry and Donnda Arnold. The original 59-acre Flin chbaugh farm was purchased from the Dietz family in 1951 by William’s father, Jacob. William and Louise formed a partnership with his father until 1968, when son Ritchie joined the operation. In 1978, Ritchie and his wife Sonja then joined in a family part nership. Seventeen acres are planted to a variety of orchard fruits, with apples, peaches, plums, cherries and pears in season. Sales are mostly wholesale, with small amounts retailed. A diversified operation, the Flinchbaugh family also maintains an 800-head hog finishing house, and 8,000 heavy breeding chickens for the Longenecker Hatchery at Elizabethtown. Crops are on 675 acres, 80 of them owned, with 540 planted to com, 100 in wheat and 26 in oats. No-till planting is used primarily, for soil conservation purposes. Family members, full-tune em ployee Rick Gamer and occasional part-tune assistants handle the chores of the changing harvest seasons. The Fbnchbaughs also have another son, Brian, and tljjpee grandchildren, at least one of Three farms on display on York Farm Tour June 15 tour's stop at their orchard, grain, hog and poultry farm, operated in partnership with their son, Ritchie, and his wife Sonja. pasture, enclosed with over six miles of new wire fence whom they hope may someday find Thoroughbreds grazing wunin an interest in becoming the fourth the six miles of new fencing around generation to run the farm. HO acres of pasture will welcome On hand to greet tour guests will the wagons rolling up the lane to be Susan Green of Biglerville, the Willow Tree Horse Farm. This Adams County Apple Queen, breeding and training facility is serving apple juice from Knouse owned by Paul and Pearl Mills, Foods. Related commodity who purchased the rolling land displays will feature gram with its big bank barn in 1971. Two equipment from Loucks Gram, new bams have been added, for a planting and harvest machinery, total of 37 stalls available for the and a bulk feed truck from average population of 65 head, Spangler and Sprenkler Feeds. including two stallions, on the farm. During peak breeding season, as high as 100 thorough breds roam the lush green pastures. Mills’ thorougbreds are regulars in the racing ranks at Penn National. President of the Penn sylvania Horse Breeders Association, he has been the leading Pennsylvania breeder for the past six consecutive years, and seven out of the last eight. A three-eighth mile length of mg w;, jai yiack and ite Holsteins in Harry Arnold’s 40-head dairy herd are a number of the more unusual Red and White Holsteins. training track of the farm allows the Mills family to break and ready their own two-year-olds. Son Dennis is in charge of the family’s training program at the Penn National track, with 19 horses presently in training and racing there. Pearl handles the care of the brood mares, including her own mare, Royal Arapaho. Their daughter Kay is the farm’s (Turn to Page A3B) ikiit *< 4IMV4
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