A24-Lancastar Farming, Saturday, July 19,1986
Holstein Dairy Tour Travels To Franklin County
BY GINGER SECRIST MYERS
Adams County Correspondent
GETTYSBURG - Thirty-seven
Adams County Holstein breeders
departed from Gettysburg,
Tuesday, July 15th, under
cloudless skies in the Adams
County Holstein Club’s annual
dairy tour. This year’s tour in
cluded a visit to six dairy
operations in Franklin County and
lunch at the Gibbles Restaurant.
Franklin County has 550 dairy
farms with 40,500 cows producing
575,100,000 pounds of milk valued
at $Bl million dollars annually. The
county’s dairy industry ranked
32nd among counties in the nation
in 1982.
The first stop of the day was at
Aldina Holsteins, Alvin and Diana
Meyers, Chambersburg; which is
noted for their superior type. The
all-registered, all-homebred herd,
currently houses five Excellent
cows. Their most current B.A.A. is
105.7. Canadian bulls have been
used heavily here with pedigree
signs over the cows reading of
Canadian matings which include
such sires as Ronbeth Telmart,
Roybrook Tempo, Quality
Ultimate, Triple Threat and
Bootmaker.
This herd also knows how to
work with a rolling herd average
on 55 cows of 19,500 pounds of milk
and 720 pounds of fat. Meyers
attributes this high fat output to his
Canadian breeding and his
management. He stressed feeding
lots of hay and his grain ration
includes ear com, supplement, and
a top dressing for fresh cows that
consists of seven parts bean meal
and three parts distillers grain.
This is a total family operation
which includes the Meyers’ two
children, Rodney, 19, and Beverly,
18. Alvin and Diana were formerly
in partnership with Alvin’s father,
Lester, who still helps on the farm.
Traversing the county, the
group’s next stop was in the
Duffield area where the best
limestone soil in the county is
located. Driving in the
macadamed lane of Ricecrest
Farm, Fred and Dale Rice, wide
variegated green strips of com and
alfalfa gave little evidence of the
dry weather that dominates most
of the county.
In his welcoming comments
Fred Rice stressed, “We like to put
our money in cattle and cattle
facilities. We don’t have a lot of
fancy equipment. We don’t like to
put our money into something we
only use three or four days a
year.”
Their priorities are evident by
the building and expansion work
that the Rices have done primarily
in the last two years. They have
constructed, all with in-house
labor, an opensided drive-through
barn with 104 self-locking
headgates with a misting system to
keep the cows cool. Rices put in
bunker silos where they store all
their haylage and corn silage.
They also now have a stepped
gravity flow manure handling
system and pit. The latest building
This line-up of good udders were viewed at the Alvin and
Diana Meyers farm where Canadian bulls have been used
heavily. Shown here are daughters of Tempo, Telmatt and
project is a new milkhouse and
double 10 parallel parlor.
Their cows have responded well
to the extra comfort with 160 head
averaging 18,415 pounds of milk
and 662 pounds of fat. Included in
their breeding program are such
popular sires as Gold, Simon and
Tony.
Two cows that they are par
ticularly pleased with are a
daughter-dam pair. The dam,
Ricecrest Gemini Jayanna VG-87
with a relative dollar value of $l3B,
is carrying two bull contracts and
was recently flushed. Her
daughter, Ricecrest Spirit Jane
VG-85, has a relative dollar value
of $l6O.
Strong cow families with ex
ceptional type was the highlight of
the group’s pre-lunch stop, Antrim
Spring Farm, Harold F. Crider,
Chambersburg. Crider’s 59 cow
herd has a B.A.A. of 105.8 which
include seven homebred Ex
cellents. Harold notes that the herd
represents 30 years of building,
recalling that he first classified in
1963 and had only one Very Good
cow. In those 30 years he has bred
25 Excellent cows.
Leading the group behind the
cows in his stall bam, Crider
pointed out Elevations, Milestones,
Bells, and Pete daughters, relating
their several generations of Very
Good and Excellent dams and
granddams. The Criders are
presently milking 10 ET offspring
by Elevation. Their current rolling
herd average is 19,604 pounds of
milk and 693 pounds of fat. Crider
stated that more cows in the herd
are now bred to Banner than to any
other service sire.
Quizzed on the value of indexes
versus cow families for mer
chandising, Crider stated, “Maybe
I’d have more milk if I had used
the production bulls, but I have all
the milk I want. You can’t just
breed by the numbers and get the
kind of cattle you want. But, no
question, when it comes to mer
chandising, the indexes are where
it’s at.”
Following lunch at Gibbles
Restaurant, the group traveled to
the county’s second highest DHIA
herd, Oakleigh Farm, Ed and John
Brake, Mercersburg. Their 114
cows are averaging 20,700 pounds
of milk and 775 pounds of fat.
Founded in 1883, Oakleigh Farm
derived its name from five huge
oak trees that once stood in the
surrounding fields. Only one of the
original oak trees is still standing,
but new oaks have been planted
close to the buildings. Originally a
major horse farm in the early
1900’s, the dairy took over in the
1940’5. Their parlor was the second
earliest milking parlor built in
Franklin County and is still in use
today.
Theirs is a registered breeders’
herd with commercial cow
management. The cattle are
housed in a recently remodeled
loafing barn where they are fed
urea treated com silage, haylage,
and lots of alfalfa hay. All grain is
fed in the parlor.
Adams County Holstein Breeders viewed the new parallel parlor being installed at Ricecrest
Farm, Chambersburg, as part of the groups tour of six dairy operations in Franklin County.
Here the side of the parlor is shown in the release position.
Oakleigh’s production records
have not gone unnoticed by the
studs or sale selection committees.
They have already placed four
bulls into AI and are currently
flushing cows carrying contract
matings. One such individual
pointed out to the group was a VG
-85 Bell daughter with a 3-year-old
record in 305 days of 26,050 pounds
of milk and 770 pounds of fat. She is
consigned to this year’s Ag
Progress Days Sale.
Traveling through some of the
drier parts of the county, the group
arrived at Jim and Nina Burdett’s,
Windy-Knoll-View Farm, Mer
cersburg. The Burdetts are
members of the Genuine Genetics
Syndicate that is currently leasing
the Gold bull to ABS.
Windy-Knoll-View Holsteins was
established in 1975 and since that
time the Burdetts have bred nine
Excellent cows and developed four
others. Their current rolling herd
average is 18,500 pounds of milk
and 609 pounds of fat on 64 cows.
The operation consists of 240 acres
and a herd of 125 head of which 95
District 3 Jersey Picnic Held
The District 3 Jersey breeders of the Pennsylvania Jersey Cattle Club were hosted by
the Robert C. Dreisbach family at their Longmeadows Farm, Hamburg, for the annual
breeders picnic last Saturday. The jetshake machine, a covered dish meal, and a
discussion of the 1987 PJCC annual meeting highlighted the informal gathering of area
Jersey breeders. Breeders also discussed the newly formed young sire group, Liberty
Jersey Sires, and the efforts to make available additional Jersey sires to breeders. After
the meeting, “Wilderness” Jerseys were viewed at Longmeadows Farm and breeders
enjoyed a relaxing day of fellowship.
percent carry the Windy-Knoll-
View prefix.
A special feature here was a
preview of the Burdetts heifer
showstring for this season which
include daughters of Gold, Lad,
Banner, Quality Ultimate and Kit
Builder. Highlighting the line-up
was Windy-Knoll-View Lad Jina
Two, the Honorable Mention All-
Pennsylvania Summer Yearling in
1985. Jina Two is due to Straight
Pine Elevation Pete. Her dam is
the queen of the Windy-Knoll-View
herd, Windy-Knoll-View Kit
Josephine EX-90 2E, with a 3-10 365
day record of 22,007 pounds of
mUk, 3.6 test, and 782 pounds of fat.
For their final stop, the group
toured Meadow Vu Farm, Robert
and Rhodina Eckstein, Mer
cersburg. A familiar face in
Holstein circles, Bob has served as
the Franklin County Holstein Club
Sales Representative, a 4-H leader,
and as a fitting and showing judge
for 4-H and FFA shows. For the
past several years Bob has been
the chairman of the county Dairy
Promotion Committee.
Meadow Vu Holsteins are in free
stall housing and are milked in a
single row stable. The herd
average is over 19,700 pounds of
milk and they have a B.A.A. of
105.00.
When asked about their breeding
program, Eckstein stated, “Today
you’ve got to talk out of both sides
of your mouth. We like type and
production. I won’t use a bull with
low repeatability or less than 600
pounds of milk.” Eckstein stressed
that the herd is 100 percent AI bred
including the heifers that are bred
to calve at not later than 27 months
of age.
A family favorite that caught
visitors eyes as well was a 13-year
old Rag Apple daughter, Meadow
Vu Rag Apple Alice 92-4 E. Her best
effort was at 7-10 with 22,774
pounds of milk and 88 pounds of
fat. Her current lifetime
production surpasses 182,000
pounds of milk. Beaming, Eckstein
said, “She’s still a pretty good cow.
She just might see the showring
again.”