Holstein Assoc. Breaks Ground For New Bam
(Continued from Page Al)
the Susquehanna River’s east
shore, initial improvements
focused on remodeling the first
floor of the capacious, stone bank
bam into holding pens. The first
large pole bam, with an office
area, was added in 1979. A second
pole bam, which housed the 1980
Pittsburgh convention sale
animals, was relocated to the
farm.
While a high-priced U.S. dollar
had reined in the cattle export
business during recent years, the
dollar’s leveling, plus renewed
governmental interest in boosting
U.S. exports, are combining to
make American cattle a com
modity in demand. PHA’s latest
addition puts members in the
position of owning the largest such
facility in the East, and possibly in
the country, to serve this
specialized export trade.
“Under the new Export
Enhancement Program, our
government is subsidizing the cost
of livestock to boost export
business” explains Nichol. “If a
foreign buyer can buy heifers for
$BOO from our competition coun
tries, and we need $l,OOO, our
government will subsidize the $2OO
difference to encourage export
activity.”
Nichol anticipates a continued
brisk business in the cattle ex
porting market, since new coun
tries are continually developing an
interest in better breeding cattle,
and a shortage of high quality
livestock exists in international
markets.
“We now have the capacity to
handle a full boat load of heifers, or
about 500 bred heifers at a
thousand pounds,” says Nichol.
“That gives us the increased
possibilities of loading out ships
from Philadelphia or Baltimore.”
A planned lengthening of the
runway at Harrisburg In
ternational, which is located only
two road miles from the farm’s
entrance, will further enhance
PHA’s exporting position.
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“If we fly cattle by 747’s they
have to go out of JFK Airport in
New York,” Nichol adds. “The
runway here just isn’t long enough
for safely handling a loaded plane
that size.”
However, the Brazilian six
plane-shipment will be loaded on
the Harrisburg tarmac, since they
will be sent on the smaller Boeing
707. That eliminates the long
tractor-trailer haul to JFK, and
cuts a few hours from a long, tiring
trip for the cattle.
With a decade of experience
behind them, Holstein planners of
the new facility, working with the
construction expertise of the
Henry S. Lapp firm, White Horse,
were able to add features that
enhance cattle well-being and ease
of handling large numbers.
The use of individual head-catch
gates will eliminate some of the
constant herding through chutes of
animals being tested to meet the
rigid health requirements imposed
by many importing countries.
Some countries require animals to
pass the testing for such exotic
diseases as anaplasmosis, blue
tongue or avian tuberculosis not
once, but twice.
Feed troughs which separate
holding pens have been built a bit
wider than usual, preventing
animals on either side from being
able to touch each other, another
cattle health and quarantine in
novation. And, a load-out alley the
full length of the new facility
means a pen of heifers can be
moved from any of the several lots
with no disturbance to the others.
The farm is an official federal
quarantine facility, and,used for
assembly of not only PHA ship
ments, but those of other exporters
as well. Holstein-Friesian Ser
vices, exports arm of the national
Holstein Association, is a regular
user of the farm for assembling
shipments. And, Heifer Project
International, a branch of Church
World Service, often has livestock
in the testing process in PHA’s
bams.
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Howard Weiss is the manager of
the farm, a Dauphin County
Holstein breeder with plenty of
experience in handling cattle.
While he occasionally helps with
selection of export animals, the
bulk of Weiss’ time centers on the
care of the animals at the facility,
from perhaps as few as a dozen or
two to full shipments of several
hundred, and upkeep of the
growing facility.
In past years, however, Weiss
has accompanied cattle to
Hungary and Italy, and is often one
of the last persons on hand to see a
shipment off at the runway. He’s
milked cows by hand, just before
their departure for a distant
country, fed baby calves, helped
maneuver grown bulls into cargo
pens, and even kept an eye on a
buffalo during his trip with PHA
cattle to Hungary.
“It had been donated to a zoo,”
he chuckles, remembering the
bulky livestock passenger.
When Weiss arrives at the farm
each morning, he can never quite
know for sure what foreign visitors
might stop by before the day’s end.
That lends an international flavor
to working with the PHA farm, and
has left the former dairy farmer
with acquaintances from around
the globe, “and always sociable
ones,” he affirms.
Nichol, who with his wife, Lily,
frequently hosts foreign buyers in
their State College home, also
speaks fondly of the friendships
and memorable experiences that
have resulted from the PHA’s
international business. He
especially remembers a pair of
Russian buyers spending their first
visit in a private home. They took a
special liking to the billiards game
Nichol taught them, and through
their interpreter, teased about
leaving a couple of purchased bulls
behind to allow room on the plane
for taking home Nichol’s basement
pool table.
But it is the grassroots member
breeders who make PHA’s export
business so successful, Nichol is
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quick to credit. He takes special
pride in the Association’s network
of county selectors, who respond
when a call goes out for an export
shipment to be filled.
“They’re a big plus; we can put
together a large shipment in a
hurry with their help. And there is
no way that our three-man staff
could handle it alone,” says the
Holstein executive secretary. For
some orders, such as the upcoming
Brazilian one, the Holstein staffers
travel with buyers from the im
porting country, who make their
own on-farm selections.
Nichol believes that enhan
cement of the members’ business
is “probably the greatest service
we can provide.” PHA’s in
ternational and domestic sales
efforts have done just that,
providing over half the
Association’s annual income.
Without that, says the secretary,
the staff would likely be a one-man
effort, and less able to provide
membership services.
Such sales, he adds, have also
encouraged members to par
ticipate in breed improvement
programs, plus providing a sales
outlet for qualifying animals at
prices often somewhat above the
domestic level.
Over the next few months, a full
schedule of shipments are already
in various stages of planning, both
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farm. Over the next few months,
cattle will leave this facility for
herds in Taiwan, Morocco, and
Mexico. Japan, Saudia Arabia and
Canada continue to be frequent
destinations for shipments which
leave here. And North African and
Asian countries are likely to
remain in the cattle export picture
for some time in the future.
The new barn may place the
farm in a greater role in state
Holstein activities as well. Already
under consideration is use of the
facility for the annual spring
Pennsylvania on Parade calf and
bred heifer sales.
In addition to playing a con
siderable role in upgrading the
world’s livestock bloodlines,
PHA’s farm and exporting ac
tivities have undoubtedly paved a
way toward better understanding
among those of diverse cultures
doing business together.
“I’ve never dealt with anyone I
could consider an enemy,” reflects
Bill Nichol. “If people like the ones
who work with this program were
running the world, we could cut
back on a lot of defense budgets.”
And, in the long run, greater
worldwide personal understanding
and friendship might be the
greatest “harvest” PHA’s ex
porting and sales farm could ever
produce.
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Va Mile West of Quarryville, PA.