A22-Lancast«r Farming, Saturday, November 1,1986 New Board Chairman Ready To Help Promote Milk BY MARGIE FUSCO Cambria Co. Correspondent EBENSBURG - Jim Harteis is a team player. The newly-elected chairman of the Pennsylvania Milk Promotion Board likes to stress that in his new position as well as in his farming and avocations, “It’s group effort that counts.” He works a family farm and runs a jug milk operation along with his brother Thomas at R.D. §4 Ebensburg in Cambria County. When he’s not on the farm, he can usually be found coaching wrestling for the Central Cambria school district’s elementary program. And since its founding in 1983 the Milk Promotion Board has been able to rely on Jim as a member. As he takes on the chairmanship, Jim is upbeat about what the board has accomplished to date and about the prospects for the future. “We have a very good board of outspoken, knowledgeable men and women. As long as decisions chairman of the Pennsylvania are in the hands of that board, Pennsylvania’s dairy promotion Dairy Promotion Program at programs will be really effective.” their recent annual meeting. .£UlSl£.t£BS , Hartofe grates hi, Mr. for the program so far, noting that ' arm a ™ J u B ml '" operation in the last year they sent more than outside Ebensburg in Cambria $2 million to the board. He feels County, that the $2 million has been well snent “This is the onlv local that complementary effort. channels 1 fSidL tock to iL lS He says thatthe ***** P romotion “ b “”/T rk ?l y ,■ • tn effective. “Consumption is up sto Jim plans to mcrease and enhance . ~ , ~ _ „„„„„ .. 6%, whereas it had been declining earlier this week, the board madl * to ?V" nually - Y° u have to S \°P a substantial increase in the the freight train first, and we ve budget allotment for local done that. We ve come from „„ behind, and we re making some fo Sfthat TrS Sain an- good P rogress ” ™tes that soft nuallv” lncreased agam an drink and alcoholic beverage m y'. . .. „ dustries are spending >39 billion a Jim is enthusiastic about the „„ board’s work “I’m looking for- year on advertising, versus the ward to more wdh dairy industry’s $B-9 billion. “But I " P dig think we ’ re gettog to P for On-Fara Scales Gan Pay for Ifeenaalves In 2 Years Make a modest investment in a installation They come with concrete or Weigh-Tromx electronic Farm Platform wood decks up to 80 feet long with Scale, and you can weigh gram with 1 % capacities to 100,000 pounds You can accuracy right on your farm Know how lake an investment lax credit and much gram comes out of your fields How depreciate the system over five years much goes mto storage How much is Call your Weigh-Tromx dealer today headed for the elevator And the amount for a quotation on what it would cost to put each person is getting when you divide a scale m your operation You II be gram with your tenants, family members, surpnsed at how affordable it is or partners Save time and fuel by eliminating unnecessary tnps to the local elevator And end costly guesswork by keeping Mf ElRUaT|l||lll W® precise records of every gram movement on or from your farm Weigh-Tromx Farm Platform Scales are available for dealer or do-it-yourself CONESTOGA AGRI-SYSTEMS Jay Kreider, Mgr. Leola, PA 17540 215 DW. Main St. (717) 656-0140 our dollar, and we can compete as long as we keep our quality high.” Future plans include more emphasis on promotion to ac company the advertising cam paign. ITie board recently changed public relations agencies “to get more people-to-people programs,” and the plans include more point of purchase literature, coupons, tie-in promotions, and food chain Down On The Farm With Jim Harteis BY MARGIE FUSCO Camberia Co. Correspondent “Let's face it. Most of us are fanners because it’s what we were raised to do,” says Jim Harteis, Cambria County farmer and chairman of the Pennsylvania Milk Promotion Board. “We were brought up to farm, not to be merchandisers and businessmen.” Jim is talking about the need for a new approach to fanning in the 1980’s. Tlk subject is on his mind a lot, both in his new chairmanship and in his own work on the family farm and dairy he operates with his brother. Jim is able to take a hard look at farming these days, in part because he spent a few years away from it. After he graduated from Delaware Valley College with an agricultural science degree, he took a job as an assistant agricultural extension service agent. Then he realized he wanted to farm, and that a farming operation would be incompatible with his hours and responsibilities in his extension job. He took ad ditional college credits and cer tified to become a techer. As a physics and chemistry teacher at Chestnut Ridge High School in Bedford, he was able to rent a farm and start his first dairy operation. He found time to coach fxrtball and wrestling, and his wrestling team responded by in Martin Hardware & Equipment Co., Inc. ANNOUNCES... MATCHING REBATE DEALS Get A Rebate Check Up To $1,500 From American JAWA Ltd. - See Ad On Next Page... Then- Get A Matching Deal From Martin Hardware & Equipment Co., ★ Offer Good For Limited Time Only... Don’t Miss Out! ZETOR More Tractor... Less Money Hurry— OnW a yieeks Wet'* promotions. Jim notes that Penn sylvania’s Real Seal promotion with McDonald’s fast food restaurants won a national award recently, and another promotion with McDonald’s is already being planned. Although the board doesn’t know which Pennsylvania farmers are donating to the program because federal order procedure prohibits traducing him to his wife, Dena. When the farm next to his father’s in Ebensburg, Cambria County, came up for sale, Jim jumped at the chance. He found a teaching job and coaching op portunities at Bishop Carroll High school in Ebensburg, where he taught until 1976. Since then, he’s been able to farm full-time. But in 1977, Jim and his brother and father were nearly wiped out ,when a barn fire killed off their herd and did $275,000 in damages. “It was a significant setback," Jim says. What touched him most during the disaster was the help that came from both local farmers and those he knew in Bedford County. “We owe our existence today to a lot of good neighbors and friends.” He says the barn was put up in just two months in the middle of winter, and before long they were able to start trying to rebuild a herd. Faced with starting from scratch, the Harteis’s decided to build toward the best possible breeding. Today they are on their third generation. In 86 lactations, they have a rolling herd average of 21,780 lbs. and 789 fat. Their B.A.A. is 104.4. Jim is justifiably proud of what they’ve achieved through careful breeding. In the current milking herd of 86 cows, there are 2 classified as excellent and 19 as very good. The Harteis’s are about to send 8 bulls into stud. They also have an Elite List cow that has produced 27 eggs in two embryo ON ZETOR TRACTORS! J Rl 501 IV 2 Miles South Of Schaefferstown,-PA '-I |ofi|| PHONE: (717) 949-6817 H Hlf I|H Mon , Wed .Sat Bto4, T ues . Thurs ,FnB to 8 |MDMf ME i EQUIPMENT CO. INC. release of the names, Jim would like those contributors to know thal their money is being handled well “Changes aren’t going to happen overnight. Evolution takes some time. But we’ve got a lot ol projects in the works for the coming year and beyond. We have quite a challenge ahead of us. There’s a lot of potential here, lots of room to grow and to achieve.’’ flushes this year. They are now breeding for cheese production, which Jim feels is the best possible merchandising direction for his milk. This winter they plan to install an electric feed cart, and they are presently in construction to double the size of their Friend-Lea dairy operation and store. As he polishes the 2,000- gallon tank in the milk house, Jim laughs. “It’s a pretty ambitious tank for an 80-cow operation, but we like to think big.” In addition to his family operation, Jim is proud of the other Cambria County dairy farmers. “There are only 15 or 17 on test, but did you know they rank number one in the state for herd average?” he says. He’s also proud of the helpers on the Harteis farm, high school age youngsters from the area. In addition to the outside help, Jim’s 14-year-old son can be found in the barn when he’s not busy with sports and studying. And his younger sons, ages 3 and 5, and his 2-year-old daughter are growing up in the barn as'Jim did with his 13 brothers and sisters. Jim is optimistic about the future of farming, but he stresses that dairy farmers must develop new attitudes and directions to succeed. “In today’s game, merchandising cattle is everything. You’ve got to consider merchandising your herd. An average herd is only going to give average results. If your herd classifies and performs, that’s all you need. You’ll do well.”
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