A2O-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, December 20,1986
Optimism Prevails At New , New
JACKSON, N.J. - Establishing
a dairy farm on the sandy soils of
central New Jersey, halfway
between the thriving metropolises
of New York, Philadelphia and
Atlantic City, could be construed
as crazy or requiring a large dose
of pluck.
Filling the bill, Tenpenny Farm
is riding a wave of optimism that
dairy farming can survive in New
Jersey despite skyrocketing land
values and suburban sprawl.
Owners Vince and Kelley Blasco
are entering into the dairy
business with the conviction that
the “best way for us to make it (in
dairy fanning) in New Jersey is to
direct market milk.”
When investigating the
feasibility of dairy farming, dairy
specialists at Penn State and
Rutgers told the Blascos they were
crazy, however they were always
there with answers to our
questions, according to Vince.
Added encouragement came'
from articles in farm newspapers
and magazines. Vince noted that
the message he received from the
articles was that there is still hope
in dairy farming, if debt is kept to a
minimum.
Ultimately, within five years,
they plan to open a jugging
operation that specializes in
cream-line milk. After con
structing half of the necessary
buildings, increasing the herd to 36
total head, and clearing one-fourth
of the total land, the Blascos are on
their way to seeing their plan to
fruition.
, Vince and his wife, Kelley, were
The beginning of Tenpenny Farm. These are the make-shift
washing facilities the Blascos used before their new barn was
built.
. i K.u,-4>
Tenpenny Farm, named for Vince Blasco's construction background, is located in
Ocean County New Jersey, halfway between New York, Philadelphia and Atlantic City. A
second tie stall barn is planned to the right with the milking parlor being built to connect
the stall barns and the hay barn.
drawn into dairy farming over a
period of three years. Neither
possess a farm background. “Our
background on animals was
limited to pets maybe,” Vince
explained.
In 1981 they moved to their
present home in Ocean County and
started with 18 acres and
racehorses. The Blascos bought
their first cow, a Jersey-Holstein
cross, “Pearly Mae,” in mid-1982.
Their four children were drinking
two gallons of milk a day and they
decided “why not, we had the
horses, how much more trouble
could a cow be,” Vince noted.
A visit to a neighbor netted them
“Peaches,” a Jersey cow. “We fell
in love with her and couldn’t resist.
We didn’t need her and had to
scrape for the money to pay for
her,” Kelly said. The Blascos paid
for Peaches by selling a sailboat
for $B5O, Peaches exact price.
A large senior citizen com
munity, which remembers raw
milk from their youth, surrounds
the Blascos’ home of Jackson, near
Toms River and Lakewood. These
neighbors, knowing of the Blascos’
cows, inquired about possibly
purchasing milk from the Blascos
and implanted the idea of opening
a jugging operation, Vince noted.
These requests spurred him into
contacting the New Jersey
department of agriculture. New
Jersey state officials came out to
look at the Blascos’ facilities,
Vince said. The officials took a
quick inspection of their
delapidated bam and informed
Vince and Kelley that major
f ,
"b
* 1.
it tat
repairs would be needed before
they could sell milk.
Tliis rejection lead them to
seriously consider purchasing the
land next door which was for sale
at “a reasonable price,” Vince
said.
“My wife had to kick me and told
me we were going to buy the place
even if I had to go back to work to
make the payments,” he said.
Vince, trained in construction,
found employment as a con
struction inspector. Another
party’s interest in the overgrown
property hastened their decision.
“We had leased it for two years
with the option to buy. 1983 was not
a good market for land. Then
things started to change,” Kelley
said. Which added to the difficulty
in obtaining the land.
The original property owner
realized he had sold the land too
cheaply and insisted on holding the
closing on the agreed upon day of
May 1,1985. The Blascos requested
an extension of six days while their
sale of two houses was completed.
They also sought a short-term loan
during the interim between the
closing and their house sale.
Then, Vince relates, he “dam
near had to sue the banks for a
loan.” The banks which Blascos
dealt with were unfamiliar with
agriculture thus making them
reluctant to authorize a loan in
spite of the Blascos’ healthy credit
line. A timely call to the bank
commissioners office yielded both
the extension and the loans
necessary for the closing, Vince
explained.
During the two years they leased
the land, Vince and Kelley were
busy clearing land and ac
cumulating information, equip
ment and cows to prepare them for
the move to full-time dairying.
“We talked to innumerable dairy
farmers in Pennsylvania and New
Jersey. We’d be driving down the
roads in Pennsylvania and Vince
would see some farmers and say
T’m going to stop and talk.’
Specifically he was looking for
juggers but he’d stop and talk to
any dairy farmer,” Kelley said.
They also quizzed the professors
at Penn State and Rutgers
Universities and “did an awful lot
of reading,” she noted.
On the medical end, Pearly Mae
provided a hands-on type of
education. “She was our first
everything first cow, first bull
calf, first heifer, first twins, first
retained placenta and first breech
birth,” Kelley explained.
Kelley, who is a registered
nurse, has found her medical
background to be very helpful,
especially with the closest vet,
with a specialty in cows, living 45
miles away. “He told us that cows
have the same ailments as people
except the cows have a few more
stomachs.” She noted that with her
background she is able to solve a
lot of little problems.
By starting gradually the
Blascos were able to see the
symptoms and health problems
one cow at a time.
Vince cites as the “nail in the
coffin to getting started” a visit to
a jugging operation outside Penn
State. “People were standing in
line on the street to get what they
were selling.” And after tasting
Jersey Dairy Farm
.A
The recently completed barn contains 40 tie stalls and two
box stalls. The milking parlor will join this barn and a similar
barn. Planning to add to the stall barn, the Blascos did not
have the end of the roof finished.
«* ’*'*■
~ *
Vince, left, and Kelley Blasco hold their two original cows,
Peaches, left, and Pearly Mae.
first hand the quality that at
tracted the crowd, he decided to
model their operation on the same
concept.
To offer quality milk and ice
cream products they opted to raise
Guernseys. In order to compete
with the local convenience stores
and grocery stores, we have to sell
a richer, creamier, higher fat
product, Vince said. To meet this
criteria, Tenpenny farm will be
selling Golden Guernsey milk in
glass bottles to add to the milk’s
appeal.
They learned about Golden
Guernsey milk from a nearby farm
during their explorations. This
farm also provided the foundation
for their Guernsey herd. The
Blascos purchased a dry cow bred
to Kelloggs Minnies Choice.
Raising registered cows was a
business decision. Vince explained
that with proper management they
would be breeding with AI to
improve the herd and AI costs are
the same for grade or registered
animals. Plus with registered cows
there is an added market from the
sale of the animals.
-*• ** «■%,,
«t ♦ V
When Tenpenny farm begins
their jugging operations, they plan
to offer an educational experience
besides a quality product. “We are
going to arrange our facilities so
that people can see the milking and
care of the cows, and so that kids
don’t think milk comes from
Turkey Hill,” Vince said. “We are
also planning on a menagerie of
small farm animals in one comer
of the farm.”
Presently the buildings include a
40-cow tie stall barn, a hay barn
large enough to hold hay for a 80
cow herd, the milk house and an
area for future milk processing. A
milking parlor and a second 40-cow
tie stall barn will be built in the
near future, Vince explained.
He added that the two tie stall
barns will lie on opposite sides of
the milking parlor with the hay
barn directly behind the milking
parlor. The future store will lie in
front of the miking parlor and be
set-up in such a manner to permit
customers to view the milking and
processing.
(Turn to Page A 23)