A24-Unca»t«r Farming, Saturday, April 25,1987 Hottensteins Reclaim DHIA Lead After Fire Destroys Barn BY BARBARA MILLER Lycoming Co. Correspondent DUSHORE - It has been a long road back for Sullivan County dairy fanners, Denny and Dave Hottenstein, after a fire destroyed their bam in 1983. Recently, their herd of 65 registered Holstein cows again led the county in milk production with a DHIA average of 20,819 pounds of milk and 759 pounds of fat. The brothers are the fourth generation to operate the farm, purchasing it from their father, William, a few years ago. On Aug. 1, 1983, lightning struck the Hottenstein’s bam as they were doing their evening milking. “It was instant, just flames a foot long on the posts,” Dave recalls. “We were unsnapping cows and getting them out with the milkers still on,” he continued, painting a graphic picture of events. “It was as much scrambling as we’ve ever done in 10 minutes,” drawled Denny in agreement. Although the barn burned completely, the brothers were able to rescue all the livestock. According to Denny, he had just been above in the old wooden bank bam admiring a mow of hay they had recently made. Two loads of freshly hauled sawdust occupied the bam floor along with a quantity of fertilizer. “We have the best neighbors,” Denny remarked, regarding the Uni arches were usl of the Hottenstein’s new barn The Jttensteins v jshore built this barn after lightning struck and destroyed their old barn. They moved into the new facility in November 1984. aftermath of the fire. Neighbors came that night, Dave explained, and fortunately they were able to load the cows right out of the fields onto trucks without much difficulty. The cows, divided among the neighbors for the first night, eventually were settled into Johnny Brown’s bam where a few days before there had been a sale. Some of the cows had yet to be milked that night and it was in the early morning hours before the Hottensteins finally got things under control enough to climb into bed. Not until 15 months later, in November 1984, after commuting at least twice daily to the Brown’s bam seven miles away, were the brothers able to move their herd back to the farm. The cows moved back into a new metal-sided structure 40-by-190, equipped with 65 tie-stalls, four freshening pens, a new pipeline system, a new milkhouse with a 1,250 gallon bulk tank, and a small office. Commuting to tend their herd every day for 15 months was hard enough, but another blow was the drastic 2,500 pound drop in month ly DHIA herd average the Hot tensteins experienced. According to Denny, much of it was caused by irregular calving cycles. “When you’re not there you miss them,” he observed, referring to the difficulty of determining when their cows were in heat. construction / ~.»iy , and Dave stand between the rows of cows in their new 40-by-190 barn that has stalls for 65 cows. Thr itlv id the lead ‘ .he Si ' which they lost when their br It took a long time, Denny said, to get the cows back on a regular calving cycle. Additionally, they were forced to buy hay that year since their hay had burned, although they were able to use silage out of their silo. There was no question in the minds of the brothers after the fire that they would continue to farm, but, Dave says, if he had things to do over again, he would do them differently. “What we should have done is to have sold the cows right then. It was so far to drive and we had to buy every bit of hay. We were actually working for nothing.” In summation, he said, financially, they would have been further ahead to have sold the cows and purchased others when the barn was completed. The Hottensteins count five cows ranked Excellent and 23 ranked Very Good among their herd. One of their Excellent cows, Misty Crest Valiant Tavia, a 4 year old with a record of 29,398 pounds of milk, 1,134 pounds of fat, and 965 pounds of protein, was recently flushed in their initial attempt at embryo transplanting. Denny lists Ned Boy, Sexation and Valiant as some of their favorite bulls. Concerning their high herd average, Denny gives much of the credit to family and friends. “The herd average is not just us. It’s our families behind us,” he observes. Denny’s wife, Mane, helps with the bam chores by feeding hay and bedding the cows. Denny and Marie are the parents of three children, Melanie, Wess and Carrie. Dave’s wife June is em ployed as a school teacher. Next, Denny mentions friends top pi - r* * -4. * poi ... misty- Jt Sexation Larisa, a 3-year-old that classified EX-91 EX-MS. She is one of five Excellent classified cow in their herd. like Johnny Brown, Don Arthur says, they can expect to cut only and Lester Poust who have con- three times, tnbuted advice and en- “Ninety-day com is tops here couragement among other things, and then we have to plant early,” Then, “to make things tick,” Denny adds. Denny says, he considers in- One possible advantage of their valuable the excellent help of cooler environment, Denny notes, professionals such as Don j s that they are not as likely to Laudermilch, veterinarian, Bob experience the adverse effects on Pond, artificial insemmator, and milk production that hot weather Phil Rockwell, feed supplier. can bring to a herd. Another factor contributing to Regarding who does what their present milk production around the farm, Denny smiles as level, Dave says, is feeding high he says, “Neither one of us is very moisture com four times a day. good with machinery. We both like “This past year is the first year to work with the cattle.” we’ve fed high moisture com year around,” he notes. In addition to the high moisture com, the brothers report that their cows receive alfalfa/grass haylage twice a day, alfalfa/grass hay four or five times daily, and 10 pounds of com silage each day. During the summer months the cows are turned out to pasture at night. The weather, Denny says, is their worst problem. Living at an elevation of between 1,700 and 1,800 feet they experience a shorter? cooler, growing season than most Pennsylvanians. According to Denny, neighboring farmers ex perienced a “terrible frost” last June that killed their corn, and it is not unusual, he says, to have the first killing frost come in August. Therefore, the brothers plant an alfalfa grass mixture which under the very best of conditions. Denny Denny and Dave take time from their farm chores to enjoy hunting. Displayed in their office along with milk production trophies are the mounted heads of one 400-pound bear and five deer including one 10- point buck. And they claim to have a couple at the taxidermist. Commenting upon what possible good may have come out of their disaster, Denny draws his thoughts together slowly and carefully. “Anytime anything happens to you it changes your perspective. We have a better barn to work with than we ever had. You really appreciate your friends and neighbors. You can’t believe the hours they put in - they worked for days. And that’s a good lesson learned,” he concludes, “You can’t put a price on your neighbors.”
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