How These Farmers
Make It Work
(Continued from Pago A 26)
lime they also get some com silage
until summer and get turned out.
Feeding high energy feed and dry
bedding are very important to their
health.”
Helene usually breeds the heaif
ers at 13-months old. The lightest
one may be 500 lbs. She does not
like the heifers to be too fat when
they are bred. However, from the
time they are bred Helene is not
stingy with the feed and gives the
heifer all she will consume. If there
is not enough for them to eat in the
pasture she gives them supplemen
tal feed.
Helene believes the farmer will
definitely make more money by
feeding his stock decent roughage.
The animals will produce more
and make up for the feed. She uses
Rumensin as a supplement which
enables the animals to belter utilize
the feed.
“After they are weaned and
before they are grouped, we do
something different and again that
is probably because we have a
resident veterinarian (Dr. Robert
Dreisbach). We use anesthesia and
knock out the calves. Then we
dehorn, trim feet, remove extra
Press Conference
(Continued from Pago A 26)
another alternate route suggested
by some local people to Penn Dot
officials. This idea incorporates an
alignment that starts with the so
called goat path and swings to the
south and then paralleling AmTrak
right-of-way to Route 30 at Para
dise and continuing on out along
Route 30 to Coatesville. Officials
saw some merit in this suggestion
so they included it in their feasibil
ity studies. One of the major rea
sons for the suggestion was that
AmTrak already separates a num
ber of farms and Amish communi
ty districts.
Officials expressed several
dilemmas they are facing. First
when you preserve farmland, in a
lot of cases, you then infringe on
developed areas or small towns.
Which is the most important? This
is what we want the local public to
help us decide.
In addition, every route you take
involves some prime agricultural
land. “We are looking at every
possible way to lesson the effect on
farmland,” Mueser said. “We are
looking at 200 foot right-of-ways
instead of 300 feet to try to limit
farmland acquisition as much as
possible. We are looking at align
ments closer to urban areas. And
we are interacting with the local
Agricultural Preserve Board. And
we are doing everything we can to
monitor farmland accessability on
secondary roads. Where possible,
we want to stay along the edge of
farm properties rather than divide
them in half. Since AmTrak cuts
through the area already, maybe
using that as a buffer is a way we
could go,” Mueser said. “The tra
deoff is that there are a lot of small
towns along the railroad as well.
Which is the most important? Is it
more preferrable to cut through the
towns and use less farmland or is it
more important to save the towns
teets. All get nose rings. It costs a
little more initially for the nose
rings, but it pays for itself. That
way noses are all sore at the same
time and no one is slighted. Just
before they freshen we lake them
out We’ve got to check them
because every once in awhile they
get one caught and pull it out,”
explained Helene.
Basic Bio Security
A meticulous person is an asset
to any calf raising program. One
who will take the time to examine
the animals and freshen the bed
ding frequently. The calves are the
future of the herd and should not be
entrusted to just anyone. And
reacting quickly to symptons is
essential to eradicating disease.
However, controlling disease
begins with reducing the number
of organisms to which the animal
is exposed. Most organisms thrive
in warm, moist, dark areas. Clean
and dry bedding is critical to
reduce bacteria. Also make sure
that visitors are not bringing dis
ease in to your herd or that the herd
is not being constantly exposed to
disease at shows or sales. The old
adage is still true, ‘an ounce of pre
vention is worth a pound of cure’.
and cut through the farmland?”
To help Penn Dot officials make
this determination, the local com
munity is being asked for their
imput in the form of a question
naire, which will be available at a
public meeting next Wednesday
evening, December 9. at the Con
estoga Valley High School at 7
p.m. Here the general public will
be given the information that was
made available to the press this
week.
In addition, about 1400 people
who are on the mailing list will
receive a news letter prior to that
meeting. In the questionnaire
respondents will be asked to rank
the routes according to their pre
ference. In addition, interchange
locations will be rated and the
impact of the towns along the
routes. These questionnaires are to
be returned to Penn Dot before
January 8,1988. Some time late in
January, Penn Dot’s consultants
hope to present their final recom
mendations on what corridor
should be used to continue the
study. The engineers have the
option to recommend that the high
way not be built at all.
When these recommendations
are in, the first phase of the build
ing process will have been com
pleted. The second phase involves
the detailed environmental impact
study of this preferred route for the
new road. That study is expected to
lake about a year. The third phase
of the project would involve the
design of the road. And the fourth
phase would be the construction,
which might be expected to begin
some time in the early 19905.
Interested persons may write to
the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation, District 8-0, 21st
and Herr Street, Harrisburg, PA
17120, Attention Mr. Phil Miller,
Project Liaison Engineer.
GIGANTIC
SELECTION
IN
Lancaster
Farming's
CLASSIFIEDS
'I" 111 "'" 1111
16% Grade A
122=2)
20%
Grade B
17% Grade B
Blend average:
18% Grade
B
19% CSSS
GradeC
Agway custom formulation:
18% Grade A
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