Russian Visitors
Marvin Wltmer (left) describes his dairy operation as Dimitri Kretsy takes notes. An
Interpreter translates as other Soviet visitors from Moldavia look on. Kretsy Is mana
ger of a collective farm of approximately 13,000 acres.
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Compare ‘A Wonder Of Nature’
To
‘The Garden
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 13, 1988-A2l
Spot’
LANCASTER The fertile
black soil of the Soviet Socialist
Republic of Moldavia is the stan
dard by which other soils in the
Soviet Union are judged. Called “a
wonder of nature,” it is responsible
for the productivity of the agricul
ture there which accounts for 34
percent of the Republic’s income,
and employs one out of every two
people in production.
It was only fitting, therefore,
that eleven visitors from this rich
agricultural area should travel to
Lancaster County, “the Garden
Spot.” The eleven stayed in homes
in Lancaster County, and were
able to observe Lancaster’s mix of
agriculture and industry at close
range. The visit was arranged
through The Friendship Force, a
citizen’s organization which
believes “a world of friends is a
world of peace.”
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist
Republic is located on the western
border of the Soviet Union,
between the country of Romania
and the Republic of Ukraine, long
known as the “breadbasket” of the
Soviet Union. Its agriculture is
varied, and they have developed an
“agro-industrial complex” which
includes processing of many of the
products produced there.
The group from Moldavia repre
sented a diverse mix, including
scientists, educators, a welder, a
health minister, a furniture factory
manager and an official with the
Communist party. But there was
none as interested in agriculture as
Dimitri Kretsy, a collective farm
manager, who took lots of pictures
and often made notations in his
notebook.
Kretsy’s collective farm encom
passes nearly 13,000 acres, includ
ing nearly 2,000 acres of grapes
and 1,000 acres of garden plots
cultivated by workers on the farm.
They cultivate com, wheat, barley
and make hay from grasses, with
four or five cuttings a year. The
1600 workers on the farm and their
families live in villages.
They also raise 3,000 beef
cattle, purchasing them as calves
from neighboring collectives and
growing them to about 1500
pounds in the next 18 to 24
months.
But his real interest was dairy
ing. The farm operation he over
sees has 1,000 black and white
cows which are milked three limes
daily. Average daily production is
about half of Lancaster County’s
average.
Their ration is a mixture of
grains and hay, and the grains are
stored in trench silos.
Kretsy was especially delighted
with a visit to Turkey Hill Dairy
near Conestoga where he watched
the milking operation for the 1,000
cow dairy, and viewed the process
ing plant.
At Atlantic Breeders Coopera
tive he showed a fascination fex
learning about the way the bulls
are selected and put into produc
tion. He told his local hosts that
artificial insemination is common
in the Soviet Union. Indeed, there
is a small amount of Atlantic
semen which makes its way to the
Soviet Union through their mark
eting group, Worldwide Sires.
He also visited the family farm
of Mr. and Mrs. Claude Miller, Jr.,
where he saw an 80-head dairy
operation and was especially inter
ested in the six children who each
had their own chores to do. Clearly
charmed by children, Kretsy was
interested in the baby who played
in a wagon in the bam during the
milking.
The entire group visited the
farm of Marvin K. Witmer, near
Lititz, with Kretsy leading the
questioning about the ration for the
day and the cows’ production.
Witmer had filled containers with
the amount of feed one cow con
sumes in a day, visually communi
cating with the group which used a
translator.
The grapes produced in Molda
via go into winemaking and repre
sents 25 percent of all the wine
produced in the Soviet Union.
Tobacco is another crop which
grows well in Moldavia. Kretsy
said the tobacco is processed
elsewhere.
Other members of the Soviet
group visited the mushroom facili
ties of Needham Mushroom Farm
near Kennett Square. They were
interested in seeing the houses
where the mushrooms grow,