Raising The Top Guernsey Herd In Columbia CdUniy By Helen Kelchner Columbia Co. Correspondent MILLVILLE (Columbia) Tucked into a secluded area of Millville is the 250-acre Tri-Dee- Bee Farm where Richard and Dor is and their sons Bruce and Dana have nurtured their herd of Guern seys into the fifth-highest producer in the state and the highest in the county. The Hemsarth’s herd average is 15,121 lbs., 4.8%, 714 B Fand 544 protien. The milking herd consists of 48 head with 35 replacements. Six beef cattle also are raised on the farm. Bruce says they are particularly proud of a four-cow family that is doing very well for them. Twinny, the great grand dam in this high producing family, had a record of 20,000 lbs. in 305 days with 874 B F at 4.3%. Her daughter, Terry, was a 13,626 lb. producer with 679 B F and 5% at two years. Terry’s daughter, Tonya, just had a heifer, Tootsie, who has been chosen by Bruce’s eight-year-old daughter Amanda for her first 4-H project. Another cow from the Twinny family, Terra, was junior champ Brenda and Bruce Hemsarth with children Amanda, 8, Andy, 2 and Greg, 5. Bruce holds Tonya the dam of Aman da’s six-week-old calf Tootsie. Columbia County Correspondent Helen Kelchner Lancaster Farming’s Columbia County correspon dent is Helen Kelchner of Berwick. Helen says her freelance writing and photography grew out of a need to keep busy at “something other than housekeeping.” When her four children were through high school, she began to take her writing and photography seriously. Helen was born and lived on a farm in Lewisburg for 16 years. In 1940 her family moved to Berwick, where she finished school, married and raised a family. “My husband’s business did not lend itself to rural living, so my farming background lay dormant until several years ago,” Helen said. Although her first sales were nature photography and feature stories for the Harrisburg Patriot, Helen says she found her favorite subjects in a farm setting. “Having lived in what I call the ‘dark ages’ of farming, I had much to leam in the computer age where some dairy operations are automated from the silot to the emptying of the manure pit and all points in between,” Helen notes. Draft horses ■ are one of Helen’s pet subjects, especially the few owners and breeders 1 *****■»■»**''*'« * T »*»•»*»**■»*• • **»•»* ion at the Blomsburg Fair last year. The Hemsarths recently had her flushed at part of their embryo transfer program. Sires such as King and Victory are used in that program, while other sires are Fay ette, Playboy, and Utopia. One of the Hemsarths’ goals is to build a heifer-raising program in which the heifers freshen in two years as compared to the usual 27 to 28 months. Bruce says they’ve found that they can accomplish this through a good feeding prog ram. “You can’t cut comers with calves,” he stated. The young stock is fed good quality forage and excellent alfalfa until they are about six months. After that age the feed quality is dropped back to average, but grain and supplements are added to the diet. This year the Hemsarths had more replacement heifers than they needed so they entered into an ET program with a neighboring farmer who had flushed Jerseys. Presently four of the Guernsey heifers are pregnant with a possi ble three more. Calves are contained in groups who continue to use horses as cultivation power. Helen is 61 years old and would like to remain active as long as she has a story to write. Her work has appeared in the Harrisburg Patriot, the Hooding Eagla, Baltimore Sun, the Brener, Draft Horse Journal (Iowa), Small Farmers Journal (Eugene, Oregon), Horse Illustrated, and Dog Illustrated (California), various church publications and local papers in Berwick, Sun binry, Williamsport and Wilkes Barre. , Debbie and Dana Hemsarth with children Becky, 4 and Phillip, 2. The dry cows and beef cattle are housed In this second farm apart from the milking herd on the main farm. of three, and there are few health problems. A few years back the family purchased a neighboring farm where the dry cows are now housed. This division has created a healthier atmosphere for the milking herd as well as the dry cows. Bruce attributes the herd’s high production to their diet, which he carefully balances. About four months ago the Hemsarths got a computer that has already proven valuable in saving feed and ! ft. y** t *• A The Hemsarths are proud of this high perform..jg cow .Doris. ..iigTwin ny the great grand dam. Richard holds Terrie the grand dam. Bruce holds Tonya, the dam of the six week old calf held by 8 year old Amanda. Amanda’s mother, Brenda and Dana are at far right. ' ■' e Hemsarth farm Is situated In a pretty secluded area of Millville, Columbia County. increasing milk production. Bruce explained that in 20 minutes he can rework a ration program. The cows are healthier with no imbalances, and he expects the money the farm is saving will pay for the computer within six months. The herd is fed 22 pounds of com silage, 22 pounds of haylage, and seven pounds of alfalfa hay daily, and a grain ration that is dic tated by the computer. The grain consists of ear com, shelled com, soy beans, distillers, cotton seed, vitamins, and minerals. The Hem sarths feed grain twice a day to the milking herd, and top-dressed sil age is fed three times with free choice hay. The cows are kept in a frce-stall bam and fed with a board feeder. The Hemsarths raise alfalfa and com on the farm. A 16 by 20 silo stores com silage, a 14 by 50 silo holds haylage, and a 10 by 40 silo handles any overflow. The family has found that the baled hay that (Turn to Page D 4)
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