A2O-lancMttr Fanning, Saturday, June 3,1389 Spinning Wheel Farm (Continued from Page At) consumers is better taste anda lon ger shelf life. “We (dairy farmers) send out of our farms a good, quality product and it’s up to restaurants and hand lers to make sure they keep it that way,” "says Ralph. Each year the Robertsons host hundreds of school children to show then! life on a farm and how milk is produced. “It’s up to us, (dairy farmers) to spread the word. We’ve got to tell kids we’ve got a quality product. I tell them when they go into a restaurant and they order milk and the milk comes out and it’s not cold, to send it back and demand a good, cold glass of milk,” said Ralph. Quality is number here. The Robertsons do not have a dazzling new milking parlor. Nor do they have the latest in pipeline and milking equipment. And the bam is far from ideal for dairy cows. A creek lies a few hundred feet from the bam and the low ground collects water making the path to the pasture sometimes sloppy and muddy. An excellent environment for breeding mastitis. The free stall bam built in 1977 is designed for 60 cows, but is constantly filled to over capacity with 7 5 to 80 cows at one time. And Ralph, Debbie, Melvin Arrington, the fulltime person, or Judy Owings the morn ing and weekend milker, may do the milking. Production is near 18,000 pounds of milk and 627 pounds of butterfat. Quality is first here. Income over costs is first, 100. A healthy herd is a low-cost herd. Time is also a consideration. “We want the most amount of milk for the least amount of money and that may not be at 21,000 pounds. 21,000 pounds may take heavy duty management and that would take time away from my family. I like our outside activities with farm bureau, church, ag pre servation. And we have a nine year-old daughter, Katie. We want to spend time with her, too.” said Ralph. “The cows work for us. We don’t work for them, but we’ve got to take good care of them so they continue to work for us,” said Debbie. Atlantic Dairy Cooperative pays 20 cents per hundredweight for the top quality premium. That’s a It may ba a mlx-and-match milking system, but one thing Ralph Robertson Is firm on is “shine”. He buys the lowest-priced soaps and detergents, but adheres to dealer’s recommendations. If thaproduct fails, Ralph demands immediate response from his supplier or the product goes. However, price Is no object when he buys a sanitizer. bonus. The real pay-off is increased production and lower health related costs. But putting quality number one means they do things a little differently at Spin ning Wheel Farm. Although any one of the Spin ning Wheel Farm crew may greet cows in the parlor for milking, milking procedures do not change. “We don’t take shortcuts. We don’t push the cows here. That’s very important. If it takes an extra 20 minutes to milk, that’s okay,” said Debbie. Everything has to flow smoothly.” Be it Ralph, Debbie, Melvin, or Judy milking, there are no sur prises in the parlor with for the cows or the person doing the milk ing. Robertsons’ cows must walk up 19 narrow steps from the hold ing area to the parlor twice a day. Only a secure relationship with the Anyone of the Spinning Wheel Farm milking crew can milk alone. Cows being treated and needing treatment get both red leg bands and red chalk markings—double Insur ance that the next person milking will know which cows to watch. A bulletin board in the parlor holds notes for next milking. Pictured are: Judy Owings, Ralph Robertson and Melvin Arrington, and Debbie Robertson (not pictured) earned their quality premium for 12 consecutive months in 1988. milking crew can entice a dairy cow to make that trek. Although the capacity of the free stall bam is 60 and it is usually houses 80, feeding six times a day keeps the cows up and moving so cows can share the stalls. The Robertsons bed with straw and Ralph says they have not had a case of coli mastitis since they changed from sawdust seven years ago. Alleys are scraped twice a day, and freshens beds as needed. “When its muddy we don’t allow our cows to go out unless its good and solid. I’m convinced cows get mastitis from slopping through the mud,” said Ralph. “The cleaner we keep them the bet ter off they are.” In Ralph’s bam, as well as some of the other dairy bams in the Wakefield Valley, there’s some- ln field work, Melvin Arrington, is hard to keep up with, according to Ralph, but Melvin is Invaluable In the parlor, too. Melvin keeps a close watch on equipment, cows and on the mailbox for their quality ‘report card’ every month. thing unusual under neath the straw bedding. 19-step trip to the parlor. A youn- Asphalt. get herd, he feels, is a bit more No it’s not the kind used on aggressive, roads and highways. It is a special “Also, if a cow gets a high mas blend. This unordinary material titis count, it is just not economi provides a soft base which Ralph - cally feasible to keep her,” says prefers to increase cow comfort. Ralph. “I’ve got to turn her over “It seems to be something that quickly.” people in this area do. We have an Ralph hasn’t used mastistis tube asphalt plant nearby so it makes it treatment in years except for dry easier, but it’s more economical, treatment of cows. He relies totally too. It’s a special mix, very pour- on I.V. treatment which he admi ous. You can pour a bucket of nisters. water on there and in a few minutes “We don’t have a lot of help its gone. So it keeps the cow dry,” here, but the help we have here is explained Ralph. good. Melvin or Judy can do the A monthly visit from the foot milking by themselves. I have no trimmer assures Ralph that all the worries about them. They are vity cows’ feet are in good shape. This good. If we are out baling straw or* s ' is essential to cow comfort and hay, Judy just comes in and takes health all year around. right over. Debbie also milks when “We do as much or morepiain- the need arises,” said Ralph.- feet when the cows go dry ot are leg bands, chalk markings on the ready to go dry. We don’t want to cows and notes on the create any additional stress when board in the parlor, tells the jj/m they are milking than what they milker what to do and whiqlfdbw have to,” said Ralph. “And we to watch, treat or to on don’t want any damage to the feed udder either ” The Robertsons milk a mix pf registered and grade cows. The average age in the herd is just a little over four years. Ralph likes to keep young herd because his cows spend a lot of time standing on concrete and an older cow may not The Spinning Wheel Farm has been in the Robertsons’ family for three generations. Ralph Robertson currently chairs the Carroll County Ag Land Preservation Committee to assure that not only his farm, but others like his will remain In agricultural use tor years to come. have the ability to negotiate the “I know you’re not supposed to. but we use a lot of water here to wash dirt off the cows. We use a hose with a solution of iodine water. But we use one to ten towels to dry those teats and udder off completely,” said Ralph. “It must
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers