84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 3,1989
Determined To Dairy Farm
(Continued from Page B 2)
Dale says of those initial months
of dairying.
Changes in his feeding pro
gram, including the addition of
fats, put more energy in the ration.
Though more costly, the change
has gotten results. Cows now
average 64 pounds per day, com
pared to the 50-pound level he
fought to maintain some months.
With their first year of DHIA
now completed, the Ranck’s ini
tial rolling herd average on their
39 head is 17,046 milk, with a fat
test averaging 3.6. While Dale
worked at fine-tuning his feeding,
breeding and crops programs,
Miriam was rapidly becoming a
dairy farming partner.
Although initially apprehensive
of the cows, she quickly learned
milking chores, care qf the calves,
and helping with milkhouse clean
up. By the time they took their
delayed wedding trip to Florida
last July, Miriam had become so
interested in the herd that she had
questions about individual cows
each time they called home to
check.
“It surprised me,” she chuckles
of the deep interest she quickly
took in the herd. Since the couple
is expecting their first child in
July, Miriam has given up helping
with milking and some of the
more physically strenuous farm
chores.
“Who says we can’t make a go
of it?” Dale challenges those who
i pi
ing flowers and vegetables in the garden and flowerbeds at
their Delta farm.
would suggest dairying is almost
impossible for a young couple to
break into, due to high investment
costs. “If others can do it, so can
we.”
“But, you don’t start ‘on top of
the pile’,” he quickly adds. “And,
you can’t start out broke.
“It’s a great help to have some
one behind you and advise you,”
believes Dale. “I was fortunate to
have the opportunity; not every
one does. And, it’s almost impos
sible without that. My father was
in no way pushing; he wanted to
make sure I had the commitment
to stick with it. My parents pur
chased the farm, and we cash rent
it from them.”
Absolutely certain he wanted to
farm, Dale had saved carefully
during the years he worked after
graduation. He weighed the temp
tation of items like snowmobiles,
four-wheelers, and expensive
pickups against eventual cow
purchases - and the cows won.
With no need to build a house,
Miriam’s land could likewise be
used toward acquiring a herd and
machinery.
Equipment for com planting
and hay baling is the only machin
ery the Rancks own. Custom oper
ators are hired for such jobs as fill
ing silos and grain harvest. And,
with his family not too far away,
machine-sharing is sometimes
done.
Expansion to 50 cows and
adding equipment are intermedi-
ate goals for the Rancks, but pay
ing off debt is the couple’s prime
focus for the present. Ultimate
goal is to purchase the farm from
Dale’s parents, through improving
the Oak Lane herd’s production
and holding costs, to maintain
cash flow levels for servicing
long-term debt.
But there are no plans to grow
beyond the one-family operation
size.
“We need dairy farmers,” says
Dale. “Someone has to milk those
cows. And I believe we ought to
have more 40-50 cow herds, and
less 100-cow herds. Forty head is
about what one man and his fami
ly can handle.”
“However, we must be here
every day to milk. Larger opera
tions allow more time off. But if
it’s a partnership, and someone
gets tired and wants out, what do
you do? Bigger sized farms
demand more continuous labor,
and there seems to be a shortage of
good bosses and good employ
___ »»
ees.
One of his major concerns for'
the future of dairying is the issue
of BST, Bovine Somatotrophin.
Not only is he bothered by the idea
of frequent injections of the hor
mone into cows, but also by the
potential for controversy that may
offer animal rightist groups. Dale
lO% OFF rrr-J
()N p ANS NOW IN EFFECT }
THROUGH JUNE
PAUL B. ZIMMERMAN, INC.
Hardware • Farm Supplies
Custom Manufacturing • Crane Service
we 295 Wood Corner Rd. Lititz, PA 17543
?. H ' P 1 Mile West of Ephrata
Phone; 717-738-1121
feels that the use of such technolo
gies as BST and possible future
success in sexing of semen is get
ting pretty close to overstepping
the bounds in “fooling around
with nature.”
“It’s like someone being able to
control of the rain. In the long tun,
God knows what’s best,” he
staunchly believes.
Protein pricing is another issue
he expects dairymen to face soon,
as consumer concern over fat con
tinues to grow.
“But if dairy farmers keep get
ting paid based on butterfat, we’ll
keep on producing butterfat,” fig
ures Dale.
With their goal of dairy farming
reached and well-under way, Dale
and Miriam are quick to credit his
family, whose support played a
major role in making that happen.
He also praises the efforts of Paul
and Kathy King, for their
improvements and developments
MILK.
IT'S FITNESS
YOU CAN DRINK.
Tf‘.
1 «
lIP
L * *
in facilities for the herd and their
comfortable hmrrfc. ~
“We’re very fortunate to have a
place with a new stall bam and
new home. I think some of our
friends are given hope by seeing
what Paul could accomplish here.
It’s an example of how someone
can start with a few inconveni
ences and build from there,” he
says with admiration.
For others considering the long
term commitment to dairying,
Dale stresses the importance of
having some financial savings
toward startup.
“Get a job and save some
money. It takes some sacrificing at
those times when you’d like to
spend for something else. And buy
wisely; you can get nice things
without paying the highest price
for the very best. You don’t have
to buy some item just because
everyone else has it.”
And, likely his most important
advice of all is, “You must really
want to do it”