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VOL. 35 NO. 26
Teachers Learn
Beef Production
WOMELSDORF (Berks Co.)
Teachers from Berks County
got a taste of the beef business
recently when they visited several
beef farms in the county, along
with a family-owned butcher shop
and a retail supermarket that fea
tures a modem meat department
The tour was organized by the
Berks County Cattlemen’s Asso
ciation in cooperation with the
“Ag In The Classroom” program.
Poultry Seminar Held
For Home Economists
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LITITZ (Lancaster Co.) “If
we are going to solve the salmonel
la problem, we must educate the
public on good food handling prac
tices,” Dr. John Schwartz, poultry
extension agent, told about 90
home economists on Monday
night.
The poultry industry is tired of
being blamed for food poisoning
episodes that reveal sloppy food
Newly crowned York Dairy Princess Angle Lang and
Dairy Miss Jessica Pomraning look forward to dairy promo
tional activities. For pageant details, turn to page 813.
National Milk Veterinarians Hope To
Launch Quality Assurance Program
FREDERICK, MD The
National Milk Producers Federa
tion has joined forces with the
American Veterinary Medical
Association to develop a plan that
dairy industry officials hope will
put an end to the negative publici
ty sparked by reports of drug
residues in milk.
The so-called “quality assur
ance protocol’’ is designed to
further reduce the incidence of
violative residues those that
500 Per Copy
Twenty educators from 10 dif
ferent school districts represented
a variety of levels of school curri
culum and grades. They were
greeted by Sheila Miller, president
of the Berks Catdemen, and Geri
Gammel, treasurer.
After a brief discussion of the
beef business and checkoff prog
ram by Beef Council’s executive
director Dave Ivan, the caravan of
(Turn to Pago A 26)
handling practices by vendors.
“Eggs are safe if handled prop
erly,” Schwartz told the Lancaster
and Lebanon home economists
gathered at the General Sutter Inn
for their annual banquet sponsored
by the Lancaster County Poultry
Association and the extension
office.
Eggs natural defew
Schwartz explained that the
inside of a newly laid egg does not
(Turn to Pag* A2B)
exceed tolerances or other public
health limits set by the federal
Food and Drug Administration
according to John Adams, director
of milk safety and animal health
for National Milk.
Numerous farm organizations,
including the American Farm
Bureau Federation and the Nation
al Dairy Herd Improvement Asso
ciation, recently endorsed the
program at a meeting in Washing
ton. The plan has the blessing of
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 12,1990
What could be finer than a balmy spring day spent with your favorite Appaloosa?
"Nothing!”
At least that’s what Alison Farrington (right) and her sister Alida Burkholder said Tuesday
afternoon when this photographer visited their family horse farm in northern Lancaster Coun
ty. Lower Hopewell Farm Is noted for breeding registered Appaloosas and a long list of show
winnings. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. John A. Farrington, a number of horses are boarded for
other owners as well as a long list of family pets from peacocks to guineas to rabbits to a new
spring foal named Patrlc. In fact, the variety of animals that live at Lower Hopewell has
prompted a little sign to designate the distance between the old bank barn and the new horse
barn as “Zoo Lane.” In the photo, Dancing Demon is with Alison and Inexcess of Straw is with
Alida. Photo by Everett Newswanger.
Soybean Associations Recognize Farmer
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
MT. JOY (Lancaster
Co.) All it took was time to fill
out a two-page questionairre. But
it also required a lot of insight into
how to market and distribute soy
beans throughout the world that
helped net a Mt. Joy dairy and
poultry farmer, as well as regional
grain distributor, the coveted DuP
ont Young Leader Award.
Jim Musser was recognized by
the Mid-Atlantic Soybean Associ
ation and the American Soybean
Association (ASA) as this year’s
winner of the award.
About the questionairre, Musser
said, “They asked what innovative
production methods you used ...
what innovative marketing tools
you use to get a better price for
your beans . . . and they ask for
U.S. Department of Agriculture
and FDA officials as well.
This fall, the sponsors hope to
officially launch a campaign to
educate farmers and veterinarians
about the program. The National
Beef Promotion and Research
Board has committed $325,000 to
the project, which also involves
drug residues in meat, according
to Adams. The sponsors hope to
receive the remainder of a price
(Turn to Pago A 23)
your thoughts on how you think
beans can better be utilized abroad
or at home. I filled it out and I
guess they liked my answers.”
Keeping busy is natural for
Musser, who divides his time
between his 130-acre dairy and
poultry farm and the full-time
grain elevator, M & R Grains, Inc.,
where he is in business partnership
with his father, Harold Musser.
Brown Cow Lays
Golden Eggs
VERNON ACHENBACH, JR.
Lancaster Fanning Staff
FONTANA (Lebanon Co.)
Unlike the goose, the cow that lays
the golden egg is no symbolic crea
ture of a fable.
There’s at least one very real
cow in Lebanon County that seems
to be providing eggs for embryonic
transfer worth much more than
their weight Jtn gold. And, funny
enough, it’s not a Holstein.
In the ever-competitive world of
dairy breeding and the search for
the elusive perfect animal, a
Brown Swiss strain owned by
28-year-old Gary Mase may be
holding the magic genetic combi
nation every dairyman is looking
for.
Times have changed somewhat
as to what the best cow will look
like and what it will do. Most
dairymen own Holsteins and have
Four Sections
Farm 130 acres
The Mussers (Jim’s wife Sue
and their four sons, Matt, Brett,
Dustin, and Cody) farm 130 acres
and rent about 260 acres. Musser
manages 52 head of Holstein and
raises com, wheat, barley, soy
bean, and alfalfa. In addition,
Musser raises 150,000 hens for his
full-time layer operation. The lay-
(Turn to Pag* A2O)
said, in effect, that the super-strain
dairy cows are somehow locked
into the Holstein breed. A lot of
work and research has been
devoted toward the breed.
The other dairy cattle breeds,
generally called colored breeds,
have, over the years, been looked
down upon as somewhat inferior.
Complaints about too little milk
production are largely to blame.
Each breed has its advocates,
some of them strongly opinion
ated; however, milkhouse produc
tion and cost effectiveness are
usually considered the bottom line
in selecting a breed for commercial
milk production.
Mase’s registered Brown Swiss
not only have put an end to that
production complaint of the breed,
but have a growing number of
dairymen taking a second look at
$15.00 Per Year
(Turn to Pag* A 24)