A26-Lancaster Firming, Saturday, June 9,1990 (Continued from Pago A 1) lime when poultry sold by the whole bird. Hogs eventually replaced chick ens, as many as 100 brood sows at a time. Swine feed rations utilized waste products, an innovative idea for that time. Along with his other ventures, Heindcl raised German Shepherd dogs for the govern ment, a “crop” which once broke into a chicken house and wreaked havoc. “I always believed in diversi ty,” quietly smiles the Yorkana innovator, who also cropped such commodities as tobacco, strawber ries and tomatoes. After purchasing a neighboring farm, complete with dairy bam, early in the 19705, Heindel decided to diversify into the dairy business. Son Bill, then employed at Borger Steel and with no dairy background, agreed to return home to run the 100 head milking string on its way from New England. “The cows arrived on April 6, 1973.1 had no idea how to milk cows, didn’t even know how to put Tedd Rhodes, who helped design the Helndels’ dairy complex, examines the pipeline plate cooler. Dual pur posed, the plate unit re-cools milk enroute to the 4,000 milk tank, and reheats wash water circulating during cleaning cycles. SJ'V " An 18-foot concrete apron ties the five silos together and provides convenient, solid access for forage and graih filling. m f Looking forward to moving Into the new dairy facility are from left, Bill, Horace ano Jeff Heindel, and Horace “Smltty” Smith, a farm employee since he was a teenager. Heindels Ready New Dairy Facility a milker on,” laughs Bill at the memory. “Boy, did I learn that first year.” “And 1 still learn something every day,” he quickly adds. “Well, you have to,” agrees The 30-footxl2B-foot concrete stave unit for corn silage is believed to be the tallest of its kind east of the Missis sippi River. Horace philosophically. “If peo ple don’t keep learning they’d bet ter quit.” Bill credits friend Marlyn Fla harty, now owner of Service Feed and Supply at Delta, with help and a guiding hand through those first, almost overwhelming, milking ***4# sessions, As a further step toward diversi ty, Heindel began utilizing acreage for municipal landfill use many years ago. Recently, due to expan sion at Modem Landfill by the operating Waste Management firm, the Heindel’s dairy facility needed to be relocated. The 900 acres north of Airville on which the dairy complex is located were purchased in 1988, with relocation of the cattle in mind. Since then, additional land has been purchased nearby, to total about 1,500 acres. Already on-site for almost a year, across the meadow from the diary facility, is the Heindels’ nearly 1,000 head cow-calf and finishing herd of Black Angus. Feed storage handling for the beef cattle is being integrated with that of the dairy herd in the overall design. Central to the facility is the 42-f001x440-foot dairy bam and attached 36-foolx6o-foot milk- *1 always believed in diversity,* quiet ly smiles the York ana innovator , who also cropped such commodities as tobacco , strawber ries and tomatoes . house, utility and offices complex. AnB-/4 -foot center alley separates the two tail-to-tail rows of 100 stalls, each 4-footx6-foot with riveted-down rubber mats. Feed troughs are ceramic die, 30 inches wide, with an additional 6 feet of alley for accommodating mechan ized cart feeding. Interior walls and ceiling are insulated, 6 inches in the walls and 12 inches in the ceiling, and cov ered with white, plywood-backed glassboard for durability. Over head florescent lamps were installed for four times the recom mended light level, further enhancing the long barn’s bright, open appearance. Ventilation design was for 20 times university recommendations for air turnover, utilizing ridge venting, 35 double windows, 9 overhead garage-type doors for catching cross-breezes, and ten 36-inch in-wall fans. Engineering of the dairy bam is designed to facilitate air conditioning if it is ever desired. The DeLaval milking system encompasses two completely separate pipelines, one for each * .* * P'r Poking the 30-footxl2B-foot corn silage unit towers over the Helndel facility. It Is reportedly the tallest structure of its type east of the Mississippi River. end of the barn, to accommodate 12 automatic-takeoff milking units. Milk will be cooled enroute to the 4,000-gallon tank via a plate The manure sys tem was designed with the capability of expansion to a methane digester, if that technology is ever wanted for energy recovery . cooler, which also doubles as a re heat unit to maintain water temper atures during pipeline cleaning cycles. Estimates are for use of a mil- * ■e **V4yv * lion gallons of water per year by the plate cooling system, a poten tial burden of extra liquids in the manure storage. With the addition of a 6.000-gallon holding tank, water used by the plate cooler will instead be recycled into the cattle watering system. Two deep wells supply the facil ity. with valves enabling complete shutoff of either into the system. Additional valves divide the dairy bam fountain piping into eight sec tions with separate shutoffs for repairs. A 36-footx6o-foot maternity/ hospital wing is off the opposite side of the dairy bam from the milkhouse. On the hill above the stall bam is housing for young stock and dry cows, a pair of approximately 200 feet long, steel sided pole structures with drive through feedingand easy clean-out design. (Turn to Pago A 27)
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