VOL. 35 No. 41
Dairying On The Mountain Is A Distinctive Pleasure
VERNON ACHENBACH, JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
NAUVOO (Tioga Co.) Peo
ple with names that ironically
match their job are a common
source of humor.
With a last name of Butters,
what else could someone do but be
in the dairy industry?
But it’s no joke to say that But
ters’ milk is their bread and butter
the Butters family has been
making milk for more than 80
years in Tioga County.
This year the farm family was
recognized not only for their devo
tion to milk production, but for
their care to maintain an attractive
place of business. The recognition
comes through the state Dairy of
Distinction program.
According to family members,
the significance of the honor
means something to the Butters.
It has something to do with
where the farm is located.
Dairy operations in the northern
tier of Pennsylvania have not tradi
tionally been viewed as being on
par with dairies in the southern belt
of the state.
There are reasons for this; some
based in geology and geography,
and others based on historic trends.
The traditional northern tier
farm is more likely to be described
as a beef raising operation.
There are concentrated areas of
(Turn to Pag* A 29)
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
CAMP HILL (Cumberland
Co.) Pennsylvania farmers are
giving state lawmakers a little taste
of what they sec every lime they go
to work in their fields. This week,
500 farmers are sending empty
beverage cans to their legislators in
an effort to help establish a refund
able beverage container deposit in
the Keystone state.
“We live along a main highway
and our major concern is that every
time we harvest, we must gather up
cans and bottles,” said Richard
Sarah Boyd, nine, shows her grand champion hog at the
Elizabethtown Fair. See the story on Page A-33.
FOur Sections
The Butters’ Dairy of Distinction farm in Tioga County sits
atop a mountain like most of the farms that settled the high
ground of the Allegheny Plateau geological region. But most
of the livestock farms in the neighborhood are beef cattle.
After more than % of a century as a family-owned and oper-
Farmers Send Bottles, Cans To State Legislators
Mains, Newville. “And we don’t
find all of them. They get into the
silage and harm the animals we
feed. One shattered bottle can con
taminate three to five tons of sil
age. We have magnets on the
harvesting equipment to catch the
metal, but the glass gets through
into the feed.”
At a press conference at the Pen
nsylvania Farmers’ Association’s
home office, Richard Newpher,
administrative secretary, said the
world seems to be drowning in
trash, but we are ignoring a safe,
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 25,1990
sensible and proven manner to
recycle bottles and cans, both valu
able resources and major contribu
tors to trash along our highways
and in our fields.
“Rural Pennsylvania is a trash
dump for irresponsible persons
throwing bottles and cans out their
Agri-Business Association Formed
To Tell Positive Side Of Farming
EVERETT NEWSW ANGER
Managing Editor
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) —A new pro-aclive farm
organization has been formed to
tell the public about all the advan
tages agriculture provides for their
livelihood, their economics and
their dinner table. William Bru
baker, executive secretary, Pen
nsylvania Agronomic Products
Water Testing Featured At
Penn-Jersey Crop Management Days
DOYLESTOWN (Bucks
Co.) If farmers bring a water
sample with them to the Pcnn-
Jcrsey Crop Management Field
Days on September 22 at Delaware
Valley College, it will be tested at
no charge for dangerous nitrates.
Nitrates can be harmful to both
people and livestock. If it is
detected, it can be treated to reduce
and eliminate the danger. People
with wells are responsible for the
quality of the water they use. No
ated dairy farm, the Butters place has received state recogni
tion. On the right, presenting the award to the Butters is Dan
Baker. The Butters family, from left, back row, is Jamie, David,
Terry, and Glen. In the front row, from left is Angie, Sandy,
Andrew, Jillian, Pat, Erick, Peggy and Raymond.
car windows. If we placed a depo
sit on bottles and cans, people
would be less likely to dump them
along the highways and it would
make it a profitable situation to
clean up trash,” Newpher said.
“The industry says, ‘it will not
work,’ but it’s working in many
Association (PAPA), said this
coalition of the fertilizer and pesti
cide industries including farm sup
pliers, retailers and applicators,
has been established to take the
message to the legislature and to
the public. The message: “We
have done far more good than evil
over the years in terms of agricul
ture’s productivity.”
“We have made some mistakes
government agency has
responsibility.
If farmers bring in at least one
cup of a carefully taken water
sample in a clean glass or plastic
container, it can be tested at the
field day. Allow the water to run
for two minutes before taking the
sample. Make sure the container
has no food, chemical, or soap
residue.
Water testing is only one of the
things to do at the field day. The
50* Per Copy
other states,” he said. “It’s lime for
the legislators to move this legisla
tion and let the people vote on it in
a referendum.”
About half the cans are being
sent to Allegheny County Senator,
and we have learned some les
sons,” Brubaker said. “But we arc
cleaning up our act and it’s time to
get out and tell people.”
Formed from a nucleus of the
former Pennsylvania Inland Fertil
izer Association, the bylaws were
revamped in March, 1990, to
include the many people in the
agronomic fields who would not
program highlights conservation
and sustainable agriculture. On
site will be:
• Ag industry trade show.
• Tillage equipment
demonstrations.
• Planting equipment
demonstrations.
• Herbicide demonstrations.
• Nutrient management
demonstration.
• Field tours.
(Turn to Pago A 33)
$15.00 Per Year
(Turn to Pag* A 36)
(Turn to Pago A 36)