April Moll And Daughters
(Continued from Page B 4)
er get ahead of fixing things. This
farm is one of the oldest in the
county.”
“It’s even got wooden pegs
instead of nails,” Melissa added.
The replacemnts are bred by a
large, ornery bull. April scratched
the animal’s head while explain
ing his disposition. “He’s fine as
long as we’re out here but I carry a
stick when I step into the pen. I
forgot my stick one day and he
cornered me. I got bruised from
the encounter.”
Despite the Charolais reputa
tion, April has found the breed
relatively even tempered. “There
are certain animals that are very
protective of their young. When
they’re due to calf, we bring them
into the bam and keep them there.
I like to be able to walk in the
fields without worry.”
April’s blind cow is a perma
nent resident in the bam.” She’s a
nice type cow and she gives me
nice calves. It’s hard to work with
her because she can’t see gates.
We have a number of 16-year-old
cows in the herd as well.”
For the most part cows come
into the bam for three days to have
their calves so April can keep an
eye on the offspring. April isn’t a
large woman and she uses persua
sion to get them to the bam. “I
bribe them with feed and if that
doesn’t work I leave the gate
open. It takes me a little longer but
I get the job done.”
With a goal of improving their
breeding stock the Molls have
been buying semen from national
champions. The breeding program
has resulted in some excellent ani
mals but April admitted that run
ning the beef operation a mile
away from the main farm presents
some management problems. “We
have twenty acres and a bam here.
My parents have the house across
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the road. It’s tough catching ani
mals in heat and I have to keep a
close eye on them. During calving
season I may run back over here at
midnight to check on animals. It
makes for some really long days.”
On occasion it also calls for
drastic action. “One animal was
laying down hill and she couldn’t
get up to get to the bam. She was
ready to calf and needed help but I
didn’t have a thing with me. Final
ly I took off my bra and used that.
The animals were fine but it
ruined the bra.”
The pasture is surrounded by
residential area, but the Molls
have had only minor problems
with their neighbors. “The acreage
is small and we definitely are at
the limits of our capacity. We do
take manure and spread it else
where. The major complaint has
been manure on the road. Occas
sionally the flies are a pest. For the
most part everything is fine.”
April attributes part of her good
neighborhood relations to her high
tensile fence. “My friend Helene
Dreisbach said, ‘High Tensile
fence is better than a mink coat.’
She’s right!
Since the operation has all the
animals it can handle, the Molls
are looking for quality. “We are
now ready to start selling animals
for breeding purposes. My prob
lem is that for people to realize
that you have quality animals you
have to attend the national shows.
Right now I just don’t have time to
do that and run the farm too. The
girls will be taking animals to the
Farm Show, and we hope that will
help. We’re looking forward to
selling animals to 4-H’ers for their
projects.”
The Molls will also be selling
some animals at the Dutch County
Calf Sale.
At the present April has a year
ling bull for sale. “He’s out of
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Quality of this type doesn’t come
cheap. “It’s not like breeding in
the dairy business. If you wish to
register the animal you have to
buy a certificate along with the
semen. Often the certificates alone
cost $200,” April explained.
Farming has always been a
stressful occupation. April has a
support network that helps her to
cope. “It was really difficult when
the girls were young. The neigh
bors probably think we’ve got six
kids because I spent so many years
riding around on the tractor preg
nant. I remember putting a pan of
tomato sauce on the stove, running
out to the tractor, going around the
field once, and running back in the
house to check on the kids and stir
the sauce. It was crazy. Finally a
group of us farm women starting
having lunch together once in a
while on rainy days. Nothing fan
cy but it gave us a chance to air out
feelings and frustration. At our
last lunch we went to the Reading
Fair to watch a show and eat saus
age sandwiches.”
The neighbors, Warren and
Marvin Teter, also pitch in when
the Molls need help. Warren is a
retired carpenter and he has our
overflow Holsleins right now. We
buy crops for Marvin. I do the rou
tine maintenance on the farm
machinery but Eckroth’s is always
there when I need them,” she
added.
According to Moll, there are
plenty of female farmers.
“Women who farm aren’t really
rare. It’s just you don’t see as
much of us because we’re home
farming. There are many women
who never miss a milking and
some who farm truly farm alone.”
Frank’s busy schedule pre
cludes him doing a lot of the man
ual labor but like many of her
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male counterparts, April does does the bookwork for me and I
have one job she leaves to her try to keep ahead of the
spouse. “I hate paper work. Frank registrations.”
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