AtB-Lancaster Farming, Saturday. April 20, 1991
Starpoint Farm
(Continued from Page At)
Improvement Association (DHIA)
reports or are members of the
American Jersey Cattle Club
(AJCC).
After all, Starpoint is one of the
top 10 Jersey herds in the nation
for its size.
According to AJCC reports,
Starpoint nationally ranks fourth
for milk, fifth for protein and
eighth for fat among herds with 10
to 29 lactations.
On a straight comparison among
Pennsylvania’s Jersey herds. Star
point isn’t as strong, but statewide
rankings don’t take into account
comparisons between herd sizes.
However, their Jerseys are among
the best ,
. And, as of last month, the cou
ple’s Holstein herd ranked top in
rolling herd average production in
Chester County.
Dairy fanning for a little less
than four years, and married for
four this June, John and Cindy
recently went into partnership with
Bill Ulrich who owns a 174-acre
farm a couple miles nonh of the
border between Chester and Lan
caster counties.
The Batchelders are mainly
responsible for the maintaining the
dairy herd and milk production and
raising calves. Ulrich’s primary
predipping.
ihn Batchelder hooks up a claw to the pipeline In preparation for milking the herd.
jobs are forage production and
raising heifers.
The plan is to help each other
out as work dictates. A dairy sci
ence professor from Cindy’s alma
mater at Virginia Tech, Bill Etgen,
helped the couples with forming a
partnership plan, in that he gave
them ideas about how to go about
setting it up.
“He’s consulted quite a few
partnerships in getting set up,”
Cindy said. “Basically, Bill didn’t
want to sell his farm, but he didn’t
want to keep milking by himself.”
She said that for she and her hus
band, the partnership offered an
“opportunity to farm without hav
ing a large cash reserve,”
“I’m not crazy about debt,” John
added.
The Batchelders own the herd,
and it is the animals which attract
attention.
How the two got such a good
herd in such a short time goes back
to the qualities of the Batchelders.
John was exposed to the Jersey
breed since 1967, while growing
up on a farm in Kentucky.
“Dad bought the bottom cow
from the University of Kentucky
Jersey herd and she kept having
heifers. She had six heifers and
they had heifers.” His father
milked about 35 cows. They also
Td health, John Batchelder performs
For the past three years, the two
had been renting a farm in Oxford
in Chester County.
It was through the physical pro
ximity of the Ulrich farm and the
Chester County farm, and through
mutual interest shows and activi
ties in the Jersey Cattle Club that
the Batchelders met up with the
Ulrichs.
Bill Ulrich, whose son joined
the Marines and didn’t show an
interest in taking over the farm.
worked with thorobred horses.
John worked for four years as a
classifier for the American Jersey
Cattle Club and traveled all over
the nation.
Because of the population of the
Jerseys, the AJCC classifiers don’t
have restricted regional responsi
bilities. Thus, John got to travel
extensively; even to Central
American once. He traveled a lot
during those years, he said.
Meanwhile, Cindy grew up on a
large dairy and dairy store in
Montgomery County and she
became exposed to Jerseys there.
She said her father’s operation,
no longer in existance, was in Col
legeville. It was called Walebe
Farms. He had 1,500 acres and a
400-head milking herd.
With a master’s degree in ani
mal science from University of
California at Davis, where she did
her thesis research on sexing
embryos.
With both of them having the
backround, skills and experience
to work for decent money for other
businesses, the decision to run a
small farming business had only
been a dream that each held for a
long time before they met, they
said.
“If we wouldn’t have met, neith
er of us would be doing this. Not on
our own,” Cindy said.
But they met and fell in love and
decided that because of their rela
tionship and the dreams they
shared, they should try to run and
eventually own a farm.
Cindy said it’s as romantic as
that.
“A good manage has helped
business,” Cindy said. “We make a
good team.”
She handles the artificial inse
mination, he handles deciding
which bull to use.
“John’s really good at market
ing. I seem to have a knack for the
day-in, and day-out.
“He’s concerned with the forage
quality, and I work with the nutri
tional balance in (he cows rations,”
she said.
The couple started off on a farm
in mushroom-growing region
around Avondale, near the
Pcnnsylvania-Delaware border.
They spent part of a year renting
there.
•k %
Cindy checks the condition of two young calves, one a
Holstein, the other a Jersey. Several of the Batchelder's
young bulls have been targeted for purchase by artificial
insemination organizations.
y
raising the calfs. Here she gives milk to a several-day-old
Jersey heifer calf.
dispersed his Jersey herd last
November. He had been milking
115 Jerseys. (Ulrich’s 1990 end of
year DHIA data shows his past
milking herd at 105 animals with a
rolling herd average of 14,187
pounds of milk, 709 pound of but
terfat and SSI pounds of protein.)
The Batchelders milk about SO
Jerseys and 4S Hosltcins. The bulk
tank shows a 3.8 percent to 4.2 per
cent butterfat test and a 3.4 percent
to 3.6 percent.
Their goal is to maintain both
herds. The Jerseys help with the
bulk tank test and provide them
premium money for milk solids
other than fat The Holsteins pro
vide volume.
The goal is to have a farm with a
50-50 split
“It seems to balance out well,
with milk and protein,” John said.
The Holsteins, while they don’t
get overlooked when it comes to
breeding to good animals, are pri
marily for making milk and
money. They also carry Jersey
embryos which makes for
extremely easy deliveries. And
Cindy said it seem to her that Hols
tein cows delivering Jersey calves
maintain better body condition,
deliver larger Jersey calves, and
ih
s.
y »
breed back a lot faster than normal.
The profits from the operation
are being reinvested and the couple
has specific goals and direction for
their operation.
Right now, about 10 percent of
their annual income is attributed to
selling of Jersey genetics bulls
for A.I. and embryos. The goal is
to achieve an income percentage
closer to 30.
John said they have enough
head of cattle right now for milk
ing. So the concentration has to go
toward genetics in order to expand
business opportunities.
Right now, with the bam up and
running and a total mixed ration
feeding system just starting up, the
two are beginning to squeeze time
in to unpack more of their personal
items.
Their intent is stay for the long
haul, in the quiet little valley with
the spring-fed stream, stone farm
houses and willow trees in the pas
ture, barely within earshot of the
constant traffic on Rt. 272.
They are working toward a
dream they share.
And for the first four years of
their marriage, the two have been
lucky, they said. “But I think you
make some of your own luck,”
Cindy said.
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