A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 6, 1991
VERNON ACHENBACH, JR.
Lancaster Fanning Staff
MOHRSVILLE (Berks
Co.) Simple living is not easy
living, but it’s rewarding, accord
ing to Allen Grube, a Berks Coun
ty dairyman.
Grube, his father Merlin, wife
Mary, son Jay, 12, and Kenneth, 7,
live on a 121-acre family farm
tucked in the hilly farmland region
of western Berks County.
They have a herd of grade Hols
teins and milk about 48 cows,
grow most of their own crops, and
make a lot of their own equipment
Some may question the wisdom
in running an operation with grade
animals certainly the Grebe’s
bossys would not make the cut for
consideration in a large dairy
show.
Allen readily admits that
But he said his reason for having
grade animals is not because he
rejects the modem push for creat
ing a herd of registered, show qual
ity animals. Rather, he has focused
his business on milk production.
Simple, not easy, but efficient.
Somewhat shy about talking
about himself, Allen is a study in
self-reliance, independance and
creativeness.
It’s a study in self-reliance.
The Grube family farm is in an
area resplendent with large trees,
numerous small streams, winding
roads. It’s an area where the unini
tiated can easily get lost while
attempting to drive from town to
town.
It’s also an area where the
school district doesn’t offer voca
tional agriculture classes for stu
dents. It never did, Allen said.
Not having formal dairy train
ing, Allen turned to his father,
magazines, books and continues to
attend Extension Service meetings
and seminars to continue his edu
cation in dairying.
His achievrnents have not gone
unnoticed.
Berks County Extension Agent
Clyde Myers talks highly of Allen,
noting that under Allen’s care, the
herd production has tisen
tremendously.
Currently, while not top of the
county, Allen’s grade herd aver
ages around 22,000 pounds of
milk. In April it was 22,990 pound
s of milk with a 3.8 percent fat and
3.2 percent protein composition.
By itself, those rolling herd
averages are respectable for any
herd.
But consider that when Allen
put the herd on test with the Dairy
Herd Improvement Association in
1979 and got his first test results in
ill-lllli ,i;
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Allen Grube Is at the wheel of his creation a gas powered automatic feeder. He
said It cost him about $BOO to build.
Grube Farm: Study In Self-Reliance
It's not a Dairy of Distinction, but it could be. The Grube reliance. Many of the buildings were
farm and the activities of the family are a study in self- Allen Grube and his father Merlin.
March 1980, his rolling herd aver
age was 14,072 pounds of milk,
3.8 percent fat.
“About 1979, to 1980, we
bought a few registered calves,
five the first year. It didn’t work.
The grades do as good or better and
I didn’t have much luck with the
registered cows,” he said, indicat
ing that they had health problems
and accidents which required
either selling them or destroying
them.
“If I did get a good heifer, I
would worry. With my luck, some
thing would happen to it,” he said.
Grade animals are productive
for Grube. They work for Grube. If
they don’t work, they are gone.
It’s the same way with a com
mercial horseback outfitter who
takes people high into the
mountains the horses may not
be top-of-the line, they might not
be pretty, but they work.
Other horses, much more
expensive can also do the job, but
the investment and risk of loss is
greater.
And so it is with Grube’s grade
herd. They work and they are
appreciated.
And Grube works. And studies.
He is a businessman, making deci
sions and making a profit
In 1984 he put up a haylage silo.
In October of 1985 he put in a mix
er and got a nutritionist, Tim Kis
sling, and started feeding total
mixed ration. The herd production
began to soar after a couple of
months.
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jry Gl . jay they didn’t have far to go to find each other. The non-dairy
farm where Mary spend part of her childhood can be seen from where the couple live
now, adjacent to their fields.
The signs of independence and
self-reliance are everywhere.
The farm itself is not on a “Dairy
of Distinction” catalogue, but it
could be. In fact, there isn’t much
to see that could be better.
Ventilation in the bam is great,
with a large air duct having been
built years ago, without anyone
telling him to do it
The calves are raised in pens
that Grube made. The heifers are
kept in a frees tall facility that Cube
and his father built The gates
Grube made himself, spending a
winter cutting iron and welding.
They will not twist or sag.
The headlock gates are almost
all made by Grube, who copied
some they purchased.
The automatic feeder for the
heifers is a Grube creation ?as
engine-powered, with gears taken house while the practicality of
from a law mower, battery from an everything is solidly logical*
old car . .. Often, people talk about farms
The bam is painted and decor- where cattle of great breeding can
ated with hex signs that Allen and been seen. Or, they talk about dairy
Mary made. operations so huge it boggles the
From across the street from the mind how they began,
farmhouse, the layout of the dairy But people who know Grubes
farm is balance and scenic talk about how successful and
clothes drying on a line, family pleasant he is.
vegetable garden behind the And self-reliant
A tiled manger presents a herd of grade cows with a clean
plate for their total mixed ration.
or rennov