A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 24, 1991
Hamming Family’s Roots
(Continued from Pago A 1)
than when I started farming.” Ike
said. "When we started off in 1957,
I thought we did real good. The
cows produced enough to make the
payments. At the time, I think we
were doing beter than we do today,
even though now there is a whole
lot more money moving around.
“I personally believe we should
go on a quota system for the family
farm to’ survive. My brother in
Canada and my brother in Holland
both have a quota system, and it
has really payed off for them,” he
said.
When they started a quota sys
tem in Canada, they thought the
world was going to come to an end.
They had to drop from 125 cows
down to 85. They didn’t think they
would make it. But the outcome
was just as good. They had the
same three families working the
farm, but they got $2O or more per
hunderedweight for milk.
Ray and Bruce with his wife
Mary and children Bruce, 8 and
Mark, 4 now farm in partnership
with Ike and Janet. John Hardick
has worked on the farm since he
was a teenager. He not has a full
time job off the farm but comes
Ike and Bruce Hamming with Foothill Acres Persuader
Olive, their 30,000 m, 1046 f cow.
Ag Forum
(Continued from Pago A3O)
Under item Sa(ii), the annual
compliance monitoring fee in these
consumptive water projects is
scheduled from $lOO to $1,500
depending on usage.
Item sb, states: “All ground
water withdrawal projects will be
charged $100.” This would indi
cate all wells, regardless of gpd
usage, would be subject to the $ 100
yearly fee.
And item 5d states; “Projects
that have consumptive use from
ground-water sources will be
charged a fee from each category
of a and b above (5a & sb). This
would seem to indicate that even if
the user was exempted under item
sa(i), the user would still be liable
for the $lOO yearly fee under item
sb. If the user is liable on the fee
schedule under item sa(ii) an addi
tional $lOO would be added to the
fee under item sb.
The resolution defines projects
under this fee schedule to include:
diversions of water, surface water
withdrawls, hydroelectric projects,
stream encroachments and local
flood protection projects, con
sumptive uses, ground-water with-
back often to help.
“The secret to our top produci
ng herd includes a chlorine drop
per for the water system, elimina
tion of stray voltage from the cow
trainers, and the insallation of a
TMR feeding system,” Bruce said.
The cows are fed a TMR ration
balanced for 70 pounds of milk per
cow. Individual cows that exceed
80 pounds of milk are given a top
dressed feed of 18 percent protein.
Bruce uses the consultation service
of Dr. Walter S. Kennett, director
of nutrition, F.M. Brown’s Sons,
Inc.
They milk 124 cows, and have
an average of 754,000 pounds of
milk per year per man. They use
bunk silos, service their own
machinery whenever possible, and
use a dump truck to hull silage
from fields that can be up to seven
miles from the bam. Total ground
farmed including pasture and
woods is 1,400 acres.
In 1981 they dispersed their
milking herd that became the high
est selling herd in the state of New
Jersey at the time. The 60 cows
averaged $2,800. They have bred
many show cows, the latest is
Foothill Acres Elv Szara, who was
drawals and projects determined
by the Commission to be subject to
its review and approval.
The resolution also states that
the commission from time to time
after public hearing and upon due
notice given, may fix, alter and
revise rates, rentals, charges and
tolls for any services which it
provides.
But Cairo said that even if the
Commission is monitering the
water usage, the farmer has a com
mon law or riparian right to access
and use the water on his land. But
in cases where water levels go
below what Cairo called the Q 7-10
(7 day average of 10 year low) the
Commission has the authority to
restrict usage.
In addition, Bielo said that
where competitive uses cause con
flicts between users, the Commis
sion has the authority to declare
that area to be especially protected
and to require users to obtain spe
cial permits. In such cases ground
and surface water use may be allo
cated through a permit system.
“We have not done this yet,” Bielo
said. “But the Delaware River
Commission has done it in South
east Pennsylvania in the Philadel
phia area.
Brubaker referred to a large
In Holland,
the first place State Futurity win
ner in 1990.
The Hammings enjoy helping
4-H youths to show calves and
heifers, especially if they would
not otherwise have the opportunity
to woric with the animals.
Many individual cows in the
herd could be sited for their pro
duction records. Here are several
of note:
Foothill Acres Persuader Olive
(VGBB-EX Mammary) 365 d;
30,426 m; 3.4%; 1046 f; 3.2%
959 p.
Lodestar First Ovation (VGBS)
over 200,000 m lifetime.
Foothill Acres Bell Oralee
(VGB7) TP1856; Milk. 1897; CFP
+95; $206; Type. 1.44; Udder
Component 1.03. Ovation’s 3y
record is over 32,000 m.
Foothill Acres Starwars Genie
(VGBB-Ex Mammary) 3y 328 d;
27,825 m; 3.0%; 822 f; 2.9%; 806 p.
Even with a herd average of
21,293 m, 3.6%, 763 f, 3.2%, 685 p,
on DHIR the Hammings still feel
they are building the herd.
“We are always looking for
ways to become more efficient,”
Bruce said. “We don’t mind work
ing hard, but we like to see a profit
in the end.”
Foothill Acres Elva Szara was the 1990 New Jersey state futurity winner.
number of states that by the legisla
tive process have taken away the
riparian rights of land owners. He
said that in Pennsylvania the Envir
onmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is even now reanalyzing this
right.
“Your right to draw water is
being reviewed by EPA and by the
legislature, Brubaker said. “Agri
culture is in a period of regulation.
They (the Commission) has now
admitted that they have the right to
regulate water usage. Water is in a
period of regulation. There is no
stopping this wave of regulation
but agriculture needs to tell these
people (the Commission and the
legislators) what we think of these
regulations. A lot of new regula
tions may follow.”
Lancaster County Agent John
Schwartz asked about water usage
by livestock and poultry opera
tions. He wanted to know if the
fees and regulations set up the
Commission applied to these
operations.
Cairo referred to the intermittent
consumptive fee schedule, but
Schwartz said livestock and poul
try use water, many of them from
ground-water sources, every day
of the year.
Cairo then said they were not
Th
records.
ig father and son partnership check the DHIA
included because animals sweat
and urinate water back into the
ecological system and because the
Commission has never gone after
these operations in the past.
But when asked specifically by
a reporter if livestock and poultry
operations would be exempted
from the fee schedule, Bielo
admitted that under the groundwa
ter withdrawal regulations, lives
tock and poultry operations are
included.
Walker concluded his discus
sion before the members of the
Commission were introduced. But
he said he was suspicious of a fee
schedule that puts farming on the
same basis with other users. He
said there is a great difference
between individual family farmers
Cawley Remains Ag Adviser
ANNAPOLIS, Md. In
announcing his intention to retire
as Maryland’s Secretary of Agri
culture on Nov. 1, Wayne A. Caw
ley, Jr. said he was pleased to be
staying on as a senior agricultural
advisor to Governor William
Donald Schaefer and the Depart
ment of Agriculture.
“I will continue to work hard to
promote agriculture in Maryland
and large industry that has some
elasticity in their abilty to pay fees.
“I am concerned about the
definitions and some of the other
things we have heard about ground
water drawdown that would be
part of this fee schedule,” Walker
said. “I am not very pleased with
where I see us moving at the pre
sent time. I think there is room for
negotiation to work this out, but
I’m concerned with the implica
tion for the future.
“We may come up with a some
what modest program at the pre
sent time that could become a very
burdensome program depending
on who lakes over and who decides
on the schedule in the future. Once
you open the door it’s hard to shut
it, ” Walker said.
and work on the agricultural side
of our Chesapeake Bay restoration
effort,” Cawley said.
“What I will miss most about no
longer being secretary is the
employees at the Maryland
Department of Agriculture. They
are a great group of people and
over the years they have made my
job easy,” Cawley said.