AKKjncMar Farming, Saturday, Octobar 17, 1992
GAY N. BROWNLEE
BERLIN (Somerset Co.)
When brothers Jim, Dun and John
Will are on the job at North View
Farms, you can bet there’s no
grass growin’ under their feet
These guys mean business.
Until two years ago when their
dad, Calvin Will, retired the four
partnered the North View Farms,
Incorporated, Holstein operation.
Now the (Mothers run the business
while Calvin, like many retirees,
lives out an agenda that’s just as
busy as ever.
And their mother, Mary Eli
zabeth, a cut from the same cloth,
runs errands, answers a constantly
ringing telephone and has a big
electric organ and prominenet
piano in her living room testi
monials to her musical ability.
When the brothers were gra
duated from high school and col
lege they wanted to work together
but debated the wisdom of doing
so. They would never know unless
they tried.
The farm of their paternal
grandfather was available. Decid
ing to farm it, they committed to a
trial period of one year.
Located near the Pennsylvania
Turnpike, the men named it the
Will Brothers’ Farm. The year
was 1971.
Following the successful trial
run, they linked with their dad to
expand the business.
Altogether, North View Farms
Inc. has 750 sprawling, scenic
areas.
Five of the seven farms are
adjacent. The other two, including
the turnpike farm, arc separate. An
uncle and cousin oversee the turn
pike farm. Two hundered more
acres of land arc rented. The North
View operation was incorporated
in 1981.
After 21 years of togetherness,
the brothers haven’t wearied of
each other or their work. Meticul
ous organization is partially
responsible. But their determina
tion is equally important to North
View’s continuing success.
Jim, the eldest brother, is
responsible for all crop decisions.
tew i irms is an incorporated family business and
markets milk through the Mayrland-Virginia Cooperative.
Brothers Bustle At North View Farms
. If> .. tv y. enty '°. ne yc,r * , wc and purchase now and then too,” “The premium market is the
haven't all agreedlon evading. export mStet.” said Dan. adding
No operation is silky smooth, he North View Farms has five out- that they were selling to the
“"wh™ .hM*. i. mttin, standing cows that recently U.S.S.R. until 1987. He says that
‘When there is conflict, we achieved top position on the Penn- market has now dried up.
work through it. The operation is S yi va nia DHIR leaders list "Exporting to the U.S.S.R, has
large enough that evciybody does “Our goal is to get good heifer slowed with the Russian govern
nM to.e tobem.d'dmem, Dm. “8.1 being a men.inlhep ro ce M of M »SS-
He Sled however .ha. all .he ** bok Ak)tofcom - *». The interim process is pain
. added, however, that all the mercial guys want service-age ful ”he said
major decisions are discussed by hulls ”he said . . .
everyone. In the end the majority ** 8 “ L J,m makes ** cro P decis,ons
rules and nobody gripes about it.
John, the youngest of the three,
manages the dairy nutritional
responsibilities, while middle
brother. Dan is the keenly
informed marketing expert who
utilizes both the foreign and local
markets for merchandising
service-age registered bulls from
the registered North View herd.
A 3-inch pipeline running by
the 86 cow stalls transports the
fresh milk during the three-dmes
daily milkings. It’s then sold to the
Maryland-Virginia Cooperative,
Res ton, Va.
The motto of the Co-op is “Cap
ital milk for the Capitol,” since it
has many sale outlets in the
Washington, D.C. area.
The brothers have designed a
flexible rotating scheule for shar
ing the milking responsibilities.
Each man has time off and time
away.
John, an avowed cow nutrition
ist, religiously monitors the feed
ing of the herd by lisiting to his
feed consultant. Sonny Golden
from Springville.
“He’s referred to as ‘the Boss,’”
said John. “Haylage is tested
every two weeks for variation in
protein content,” he said.
Samples are sent to the Sky
view Lab at Jennerstown, follow
ing which adjustments are made in
the total mix ration feeding if
necessary.
The only animals going out to
pasture at North View Farms are
the tailenders and dry cows, John
said. He said the foot trimmer
comes about four times a year to
spend the day trimming the cows’
hooves.
“We raise all our own heifers
, •ai jon John stand in front of a milk tanker at the North View
Farms Inc. Calvin is retired, but his three sons have worked to keep and expand the
family business. The reflection of the some of the farms is on the tanker.
Dan Will checks on some of the calves raised in hutches at North View Farms Inc.
s on an auger, while son Joshua watches on.
WOI
deciding on rotation, fertilizer,
planting and harvesting. He allots
85 acres for oats, 340 for high
moisture shell com and 25 for sil
age com. Some 325 acres are
reserved for hay depending on the
season, he said. Normally they get
three and a half cuttings of hay for
some 10,000 bales and the remain
(Turn to Pago A 23)