A3O-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, November 28, 1992
JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
SHREWSBURY (York Co.)
Smyser’s Richlawn Farm topped
the York County DHIA produc
tion list, taking top awards for the
sixth consecutive year.
The 75-head East Berlin regis
tered Holstein herd was high herd
overall in all three categories for
the year of October 1991 through
September 1992 with a herd aver
age of 26,105 pounds milk, 796
pounds protein, and 932 pounds
fat. Owned and operated by
brothers Rodney and Robert
Smyser, the Richlawn herd has
consistendy taken all three high
production awards since 1987.
• Two individual record awards
also went to Richlawn the high
individual 305-day milk record of
34,851 pounds and high individu
al lifetime production of fat with a
9,129-pound record.
Continuing fine tuning of pro
duction, milk quality, and repro
duction efficiency combined to
place the Smyser herd at the top of
a new award category, herd man
agement, with a score of 128
points.
Beshore Farms, New Cumber
land, was second high, with a
score of 109 points. Other top 10
winners included Ramsey S.
Cooper, Jr., Delta, 106; Wayne
Myers, Dover, 104; Melvin and
Barb Marks, Airville, 99; Gum
Tree Farm, Brogue, 98; Furnace
Creek Farm, Hanover, 98; Lauren
K. Bair, Hanover, 96; Ted and
Dianne Haberland, Thomasville,
94; Dale E. Ranck, Delta, 93; and
Thomas Boyer, York, 93.
Mcßal Dairy, owned and oper
ated by Ralph and Ada McGregor,
East Berlin, claimed a pair of top
York DHIA awards. High indivi
dual 305-day fat record, 1,338
pounds, went to the Mcßal herd,
along with the award for high indi
vidual lifetime production for
milk, 251,973 pounds.
High individual 305-day pro
Tillage Meeting Looks
At Long-Term Results
(Continued from Page At)
include the Cooperative Extension
System at land-grant universities
in Delaware, Maryland, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
and West Virginia. Assistance is
provided by interested agribusi
ness representatives.
William M. Edwards, USDA
soil scientist, will lead off the
earthworm-groundwater issue
with a 10 a.m. presentation on
“Long-Term Effects of Conserva
tion Tillage.” Edwards is stationed
at the North Appalachian Experi
mental Watershed Research Unit
near Coshocton, Ohio. The unit
operates under auspices of the
USDA’s Agricultural Research
Service.'
An afternoon panel of farmers
from three states will close out the
afternoon session, telling about
their long-term experiences with
conservation tillage.
Lynn D. Hoffman will be the
panel moderator. Hoffman is
agronomy superintendent at Penn
State’s Russell E. Larson
Research Center near Rock
Springs, Pa.
The panel members include R.
Wayne Harpster of Spruce Creek,
Pa. (Huntingdon County): David
L. Herbst of Ringgold, Md.
(Washington County), and Lyle C.
(Cam) Tabb IV of Leetown, W.
—Smysers Top York DHIA
Rodney and Joyce Smyser accepted a half dozen York
DHIA awards for the family’s Smyser’s Rlchlawn Farm. The
Richiawn herd topped the county for production of milk,
protein, and fat.
tein production award went to the
herd of Leonard Greek, Delta, on a
1,057-pound protein record.
A quality production award, for
the county’s low somatic cell
count average, went to Ed and
Carolyn Calhoun, Glen Rock. The
Calhoun’s average SCC for the
twelve-month period was 84,0b0.
Other herds in the top five low
SCC category included Lauren
Bair, Hanover, 111,000; Leaspr
ing Farm, York, 112,000; Ramsey
S. Cooper, Jr., 129,000; and Rut
ter’s, York, 135,000.
Two .awards were presented to
herds achieving high herd average
increases based on protein produc
tion. In herds over 600 pounds
protein, highest increase award
went to Furnace Creek Farm,
Va. (Jefferson County). All are
dairy farmers with sizable crop
operations.
Harpster owns and manages
Evergreen Farms, encompassing
2,500 acres and a modem dairy
facility with 1,100 milking cows.
He is a past president of the Pen
nsylvania Holstein Association
and a member of the national
Holstein type advisory committee.
His land is located near the south
ern end of the Mid-State Trail, a
55-mile rocky hiking path through
Bald Eagle and Rothrock state
forests, administered by the Penn
State Outing Club.
Herbst farms 500 acres in west
ern Maryland, a short distance
south of the Mason-Dixon Line
and west of the famous Appalac
hian Trail. He has an 80-cow
Holstein milking herd.
Tabb has a milking herd of 325
Ayrshire cows. His 1,600-acre
farm is located only a few miles
west of the Potomac River and the
Harpers Ferry National Historical
Park.
Activities at the Dec. 17 event
will run from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Tickets 'for the noon lunch are
available at $6 each froip county
offices of the Cooperative Exten
sion Service throughout the Mid-
Atlantic area. They must be pur-
Frank and Sandy Feeser, Hanover,
with a 95-pound protein increase.
Lauren Bair, Hanover, earned the
highest increase in the under-600
pounds category, with an increase
of 85 pounds protein in his herd
average.
Yoric County DHIA supervisors
were recognized with bonus
checks for outstanding perfor
mance. Technicians supervising
the county’s herd test program are
Abbe Gore, Donald and Deb Mes
singer, Jean Myers, Carolyn and
Clyde Stump, and Marianne
Waller.
Neil McCullough, Newville,
state DHIA director from the Cen
tral District, reported on state
progress and programs that will
affect members of the testing
chased in advance, and not later
than Dec. 7.
Nearly 500 farmers and agri
business representatives are
expected to attend this year’s Mid-
Atlantic Conservation Tillage
Conference. At least 25 commer
cial and educational exhibits will
be on hand.
Many of the commercial exhi
bitors will participate in a “What’s
New from Industry” breakout ses
sion on both the morning and
afternoon program.
Among the “What’s New”
highlights will be a presentation
on New Stone by a regional mana
ger of the American Soybean
Association. New Stone is a pro
duct that looks like granite and
handles like wood. It is made from
waste paper and soybean resin.
Chairing the planning commit
tee for the Dec. 17 six-state con
ference is Paul.H. Craig, an agri
cultural agent in Dauphin County,
Pa., for the Penn State Extension
Service.
Donald M. Schwartz, Jr., of
Keedysville, Md„ is vice chair
man. Schwartz is an agricultural
agent in Washington County for
the Cooperative Extension Ser
vice, Maryland Institute for Agri
culture and Natural Resources.
MIANR is a part of the Univershv
York County DHIA award winners Included Bob Martin
accepting for Mcßal Dairy, seated. Standing from left,
Lauren Bair, Ed Calhoun, Leonard Greek, and John Doll.
program. He acknowledged that
change has marked the past year
of DHIA activities, resulting in the
introduction of several new
programs.
Laptop computers will be intro
duced for on-farm use by techni
cians within the next 15 months,
enabling records to be returned for
use much more rapidly than in the
past. As of January 1,1993, mem
bers can “pick and choose” which
information they wish to receive
from the DHIA testing.. This
allows members to customize the
of Maryland System. intersection with Interstate High-
This year’s conference site, the way 81 at Carlisle, Pa. If traveling
Embers Inn and Convention Cen- on the Pennsylvania Turnpike,
ter, is located at 1700 Harrisburg take Exit 16. Registration begins
Pike (U.S. Highway 11), near the at 8 a.m. in the Kisller Lobby.
Miller Wins Seat
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Residents of western Berks
County will be calling Tulgehocken Township farmer Sheila Mill
er “Representative” beginning Jan. 5 when the new state Legisla
ture is sworn in.
Rep.-elect Miller defeated six Republicans in the April primary
and then won election to the 129th Legislative District in Novem
ber with a plurality of nearly 2,500 votes.
She will replace Rep. John S. Davies who is retiring after serv
ing 18 years in the House.
Miller received a degree in general agriculture from Penn State
University. She was a soil conservationist for the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, assistant editor and reporter for the Lancaster
Farming newspaper and for nine years was executive director of
the state Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.
She is past president of the Berks/Southeast Cattlemen’s Asso
ciation, a member of the Pennsylvania Livestock Association, the
state Polled Hereford Association, the state and national cattle
men’s associations, the Berks County Farmers Association, the
Marion Grange and the Pennsylvania Ag Republicans.
Miller stressed that her experience as a legislative staff person
will enable her to hit the ground running as member of the state
House.
“With more than nine years experience as a staff person in the
state Senate, I have worked on many key pieces of legislation
involving agriculture, drunk driving and child abuse,” she said. “I
understand the process of moving through bureaucratic red tape in
order to provide service to constituents.”
Miller also campaigned strongly on the issue of education, the
environment, crime and drug abuse prevention.
Miller and her husband, Michael, farm in Tulpehocken Town
ship where they have lived for more than a decade. The couple’s
daughter, Emilie, is a student at Tulpehocken Elementary School.
package of records and informa
tion they receive from their
monthly test to their own herd
management needs.
County DHIA president Gary
Thoman, Dallastown, was
reelected to a second term during
the business meeting, along with
new directors Ted Haberland,
Thomasville and Vincent Hushon,
Other county DHIA directors
are Melvin Maries, Airville; Lisa
Kilgore, Airville; Leroy Walker,
New Freedom; Scott Cooper,
Delta: and Greg Perry, York.