A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 24, 1993
Butters’ Farm To Represent This Year’s Farm-City Day
v P
CJ. HOUGHTALING
Tioga Co. Correspondent
MORRIS (Tioga County)
They hadn’t been on a farm in
thirty years. Perhaps the chance to
relive part of their childhood was
one of the reasons Dr. David Fox
and his wife Vicki were excited
about taking part in an exchange
program set up by Sherri Elders of
the Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service (ASCS)
office in Wellsboro. Another rea
son, to be sure, was it gave them a
chance to see a personal side of
their patients.
Fox is an optometrist and Vicki
is his receptionist in Wellsboro.
The farm they visited was the pic
turesque Silverlea, the home of
Raymond and Peggy Butters and
the site of the 1993 Farm-City Day
to be held this July.
Elders brought the Farm-City
Day program to Tioga County in
1991. The best public relations
spokesperson for agriculture prob
ably in the state, no doubt in the
county, Elders is constantly bub
bling over with enthusiasm about
farming and has been known to
drag unsuspecting city slickers out
to farms to show them what it’s all
about.
Elders was in her usual form
when she went to Dr. Fox for an
eye examine. Farm-City Day was
rapidly approaching, and she
wanted to organize an exchange
program in which someone from
town would work at the Silverlea
for a day and then one of the But
ters (also patients of Fox) would
work at a business in town for a
day. Fox was fascinated. By the
end of the examination, Elders
made the offer he couldn’t refuse.
Vicki, being a real animal lover,
asked to be a part of the exchange
program, too.
“The Butters, like a lot of my
patients, are farmers,” said Fox. “I
feel people, at least those of us
who haven’t grown up on farms,
Her first “chore” was feeding the calves. Afterwards,
Vicki Fox enjoyed a calf suckling her fingers, although they
became raw up to her knuckles.
<7-
Upon his arrival at Sllverlea, Dr. David Fox was handed a
wrench. With it, he proceeded to help Install a new ceiling
In the milking parlor. The experience showed him first hand
how much a “jack-of-all-trades” farmers had to be.
don’t appreciate the role that fami
ly farms play in the economy.”
Fox realized that being a part of
the exchange program would give
him a chance to “walk in his
patients boots.”
In fact, boots were one of the
things Elders recommended they
get for their day on the farm. Bam
boots, as every farmer knows, is
one of the essentials of farming.
At Silverlea, where the bam is
free-stall, it’s a must. ASCS office
co-workers were happy to lend
Elders the necessary items for
David and Vicki.
Moments after arriving on the
farm, the Foxes understood the
importance of those boots. “It’s
totally different from what I
remember as a child on my uncle’s
farm,” said Vicki. Never having
been in a free-stall bam before,
she looked around in wide-eyed
wonder as the grade holsteins con
gregated in groups or wandered
around.
The bam, added to over the
years since the farm was estab
lished in 1906, serves as an indoor
pasture, with sections partitioned
off for calves, heifers, milkers,
and those about to freshen or be
bred.
“We don’t let the cows out in
the winter," said Terry Butters,
“and they won’t go out in the sum
mer, even when they’re given the
choice.”
The feeding system, too, is dif
ferent from what the Foxes were
familiar with years ago. “I remem
ber the cows had their own stanch
ions and feed was dumped in front
of them," said Fox. While some
farms still operate like that today,
die Butters have installed three
computerized feeding stanchions.
Each cow wears a collar with a
computer chip. As the cow steps
into a stanchion, her chip is read
and a portion of feed is automati
cally dumped for her consump
tion. Each cow can go into the
XjeV
*
v warn
The Butters, the Foxes, and ASCS employee Sherri Elders take time for a photo in
from of the Silverlea Dairy of Distinction sign. From left Is Elders, brothers Terry and
David Butters, David Fox, Peggy and Raymond Butters, and In front Is Vicki Fox with
Laddie.
stanchion to feed three times a
day. After that, the computer
refuses to give the cow more feed.
Inside the bam, Fox was given a
shovel and instructed to clean out
the pens while Terry jumped on a
skid-steer loader and maneuvered
the machine up and down the
aisles, scraping as he went with
efficient speed.
Vicki made her way to the
maternity pen to watch a breeding
take place. Sire Power technician
John Zehr of Liberty explained the
process, as well as die cow’s cycle
from being bred to freshening.
The Butters use of patches on the
cow’s tail bone to detect when a
cow’s in heat was another techni
cal wonder for the Foxes.
When it came time for milking,
David and Vicki were led to the
Mollenhauer
ITHACA, N.Y. Northeast
Dairy Herd Improvement Director
David Mollenhauer was recently
elected to serve on the National
DHIA Board of Directors.
Mollenhauer and his wife Linda
are partners in a four family sub
chapter S operation in Newark,
N.Y. Other members of the corpo
ration include Allan Ruffalo, Ted
and Carol Peck, and George and
Colleen Andrew. A fifth partner,
Wade Peck is currently being
worked into the operation. The
partnership farms 1900 acres and
milks 300 cows with another 300
head of youngstock. Cash crops
include com, peas, wheat, and
soybeans.
Mollenhauer has two children.
A son Jim is 25 and involved in
housing construction in Roches
ter, New York, while daughter
Pally will be graduating in May
from Oswego State University
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
English.
The Northeast DHIA Board of
Directors is comprised of 13 dairy
farmers representing the six states
within the Northeast service reg
ion. Mollenhauer has been a
Northeast Direct since Decem
ber of 1988 and will continue to
serve on both the Northeast and
milking parlor, a double-six her
ringbone. As the first of 72 cows
paraded in, the Foxes were
instructed on how to apply the
milkers.
“There are four?” asked Fox, as
he counted the units and matched
them to the teats. He was a bit sur
prised at the vaccuum pressure
and the effort it took to slip them
in place. Stepping back with a
wide grin on his face, he watched
the milk make its way along the
tubing into the weighing jars in the
center of the parlor.
The work gave him a feeling of
satisfaction. In regards to the
exchange program. Fox said,
“Being here has confirmed my
thoughts on how much a farming
family has to be dedicate!}. It
requires a lot of team work and
To Serve On
National boards. During the past
four years Mollenhauer has also
served on the Executive Commit
tee, the Long Range Planning
Committee, and as Chairman of
the Building and Grounds Com
mittee. Currently he is a member
of the Finance Committee and a
member of the Dairy Records Pro
cessing Advisory Board. He is
also an active member of the
AGA Appoints Jensen
REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio
The American Guernsey Associa
tion Board of Directors has
appointed Neil Jensen as the new
executive secretary-treasurer of
the organization.
Jensen, who has been the inter
im executive secretary-treasurer
since Nov. 1, replaces Erick
Metzger.
Jensen began his employment
with the American Guernsey
Association in September 1990 as
records department coordinator
and young sire program director.
In 1991, he added the responsibili
ties of appraiser to his duties.
A native of Wisconsin, Jensen
they have to be good businessmen.
Farmers certainly have my
respect.”
For Vicki, the day was an edu
cation in economics, as well. “I
was shocked to find out how much
farmers actually earn in wages.
Milk prices are so low, we need to
make it worth their while.”
Since her visit to the Butters at
Silverlea, Vicki has joined Elders
in promoting the dairy farmer.
Recently, she relayed her experi
ences to a group known as the
Wellsboro Business and Profes
sional Women. Her ancedotes of
the day’s events, particularly the
artificial insemination part, gave
her audience a few chuckles,
along with a new insight to the
world of farming as it is today.
DHIA Board
Dairylea Cooperative where he
serves as Chairman of the Resolu
tions Committee.
Dick Scott of Maine is the sec
ond Director from the Northeast
Dairy Herd Improvement service
area. David Mollenhauer replaces
John Noble who had served with
distinction as National Director
for six years.
has an extensive history with
Guernseys and in the dairy indus
try. His Guernsey background
began at home with Level Gold
Guernseys Inc., Balsam Lake,
Wis. He and his brother managed
their family’s Guernsey herd for
eight years and maintained a level
of production 30 percent above
the national breed average.
Upon leaving the home farm,
Jensen worked at Sire Power, Inc.
for one and one-half years as dis
trict sales manager.
The American Guernsey Asso
ciation is the national organization
for the registration and promotion
of Guernsey cattle and is head
quartered in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.