(Continued from Pago A 1)
umns portray. From 6:30 a.m. to
11 p.m., Joyce attacks a whirlwind
of duties, from milking, feeding
calves, gardening, and pulling
weeds in her profuse flower beds
surrounding their York County
farm.
The Bupps milk 200 registered
cows, raise their own replace
ments, and farm about 800 acres,
of which 240 are owned by them.
While Leroy handles the mating
and breeding, Joyce is in charge of
calf feeding, naming, intermediate
heifer raising, and registration. She
also assists the vet in reproductive
exams, maintains books, and
records for the farm operation and
milks seven days a week.
Well, almost seven days a week.
Several days a month she flies all
over the country as an educator and
speaker for ag concerns, and she
attends meetings as board member
of Dairymen, Inc., and vice presi
dent of the Middle Atlantic Divi
sion Board of Dairymen Inc. She
holds the distinction of being the
fust and only woman serving on
the Dairymen corporate board.
Leroy, the veteran dairy farmer,
is often introduced as “Mr. Joyce
Bupp.” His good-natured smile
confirms that he is not intimidated,
but quite proud of his wife, and has
earned his wife’s assessment that
“he is wonderfully supportive of
all I do."
He believes in the adage that
non-farm women make better far
mers because they don’t know
what they are getting into and
don’t have any bad habits to
unlearn.
Perhaps Joyce did not have any
bad habits to unlearn, but she did
have a preview of what farm life
would be like during their dating
years. On one date, the couple
tyce gi
Joyce Bupp Named Dairy Woman Of The Year
needed to skip a New Year’s Eve
party to deliver a litter of piglets.
And, during their courtship, she
knew that Leroy rarely had time to
eat and sleep properly as he rushed
between chores on his family’s
farm and on the one he purchased
while only a high school senior,
and then squeezed in a few hours to
date her.
The couple decided lime could
be gained by getting married so
they pushed up their wedding date
and married about seven months
after high school graduation. Joyce
maintained her office job for two
years after their marriage, but
when an aunt needed to come to
help Leroy with farm chores one
day, Joyce decided it was time to
make the farm her career.
Joyce loves the cows, the cow
shows, and the fieldwork. Having
babies barely slowed down Joy
ce’s busy lifestyle, because she fed
calves right up until the time she
went to deliver her babies and
quickly resumed her chores soon
after.
Daughter Patricia is 24 years
old, married, and a college profes
sor in Oregon. Son Richard, now
21. is a student at Penn State
University.
While the children were grow
ing up. their parents became 4-H
leaders, carted the children to
shows, games, and activities. As
the 4-H dairy bowl coach, Joyce
saw her team win the state title and
go on to place third in the nation.
Leroy was dairy club leader and
still helps out occasionally.
In 1976, Joyce said that she “fell
into writing.” That was the year
that the American Farm Bureau
sponsored an essay contest for the
bicentennial celebration. Joyce
entered her first written piece
ever and won a trip to Hawaii.
tome
The view from the Bupps’ back porch overlooks the patio, pool, ponds, and
meadow.
Not long after that, Joyce was
asked to be a correspondent for
Lancaster Farming. Several
months later, she began her weekly
column, which was then picked up
by the “York Dispatch” newspap
er. She also has had numerous arti
cles and features published by
Lancaster Farming, Holstein
World, and Hoard’s Dairyman.
She has never taken a writing
course or had any journalistic
training.
Joyce estimates that she has
written 1,000 columns and has
never used the same one twice.
While she may occassionally have
a bout with writers’ block,she said
of the weekly deadline, “Some
thing always pops up. All farm
wives have the same kind of things
happening to- them those nor
mal, routine, crazy, frustrating
things that happen on the farm.”
Though it may be normal,
everyday things, it’s Joyce’s
humor and perspective in recount
ing them make her column
extremely popular. As one reader
put it the column makes every
one feel like Joyce is their next
door neighbor even if they’ve nev
er met.
As a speaker and educator for
agriculture. Joyce also excells. She
speaks to many groups such as
Atlantic Dairy Cooperative, Mary
land Farm Bureau, National Insti
tute Of Cooperatives, and the
Maryland Institute of
Cooperatives.
It was easier for Joyce to attend
•yce.
profusely despite little rsin.
off-farm events several years ago
than it is now because the children
could assume her chores. Now that
the children are grown up and
away from the home, the Bupps try
to keep labor costs down, which
means that Joyce declines many
invitations to speak.
“Farming duties are my number
one priority.” she said
Bupplynn Dairy Farms’ best
known cow is Beshore Rotate
Bupplynn Jody, one of the most
sought-after flush cows in the
Holstein Breed The farm consis
tent breeds a large amount of
Very Good and several Excellent
cows. It is known for its stylish
uddered Holstein bloodlines. The
Bupps have exhitiled and sold at
local, state, and national shows and
sales in addition to exporting sev
eral to foreign countries.
The Bupp’s bam is one-of-a
kind according to Joyce. It was
designed for show animals when
they were in their heyday years of
showing. It’s a herringbone-stall
bam with raised stalls about 11-in
ches above alley and angled for
easy access for milking. Although
the stall bam requires more labor
than a milking parlor, the advan
tage is that it allows better cow
care. The cows are tamer because
of the personal contact of needing
to tie and let them loose each day.
The Bupps put a lot of stock in
breeding for cow temperament
They do not tolerate wild cows.
Since both Leroy and Joyce love
dairy shows, it is especially painful
to cut down on them, but the costs
of hiring labor while showing is
- ir V -Mr Joyce Bupp co-manages a
420-head registered Holstein dairy (arm, is a prolific writer
and speaker for agriculture concerns, and aboard member
for Dairymen, Inc., and the Middle Atlantic Division’s board
of directors.
not cost effective.
They do continue county shows
and are pleased with the premier
breeder and exhibitor awards gar
nered there.
Joyce is also a township auditor,
Sunday School teacher at Hame
town Lutheran Church, and book
reviewer for Christian Herald
Book Club.
She is already at work as the
chairperson of the booklet com
mittee for the 199 S National Hols
tein Association Convention, to be
held in Pittsburgh.
For all who read Joyce’s col
umn, they know that she may
lament the government’s paper
overload, .rising costs, poor pay,
and low prices, but she always
ends up with a positive upbeat
message.
“How can I do otherwise?" she
said. “I love my job. It may not pay
the best, but I look at my
blessings."
Many years ago, Joyce’s mother
told her: “At least if you are marry
ing a farmer, you’ll never go
hungry.”
And, she has had plenty to eat
regardless of drought or wet
seasons.
Recently, the Bupps lost three of
their best cows from the heal, and
the rain has been sparse. But Joyce
said, “I don’t worry as much as I
used to about weather and other
things that I can’t control, because
with faith everything always
works out."
She said that we have a choice to
work with what we have and to
(Turn to Pag* A2l)