AlB-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Dacamber 18, 1993
. .oasi . storage operation Is a 2-year-old venture at Earl Weaver’s
farm that has grown quickly. Instead of selling soybeans for cash, and then using the
cash to buy processed beans for livestock feed, Weaver and many of his clients have
been toasting the beans they raise and using the hulls and the beans for feed. Weaver
toasts other grains as well.
Pa. Forage, Grassland Council
from five to 10 brood sows before
he bought the herd from his father.
Over time the hog operation grew to 120 brooders and
some hogs for fattening. In 1978, he sold the pigs and went
to a full dairy operation.
Weaver has been working with a 60-stall stanchion bam
since the late 1970 s and raises replacements on a one-tone
basis, selling off what he doesn’t need.
He has been feeding a TMR frr sometime, and he’s
been feeding soybeans for about 20 years, he said. His
rolling herd average is just more than 20,000 pounds of
milk.
The change in the farm, since he installed the conserva
tion devices, and since he started double-cropping rye in
the com strips to overwinter and then harvest in the spring,
is great.
He said he feels as though installing the conservation
practices has not only proven to be the correct thing to do
in order to save the soil on his farm, but morally, he said it
was the right thing to do.
“I believe that the ground is given to us to utilize to the
best of our ability, and it is what God created it for. I try to
use it so it will be there for the next generation.”
He said the soil is a gift that sustains life and therefore
should be revered as such, and not be destroyed through
short term consideration of quick gain.
In fact, while he doesn’t like to use the word “organic,”
because of the extremist connotations, he said he is trying
to encourage the grow of microbes in the soil and larger
invertabrates and organisms which indicate a healthy, fer
tile soil.
For example, over the years, with the use of the com
monly recommended pesticides, the earthworm popula
tion on the farm had diminished. Not overnight, but over
time.
With using conservation tillage techniques, by using
crop rotation along with the long strips, he said he has been
able to not have to use chemicals to combat com root
worm. In fact, except for an emergency, he said he tries not
to use any kind of pesticide. He does use some herbicides,
as needed.
For the past 10 years, he has also used only his cow
manure for fertilizer. He hasn’t applied any commercial
fertilizer and he said his soil tests are so consistent that he
only has to test every three years.
And not only did he say he feels good about how the soil
and the soil organisms have responded he said he
enjoys seeing the great number of worm castings these
days but he has increased the profitability and compe
titiveness of the operation.
As far as what lies in the future. Weaver said he intends
to spend his time cropping and caring for his fields and
running the soybean processing business.
The new business, called Weaver’s Toasted Grains, has
grown rapidly in the past two years. He said some people
approached him about getting involved in such a business,
and after some research and consideration, he made the
investment and has been working at it since.
His dairy herd, which he oversees, is being managed by
Carl and Wilma Weaver. Carl is originally from Weaver
land Farm, a nextdoor neighbor to Earl Weaver. After
about 20 years being employed in woodworking, he and
his wife decided to get back to farming and have been
working to make the adjustment back. “There have been a
lot of changes in the past 20 years,” he said.
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From the left, farm owner Earl Weaver, dlaeusses calf
starter ration formulation with his nutrition consultant Ray
Brechbili and with herdsman Carl Weaver.
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