Outstanding Cooperators Keen About
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster
Co )__By exhibiting a keen inter
est in educating the public about
fanning and the values of conser
vation, Rapho Valley Farm, oper
ated by Jcre and Bonnie Swart,
Manheim, was honored as the
1994 Outstanding Cooperator at
the Lancaster County Conserva
tion District banquet Thursday
night at Yoder’s Restaurant.
In one example, the Swarrs
invited MillersvillcUniversity stu
dents in to leant about raising
livestock and to “experience what
conservation is all about,” said
Gerald Heistand, assistant admini
strator, Chesapeake Bay Program.
Rapho Valley Farm, which con
sists of 167 acres, is located in
Rapho Township near Rt. 283.
By exhibiting a keen Interest In educating the public about fanning and the values of
conservation, Rapho Valley Farm, operated by Jere and Bonnie Swarr, Manheim, was
honored as the 1994 Outstanding Cooperator at the Lancaster County Conservation
District banquet Thursday night at Yoder’s Restaurant. From left, Tyler, 7; Bonnie;
Jere; and Eric, 9. Photo by Andy Androwo
[heifer auction!
J WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30,1994 i
I 10:30 AM.
. LOCATION: 10905 Keysville Rd., Emmits-
I burg, Md. DIRECTIONS: From Frederick
I take Rt 15 N. to Rt. 140, Taneytown exit.
| Take Rt. 140 east towards Taneytown,
I make 2nd right on Toms Creek Church
| Rd., go to stop sign and turn left, then make
I immediate right back onto Toms Creek
| Church Rd., go to stop sign, turn right on
I Keysville Rd., Sale at first place on left.
| Watch for signs.
I 65 HEAD 65
■ Most are registered some with and some
I without papers. The majority are black and
J white Holstein; (S) red and white Holstein and
I (2) registered Brown Swiss.
I (20) Bred heifers from 60 days - calving (20);
I (20) Open heifers at breeding age (20); (25)
| Open heifers 500-600 lb. (25).
x All heifers have been calf vaccinated and
I are all tested for interstate shipment in last 30
« days.
I AUCTIONEERS NOTE: These heifers are
| in good body condition and have been well
I taken care of. If you need some good heifers
I don’t miss this auction. Many are AI sired
I and raised out of herd of high producing
I cows with good udders and legs.
X TERMS: Cash/Good check day of sale. Not
I responsible for accidents.
* Auctioneers: Randy Ruby (301) 271-2321
I Jay Ruby (301) 447-3675
* Office (800) 443-9580
I Owner*;
J Harry & Loulae Ruby Glad Ray Farms
X 10905 Keysville Rd. Jim Keiholls ft Family *
I Emmltsbuif, MD 21727 10609 Keysville Rd.
I (301) 447-2657 EmmlUbui* MD 21727
LUNCH RIGHTS RESERVED
With the rented land from three
other farms, the Swans have about
300 acres of tillable land, accord
ing to Heistand.
In addition to his own farm
work, Jere custom plants between
900 and 1.200 acres of com and
soybeans. The Swarrs raise 500
beef cattle and 2,500 hogs'each
year.
In 1948 Earl Swan. Jere’s
father, purchased a farm that
needed a conservation plan.
According to the district, the farm
was being plowed up and down the
hill. There were basically three
large fields in the operation.
Earl Swan began by taking a
steep hillside out of production and
transforming it into a wildlife cov
er. Jcre started making some of the
management decisions in 1977,
and look over the farm in 1981,
when a conservation plan was
written stressing minimum tillage
on die contour with heavy residue.
Heistand showed the more than
100 attending the banquet that
large amounts of residue are left on
the land in a series of slides.
“Some people have trouble get
ting 30 percent (coverage),” he
said, to meet requirements. ‘ ‘Here,
we might ask, can we see 30 per
cent of bare area?”
During the six years Swarr has
been working with the district, he
has dbne a considerable amount of
conservation work, according to
the district Even though he has
been planting his com no-till,
some waterway and terrace work
had to be done since he did not
have a large amount of hay.
Some tile drainage was installed
to he!" ' more infiltration, leav-
PUBLIC SALE
SAT., APRIL 2
At 9:00 A.M.
Farm Machinery and Misc. farm
Rems of Roy Gladfeßer. Located along
Rt. 216, 4K miles west of Glen Rock,
Pa. York Co.
FARM MACHINERY
IH #656 Diesel tractor w/wide front end.
J.D. MT tractor, IH rubber tire wagon w/dump
hoist, Killbros gravity bin wagon, IH #430
baler w/thrower, IH side delivery rake pto, IH
4 bottom plow. Shaver post driver, IH flail
chopper. Century 3 pt. weed sprayer, J.D. #3B
sickle bar mower 7 ft., 2 bottom plow and cul
tivators to fit MT tractor, rubber tire wagon,
IH 4 row com planter needs repairs. 2 wheel
auger trailer, J.D. 13 disc grain drill, front end
snow blade, Brillion cultipacker, MT J.D. trac
tor for parts.-
MISC. FARM ITEMS
Small grain elevator, ground scoop, large
Agway round hog feeder, fodder shreader, 2
good gasoline pumps, pto grass seeder, 100
locust posts, 2 platform scales, 3 rolls new
fence wire, galvanized water trough, paper
baler, grindstone, metal fence posts, chicken
coop, wooden barrels, butcher kettle, and
wagon load of misc. small items.
Refreshment rights reserved
Not responsible for any accidents
Terms: Cash or approved checks.
MR. AND MRS. ROY
GLADFELTER
R.D. #3 BOX 126
Glen Rock, Pa.
Tel. 235-1326
Charles L. Wehtiy and Son Auct.
235-4146 Lie. #AU9BSL - AUIB6BL
Wehtiy’s Clerks
%**' '•v
•J# 4 - V#
‘;, , ' r ■
<. ".♦'*«. ** * i
»V$ * >
« + *
%
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March*,lW4-A37
Education, Conservation
ing less water available for runoff.
He signed up with the Chesapeake
Bay Program in 1987 to help with
installation of a diversion and.
manure storage structure. After
improving the manure situation,
Swarr used ASCS cost-share prog
rams to help with the installation of
some pipe-outleted terraces.
Various practices installed on
the farm include 800 feet of water
way, 2,350 feet of subsurface
.drainage, 1,225 feet of pipe outlet
terrace. 635 feet of underground
outlet, 1,650 feet of diversion, and
a manure waste structure.
Swarr cites several challenges
that farmers need to address. The
first challenge is to get manure
incorporated and at the same time
keep adequate residue on the sur
face for erosion control. Second is
how to deal with compaction on
long term no-till situations. Third
is how to relate to the urban
community.
Swarr is tackling some of these
challenges by getting involved. He
is one of the township supervisors
in-Rapho township. TTiis gives him
an opportunity to become involved
in decision-making that affects
landowners.
To work at the second chal
lenge. he plants 90 foot strips of
rye cover crop which allow him to
drive on alternate fields and shoot
the manure onto the planted rye.
Then the rye can be no-tilled and
the field that may have been com
pacted with the manure spreader
can be minimum tilled.
To meet the third challenge, the
Swarrs keep the lines of communi
cation open with their neighbors.
When it’s time to apply manure
next to the trailer park, they call the
park owner to inform him as to
when it will happen, and what is
being done to keep the odor down.
The Swarrs have been doing
conservation tillage, strip crop
ping, and cover cropping for more
than IS years. Swarr learned about
Also honored at ths banquet was Shirley Chrobot, center,
for her contributions to the Youth Conservation School.
From left, Sonia Wasco, Chrobot, and Nevln Greiner.
conservation through his father
and by doing custom work on
farms that had terraces already
installed, according to the district
There are two wildlife areas on
the farm. One contains a wetland
which they believe adds character
to the farm. A farm pond was build
in 1951 and was reconditioned in
1991. It has proved useful for irri
gation purposes in five of the past
11 years.
Swan practices conservation on
the land which he rents. District
records show that these acres are
located on 12 different tracts, some
of which are next to urban areas.
A nutrient management plan
was written that uses the pig and
cow manure on both the owned
and rented land. When yield
checks were done eight years ago,
Swarr was unable to find a yield
response, so he stopped using star
ter fertilizer.
On the home farm the following
crops are cultivated: 130 acres of
com; five acres of soybeans; eight
acres of tobacco; eight acres of
wheat; and five acres of meadow.
Only the tobacco ground gets
plowed. Some of the other ground
is minimum tilled with straight
teeth on a chisel and about 40 per
cent of the ground is cover cropped
in strips.
Jete Swarr said that farmers
have to educate themselves “to
understand the importance of what
we do, and the long-term impor
tance of our actions. If farmers
would keep that in the back of their
minds, conservation will just hap
pen automatically.”
Swarr and Bonnie have two
sons, Eric, 9 and Tyler, 7. The
Swarrs attend Bethel Mennonite
Church.
Also honored at the banquet
were Shirley Chrobot, for her con
tributions to the Youth Conserva
tion School, and Don Robinson,
district administrator, for contribu
tions to the district.