Lancaster farming. (Lancaster, Pa., etc.) 1955-current, December 17, 1994, Image 42
BMenceeter Farming, Saturday, December 17,1994 Gathered around the payloader used to fill the wagon from the new double wide bunker feed storage system are from left Marshall and Cindy Meador with Family Togetherness Thrives At Brubaker Farms LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Farming Staff MOUNT JOY (Lancaster Co.) —More than 600 people from sev eral states recently toured Brubak er Farms in Mount Joy. Awed by the size, the conveni ence, and the latest in technology, the crowd often expressed that the complex is a farmer’s dream. It is the dream of not one but three farmers, Luke Brubaker and his two sons, Mike and Tony, who worked together to design a build ing expansion that would be eco nomical and support .three families. The Brubakers researched ideas by touring a lot of farms. “We’d talk to anybody who’d talk with us,” Mike said. “The nice Homestead Notes More than 600 people attended the open house at Bru baker Farms on November is. thing about farmers is that they are open to giving their opinions and ideas on what works and what doesn’t. It isn’t like other busines ses where the owner tries to keep everything secret.” The Brubakers took what they thought was the best bits and pieces from each one and from that designed their own plan. “We tried to build something economical and labor efficient while keeping animal health and comfort a priority,” Mike said of the diversified operation, which includes 300 cows, 48,000 broil ers, and 1,200 hogs. The father and sons said that they work together well because none of them are scared to compromise. son Lucas; Luke and Barb Brubaker with granddaughter Molly; Tony Brubak* er holding Zachary Marshall; and Mike and Lisa Brubaker. “We all those had ideas in build ing that we needed to convince the other two to agree,” Luke said. “Sometimes one gets a dream and another one seems too conser vative to even consider that dream, but the third one will be the media tor to balance things out. “We didn’t even have an actual blueprint,” Luke said. “We’d just tell the builder what we wanted to do and he did it” The complex includes a new dairy facility with a 400-cow capacity free-stall bam and a Surge Double Ten Parallel parlor with individual release feature and par lor manager computer. A com modity building was erected to hold the bulk feed since commodi ties are purchased by the tractor trailer load. A trench silo for for- (Turn to Pago B 4) Barb Brubaker watches as her sons, Mika, center, and Tony cheek the computer screens to determined what’s happening In the bam. son of Luke and Bait) and son of daughter Cindy and her husband Marshall Meador, who live on the farm homestead. «aRBS£