AlB-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 21, 1995
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) Asa presenter at the annu
al conference of the Pennsylvania
Association for Sustainable Agri
culture, to be held Feb. 3-4 at the
Nittany Lion Inn, Doug Parker,
dairy farm manager and consultant
at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne,
Vl. will speak on the applicability
of New Zealand dairy grazing sys
tems in Pennsylvania.
This will be just one of many
conference workshops designed
with dairy farmers in mind.
Parker is the son of a pioneer
New Zealand dairy farmer and
grew up on a large family dairy
there. Four of his brothers are
farmers in New Zealand. Doug
received a degree in farm consult
ing and real estate appraisal from
Lincoln University in New
Zealand and then worked for a
bank doing farm loans, manage
ment consulting with farmers, and
budgeting. He later relocated to
Ohio where he worked as a
builder, personal financial consul
tant and in real estate, as well as
raising beef. In the past two years,
he has done consulting work with
farmers from Pennsylvania and
West Virginia to Oklahoma.
As farm manager at Shelburne
Farms, where he has been since
last summer, Parker is responsible
for the development of an infra
structure (fences, water, two new
milking parlors, etc.) to support an
increase in the dairy herd from the
current 60 head of Brown Swiss to
a total of approximately 300 cows.
Although Shelburne is a nonprofit
institution “dedicated to teaching
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Serving The Agricultural Industry For Over 25 Years
Workshop On New Zealand Dairying At Conference
and demonstrating the steward
ship of natural resources,” the
dairy farm is required to make a
profit and has done so by process
ing all milk into cheddar cheese.
Last year, Shelburne won an
award from the American Cheese
Society for the “Best Specialty
Cheese in the U. 5.,” and produced
about 80,000 pounds. As the herd
increases, projections are for
200,000 pounds of cheese to be
produced per year.
When asked how New Zealand
dairy farming differs from Ameri
can dairying, Parker said that
farmers here focus on the cows
and not on grass/forage produc
tion. “Our aim [in New Zealand] is
to produce a high-quality, high
yield, highly palatable, perennial
forage consisting of grasses and
legumes which is harvested 8 to 12
times per year by the animals. We
strive to produce a meadow, as
opposed to just pasture. To us, the
meadow is first, cows second. We
look at production per man (not
per cow), and net profit per acre as
measuring sticks,” he said.
Other areas where New Zeal
and farm methods could benefit
Pennsylvania dairies are in the
construction of milking parlors
(“cow sheds,” to Parker), and the
handling of manure during the few
months of the year when the cows
are not outside. New Zealand
“cow sheds” are simple, low cost,
relatively easy to build, and offer a
high speed through-put of cows at
milking time. Says Parker, “most
New Zealand farmers hate to milk
cows,” thus they have developed
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ways to do it as quickly and effi
ciently as possible.
Manure management systems
in New Zealand are based on a
“barrier ditch system,” in which
trenches are built and the manure
is stored there for later spreading.
This system and the equipment to
empty it can be purchased for a
cost of $5OOO to 10,000, far less
than most automated American
manure management systems.
Parker is amazed at what some
farms are spending here on
manure handling.
In addition to talking with
farmers, Parker likes to show
bankers and businessmen that
fanning can be just as profitable
(income producing) as any other
investment if managed well. One
area in which he is strict in his
financial analysis is in making
sure that the cost of “improve
ments” is equal to their value. He
says of milking parlors in the U.S.,
“there are too many old over
loaded, souped-up Cadillacs,
when what is needed is a new
stripped Ford pick-up simple, with
a minimum of metal for manure to
stick to.
“The cost of a new milk house
or other improvement should
increase the value of the farm by
the exact same amount invested,
and too often that is not the case,”
he said.
In addition to his workshop on
“New Zealand Dairy Grazing Sys
tems: Applicability to Pennsylva
nia,” Parker will also serve on a
panel on the “Economics of Dairy
Grazing,” with Mark Mapes, a
Union County. Pa. dairy farmer
and Forrest Strieker, a dairyman
from Berks County, Pa.
Other workshops of interest to
dairy farmers will look at seasonal
dairying, making the transition to
Applegate Is Outstanding
Fruit Grower
FREEHOLD, N. J. Norman
Applegate, owner and operator of
Battleview Orchards in Freehold,
is the 1994 recipient of the Out
standing Fruit Grower Award pre
sented annually by the New Jersey
Horticultural Society.
In announcing the award,
Genie DeCou, president of the
society, said, “Norman was recog
nized with a plaque and lifetime
membership because of his dedi
cation to agriculture, the fruit
industry, and operation of an inno
vative and progressive fruit grow
ing and marketing organization.”
Applegate grows more than
100 acres of apples, peaches, and
cherries, and markets everything
through a modern retail market as
well as a pick-your-own sales out
let. This operation was recently
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dairy grazing, rBGH, connections
between soil and animal health,
holistic resource management
(HRM), and pasture basics. At the
end of the conference, there will
be a Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange
session on “Grazing Livestock.”
For further information, and/or
a registration form, contact PASA
at P.O. Box 419, Millheim, PA
16854, (814) 349-9856.
acres near Shoreham, Vt. Approx
imately 100 acres of dwarf apples
are grown at this time. Apple
gate’s son, Scott, is active in the
business with him.
Said DeCou, “Norman is a past
president and director of the New
Jersey Horticultural Society and
past chairman of the New Jersey
Apple Industry Council. He was
also a member of the board of
directors of the International
Apple Institute and the National
Apple Institute.”
Other industry experience for
Applegate was secretary of the
Jersey Fruit Marketing Coopera
tive. He serves on the board of
directors of the cooperative.
Applegate serves on the board of
directors of First Pioneer Farm
Credit and served as chairman and
director of North Central Jersey
Farm Credit.