82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 28, 1995
Lancaster County Dairy Princess On The ‘Moov’
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
ELIZABETHTOWN (Lancas
ter Co.) Motorists who spot a
dark gray Nissan with the license
plate, “Moov It,” will notice that
the driver is on the “moov.”
Thai’s because driver Amy
Espcnshade is the Lancaster Coun
ty Dairy Princess who has places to
go and things to do.
She’s either dashing from one
promotion to another or hurrying
home to milk the cows or commut
ing to Penn Slate—York Campus,
where she is a freshman.
“Some weeks I have a promo
uon every evening, but then it may
go a week or two between promo
tions,” Amy said.
While .responsibilities with
dairy promotion vary, her home
and college responsibilities are
constant.
Amy, 18, is on the dean’s list at
college and she manages to work
almost full-ume of the family’s
Elizabethtown farm.
Her parents, Harvey and Susan
Espcnshade, have always incor
porated the help of Amy and her
siblings Matt, 21, and Becky, 17.
Now, that Malt is in his senior
year at Penn Stale main campus,
Amy has needed to fill in a bit
more.
“I feed the calves and help dad
milk,” Amy said.
The family milks about 50 cows
and farms 140 acres of their own
land plus 120 acres of rented
ground.
College is easier than she
expected but dairy princesses
duties require more time that she
expected.
“But I love being a dairy prin
cess,” Amy said as she flashes one
of her generously dimpled smiles.
“I just love the kids when I do
school promotions. If I give them a
slicker, they are just in awe. They
think that I’m Miss America.”
Even the older adults seem mer
meshed by Amy’s skit in which
she pretends she’s a cow.
“I’m proud to be part of the
Hairy industry,” she said. I always
appreciated how hard my dad
works but now I see that many peo-
jpMESTEADfpTES
imy pours a
pie affiliated with the dairy indus
try such as the DHIA are woricing
hard even if they aren’t milking
cows.”
This appreciation extends to
other non-dairy commodities.
“Before I was dairy princess, I
thought that dairy people had it
worse than any other agriculture
related commodity. But I’ve met
the honey queen, the poultry
queen, the lamb and wool queen,
and others representing commodi
ties and I realize that each industry
has its struggles just like the dairy
industry,” she said.
Concerning the debate over the
use of BST, Amy said, “I’m con
vinced BST is safe for people and
for cows, but I don’t think we need
it because we already have a surp
lus of milk.”
The prices farmers receive for
their hard work are discouraging to
Amy. She said, “My dad told me
that we’re lucky if we make $l3
for 100 weight of milk.”
Despite the pay, Amy enjoys
farm work.
Matt, who is majoring in dairy
science at Penn State, will gradu
ate this spring and return to the
family’s century farm, which has
been in the family for 128 years.
“There’s always something to
do around here with the upkeep
needed,” Amy said. “We need to
build a heifer bam and we’d like to
get a pipeline because we have a
dumping station now.”
But those are long-term goals.
Doing some cosmetic work to the
outside of the house and redoing
the porch are first on the agenda.
Amy and her father just completed
repainting the kitchen with its wide
woodwork typical of homes built
in 1857.
Work on the farm continues by
using stone dust bedding for the
cows.
Amy said, “It works great
because it spreads easily on the
fields. It doesn’t stick to the cows
like newspaper bedding. It keeps
things dry.”
Recently, some contour farming
was designed for the back fields.
Most of the field work is done by
the men on the farm but Amy
milk and says, rmproi
lass oi
Lancaster mty Dairy Princess Amy Espenshade Is on the “moov” as she
from farm to college to dairy promotions and back again.
l I
Amy’s family Includes parents, Harvey and Susan, and siblings Matt, 21 .and
17
to be part of the dairy Industry.”
sometimes hauls the wagons. Sis
ter Becky feeds the heifers, cleans
stalls, and throws down hay.
Amy’s mother works full time
as a nurse and helps feed calves
and put on the milkers.
Matt’s return from college is
just in time, because Amy needs to
head to the main campus next year
to pursue her major in horticulture.
“I’m considering a double major
by adding turf grass science,” she
said.
Amy’s decision to make lawn
care her career is an outgrowth of
being in charge of lawn care and
bedding plants around the farm.
“I love mowning lawn, but my
dad tells me that 50 years of mow
ing lawns could get pretty old. If 1
get tired of lawns I could go in the
greenhouse business,” said Amy,
d
who has her sights on owning her
own business.
Amy graduated from Elizabeth
town High School, where she
received numerous FFA awards
and placed Erst in the state for ag
salesmen during her senior year.
This enabled her to attend the FFA
National Convention in Kansas
City. In 10th grade, she also was
able to attend as part of the meat
judging team.
Something new on the horizon
for Amy is her engagement to
Mike Bryant The couple plans to
marry when Amy graduates in
1998.
She and Bryant are in the pro
cess of becoming junior high youth
advisers at their church another
responsibility that keeps Amy on
the “moov.”