84-Lanc«ster Farming, Saturday, January 28, 1995 On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) I Joyce Bupp There are a myriad of possible answers to that provocative query made famous some years back on television commercials for a popu lar fast-food restaurant chain. “Where’s the beef?!” In the case of our immediate surroundings, we might find the beef at any number of possible sites. (However, we usually think of them, not as the beef, but more per sonally, as “our girls.” Only on occasion, when some particular cow has stomped the milker off for the third time during milking and plastered me in the face with a wet, sloppy tail, do I make threats about hamburger.) So, on any given day, the beef might be exiting the dairy barn, re entering the dairy barn for evening milking, parading to the feed bunk, lounging around the exercise pas tures, or even keeping appoint ments with the veterinarian. One of my personal favorites of the ever-changing farm scenes vis ible through the kitchen windows is the younger beef, our heifer herd, traveling single file up through the meadow from the lower meadow, to take their turn at the feed bunk. Whether surround ed by a January snow scene, the lush green 'of May, or autumn’s golden brilliance, the daily appear ance of the string of heifers is like a visit by a close friend. The baby beef are my special responsibility, our bottle calves who bawl enthusiastic greetings morning and evening the instant they hear footsteps at the calf bam entrance. You never have to won der where the beef is when they’re babies; they’ll tell you. Other answers to “Where’s the beef’ might include the freezer, the refrigerator, inside a hamburger bun, snuggled up in a stirfry, or nestled beside the carrots and pota toes of a pot roast. Not to mention on the outside grills of our neighbors, who rou tinely put something on to sizzle up for summertime suppers just as we arc finishing up evening milk ing. After two hours of milking, fortified only with a quick snack, the enticing aromas wafting down from those grills of our nearby neighbors leave no doubts about where the beef is. So we are, on a daily basis, sur rounded by the “beef.” Which leads us to one rude reality - there arc a significant number of unde sirable answers to the question; “Where’s the beef?” Like running across the back yard. Especially when the back yard is at the mud-level of ours on a recent damp, dreary day, when I glanced out a window and spied two big dairy cows loping across the soggy sod. Enroute to corral the runaway beef, I ran across a few more of their friends, also enjoying recess. The “beef’ all take personal pride in eluding anyone who tries to chase them. Waiting until the chasee is within a few feet, they’ll lay their ears back, throw their tails in the air and kick their heels as they take off. While thus depart ing, they gouge inch-deep skid marks in the lawn. Chasing the dancing beef around the yard came right on the heels of a similar incident a day or so before. I opened the doibr to the heifer pens under the old bank bam and came face-to-muzzle with some thirty teenage bovines who had spent part of the night partying National WIFE Delegates To Meet JETMORE, Kan. National Delegates of Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE) will travel to Kansas City to attend their Annual Winter Board Meet ing scheduled for Feb. 10-12. Delegates from 25 states are expected to be in attendance at the organization’s first meeting of the new year. WIFE, organized in 1976, is committed to improving prof itability in production agriculture through educational, legislative, communicative, and cooperative efforts. As a grassroots organiza tion, WIFE believes the American people and policy makers need to be made more aware of the impor tance of agriculture to the security and well-being of the nation. National WIFE President Mary Ann Sheppard of Alabama explained, “The 1995 Farm Bill strategy for Women Involved in Farm Economics will be the most important issue for delegates attending the board of directors meeting. Step one of WIFE’S plan should be completed. At the close of this meeting, WIFE members will be ready to testify in Wash ington, D.C. and at field hearings across the country when called upon.” Congressman Pat Roberts, U.S. representative from the Kansas First Congressional District, has been invited to speak to the WIFE in the feed alleyway, having found a loose gate. During their stay, they totally wiped out a couple of bags of feed, scattered a half-dozen bales of good alfalfa and trashed everything that they didn’t gobble up. Thus, the next time you hear the question, “Where’s the beef?”, you can be ready with this answer. Probably messing around somewhere it has no business. IT / —'■j • CLOSED SUNDAYS, NEW YEAR, EASTER MONDAY, ASCENSION DAY, WHIT MONDAY, OCT. 11, THANKSGIVING, fIIHIIIIE CHRISTMAS A DECEMBER 26TH FISHER’S FURNITURE, INC. NEW AND USED FURNITURE USED COAL A WOOD HEATERS COUNTRY FURNITURE A ANTIQUES BUS. HRS. BOX 57 MON.-THURS. 8-5 1129 GEORGETOWN RD. FRI, 84, SAT. 8-12 BART, PA 17503 Board of Directors concerning .agriculture and the ’95 Farm Bill. Congressman Roberts is the first Republican chairman of the House Agriculture Committee since 195 4. His efforts for leader ship in agriculture have been rec ognized by numerous business and agriculture groups, including Kansas Wheat Growers, Kansas Farm Bureau, FFA, Production Credit Association, and Public Voice. Robert Fenemore, environmen tal scientist from the U.S. Envi ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Kansas City, will speak to WIFE members on groundwater and agriculture regulations. He is acting director for the Office of Groundwater Protection. Fen emore’s other duties consist of Ice Cream Festival To Raise Money For Library LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) The 1995 Turkey Hill Old- Fashioned Ice Cream Festival is scheduled for Sunday, July 16, from 1-5 p.m. at Lancaster Square, near the Brunswick Hotel in down town Lancaster. Turkey Hill Dairy will underwrite all festival expens es and donate ticket proceeds to the Library System of Lancaster County. Proceeds are used to pur chase hundreds of children’s books for the county’s 17 library units. A giant quilt, composed of squares made'by Lancaster County children, will be unveiled. Plus fes tival-goers can buy a chance to win a beautiful hand sewn quilt designed exclusively for the Festi val. Included among the ice cream risk assessment facilitator, region- al pollution prevention coordina tor, and primary regional agricul ture contact. He is also involved in 1995 Farm Bill issues and devel- oping EPA’s position on the bill. Marty Strange will address WIFE board of directors on verti cal integration. He is the program director and co-founder of the Center for Rural Affairs in Walthill, Neb. The center is a non profit organization devoted to the economic, social and environmen- tal well-being of rural America. Strange’s book, “Family Farming; A New Economic Vision,” is regarded as one of the leading cri tiques of industrial agribusiness. He is the recipient of a 1992 Pub lic Achievement Award from Common Cause. cones, sundaes, and frozen yogurt, Turkey Hill will imprint its own style on the festival with special ice cream flavors and a variety of iced leas and Tea Coolers. In addition to a variety of ice cream concoctions, the event will include entertainment and family oriented activities ranging from dancers and demonstrations to big band sounds, hands-on activities and travelling entertainers. The festival will be held rain or shine. Over the years, the Ice Cream Festival has raised a total of more than $ 113,000 for the Library Sys tem of Lancaster County. Ice cream lovers from throughout Pennsylvania and bordering states traditionally converge on Lancast er for this event. HERBALIFE INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR 717-626-5503
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