A32-Lancasttr Farming, Saturday, March 4, 1995
CAROLYN N. MOYER
Bradford Co. Correspondent
EAST SMTTHFffiLD (Brad
ford Co.) A steady stream of
farmers milled through the nearly
40 trade show exhibits and listened
to informative speakers at the 199 S
Bradford County Dairy Day.
Held at SRU Middle School, on
Feb. 20, visitors to the event tot
aled well over 350, making the
event a success, according to
Lehan Power, area farm manage
ment agent.
Educational programs on dairy
expansion and foot care were both
well attended.
Gary Snyder, farm business
consultant with Farm Credit of
Western New York gave the morn
ing presentation.
got to say, ‘Hey, I’m in
an industry that’s changing every
day.’ If you’re going to expand, go
through the stages.” Snyder
emphasized.
The first stage in Snyder’s
expansion plan was an investiga
tive stage where one should visit as
many farms as possible.
“Don’t just lode at the physical
resources,” said Snyder. “Stick
around long enough to see how
they get the jobs done right”
Next on Snyder’s to-do list was
budgeting to see if the project is
feasible.
“If you can’t budget, you can’t
manage a big farm,’’ he noted.
Establishing limits is one key
factor in this stage. Snyder sug-
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gests that farmers should “limit to
their ability to handle change, limit
to how many cows you will buy,
limit to how much debt you can
carry, and limit to how quickly you
want to expand.”
He also recommends being as
organized during the transition as
possible. Keys to remember are to
start early, consider all environ
mental factors, get permits and use
caution when buying animals.
Labor issues can also be a tough
obstacle to handle. If the manager
would rather milk the cows than
manage his milkers, there could be
a problem.
“If things aren’t real good
between dad and son, and you go
into expansion, you’re going to
magnify the problem. You need to
be comfortable now and under
stand where you are. Once you do
that, you can go ahead with expan
sion. A manager is able to marshal
the troops to get those people to
take care of the farm business,”
said Snyder.
Perhaps the most emphasized
point in Snyder’s presentation was
that farmers need to “grow in
steps, but grow.”
“A stairway expansion is best,”
he said. “Your business has to
/ people enjoyed a lasagna dinner provided by the trade ahow exhibitors.
Here, Curtis Scott, Duane Wilcox, Gerald Pratt and Matt Scott enjoy the food and
fellowship.
grow so you can remain competi
tive in the national dairy business.”
He explained that growing
doesn’t only mean adding cows or
more land, it means finding key
areas where the business can get
better every year.
‘There’s no one secret combina-
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tability in a farm business.” he
said.
The focus of the educational
programs changed from expanding
your dairy to preventive medicine
as Dr. Dale Moore DVM, with
Penn State University took the
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stage.
“Lameness in cattle is the third
highest cause of involuntary cull
ing,” she said, as she began the
afternoon program with a slide
show.
“Not only does lameness cost
(Turn to Pago A 33)
Long
lered