A22-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 27, IMS
Food By-Products Vary, But Promote Savings At Barley Farm
(Continued from Pago Al>
ration. “Everything is a total mix
ed ration and is balanced,” said
Barley.
Some of the by-products are
provided to Barley free of charge.
He mustprovide transportation. At
the local food processing com
pany, trailers are loaded with the
product to be delivered to Star
Rock Farms.
Items such as the salad remnants
are provided, but because of the
high moisture content are not as
valuable as feed sources.
“The worse thing about salad is
there’s not enough energy there to
put weight on the cattle,” he said.
“It’ll maintain them real well, but
it won’t put on the weight.”
Barley purchases Virginia
calves from B&R Cattle. About
50-100 at a time are brought in,
weighing about 550 pounds each,
to finish. He ships about 35-40
head at a time. The price he
obtains, which varies depending
on year and market, from Moyer
Packing, is from the dressing
weight. (Lately, Barley has been
obtaining about $ 1.02 per pound at
dressing weight)
What makes the operation diffi-
Walking down theaisL jemi jrsara
some of the remnants of the by-products Into the troughs. A pineapple head here, a
slice of honeydew there, a lemon here, an open grapefruit there. In adcftion to carrots
and other salad remnants make up a portion of the feed for cattle.
cult is the lack of consistency in the
supply. The by-products vary as to
when they are available for pickup
and delivery to the farm.
Barley said, “You never know
what your supply is going to be.
It’s not consistent”
He feeds to finish the cattle.
“If you are going to feed them
until the end like that you have to
feed them a high-energy ration
comparable to com and put the
weight on quickly,” he said.
Barley’s farm is justoneof three
tour sites selected for the field day.
Several farms comprise the tour
on June 17. Another farm, the
Nissley Bros. Farm in Mount Joy,
uses food by-products. The Niss
ley Farm, which finishes about 300
head of cattle per year, utilizes
potato chip by-products provided
by a local chip manufacturer.
Another farm tour will be con
ducted of the Dwight Hess Farm,
Mount Joy, which finishes about
300 head of cattle per year.
The program begins at 8:30 a.m.
at the Lloyd F. Furman Memorial
Park in Maytown, in the western
part of the county. There, buses
will board on a staggered schedule
ssor.
(Turn to Pag* A 23)
•v* * ‘ ' ’
Robert Barley farms 3,000 acres at Star Rock Farms in partnership with his brother
Tom and cousin Abe, Jr. From left, Shelly, Amelia, and Robert. Photo by Andy Andrews
Barley said, “The best food by-product Is something that
Is high In energy and high In protein and Is consistent, with
low moisture.” Here, he Inspects a herd of Texas Longhorn.