Dairying Returns Full Circle To Chester Dairy Farm
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
COCHRANVILLE (Chester
Co.) To some dairy families,
there’s an adage that sticks: life is
not a ladder, it’s a circle.
Charles Moore remembers
when, in the ’6os, milk went from
being bottled by small processors
for local home delivery to huge
processors with delivery to giant
supermarkets.
Then, things changed. Now,
because consumers want more per
sonalized services they can trust,
the Cochranville dairy farmer sees
the lifecycle of the public milk
supply swinging back to indepen
dent producers, and maybe even
the return of the glass bottle with a
paper cap, delivered right to the
door, in some areas of the country.
Moore held up one of those
glass bottles, embossed on the face
of the glass in green with the com
pany logo, specially produced for
the 75th anniversary of the place •
he sells his milk: Hy-Point Dairy,
near Wilmington, Del.
At one time, the Moore family
managed a dairy farm near Ches
ter, Delaware County. Up until
1954, the Lemuel L. Moore family
would take the cattle out to the
meadows surrounding the 98-acre
farm. But the U.S. Army stepped
in in 19SS and negotiated a deal
which transferred the family
nd thr
Penny cares for her own herd, milking about 20 and tak
ing care of 18 young stock. She also works part-time for a
local Implement dealer. Here she tends to Sonny, son of
Magnum, born late April, a ’/«Jersey and V• Holstein.
which Penny shows here, Is a I'year-old mixed, % Holstein and
“Bailey,”
’/« Llneback.
The Moore family, who operate Rol-Pen-Lyn farm pie- Moore, right, manages registered and grade Holstein, while
fix created using first names of their son and two daught- his daughter Penny, 28, left, maintains a mixed breed, Con
ors), farm a total of 180 tillable acres, including 38 at the listing of Jerseys, Llnebacks, and Holstelns. In center Is
home farm, where they raise two separate herds. Charles Charles’ wife, Anna Grace. Photo by Andy Andrews
A
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Why were they asked to leave?
“The farm was converted to a
radar-guided missle sight,” said
Moore as he scattered wheat straw
about in the stall bam.
A neighboring farm, about a
mile away from the original Dela
ware County residence, was used
for the actual rockets. The site was
completed in 1956. But it was nev
er used. Why?
The military installation “was
obsolete right after they had it
built,” Moore said, shrugging.
What’s left now is single homes,
an array of condominiums, an
elementary school, and fast-food
restaurants.
“It doesn’t look anything at all
like it was long ago," said Moore.
Back in the 19505, the Moores
were selling raw milk from the
Chester location. In 1985, believ
ing perhaps that life was indeed a
circle, they saw a potential market,
erected a farm sign, and tried to sell
to Cochranville in 1960.
(Turn to Paso A 25)
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her classic tractor collection.'Here she looks at a'Ford Gol-
jrmwasconv'. -gu. Jssle sight,”
said Moore as he scattered wheat straw about In the stall
barn.
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