Top In State
(Continued from Pago B 2)
product he wants, he hits the road
with his feed truck and picks up the
product Frequent trips are made to
Geneva, N.Y. and Clarkstown, Pa.
for the ingredients that make up his
ration. He also buys some ingre
dients locally and grows 100 acres
of com and many acres of mostly
grass hay on their 4SO tillable
acres. The remaining land is used
as pasture.
“I buy almost where the feed
mills buy. All you have to do is
show up with a truck and a good
check and they’re ready to sell it to
you for the same money,” Van
Blarcom said.
To store the commodities, he
put in extra feed bins and con
verted part of the top of the bam to
dump bins.
“I can take trailer loads of four
different ingredients at a time.” he
said. “I don’t always get trailer
loads. You just get too much
inventory for this many cows.”
The soybean meal, shelled com,
and roasted beans are dispensed
Wall Street would call
him a “consultant.”
He knows Just about
everything there is to
know about tractors
and combines.
How to use them.
Finance them.
Service them.
Call Mm your Massoy
Ferguson ® dealer.
MASSEY FERGUSON
Wass#y Fafguson* is a wholly ownad subsidiary ot
AGCO Corporation Oululh GA
Manufacturer a rated
C.J. WONSIDLER LEBANON VALLEY MILLER S.G. LEWIS
1975 TrumbeoertvlHe FW. IMPLEMENT CO. EQUIPMENT CO. AND SON
Quakertown. PA 18881 TOO 6. Unden St. Stauffer Road West Grove, PA 10390
(215) 536>193S Rlghtand, PA 17087 BecMefevllle. PA 18605 /SlOi 859-9440
(717) 866-7518 (610) 545-2911 ' 880-2214
Routes 308 AlOO
New Tripoli. PA 18066
(810)787-7811
ECKROTHBROS.
FARM EQUIPMENT
RD«2.80x24A
New Ringgold. PA 17960
(717) *43-2131 -
6 FHoKiVid# Rd.
Bangor, PA 18013
(610) 88*4*22
307 Edgar Am. 400 North Antrim Way
Bloomatwrg. PA 17*15 Greencasße, PA 17825
(717)734*217 (717)897-2178
with the help of timed augers. All
other ingredients are run across the
scales.
The setup was mostly Van Blar
com’s design. However, he did
look at some other setups and
worked closely with his nutrition
ist, Glen Kinsman.
“We used to do three mixes,”
said Van Blarcom. “A low mix,
high mix, and a middle mix. Then
we went to just one mix and
topdressed, and now we’re down
to just one mix with no topdress. If
I get some poor quality forage, I
may go back to topdressing, but
right now we’re feeding better for
age, so I don’t need that much
grain.
’The way to make money in the
dairy industry is good forage.
They’ve been saying that for years,
but it’s still true. We make money
when we have our best forages,
high quality haylage, and good
com silage.”
The Van Blarcoms do grow
some alfalfa, but are finding more
and more that they can get the
same milk production with good
grass hay.
“We grow some alfalfa, but I’m
M. WEAVER
&SON
N. Grolfdale Pd.
Leoia, PA 17540
(717) 858-2321
MEYERS
IMPLEMENTS, INC.
PEOPLE’S SALES
& SERVICE
Oakland Mis, PA 17078
(717) 483-2735
SCHREFFLER
EQUIPMENT
Pitman. PA 1796-f
(717) 648-112*
realizing that with the dollars you
have to work with, you can’t do it
all. We lose it too quickly.” He
said. “I plant alfalfa in the fields we
can keep alfalfa on and the others I
leave in grass. My dad was doing
that when 1 started, and it took me
almost 15 years to get back to
doing a lot of the same things that
he had learned.”
Van Blarcom is also getting
back into pasturing the animals
more, especially the dry cows and
heifers.
”1 rotate the pastures, but not
intensively. I break it down into
4-5 acre chunks,” said Van Blar
com. ‘The milking cows have
TMR in front of them all the time
they’re in the bam and hay in front
of them when they’re outside. All
the dry cows and heifers that are
old enough are rotationally
grazed.”
The decision to switch to three
times a day milking came in the
fall of 1989, again, as a way to
increase revenue.
'The price of milk was up quite
a bit and 10 percent increase in
milk production was going to
make quite a difference,” he said.
TEST
DRIVE
ONE
TODAY!
MASSEY FERGUSON
Milking times are 6 a.m., 1:30
p.m., and 9:30 p.m. Van Blarcom
and his wife typically take the
morning and afternoon milkings
while two hired hands trade off
with the late milking.
‘Three times a day is all right if
you don’t have to do it yourself,”
said Van Blarcom. “I wouldn’t do
it very many days if somebody
called me up at 9 o’clock at night
and said, ’Oh, I can’t make It’ a
couple of days like that and I’m
back on twice a day.”
Three milkings par day seems to
the afternoon milking. The family milks three times a day
and boasts a herd average of 29,490 pounds of milk, 940
pounds of fat, and 909 pounds of protein.
STEEL BALE BOXES
3 Sizes Available - 16’, 18’, 20’ with or without running gear
• Also: will fit sides onto your flat wagon
products’. Double Rake Hitch
Farm Gates Made To Your Specifications
bT gap hill farm wagons
5549 Lincoln Hwy. - Gap, PA 17527 717-442-9489
Call Bet. 8:30 & 9:00 A.M.
iincMtor Farming, Saturday, Juna 10,1995-B3
work out well for the family.
“We have to ship a lot of milk all
the time to pay our bills. We’ve got
a lot of acreage. We’ve over
invested in real estate and we’re
farming (ground) that we don’t
have a choice about.”
He realizes, however, that their
setup is not for everyone.
“If you’re going to go down
there and milk them three times a
day, you might as well make sure
it’s worthwhile putting the milkers
on them,” he said. “If you’re going
(Turn to Pago B 4)