BiO-Uncutor Farming, Saturday, June 17, 191
<% ** a
i Jli
Half Pints Invade Dairy Farm
KAREN BUTLER
Maryland Correspondent
MIDDLETOWN, Md. Farm
tours, hayrides, ice cream making,
and a picnic made a day of fun for
a group of 60 kindergartners from
Spring Ridge Elementary recent
ly. The group visited the Middle
town farm of Randy and Karen
Sowers and family at the culmina
tion of a school unit on farming
and farm animals.
Randy and Karen Sowers have
two children, Abigail, 18, and
Ben, 13. Abby is the Frederick
County Dairy Princess. The Sow
ers farm approximately 900 acres
in total. The original farm is in Ag
land preservation, and the addi
tional acreage they own, which
runs up the side of South Moun
tain, is under a conservation ease
ment for Battlefield conservation,
for the Battle of South Mountain.
They plant 350 acres of com, ISO
of beans, 100 of a small grain, and
about ISO of alfalfa and grass hay.
Two hundred ten acres are devot
ed to pasture. They milk 160-170
head, raise 200 heifers and about
SO Holstein bull calves, and have a
70 head Hereford cross beef herd.
In addition, 109,000 layers are
part of the operation, and a few
pigs.
The diversity of the fanning
.nOv .ers family, Abby, Karen,. , and Ben, were hono
as Master Farmers by Pennsylvania Farmer magazine.
A shady spot for lunch. Ths front lawn of ths farmhouse was turned Into a picnic
grounds for the hungry youngsters.
ids *
operation offered a good represen
tation of Maryland agriculture to
the children, whether they realized
it or notl As far as they were con
cerned, it just made for a whole lot
of fun. Accompanying the chil
dren around the farm and livening
things up in general was Heidi, a
mischievous goat belonging to
Ben Sowers:
Daughter Abby. the county
Dairy Princess, graduates this
week, and plans on attending
Frederick Community College as
a business major. She has been ac
tive in 4-H up until her senior
year, and is also involved with the
Big Brother/Big Sister program, is
a volunteer at the Cancer Society,
a member of a vocal ensemble at
school, a third grade Sunday
School teacher at United Church
of Christ, Middletown, and likes
to line dance once a week. Her
chores on the farm include milk
ing at 1 in the morning on week
ends, and on weekdays helping
with the S a.m. milking, and feed
ing calves.
In addition to opening their
farm to the school children of
Frederick County in an effort to
promote a better understanding of
agriculture, the Sowers were hon
ored with the Master Farmer
award, given by Pennsylvania
Farmer magazine in January 1995.
Farmers from New Jersey, Mary
land, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and
Virginia were eligible for the pres
tigious award. They were also vot
ed Outstanding Young Farmers in
1987 in a statewide honor given
by the U.S. Chamber of Com
merce.
“I’d like the opportunity to say
how fantastic, thoroughly fantas
tic. the Sowers have been. They
have just been great I can’t say
enough about how wonderful this
has been for the children,” raved
Ann Miller, Team Leader at the
school.
She said, “This has reaffirmed
that fanning people are a pan of
the county. I have children living
in 'A million dollar homes and
children from housing projects in
the inner city. This has been a
wonderful experience for them.”
Miller said that she explains to the
children that everyone who lives
on the farm is a farmer, that the
whole family is involved.
Head after tiny head peeking
out of a neat row of calf hutches
brought shrieks of delight from
the children. Bottle feeding the ba
bies at “calf kindergarten” was a
thrill for some of the more adven
turous youngsters. A Brown Swiss
had just had twins the day before
nuary
or*txe
relate to. The sight of head after tiny head peeking out from
the neat row of hutches delighted the group.
His first hayride. When asked what he thought of the wa
gon ride, this youngster exclaimed, “Fun!”
the tour, and one of the calves was
available to pet
The group was led through the
holding area into the double six
parlor, where, later in the day they
would return to see the herd being
milked. They learned that no mat
ter how tempting it may be to try
to climb a shiny bulk tank, it’s al
most impossible to scale the slip
pery sides.
Everyone, chaperons included,
stood in awe of the big equipment
when they came to it. But as soon
as Randy Sowers made the sug
gestion, there was a mad scramble
to “drive” the haybine, the com
bine, and the forage harvester.
Washing with hot water keeps
the Sowers’ equipment sparkling
clean. The forage harvester, one
year old, cut 900 loads last year,
yet it shone like brand new. Super
vised climbing on the equipment
provided an exciting opportunity
for hands-on learning about where
food comes from.
“Is this what you make ice
cream with?” asked an innocent
voice, the child scooping up a
handful of com. “Well, in a way it
is,” chuckled Mr. Sowers. “The
cow eats that, and gives the milk,
and we use that mUk to make ice
cream,” he explained to the fascin
Learning how tho oggs art packed fascinate* the chil
dren.
atea group.
“Do cows really sleep lying
down?” The questions continued
as the tour passed the freestall
bam. “What happens if Heidi
jumps in (the manure pit)?” “How
many chickens lay all those
eggs?” “Can I take this home and
plant it? Will it grow?”
And, finally, the question -
everyone had been waiting for...
“Have you kids ever been on a
hayride?” The excitement of the
hayride was compounded by the
fact that by this time. Frederick
County Dairy Princess Abby Sow
ers had come home from gradua
tion rehearsal, and joined the chil
dren. Abby joined one of the wa
gons as they paraded through the
farm fields, leading the children in
a chorus of every farm song they
could think of.
As the wagons slowed to a halt
at the crest of a sun-drenched hill,
with the Sowers’ farm nestled fat
below, and a “real Princess” in
their midst perched on a bale ol
bright straw, the children could
hardly have wished for any bettei
field trip. Then the wagons once
more rocked into motion, carrying
their precious load down for the
promise of a picnic and some
home-frozen ice cream.