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Vol. 40 No. 33
Horticultural Association Tours York, Lancaster Orchards
Richard Haas, Ml, shows off the cherry crop to Bill Klein*
er, regional fruit exteneionegent, during the summer tour of
the State Horticulture Association of Pennsylvania. Haas
and hie son Tom, who operate Chany Hill Orchards, have
one of the biggest cherry operations In the state.
SCC Approves Proposing Rulemaking For Nutrient Management
VERNON ACHENBACH, JR.
Lancaster Fanning Staff •
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) The State Conservation
Commission (SCC) on Thursday
unanimously approved for prop
osed rulemaking a set of regula
tions to cany out the state’s Nutri
ent Management Act.
The action came during the
SCO’s scheduled meeting in the
Rachel Carson State Office Build-
Next Generation Continue ,
Yoder’s Heron Run
Family Farm
GAIL STROCK
Mifflin Co. Correspondent
MCALEVY’S FORT (Hunting
don Co.) Willard “Will” Yoder
of Huntingdon County said he
believes good dairying begins in
the field.
“There’s no substitute for good
haylage. It’s been proven to us
over and over again,” he said.
“You get into poor quality haylage
and try to balance the ration, (then
the cows) seem to drop off some
(on milk production).”
Good quality feed is just one of
several important ingredients that
come together at Heron Run farm
in McAlevy’s Fort, home to Will’s
family his wife Betsy “Bets"
and their four children, Nicole, 7,
Janelle, S, Joshua, 3, and Matchus,
5 months; his parents Willard Sr.
and Lois; his brother Joe and his
wife Lisa.
Willard Sr. retired in 1989,
though still helps with field work,
while brother Joe works full time
and owns 20 cows in a joint ven
ture with Will. Joe and Lisa milk
every other weekend when Will
and Bets take Sunday off.
Additionally, the. farm employs
a full-time worker and one part-
60* Per Copy
w, inain Harrisburg, which serves as
DEK headquarters.
’'The proposed regulations were
created after almost two years of
work by the IS-member Nutrient
Management Advisory Board to
the SCC, and the SCC staff.
Presenting the package to the
SCC were George Robinson,
chairman of the Advisory Board;
William Brubaker, chairman of the
Board’s Manure Management and
time worker.
The farm currently milks 14S
registered Holsteins twice per day,
on a 4:30 a.m./4 p.m. schedule in a
double-six parlor with automatic
take-offs. It takes them an average
of three hours to milk. The cows
are kept in freestalls and spend a
lot of time on slotted concrete.
According to the farm’s end-of
year 1994 report from the Pennsyl
vania Dairy Herd. Improvement
Association (Pa.DHIA), Heron
Run averaged 19,755 pounds of
milk, 755 pounds of butterfat, and
628 pounds of protein, on 183
cows.
In addition to good quality for
ages, good breeding principles,
and starting calves right, are also
key factors at the Yoder farm.
The result has been
longevity both for the cows
and the farm.
Will said he credits his father for
implementing a good breeding
program.
“There’s no question I learned
about farming from my Dad. I give
Dad credit for the quality cows he
originally bred. We had a good
herd to start from,” Will said.
(Turn to Pago A2O)
Uncesler Farming, Saturday, June 24, 1995
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
NEW DANVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) Luscious sweet cherries
matured this week just in time for
members of the Pennsylvania Hor
ticulture Association’s tour of area
orchards.
Richard Haas of Cherry Hill
Orchards said that while tire crop
looks good, his 60 acres of cherries
produced only SO percent of the
hoped-for crop.
According to most other orchard
growers on tour, the cherry crops in
other counties were averaging only
20 percent
Late Blight Diagnosed In Lancaster County
TIMOTHY ELKNER
Penn State
Horticulture Agent
Lancaster County
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
—On Thursday, June IS. die pre
sence of late Might was confirmed
Stormwater Committee; Ron
Meek chairman of the Board’s
Financial Assistance and Admi
nistration Committee; and Mike
Krempasky, executive secretary of
the SCC.
Almost the entire board was pre
sent for the meeting, as were mem
bers of the standing DER Agricul
tural Advisory Board, a standing
board to DER that is to review all
considerations for regulations.
Standing at thalr Heron Run family dairy farm are Willard
and Batay Yodarwlth three of their four children, Joshua, 3.
Janelle, 5, and Marcus, 5 months. Missing from photo Is
Nicole. 7.
Four Sactlona
The smaller crop statewide is
blamed on warm weather in March
followed by cooler weather.
About 100 tour participants
admired Lancaster County’s Cher
ry Hill Orchards and Kauffman’s
Fruit Farm and Market on Tues
day, and on Wednesday, York
County’s Brown’s Orchard and
Farm Market Barton’s Fruit Farm,
Shaw’s Orchard, and Naylor Wine
Cellars, Inc.
“The idea is to see how others
are doing it We are looking for
ideas to take back to our own
orchards,” one participant said of
his purpose for attending.
on a potato plant from a farm in
Lancaster County.
Dr. Seong Kim, a plant patholo
gist with the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Agriculture, identified the
blight as strain USB, which is resis
tant to metalaxyl (Ridomil). This
The work is heralded as a type
example of the “Reg-Neg” (regu
latory negotiation) approach to
creating regulations.
Reg-Neg has been promoted in
recent years as a way to create reg
ulations that not only can work to
achieve the intended goal, but
which are crafted under direct con
sultation of those to be regulated.
The SCC is a Department of
Environmental Resources com-
$25.00 Per Year
Haas explained how he and his
son Tom, who is in partnership
with him, plant and manage the
orchaid. In addition to 60 acres of
cherries, the Haas operation
includes SO acres of apple, SO acres
of peach and nectarines, lOacresof
pears, and one each of apricot and
plum. Vegetables and plots of
pumpkins are also scattered
throughout Vie orchard.
Tour participants were intrigued
that pumpkins woe sowed in
straw, rye, barley and com stubble
after die crops were harvested.
“We grow six to seven varieties
(Turn to Pag* A 24)
strain of late blight will also attack
tomato plants.
Farmers in Lancaster County
will need to be especially vigilant
both in scouting their fields for
symptoms of blight as well as in
(Turn to Pag* AM)
mission created to oversee, sup
port and administer conservation
district programs.
Its nine voting members consist
of the secretary of environmental
resources, the secretary of agricul
ture. four farmers, two members of
the general public, and the dean of
the Penn State College of
Agriculture.
(Turn to Pa go A2B)
T-Shirts
Promote Beef
At Ballpark
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
READING (Berks Co.) In
front of a near-capacity crowd,
Roxanne Kirst, Pennsylvania Cat
tlemen’s Queen, delivered the first
pitch at the start of the Reading
Phillies game against the New
Haven Ravens on Monday
evening.
She also got to keep a ball, auto
graphed by all the R-Phils, a minor
league team of the Philadelphia
Phillies, which they presented to
her.
Roxanne, together with Tammy
Balthaser, representative for the
Pennsylvania Beef Council, hand
ed out about 2,000 T-shirts to
about S,OOO who attended the
game.
The T-shirts were adorned with
logos from the Beef Council, the
Berks Southeast Cattlemen’s
Association, and the Berks Farm
City Counil, in addition to the farm
team logos of the Philadelphia
Phillies.
Balthaser said the promotional
efforts provide a ‘ ‘great opportuni
ty” to promote beef.
The Beef Council also provided
(Turn to Pago A 33)