84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 19, 1995 Attention To Detail Keeps Family Farm Strong KAREN BUTLER Maryland Correspondent UNION BRIDGE, Md.—“ How many of you live within a couple miles of development?” The ques tion was asked of participants at the Pennsylvania Dairy Princess seminar. Says Maryland princess Christ ina Harper, “Every hand went up. Every issue comes- down to, we need to educate the public.” It’s clear that this capable, arti culate young lady will be an enthusiastic for the industry. “It’s traditional to speak to farm groups, but I’d like to do some new things, too. I’d like to address any group that’s interested in hav ing me come speak with them.” It’s easy to see where Christina Harper, Maryland’s new dairy Princess, gets her enthusiastic love of farm life. A visit to Otter dale View farm, the beauty spot near Union Bridge where the recently crowned Princess lives with her family, shows that agri cultural roots run deep for this young lady. Parents Bill and Jean Coshun farm 200 acres that belonged to Bill’s grandfather, Joseph. Bill’s father, also called Bill, worked the farm in turn. The elder Mr. Coshun still helps out when needed. All field work is done by Bill and his wife. Christina helps with the milking, cares for the calves and heifers, and pitches in wherever she is needed on the 50 ■ dai' Shf - edi' her Christina’s chores include calf and heifer care, as well as milking. “Cookie” will participate In the Brown Swiss Futurity at the State fair this year. Says Christina of her cow, “She has an ‘automatic’ takeoff, when she wants If off, she takes It off!” The cow had pneumonia as a calf, which stunted her growht, according to the vet. Though she’s small In size, her conformation Is real correct, says this 4-H dairy Judg ing team member. dairy princess title by relieving her of her chores at certain times. Christina has an older brother, not involved in the farm. The darling of the family is baby Joseph, six months old. Facilities cm the farm include a double four herringbone parlor installed in 1971. Up until that time the farm was beef and chick ens. Bill utilizes a chalkboard mounted on the parlor wall to note which cows need bred, which might be medicated (those cows are also clearly marked with orange paint), and which are dry. There is also a “check” column for the vet. Another management aid in the barn is a large breeding wheel with each cow’s number on it. Pinpointing each and every cow’s status down to the day, whether bred or just freshened, proves invaluable in the breeding program. “It’s nice to get a cow bred by three months,” says Bill, “that way you can stick with a 12 month cycle. The longer she goes, the less money you’re going to get out of the cow.” It is this attention to detail that has helped this family farm stay viable in the face of all the chal lenges confronting smaller opera tions. Coshun and his family look at the bottom line when making management decisions. Any input must justify the money spent on it by returning a profit to the farm. Cows used to be fed in the par lor, but they got in the habit of pushing each other around, and was discontinued. Now they line up at a trough running the better part of the barnyard. A stationary mixer at the base of the 20 by 60 concrete stave silo mixes the TMR, then it is paddled out into the trough. Two 2500-bushel capacity com cribs provide stor age on the farm: one for com, one modified to hole small grains. Manure is pushed off the con crete pad in the barnyard once a day into a 23 by 42 Slurrystore. It Is pumped out twice a year. The majority of the Otterdale View Holsteins are grade, although there are some registered cows in the herd. This, once again, helps keep costs down. The grade cows don’t require a lot of money to be tied up in pedigrees, and since the farm is not in the busi ness of marketing cows, this adds to the bottom line. Christina has three Brown Swiss cows of her own in the milking string, and also owns one Swiss heifer. One of her cows, Cookie, will participate in the MD Brown Swiss Futurity at the State fair. The herd is not on test Bill esti mates herd average to be around 18,000 pounds. “We don’t have the highest production, we’re not pushing for it” He adds, “And we don’t have any DHIA records to meet” Bill and Jaan Coshun, Christina, and baby Joseph enjoy the shade this porch pro vides from the hot summer sun. The family built their log home on the farm about four years Cows used to be fed In tho parlor, around, and not wanting to exit, so that prac , was discontinued. Now they line up at a trough running the better part of the barnyard. A stationary mixer at the base of the 20x60 concrete stave silo mixes the TMR, then It Is paddled out into the trough. fIOMESTEADfpTES Adds Christina, “They don’t do as well when we push them.” Two people can milk the herd in one hour and forty-five minutes. A chlorohexidine teat dip is used pre and post milking. Starting last summer, the cows have been kept inside under fans during the heat of the day, and turned out at night when temperatures drop. Bill says it also gives them a chance to get off the concrete. Christina cites the “...good wearability of feet and legs on concrete.” as one advan tage she sees in the Brown Swiss. “We pick our com here.” says Bill. That way they save the cost of having someone come and combine it. “It’s all a tradeoff, because we can’t pick too many acres of com. We’re a small farm, we only have access to ourselves. One of the things that makes a small farm work and able to com pete with bigger farms is that we can handle some things more effi ciently." Sixty-five acres are planted in com. Fifty-one acres of soybeans are grown. A portable roaster is brought in from Pennsylvania, and the soybeans are roasted before being stored in a converted 2500 bushel capacity comcrib. Yields average SO bushels per acres. Bill is working with a nutritionist from Glade Valley Feed and Supply who helps balance the ration and tests forages. About 35 acres of hay are grown. Storage facilities favor square bales, although some hay is made in big round bales, and some also goes for haylage. Another facet of the farm is the 28 acres of choose-and-cut Christ mas trees planted in what was once meadow. For only $l5, the public can experience the beauty of the farm at Christmas time as they come cut their own trees. Otterdale View is also the largest producer of Christmas wreaths in Carroll County, selling wholesale as well as direct marketing from the farm. “I would like to see dairy far mers setting an example and drinking their milk, especially in public. Little things like that help,” says the resident dairy princess. She offers this insight into her role, “A lot of the controversial issues that fanners have to deal with now all come down to con sumers and the public being une ducated about the dairy industry, they don’t understand it. I think that it’s my job as dairy princess to educate. We can all try to educate people, especially on environmen tal issues. We want people to understand that we’re stewards of the land.”
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