814-Lanc«ster Fwmlp;, Saturday, Saplwnbar 23, 1995
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
QUARRYVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) Tucked away in the out
skirts of Quarryville is the
800-acre Twin Oaks Farm, where
purebred Angus roam hills scat
tered with woodland, meadows,
and meandering streams.
Just like the cowboys in the
West, Fritz Frey rides a horse to
rope cal ves and corral the 200 head
of cattle. ,
“1 like nature. It’s in my blood. I
was bom into it," Fritz said of the
cattle operation that his dad Fred
and two uncles own. Although the
farm has both dairy and beef oper
ations, Fritz sticks with the catde.
“It’s a challenge to keep up with
the industry and the changes.
When you’re into breeding,
you’ve got to be a leader, a fore
runner. It’s a big game to Figure out
ahead of time what people will
want,” Fritz said of the breeding
program.
Fritz finds it intriquing to watch
how positive traits are passed on
through the generations by select
ing the right bulls.
One of Twin Oak Farm’s best
known bull was the 1980 reserve
national champion bull, whose
semen was sold all over the U.S.
Fritz said that his dad has been
breeding bulls since the 19405.
Fritz was First pictured in the news
paper when he was only two or
three years old with one of the
farm’s bulls. He traveled the show
circuit for years.
“1 didn’t have lime to go on
many vacations, but 1 got all over
the U.S. by showing cattle,” Fritz
said. He had a bit of a claim to fame
when he was pictured showing a
heifer on the 1983 100-Year
Angus Calendar. The picture was
picked up and used by many com
panies as a stock photo.
The farm is with the Certified
Angus Program, which pays a pre
mium for meeting strict standards
regarding color, carcass size, mar
bcling, data, etc.
Most of the Freys’ Angus are
sold to Dakota and Nebraska
markets, consignment sales, and a
few locally for show steers.
The farm is doing more inten
sive grazing than in previous
years. Fritz said, “You got to adjust
management practices to the
limes.”
To raise efficient-type cattle, the
In their backyard, Katrina and Freddy like to feed hay to the cattle. The two own
some cattle and sheep. Although only 5-years-old, Katrina has been able to show
sheep at some shows and Is looking forward to doing more showing of sheep and
eventually cattle.
Frey Family Adds Another Venture
To Their Livestock Repertoire
Angus are raised like Western
cattle in which they are strictly
pastured in the the summer, fed
hay in the winter, and offered salt
and mineral free-choice.
“We Find its important to offer
salt and mineral choice for hair
coats, fleshing, and *o prevent sore
eyes,” Fritz said.
Although at 8-years of age, Fritz
tried to train his first horse for
cattle duty, he found the horse too
hard to handle. For many years, he
used a motorcycle to make the
rounds. But in 1989, he purchased
a horse trained in Kansas for cattle
roundup purposes and continues to
use that horse.
“She’s smart. She knows what
to do, and cattle respect a horse. A
horse can do a lot of things that you
can’t do with a truck,” Fritz said.
“I’ve never been hurt, although
I’ve been banged around a lot,”
Fritz said of maneuvering cows
that are protective of newborn
calves and bulls that are protective
of their territory.
The Freys’ home is surrounded
by pasture where they can keep an
eye on the cattle. Sometimes new
cattle are added to the herd.
“Whenever you put a new one
end, it creates a pecking order.
Sometimes the pecking order is
settled in a few hours and some
times it stretches on for days,”
Frey said.
The Freys’ children, Katrina, 5,
and Freddy, 2, enjoy watching the
cattle push each other down the hill
during snow storms. The two
children own several head of cattle
and sheep.
While Fritz grew up in beef cir
cles, his wife-to-be Nancy grew up
on a sheep farm. Nancy’s parents,
Joan and Bill MacCauley of Atg
len, were raising Suffolks on their
Breezeview Farm. Nancy soon
became well known in sheep show
circuits by showing the Suffolk
breed.
Although both Fritz and Nancy
were active in 4-H, she was from
Chester County and Fritz was from
Lancaster. They met as competi
tors in the Junior Livestock Judg
ing Teams. Fritz’s team won one
year, Nancy’s won the next year.
Nancy was president of her FFA
and the Chester County 4-H, and
Fritz of the Lancaster club.
When they were 17-year-old,
Fritz went to Louisville, Kentucy
to compete on a livestock judging
Well-known in sheep and Angus circles, Fritz and Nancy Frey have added another
venture to their livestock repertoire. The Quarryville couple recently introduced
Frey’s Show Supply, a catalogue supply service for cattle, sheep, swine, and horses.
Katrina and Freddie like riding up and down on the sheep fitting stand that Fritz
designed and a local company manufactures,
team, and Nancy went to Kansas
City with the FFA team.
The separation showed them
how much they missed each other,
and the two began dating.
After Nancy graduated from
nursing school, the two married.
Because they had enjoyed 4-fl,
they both dedicated time to the
program. Nancy is a leader for the
4-H Woolies Club since 1989.
Fritz helps with that and is a board
member of the Pennsylvania
Angus Association
Because the members constant
ly need halters, Fritz became adept
at making the halters, which he
also supplied wholesale to a local
store. When that store went out of
business, Fritz picked up the slack
with more retail business. He also
designed a sheep fitting stand,
which is a jack stand that he calls
“Easy Lift.”
“I saw the need for a better
sheep fitting stand, so I took my
(Turn to Pago B 16)
Fritz sharpens livestock blades and engraves names on
show supplies for exhibitors.
For years, Fritz had been making halters and selling them
to 4-H'er*. Now he hauls the halters and other livestock sup
plies In this trailer to fairs and shows.