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Vol. 41 NO. 7
Relive The Experience Of Cutting Your Own Tree At Christmastime
During the Christmas season, the Potts family—Lynn; Wesley, 10; Devin, 8; Jenna,
21 months; Doug; and the Meek labrador Sarge was busy cutting trees, making
wreaths and ornaments, arid prewiring the 100-y ear-old restored barn for the many
visitors on weekdays and on the busy weekends.
The Sinan Herd Wins Top State DHIA Management Award
RANDY WELLS
Indiana Co. Corrcapondenl
PLUMVILLE (Indiana Co.)
Milos Sinan has a theory about
why the number of family farms in
America is decreasing.
Some farmers, he said, have not
made enough improvements and
have not kept up with technologi
cal advances to keep their farms
competitive and earning enough
money to support succeeding gen
erations.
Modernization is an on-going
process at the Milos and Sandy
Sinan farm near Plumville in
First Calves Produced From
Predetermined Sex Technique
FORT COLLINS, Co.—A
research team led by Colorado
State University has devised an
artificial-insemination technique
to produce the first calves of pre
determined sex using sexed
semen—a breakthrough that could
be worth millions of dollars to the
dairy and beef cattle industries.
This research project can be
broken down into three key com
ponents. First, researchers from
the U.S. Department of Agricul
ture developed methods to sort
semen by sex. Second. Colorado
Advertising/News Deadlines
For Holiday, Farm Show Issues
The New Year holiday and the annual Farm Show issue
are fast approaching. This means many of the advertising
and news deadlines for Lancaster Farming will need to be
early to accommodate the publication of the December 30,
600 Par Copy
South Mahoning Township, Indi
ana County. A new heifer bam
and manure storage system were
added a few years ago.
And now dump trucks, front
end loaders and construction
crews from two companies are
hustling in a taw, winter wind to
complete two new buildings.
But all the activity has not dis
tracted the Sinan family from its
number-one goal; To efficiently
produce some of the state’s best
milk.
The Pennsylvania Dairy Herd
Improvement Association this
State researchers and Atlantic
Breeders Cooperative of Lancas
ter, were able to develop tech
niques to produce calves with only
a fraction of the 20 million sperm
normally used for a single artifi
cial insemination by depositing
sperm deep into the cow’s uterus.
Third, these techniques were com
bined to produce a practical
method of predetermining the sex
of cattle.
The semen used in this study
was first separated into X f female)
(Turn to Peso Xi 2,
[Turn to
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, DaeamboPM, IMS
month announced the Sinans won
the statewide Herd Management
Award for Holstein cows for the
year that ended on Sept. 30. The
Sinan farm garnered the honor by
posting increases in milk produc
tion, protein and butterfat content
and by making improvements in
mastitis control over the previous
In the spirit of Christmas,
we wish you a Joyous
holiday season and a
prosperous new year!
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Stair
MOHRSVILLE (Bedes Co.)
Some people seem perfectly con
tent to stop by a roadside stand or
drive to a big retail store parking
lot and purchase a Christmas tree
for the holidays.
But they might miss the experi
ence of the family get-together at
tree picking time. And they often
miss the inviting smells of freshly
brewed hot chocolate, the scent of
pine needles, and the thrill of the
wagon ride at the edge of the
forest.
They could be missing the fun of
simply seeing how the tree they
select was grown.
All of this adds up to the experi
ence that Doug and Lynn Potts and
family of North Wind Farm in
Mohrsville want to convey to those
who stop by at their “choose and
cut’’ farm deep in the hill country
near Mohrsville.
During the Christmas season,
the Potts family Doug and Lynn
with children Wesley, 10, Devin,
8, and Jenna, 21 months was
busy cutting trees, making wreaths
and ornaments, and preparing the
100-year-old restored bam for the
many visitors on weekdays and on
year. Other criteria included the
herd’s reproductive management,
the cows’ average age to first calv
ing, sustained milk production and
other factors.
The Sinan name frequently ris
es to the top of DHIA charts. In
addition to winning many Indiana
County DHIA awards, their cows
—The Lancaster Farming staff.
Four Seetlonr
the busy weekends.
The philosophy of (he 20-acre
North Wind Farm is simple: allow
people to experience what Christ
mas is and how Christmas trees are
grown. Don’t just push them
through a parking lot with a num
ber with no sense of how the trees
got there.
“It’s not a ‘push them in, push
them out’ experience,’’ said Doug
Potts. “We try to talk to every
(Turn to Pag* A2B)
20,000 Acres
Preserved
Ahead Of Goal
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
The Lancaster County Agricul
tural Preserve Board announced
that 20,000 acres of farmland in
Lancaster County have been pre
served for future generations.
Tom Daniels, director of the
program, said, “We recently
surpassed the 20,000-acre goal,
which we had hoped to reach by
the end of the decade, and we’re
hosting a reception on January
12th to celebrate this achieve
(Tum to Pag* A 27)
in recent years have also won top
state honors for Holstein milk pro
duction, and for protein and but
tcrfat production.
Their success is the result of
commitment and long days of
hard work. The Sinans milk three
times each day 4 a.m„ 11:30
(Turn to Pago A 29)
$25.00 Par Year