Livestock Banquet Reveals ‘Gems’ Of Lancaster County
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
MOUNT JOY (Lancaster Co.)
The past year provided more
than just banners or trophies for
several 4-H livestock exhibitors in
Lancaster County.
According to Chet Hughes,
agent and 4-H leader, 1995 was a
rare gem, and early 1996 glowed
bright as well.
It was a ruby of a year, because
several youth grand champion
ships were won at the state Farm
Show in January. And it was a gem,
‘ ‘for Lancaster County 4-H to rep
resent Pennsylvania at the Nation
al Livestock Judging Contest in
Louisville, Kentucky,” said
Hughes to more than 200 4-H sup
porters and friends at the Country
Table Restaurant on Thursday
night.
Hughes thanked those attending
‘‘for the overwhelming support of
those who contributed,” he said, to
not only the county 4-H groups in
general, but to the judging team
fund.
At the banquet, Amy Hoffines
won the coveted 1995 Shepherd of
the Year. Amy, 17. daughter of
Bob and Linda Hoffines, Marietta,
said her family, including sister Jill
and brother Peter and her mom and
dad “provided the foundation for
this award.” She said her partici
pation in 4-H during nine years has
allowed her to meet people and
make a lot of friends.
Amy. a senior at Donegal High
School, said she has been accepted
in a two-year program at Central
Penn Business School in Summer
dale. Also, Amy was honored with
the Jason L. Weaver Memorial
Leadership Award at the banquet
Lisaßciff, 18, daughter of Lloy
d and Laura Reiff, Strasburg, won
the Woolies Club Scholarship hon
or, a $250 award. She plans to use
the scholarship to study account
ing at the Berks campus of Pennn
State.
Lisa, champion livestock team
member, said she hopes to begin a
career that is associated with agri
culture. Also, her long-range
BRATTLEBORO, Vt.—The
Holstein Association’s Gateway
system provides a vital computer
to-computer information link
between the Association and out
side individuals and firms.
By using the Gateway, they can
use their computer to access ace
stry, performance, and genetic
data directly from the Associa
tion’s computer files.
A long-time user of the Gate
way system for obtaining Holstein
information is Jamie Bledsoe,
general manager of Golden
Genes. Inc., in Riverdale, Calif.
He was one of the original pilot
users, noting “from the day it
opened up we were on it”
Bledsoe said he buys bulls from
all ova- the country, and does a
Jprgc volume of export business as
well. The Gateway allows him to
update pedigrees and look for
progeny when determining
whether to buy an animal or not
Gateway users can “hook-up”
to the Association’s computer by
modem to access performance,
genetic and ancestry information
on specific animals. The system
also allows the user to retrieve
performance and genetic informa
tion on the site, dam and offspring
of each animal.
“Wc use it every day,” Bledsoe
said. “We use it to help update
records, and locate cattle we want
Record book winners at the banquet were, front row, from
left, Bobbi Bentzel, Woolies Club, Junior division and Hope
Long, beef club record book, Junior division. Back, from left,
Jessica Stoltzfus, beef club, eenior division and Sara
Strickler, Woolies Club, senior division.
plans, she said, are to be a livestock
judging coach.
Sara Strickler, 17, daughter of
Sam and Dottie Strickler, Quarry
ville, was honored with the Novice
Shepherd Award at the 4-H ban
quet The Solahco High School
junior, in her second year of 4-H,
intends to attend college, perhaps
Delaware Valley, to study animal
science.
The Red Rose 4-H Rookie
Award was presented to 10-year
old Hope Long, daugher of Sam
and Vickie Long, New Provi
dence. The New Providence sth
grader, in the second year of 4-H,
won the grand champion steer at
the Solanco Fair.
Champion record bode, senior
division in the beef club, went to
Jessica Stoltzfiis. Best beef record
bode, junior division, went to
Hope Long.
Champion record bode, senior
Holstein USA
to purchase. From there, we can
transfer information when we’re
marketing heifers or embryos.
Later on, when we have sales or
ship cattle, we can buy the pedi
grees we need. It saves us money
on buying pedigrees we don’t
use.”
Bledsoe also said by using
Gateway he can identify bulls out
of the top cows in the country that
they are interested in using sons
of, and put that information in the
bull’s files.
“For us, because we do a lot of
marketing, it’s a necessity,” he
said. Along with RuAnn Dairy,
Golden Genes merchandises
about 2,000 Holstein males and
females each year, both interna
tionally and domestically. They
also buy about SO bulls a year for
progeny testing.
A one-time enrollment fee of
$25 includes a user manual and
Association staff support for util
izing the system. User fees are
charged on a per-animal, per
screen basis, as well as a
computer/connect cost and a cost
per-minute phone charge.
Mary Coburn, of CharMar-Vu
Catalogs, uses the Gateway to “fill
in the blanks” when she is produc
ing sale catalogs.
“Sometimes we get information
on cattle that is incomplete,” she
said. “We might have a cow’s
division in the Woolies Club, went
to Sara Strickler. Best Woolies
Club record book, junior division,
went to Bobbi Bentzel.
The following 4-H club mem
bers were honored:
BEEF AWARD
County 4-H Boot Roundup
Grand Champion Staar: Caaay High;
Ratarva Champion Staar: Hopo Long;
Champion Showman: Doan Livangood;
Raaarva Champion Showman: Jill Hofllnoa;
Grand Champion Hoifar: Caaay High;
Ratarva Champion Haifar: Jill Holflnat;
Showmanahlp Wlnnara: Data Livangood,
Doan Livangood, John Haaa, Rodney
Garbar.
Pwinsylvanla Farm Show
(19M)
Grand Champion Statr; Caioy High;
Crossbred Clai* Wlnnar: OanlM Bollinger;
Reserve lightweight Angus Steer; Delvln
Kropf; Jr. Beef Showmanship Winner: Hope
Long,
Othar Awarda
B«it Baal Record Book Sonlor; Jawlea
Stottzfui; Bait Boat Raoord Book Junior;
Hop# long; Rad Rota Boat Club Prasidantt
Award; Dale Uvongood; Rod Rota 4-H Roo
kia Award; Hopa Long; Jaion L. Woavar
Memorial Leaderihlp Award; Amy Hofflnet.
Offers Computer Link Service
name and number, but no further
information about the animal. If
we can’t get the performance
information from the owner, we
can go on Gateway, look up the
cow and get her daughters, and fill
in the incomplete information.”
Cobum also noted that some
times late sale entries may need
additional information if pedi
grees have already been ordered
on the rest of the animals.
"The last-minute entries may
not have a current pedigree, so we
can look up the information for the
she said. “Gateway
doesn’t replace pedigrees, but it
provides the information we deed.
Sometimes it’s suprising how
little information comes in about
an animal.”
Apply For Milk Reassessment
HONESDALE (Wayne
Co.) —The United States Depart
ment of Agriculture’s Commodity
Credit Corporation (CCC) has
announced that the “refundable’’
assessment will be 10 cents per
hundredweight for the period Jan.
1 thru April 30, 1996.
This assessment applies to all
milk marketed commercially dur
ing this period.
This price reduction is author
ized by the Agricultural Act of
Honored at the annual Lancaster County 4-H Livestock
Banquet on Thursday night were, front left, Hope Long, Red
Rose 4-H Rookie Award and Lisa Reiff, Woolies Club scho
larship. Back, from left, Sara Strickler, Novice Shepherd
Award and Amy Hofflnes, 1995 Shepherd of the Year.
SHEEP AWARDS
County 4-H Bhaap Roundup
Champion Market Lamb: Llaa Ralff;
Raaarva Champion Market Lamb; Jaaon
StoUzfua; Champion Brad A Owned Market
Lamb; Jaaon StoUzfua; Supreme Champion
Ewa: Jill Hofflnat; Champion Brad A Owned
Ewa: Jaaaica Schmidt; Champion Novice
Showman: Kalya Aden; Champion Show
man; Uaa Ralff; Raaarva Champion Show
man: Travia Donough; Sr. 4-H Fair Laad
Lina: Kathy Mutter; Jr. 4-H Fair Leadline:
Jaaaica Schmidt.
Pannoytvanli Farm Show
(1990)
Grand Champion Market Lamb: Li«a Raid;
Champion Careati Lamb; Jaitica Stolßfut;
She said she has been using the
Gateway system since it first
became available, and was an ear
ly pilot user. As a Macintosh user,
it was important to ensure the
Gateway worked with all compu
ter systems.
Cobum said she also uses the
Gateway to look up information
when designing advertisements
for their farm, Aztec Dairy in
Montezuma. Ga.
A relatively new user to the
Gateway is Terry Speer, data pro
cessing manager at Michigan
DHIA Inc., in Lansing, Mich.
They first used the system about
six months ago, to look up missing
identification data.
“We were very satisfied,” Speer
said. “We were looking for prog
eny, and we could look up the dam
1949, as amended by the Omnibus
Budget Reconcilation Act of
1003 _
Refunds are not automatic, pro
ducers must apply to their local
Consolidated Farm Service Agen
cy (CFSA) office. In Wayne
County, the office is located at
470 Sunrise Avenue, in Hones
dale. Pa. at the Agricultural Ser
vice Center.
Refund applications for the
1995 assessment are due .by
March 13. 1996. Producers need
Rttarva Champion Light-Walght Lamb; Jei
sica Stolttfu*.
Othar Award*
WooliM Club PitiMm Award; Kalth Bol
linger; Belt Wodiet Club Record Book; Bob
bi Bemzel; Beet Wool lei Club Record Book?
Sara Stridden Top “S'Junior Record Books;
Loren Hershey, Allison Hughes, Amy Stick
ler, Tiffany Dean; Top “S* Senior Records
Books: Gerald Boyd, Sara Boyd, Jessica
Schmidt, John Schmidt; Senior Ladles Lead
Line; Jessica Stdtzfus; Junior Ladies Lead
Line: Laura Newcomer; Novice Shepherd
Award; Sara Stridden 1094 Shepherd of the
Year; Jason Stdtzfus; 1995 Shepherd of the
Year: Amy Hotlines; Wodles Club Scholar
ship: Lisa Reifl.
and her daughters.”
The system allowed him to look
up unanswered questions about
animals’ identification. “If we had
a question, we Could look it up
easily using Gateway,” he said.
“Keeping up with identification is
a never-ending battle, and this was
a quick way to look it up. We were
very happy with the results.”
A new Gateway system will be
implemented with the Holstein
Association’s new computer in
mid-year. In addition to being
available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, the system will be
more user-friendly.
For more details about getting
“on-line” with the Holstein Asso
ciation’s computer, call (800)
952-S2OO and talk with a Member
Service Representative.
to contact their cooperative or
milk handler for the total pounds
of milk marketed for 1994 and
1995.
This information must be docu
mented and presented to the Con
solidated Farm Service Agency
office for verification of eligibility
by the producer.
For additional information con
tact the Wayne County Coopera
tive Extension by dialing
253-5970, extension 239.