Dairy Knowledge, Eye For Cattle Marketing At Cornerstone Of Farm’s Success
(Continued from Pago At;
expected, the quiet farmer’s
daughter took a big gamble. She
left her parents, Alfred and Mary
Sparling, her siblings and the fami
ly farm, Maple Flat in Troy, and
moved to be near Dale.
Before they began farming
together, she and Dale tried travel
ing the show circuit. But the perpe
tual road trips began to wear on
Deanna. “We can go out here and
work side by side, but five days in
the truck and one of us would have
to go stay somewhere else,” Dale
said with a smile.
The couple later worked
together at a cattle flushing facility
in nearby Frederick, Md. Before
long, their thoughts turned to “the
M word” and that’s how Deanna
ended up in a Roy Rogers restaur
ant one May morning, eating
breakfast with the man she’d
pledged her love—and the rest of
her life to —just minutes before.
The celebration was short-lived
—“we came home and filled silo,”
Dale said with a chuckle but a
weekend honeymoon trip to Atlan
tic City was worth the wait.
Now a 26-year-old married
lady, Deanna has committed her
self to her husband and her cows.
She and Dale milk 62 registered
and grade cows at Spungold Hols
teins outside Gettysburg. They
have a 21,385 rolling herd average
with 740 fat, 687 protein, and
193,000 somatic cell. The herd
includes one renegade Jersey who
refused to adjust to the tiestalls at
her owner’s farm.
The couple rents their facilities
from his parents, Herman and Bar
bara. Herman Bendig formerly
a partner with Bill Powtl in Uni
com Associates of Taneytown,
Md. moved his family to the
86-acre farm next to Route IS
when his partnership with Powel
was amicably dissolved.
SpungoM Holstelns In Gettysburg. She Is the third genera*
tion of farm wives In her family. Deanna and her husband,
Dale, met while showing cows when she was Just a
teenager.
Herman Bendig will breed
cows, fix equipment, and do other
jobs necessary to keep things
going, but all the decisions regard
ing the herd are left to Dale and
Deanna. “If we’re going to make a
mistake, we may as well do it on
our own,” Dale said.
They rent another 60 acres and
make their own hay. Their neigh
bors at Getty Acres handle the com
planting and harvesting. “I.
couldn't afford to invest in the
equipment, not for what they
charge me,” Dale said.
“They’re great. They’ve helped
us from day one,” Deanna agreed.
The couple has made most of the
dairy-related improvements on the
property. Obtaining financing
wasn’t easy. “Both of us grew up
with cows all our lives, but we
didn’t have a track record,” Dale
said. Typical agricultural lenders
were less than accommodating, he
said. A local bank guaranteed their
loan without question, however.
Their first step was the flat par.-
lor and 56 freestalls with mattres
ses for the milking string. Last fall,
a trench —lB feet by 120 feet with
an 8-foot pit was added for sil
age. An additional pit—l 2 feet by
20 feet and four feet deep was
added to hold the brewer’s grain
that is a key ingredient in their total
mixed ration. The Bendigs hope to
add a manure pit this fall—a cost
share project with the local Farm
Service Agency office.
They pay just as much attention
to how they milk their cows. The
Bendigs adhere as closely as possi
ble tb their 5:30 a.m.-5;30 p.m.
milking schedule.
On a recent evening, a cool
breeze blew through the parlor and
country music played in the back
ground as the cows eased calmly in
and out of the headlocks. All of the
cows at Spungold are named
because “that w' ' I can remember
them,” Dale said.
Milkers are dipped into a bucket
of bleach water as they come off
one cow before they’re put on the
next one. The extra care is an effort
to keep bacteria counts low. Soma
tic cell reached an all-time low of
95,000 in April, Dale said.
Deanna and a friend started their
regular summer clipping of the
milking string in early May.
“Some people think that’s foolish,
but for us it makes more milk,” she
explained.
She’s usually found in the bam
for both daily shifts. Dimpled with
a gentle manner and disarming
smile, it’s easy to see why the cows
move so quietly when Deanna’s in
the parlor. She is ably assisted by
part-time farmhand and neighbor
John Eyler, who stops in after
school. Her father-in-law also
helps in the bam.
Dale milks too, but continues to
hire out as a herdsman for other
people’s show strings. He attended
some spring shows this year and
expects to work some sales this
summer, helping Norman Hill of
NH Cattle Co., among others.
“What would be most people’s
spare time is when 1 work on a
show or a sale,” Dale said.
The schedule has some benefit
for Deanna, because “if I have to
milk 100 often, I dry off cows.” he
said.
The milk cows are fed a round
bale of hay every day, along with
free choice timothy. The TMR fed
before and after milking is an
Sheba la flanked by her ownera, Deanna and Dale Bendlg of Spungold Holstelns
outside Gettysburg. The young couple rent the property from his parents.
Deanna Bendlg takes a momant to check the heifers at Spungold Holstelns outside
Gettysburg. She and her husband, Dale, usually have about 15 bred-heltars on hand.
Tho registered cows are used for breeding and the grade cows to carry the embryo
transfers.
LdWcaWr Fanning, Sitthia/, JOrife 22,' 1996-A3I
eight-pound ration mix of alfalfa
haylagc, corn silage, chopped
alfalfa, cottonseed, and brewer’s
grain. Dale is a big proponent of
the brewer’s grain, which is
brought to the farm from Balti
more, Md. It takes the cows a short
lime to adjust to the taste, he said.
“But once a cow’s used to it, if you
run out and don’t have it to put in
the mix, they want to know where
it’s at,” he said.
In addition to their milk herd,
the Bendigs average about 10 dry
cows, 13 bred heifers, 20 or so
heifers between six months and a
year, and five or six heifer calves.
They have five bulls of varying
ages.
Expanding their herd is not in
their plans. “We don’t want to milk
any more cows. I don’t want to be a
mass producer of milk,’ Dale said.
That’s where the marketing
comes in. “I like to sell,” Dale
admitted. “And I sell ’em quicker
than Deanna would.” The Bendigs
have a number of award winning
cows in their string. They’ve exhi
bited cattle at the World Dairy
Expo in Madison, Wis. In fact,
they don’t breed cows to calve dur
ing that time just so they can make
the annual trip and make the work
at home easier on whoever fills in.
Each has shown cattle in a num
ber of states. Last year, they had
the reserve grand champion and
reserve junior champion at the
South Mountain Fair. Their All-
Pennsylvania junior yearling,
Laveme. was first in her class this
year at the state Spring Show.
The Bendigs have sold their
gcnelically-correct offspring to
farms around the country through
contacts Dale made when he was
Tilting and trucking cattle. “We
have show cows and index cows
and they’re bred to stay in those
categories,” Dale explained.
Their prized cow at the moment,
Woodside Manor SW Kathy-ET,
spends her nights in a box stall
because that’s what she seems to
prefer. With two records over
30.000 pounds and a projection of
34.000 pounds this year, Kathy
certainly has the production to
warrant special treatment
But she’s also sired three bull
calves that the Bendigs have sold
to breeding cooperatives for quite
a nice price. In addition, Kathy has
four daughters who’ve all proven
themselves worthy of their great
genes. After she makes her record
this fall, Kathy will be flushed in
hopes of more lucrative offspring.
Flushing and the resulting
embryo transplant are key in order
for the Bendigs to increase their
income. Dale said. Improving
upon the quality of stock they sell
is as important as boosting the
quantity of heifers that leave Spun
gold, he said.
“It’s tough out there and you’ve
got to be a manager,” he said. He
also worries a lot about the demise
of the small farm “because as
everyone gets larger, it will make it
harder for our herd to compete.”