A32-Lanaster' Parking, -Salurcta^, 1 August H?' l§9r’”t‘' l " F 1
Multiple Honors Go To York County Berkshire Breeders
(Continued from Page A 1)
of the state and was out of the hog
business for a period of time, Greg
and Beth have remained f?ithful to
a minority breed tint is a fast-ris
ing star in the pork export busi
ness.
For the past four years, their en
thusiasm for Berks and their de
sire to stay updated with the breed
industry has taken the Innersts and
their daughters Lane, 11, and Jes
sica, 9, to the Berkshire breed’s
national type conference in Du
buque. lowa, held : n early July.
Here, in the heart of the nation’s
hog belt, top breeders gather from
across the nation for educational
seminars, a show and a sale.
But it was the first time in 16
years that the Innersts participated
as exhibitors in the type confer
ence’s national show and sale.
And, though they traveled the
farthest of the more than two doz
en families showing at the type
conference, the long-distance haul
of their four entries paid off in a
big way.
One of their homebreds, a Jan
uary-born, 305-pounder, was
named the champion boar overall
of the show of 60-plus head. A
long and solid-muscled youngster,
the boar was described by judge
A 1 Christian, lowa State Univer
sity, as “complete.” In addition to
his winning type, the champion
registered a backfat measure of
.87 and a WDA, or weight per day
of age, of 1.61.
At the sale which followed, the
Innersts’ grand champion boar,
sold for $2900 to Octagon Farms,
Lacrosse, Wisconsin.
“He showed himself,” claims
Greg Innerst, recalling how the
boar entered die ring with his head
held proudly erect and paraded
around the ring for the official.
“He was bred on the basis of what
I thought would work the best; we
no longer have the boar that sired
him so there won’t be another one
just like him.”
“The pieces just fit together.”
grins Beth Innerst of the national
win.
Also in the Innersts’ show pens
was a second homebred boar, one
which had gone through the Penn
State’s meat evaluation testing
program. That entry was chosen
the champion tested boar and sold
for $9OO to Alllied Group Interna
Pa. Jr. Holstein Offers
Opportunity To Own Calf
STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) The
Pennsylvania Junior Holstein Association has
been extremely busy. As in past years the orga
nization is in need of funds. Our large fund
raiser for this year is the calf raffle.
The club is raffling offPHA Mandel Sharp-
ET. All local Junior Holstein members have
access to the tickets and will continue their
sales until the drawing date which is Sept. 25.
Please help out the Junior Association by -
making a donation of $S for three tickets or $2
each.
Note to Junior Holstein members: Awards
are being given to the top sellers of the calf
raffle tickets: Sell 100-249 tickets and receive
PA Holstein Sweatshirt; Sell 250-499 tickets
and receive PA Holstein Windbreaker; Sell
over 500 tickets and receive both items from
above; Sell the most over 500 tickets and
receive $lOO.
The calf's Pedigree is: PHA Mandel Sharp-
ET.
Both: 9/26/95.
Sire; Lutz-Meadows E Mandel-ET.
Dam: Tidy-Brook B-Star Suzy-ET VG-85
2-01 365 d 24,840 3.5% 875 3.3% 809 CTPI
+l,BBB +43F +69P.
Grandam: Tidy-Brook Sally Ned Boy
VG-85 GMD DOM 3-10 365 d 41.455 3.3%
1,379 3.3% 1,349.
tional, a hog-production operation
which exports high-quality pork to
Japan.
Innersts’ Berkshires also exhib
ited the third place market hog and
took a fourth in the open gilt
show. During the breed associa
tion’s business meeting, Greg was
elected to a three-year tom on the
national board of directors. Lane
and Jessica were both finalists in
the junior showmanship competi
tion, with Lane ultimately selected
one of two top winners in the
junior age group.
Awards also went to fellow
York County Berkshire breeder
Arlie Combower of New Free
dom, whose entries the Innersts
hauled with theirs. Combower had
champion purebred market hog
and reserve champion crossbred
on foot
Then, just days after their suc
cess at the Berkshire conference,
the Innersts were informed that a
littermate to their national tested
champion had been chosen for
“hog college.”
“Hog college” is a national hon
or recognized at the national bar
row show, held annually in Aus
tin, Minnesota. Numerous land
grant universities, including Penn
State, conduct extensive evalua
tion testing programs. Each hog
breed association selects best of
its breed, based on nominations
submitted via videotapes and test
program statistics, to represent it
at the national show. These “All-
American” boars and gilts are ex
hibited in a lineup known as
“hog college row” and are then
paraded and sold during the na
tional barrow show.
This year’s national barrow
show is the 50th, so the Innersts
are especially thrilled that one of
their homebreds will be represent
ing the American Berkshire Asso
ciation during the golden anniver
sary event It runs concurrent with
the York Fair, where the Innersts,
including Lane and Jessica, plan
to exhibit an extensive show string
of open and youth class entries.
Greg and Beth maintain a herd
of 12 to IS breeding sows at their
rural Red Lion farm, all purebred
Berkshires except for one pure
bred Hampshire and a Hamp
cross.
“We had to do something so the
girls don’t have to compete
m !<
ALL dairy farmers invited ...
!s ® a
JK Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program Board
American Dairy Association & Dairy Council Mid East
k.
Lane, left, and Jessica Innerst were chosen finalists In the Junior showmanship at
the American Berkshire Association’s summer-type conference exhibition. Lane was
one of the two winners in the Junior age group.
against each other at all the
shows.” explains Greg of their in
clusion of Hampshires in the
breeding herd.
“We are a minority breed,” says
Greg of the family’s choice of
pigs. “In the 1940 s and ’SOs, Berk
shires were much more abundant
But the breed didn’t change as fast
as the industry did. ”
In his position as a national dir
ector, Greg Innerst will help pro
mote the modem Berkshire breed
and its growing popularity among
pork exporters. The American
Berkshire Association, headquar
tered at West Lafayette, Indiana,
is promoting the meat quality of
the breed with a program called
Berkshire Gold. According to the
Innersts, Berkshire Gold is mak
ing impressive inroads into the
growing Japanese consumer mar
ket for high-quality pork.
“Berkshires test first or tied for
first in every test category for
meat quality,” Greg asserts.
“Theirs is the only carcass show
where 70 percent of the score is on
eating quality, in categories like
tenderness, firmness, Ph level of
the meat, leanness, cooking
shrinkage and color.”
In fact, he adds, competitors in
Berkshire carcass classes have to
wait for some time for results, be
cause of the extensive testing that
is done at lowa State University.
Free Informational Breakfast
Wed., August 14 • 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.
Special Events Building • 1996 Ag Progress Days, Rock Springs, Pa.
Please call toll-free at 1-800-292-MILK by Wednesday, August 7 to make your resen’ations!
Join Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program Board and the American Dairy
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Citing livestock show history,
Innerst notes that Berkshires were
named the champion carload in,
hog competition at the famed Chi
cago International Exposition
more than any other breed. In fact,
during the early 19505, a well
known Berkshire champion boar
and its owner were featured on the
front of Whcatics Breakfast of
Champions cereal boxes.
“I’d really like to find one of
those boxes,” says Greg wishfully
WSV/ ■ ,
- y >g . teth Innerst, was
named the champion boar at the American Berkshire Asso
ciation's summer type conference and sold for $2,000 in the
sale which followed.
of the scarce item of breed history.
While hogs may no longer be
pictured on cereal boxes, they are
now the focus of photography and
videotaping. Beth does the video
taping of their boars and gilts for
competitive and merchandising
efforts to promote the Innerst
Berkshire bloodlines. She is also
secretary of the Pennsylvania
Berkshire Association and both
play active roles in numerous
show and hog industry activities.