ASlAancaater - Farming,. Friday, January 10, IM7
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
WAKEFIELD (Lancaster Co.)
The supreme champion dairy
cow at the 1996 Pennsylvania
Farm Show still looks as good as
ever in her work clothes on the
farm of Robert, Joyce, and son
Steve Wagner located east of town.
SV Toptin Lopy VG-89 is just
about dry and due in July, ready for
the fall shows again. While not in
the right stage of lactation to come
back to the 1997 Farm Show, this
tall Jersey with a lot of dairy char
acter, a flat, wide rump and an
excellent “dish-rag” dry udder,
gives promise for a competitive
show season at the All-American
in Harrisburg, the Maryland State
Fair at Timonium, or the World
Dairy Expo at Madison.
“We would have liked to come
back to the Farm Show with Lopy
again this year,” Steve said. “But it
is hard to win with a dry cow. And
the Farm Show is in the middle of
January, so it is also hard to get
cattle ready for this show. But the
supreme champion class does tend
to bring out good cattle even in the
middle of winter.”
At 80-Joy Farm, Lopy with 2y
17,650 m 870 f 658 p, and several
other Jersey cows need to hold
their own with a lot of good look
ing Brown Swiss and several
Guernseys and Holsteins. And the
supreme champion that was also
reserve All American, fits right in
the herd with size, even with the
EX-92 My-T-Fine Pride Brown
Swiss cow that has a top record of
4-9 y 26,085 m 997 f 884 p and her
VG-88, EX-MS daughter 80-Joy
Emory Prim with 3y 20,546 m 898 f
806 p.
Another Brown Swiss show
winner 80-Joy Blend Riffle was
Ist place four year old at the farm
show and has a record of 3y 20,782
1,043 f 797 p.
Steve’s grandfather purchased
the 200-acre farm in 1933. Until 12
years ago the Wagner family had
Registered Guernseys. But they
switched to the more rugged
Brown Swiss, and today the herd
consists of 56 Brown Swiss, 10
Holsteins, and three Jerseys.
The original seed stock for the
Brown Swiss herd came from Mar
ty Delbert’s disperal at Pine Grove
and now only three dairy animals
on the farm are not home bred.
Steve is known for his work as a
fitter for some of the top show
herds in the area. And that’s what
he did for a living until last year
when he came home to help Mom
and Dad with the home herd Sand
wiched in the middle, Steve work
ed for Em Tran, the cattle embryo
facility at Elizabethtown.
“I came back home because the
genetics here are so good it was an
opportunity I couldn’t miss,” Steve
said ’To start with. Mom liked the
Brown Swiss since they are so
hardy and the modem cow is quite
dairy and has increased in produc
tion quite a bit We breed for type
and try to make milk from what we
feed. Type is the big thing especial
ly feet and legs to make them last
We like cows that slay in the herd a
ers-you’ve earned
our support
Lopy Still Looks
long time, so we don't push them in
production as hard as some people.
“Showing doesn’t make you
money, but it gets your name out,
and there is a great demand for
show cattle especially in the Brown
Swiss breed, for foreign exports.
You meet these buyers at the
World Dairy Expo.”
The Wagners grow all their own
feed and purchase only protein to
top dress on the computerized
feeder in the dry lot A TMR mix
distributed in the feed bunks is for
mulated for 70 pounds production
with nutrient needs over this pro
duction calculated into the compu
ter that measures out the individual
cow’s needs.
Free choice hay is given in large
round bales to help develop more
rib capacity. They milk in a double
4 herringbone milking parlor.
To be a good dairyman, Steve
believes you need to be a well
rounded individual. “You must be
versatile in everything.” he said.
“You need to be able to fix machin
ery yourself. And you need to have
a lot of cow knowledge.
“Many people push for produc
tion setting world records. It is
amazing what they can get out erf’
cows. But for us, I could never go
commercial. We try to set up for
breeding type, doing the shows,
and getting our name established
for quality cattle. My goal is to
have the kind of cattle that will fit
the export market to make that
bonus at the end of the year. You
can make money from farming if
you don’t market offspring, but
why just farm?”
The Wagners are not really into
computers for their records and
information from the Internet.
They may get a computer in the
future, but right now they do not
see themselve§ having the time to
play with it.
To select a calf for the show
string, Steve looks for a quality calf
that has the right type. They pull
out their show calves in June and
feed with the show ring in mind.
They want the calves to stay clean
and be trained to lead. A lot of
timothy hay is fed to develop body
capacity. Oats is fed to give a nice
hair coat Feet are trimmed, and the
heifers are tied up but let out for
exercize every day.
“Farming is getting harder and
harder,” Steve said. “Ihe high milk
prices this summer were a nice
break, but they are not going to last
This was nice especially at the
same time the grain prices skyrock
eted. But now that the feed prices
have settled down to a more rea
sonable level things will get more
back to normal.
“I came back to the home farm
because the time was right,” Steve
said. “We have an excellent gene
tic base for a top quality herd. And
I’m looking forward to developing
this herd into the future.”
With Lopy, a Jersey supreme
champion and reserve All Ameri
can. and a bam full of Brown Swiss
that have a type average of 86.1,
you might be tempted to think the
future is now.
Good Even In Work Clothes
Tha Wagners with two of tha many good cows In thalr 80-Joy hard. From Ml, Stava
with SV Toptln Lopy VG-89, tha Jersey that waa auprama champion at tha 1996 Pen
nsylvania Farm Show, and reserve All-American, and Robert and Joyce with My-T-
Fina- Pride, tha Brown Swiss that is classified Excellent 92.
SV Toptln Lopy VG-89,1996 Pennsylvania Farm Show supreme champion and
reserve All-American, with 2y 17,650 m 870 f 658 p.
My-T-Flno Prtdt EX-02, with mconfof 44 ».oB6m9t7fiMp«nd«douflht*r 80-Joy
Emory Prim VQ-U, EX MB. with 3y 20,546 m MM 606^