Zahnbach Farms
(Continued from Page A2l)' be managed for erosion control.
. . The farm is isolated, though the
Sattazahn is 63 and works at the dm of traffic from Rt. 419 filters its
home farm, with Ray. a- „
“My father stated his sons all With all the chilLi out on their
out ui famung. Ray said. When OWIlj last ycar the Sattazahns
we started on. a fellow (with a farm slopped miUdng
commg up for sale) came and & But & had mi]ked
ataedif imy of theboyswere inter- times for 35 years> starting
ested m farming. We (Robert and back when they were farming in
Jane) were the only ones married, Myerstown,
he said. It is perhaps quieter now that
His father helped get them their herd has been reduced and the
started dairying. children are out on their own.
m Myerstown in Their yftungest son Mark, 31,
1954 with 24 cows and Delaval lives on his own and works for
milkers (the kind (hat arc set down A gway. but st m manages to go to
dong side the cow, not the kind his farm to with feed .
that were suspended beneath the and work . F
udder from an adjustable strap Their oldest child is
slung over the cow s back). daughter Rebecca “Becky” Har-
Like many others at the tune, the akel, who is secretary at a com
coule lugged the buckets of milk to pa ny . but who with her husband
, , ... operates a side business of custom-
In 1955 or 1956 he couldn t printing T-shirts. The couple is
recall exactly the electricity in printing T-shirts to sell to members
Myerstown went off for a week 0 f the Pennsylvania State Grange,
and he had to borrow some diffe- which is celebrating its 125th
rent milkers and rig up a generator, annual meeting this year.
That experience led them to In fact, Robert and Jane said that
eventually find a dependable back- a t a Pomona (a county meeting
up electric power system. They involving the 12 subordinate
went through several including Granges in Berks County) meeting
an Army surplus monster j U ne 7 that featured a visit by state
before finding one at the state Grange Master Bill Steel, about
Farm Show. 100 members wore their T-shirts in
After nine years in Myerstown
area, they moved to the current
farm one Bob’s father pur
chased and sold to Robert and
Jane in 1967.
The invested in building a mod
em operation that would provide
the family with a future, as well as
challenges.
They built new facilities. They
had the herringbone parlor and
104-stall freestall bam and a
125-cow mostly registered Hols
tein herd.
For the time, it was much
advanced technology.
The Sattazahns were among the
first to use hutches, after seeing
them at the state Farm Show.
In fact, Robert said he bought
some other major items through
Farm Show exhibits three dif
ferent Allis Chalmers/Deutz Allis
tractors that had been displayed at
the Farm Show, and a generator
capable of running dependably off
of a tractor (PTO) and providing
enough juice to provide the electric
needs for the entire farm and
household, with everything turned
on.
That’s what Robert said they did
when the salesman showed up with
the model to provide a demonstra
tion. They turned on all the electric
to provide a full load test of the
generator. It passed the muster.
The hills in the Host area of
Berks County can get a little steep
compared to relatively flat and
rolling hills of the more central
Lebanon Valley.
Robert said that when they were
first at the farm, while some of
them were working on a com crib,
his father told the others to go work
on a certain field. "When we got to
the hill, we didn’t know what to
do,” Robert said, laughing. They
stopped the tractor and looked at it.
While he and his brothers were
very familiar driving tractor, they
weren’t familiar with significant
slopes that can pose a challenge to
keeping the center of gravity
between the wheels,
The farm really 'is a small
valley the fields and wood
lands are spread out from the farm
house and bam and stream like a
deal of cards held in a hand.
Fields ate contoured and grass
waterways prevent erosion. The
flood plain of the stream is partial
ly pastured, but mostly appears to
a show of support
Their two other sons are
involved in the dairy industry.
The oldest son Nick, 38, worked
for a Jersey herd for 10 years, and
now works for Mill-Joy Dairy
Farm where he is mostly responsi
ble for crops and his wife milks
one time per day.
Another son, George, 36, and
his wife Robin, work for
Lynn Acres.
Both of the dairy herds are about
250 animals, Robert said.
Most of the Sattazahns’ children
have started their own families.
The grandchildren visit A wooden
children’s play structure with seat
swings, overhead rungs, climbing
ladders, and a rope swing is in the
front yard of the old, thick-walled
stone farm house.
The trees behind and around the
house are old and seem perfecdy
mated to the house.
This is the older Berks County
agricultural area. It is a remnant of
the Pennsylvania German era in a
way isolated, thick, green and
lush. Like many other farmers in
the area, Robert speaks Pennsylva
nia German.
Involved in the Grange locally,
at the county level and at the state
level for years, Robert is one of
three members of the Pennsylvania
State Grange Dairy Committee.
He started serving on the commit
tee when Charlie Wisner was state
master. The members serve to col
lect and prepare dairy policy for
the Grange.
He has also served on the state
Good of the Order Committee.
He has served various offices,
such as county master, overseer,
treasurer, etc.
The list is long.
In 1969, Robert and Jane were
the first Pennsylvania State
Grange Young Couple of the Year.
They got to go to Florida for five
days to compete in the national
contest. It was their one and only
trip to Florida.
But through the Grange bus trips
they have seen a good bit of the
United States and some of Canada.
This year they are headed for
Wisconsin.
Robert was a leader for the
Stouchsburg 4-H Community and
then Dairy Club.
He has honorary FFA chapter
Prepares For
and state degrees three ditte
rent chapters presented him with
honorary degrees.
He has served as president of the
Tulpehocken Young Farmers
Association, actually helping to
get it started.
Robert also recently received
his 40-year membership pin from
the Pennsylvania Holstein Associ
ation, served on the board of the
Reading Fair, and president of the
president of the Berks County
Dairy Farmers Association, as
well as a director on the Pa. State
Grange Service Corporation, trea
surer of the Southeast Pennsylva
nia District 4-H dairy show, and on
the consistory of a nearby Trinity
United Church of Christ, as well as
being the current farmer represen
tative on the state board to the
Underground Storage Tank Inde
mnity Fund.
He is also involed with the coun
ty Pomona Consignment Sale
Committee, which is scheduled to
hold its 29th such sale starting 8:30
a.m., August 23 at the Leesport
PFB Supports State Ag Nominations
CAMP HILL (Cumberland
Co.) The Pennsylvania Farm
Bureau (PFB) is urging prompt
Senate -Confirmation of Governor
Ridge’s nominees for Secretary of
Agriculture and the Pennsylvania
Milk Marketing Board (PMMB).
The governor has nominated
Samuel Hayes Jr. of Warriors
Mark, Huntingdon County to the
Agriculture Secretary’s post and
Luke Brubaker of Mt. Joy, Lan
caster County to serve on the
three-member PMMB.
In a recent letter to Sen. Dan
Delp, chairman of the Senate
Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Committee, PFB president Guy
Donaldson said, “Mr. Hayes has a
distinguished career, both as a
legislator and as an advocate for
agriculture.” Hayes retired from
the state House in 1992 after serv
ing 22 years, including 16 years in
leadership positions. “While in the
General Assembly, (Hayes) shep
herded numerous agricultural
legislative initiatives,”
Donaldson said, “and
was instrumental in the
adoption of Pennsylva
nia’s farmland preserva
tion program.”
Hayes was the recipi
ent of PFB’s “Barn
Raiser” award in 1992
in recognition of being a
“tireless advocate for
agriculture” during his
years in the General As
sembly. PFB has pre
sented the award only
seven times in its
46-year history.
“Mr. Hayes has
strong qualifications for
the position of Secretary
of Agriculture,”
Donaldson wrote. “We
are confident of his
ability to lead the De
partment and to chart a
positive course for the
Commonwealth’s num
ber one industry in the
future.”
Luke Brubaker is the
owner and operator of a
450-cow dairy farm in
Lancaster County and is
the manager of an
800-acre dairy agribusi
ness partnership. He has
been nominated to a six
year term on the PMMB
which regulates the
dairy industry in Penn
sylvania.
Next Generation
Auction.
There’s more.
But he said he has had to cut
back on some of his involvement
also, now that they are on their
own.
Nevertheless, that hasn’t dimin
ished his interest in what lies ahead
for the dairy form family.
He said he thinks federal orders
are good and necessary, though he
looks foward to the consolidation;
he said sometime in the future
membership in the Northeast
Dairy Compactcould be beneficial
for Pennsylvania; he is a strong
supporter of the Pennsylvania
Milk Marketing Board; and he
thinks that the nation’s desire for
cheap food won’t allow the dairy
farm family to become extinct.
He noted that while the dairy
farm family may be a generational
tradition, or may be started by a
young couple with no previous
family involvement, it offers
cheaper food, because it offers
cheaper labor, and labor is still
“Mr. Brubaker has proven him
self to have substantial knowledge
and understanding of the dairy
industry and dairy marketing prin
ciples,” Donaldson stated in a let
ter to Sen. Robert Mellow, the
Senate Minority Leader. Brubaker
is a member of the Ml Joy Farm-
ers Cooperative and received the
Pennsylvania Dairy of Distinction
award in 1995.
“(Brubaker) has also shown
himself to be a capable leader both
inside and outside of dairy cir-
cles,” said Donaldson. “He cur
rently serves as Chairman of the
East Donegal Township Board of
j/hpJune^
M Dairy
monW
BEFORE YOU SIDEDRESS YOUR CORN WITH NITROGEN...
You have worked hard to get what you have
Before you spend $25 00 to $3O 00 an acre to sidedress Nitrogen on your corn, spend
just about $2 00 an acre to make sure you need it Many fields that have manure on
them do not need sidedressed with Nitrogen A Pre-Sidcdress Nitrogen Test will make
sure
I will come farm, sampleyour fields and return in 3 to S with the answer
you need.
CUSTOM AG CONSULTING: Independent Crop Advice.
(esse Sanders, CCA Agronomist
PO BOX 177
MILLERSVILLE, PA I7SSI
mm
For More Information Contact
LANCASTER SILO
CO., INC.
2008 Horseshoe Road,
Lancaster, PA
717-299-3721
necessary to the production of food
and fiber.
While a coroporatc setting may
be able to produce things cheapen
due to reduction of labor, it still hai
higher labor costs.
Like all families, the dairy farm
family is perhaps supposed to have
its own life cycle times for
beginnings and endings.
But Sattazahn still worries about
what is to become of the farm, his
and those of others.
“It scares me. for a young far
mer to get started with the costs
increasing and the milk prices
dropping,” he said.
“There’s a farmer I know. He’s
still farming. He’s older than I am.
He made money in his day, we did
too.
“But he says. “The pile keeps
getting littler and littler.” ,
"The ‘pile’ is his money,!
Robert explained.
“Basically, the only way (for
young people to enter dairy farm
ing) is with the help of their
parents.”
Supervisors. Chairman of the
Farm Service Agency county
committee, and is chairman**of
PFB’s Poultry Meat Advisory
Committee ... We strongly en
courage your support for Mr. Bru
baker and prompt confirmation by
the Senate of Pennsylvania.”
Both nominations have already
been approved by the Senate Agri-
culture and Rural Affairs Commit-
tee. Confirmation for both will re
quire two-thirds approval by the
state Senate.
PFB is a voluntary, statewide
organization representing 26,625
farm and rural families. I
Day (717) 656-9326 (Agri-Analysis)
Evening (717) 871-9379
MARTIN
EQUIPMENT
537 Falling Spring Road,
Chambersburg, PA
717-263-3505 Ask for Sam