bUt'WCi ,o \<ub ,gni(in»n laiimiwj
A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 5, 1997
(Continued from Pago A 1)
The Dreisbach’s Wilderness
prefix is well known in Jersey
breed circles. Wilderness Chief
Allure EX-94 with 8y 23,146 m
4.5% 1,036 f 3.7% 874 p is the mat
riarch of a premier cow family that
has descendants around the world.
Allure’s daughter, Wilderness
Duncan Grace is also EX 91 with
3y 17,420 m 5.7% 986 f 3.9% 675 p
and is the dam of Wilderness Big D
at Select Sires and Wilderness
Gambler at ABS.
And while this family of cows is
the best known, cither excellent and
very good cows in the herd help
make the top rolling herd average
of 17,078 m 796 f 636 p.
Because Bob was often working
his veterinarian practice, the dairy
farming fell to Helene. “My back
ground is not in dairy, but we
bought a Jersey heifer and then
more were added,” Helene said.
“Soon we had animals scattered all
over Bob’s client herds. So we had
to decide what we were going to
do. In 1970 we found this place and
we have been milking Jerseys for
27 years.”
Bob’s version of the story is
about the same except he reports
that the reason they have Jerseys is
because Helene said if she was
going to be stuck with the milking,
she wanted cows she could see
over.
Obviously, for whatever reason
they started with Jerseys, the breed
has benefited from their efforts
over the years. Official records
were kept, and if a daughter of a
young Jersey bull came out good in
the proofs, bull stud representa
tives and foreign buyers would
come to the farm. In addition, they
like to attend the state and national
conventions and this helped give
their cows name recognition. They
sold good animals in the breed
sales and they flushed their good
cows. Their first herd average was
If**?,
tm,*
„ /
Helene Dreisbach moves the white electric tape and the beautiful Wilderness
Jersey herd moves right into the new lush pasture with enthusiasm.
Meeting To Feature Pesticide Storage
NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster
Co.) Pesticides are effective
crop management inputs when
properly used. However, each step
of pesticide handling from
transportation, storage, mixing,
loading, application, to cleanup
and disposal of wastes —presents
potential water pollution and
human health problems.
According to Jerry Martin of
Penn State Cooperative Extension
with the Pequea-Mill Creek Pro
ject, “When chemicals are not
stored and handled correctly,
water quality and human health
can be put in danger.” Chemicals
can escape from the farm directly
Jersey Cows Home At Long Meadows Farm
in the 8,000 range so they have
doubled herd average over the
years.
Today, they are not pushing the
cows as hard. Rotational grazing
concepts have given the farm a
more relaxed atmosphere. Accord
ing to Bob, the cows have better
personalities and general health
has improved.
For young people who want to
get into the dairy business, Bob and
Helene have some definite
advice.“So many young people
have the enthusiasm, but they have
not been taught to manage debt,”
Bob said. "You must operate with
less debt, and don’t forget living
expenses.”
Bob also has a pet peeve about
milk prices. “If milk were priced at
the value of the steel that goes into
into the groundwater through
wells or skinholes at the farmstead
or flow into surface water.
According to Frank Lucas with
the Natural Resource Conserva
tion Service (NRCS) in the
Pequea-Mill Creek Project, one
practical and economic option for
safely storing pesticides is a small
pesticide storage shed that can be
located at a safe place on the
farmstead away from potential Are
damage or unauthorized pesticide
use.
One of these small pesticide
storage sheds will be featured as
part of the New Holland Pesticide
Update Twilight Meeting on July
Overlooking the Long Meadows homestead, Bob Drels
bach harvests forage for winter.
the farm machinery we buy, we
would have $6.00 per gallon milk.”
But because New Zealand can
produce milk for $7.00 to $B.OO,
higher U.S. milk prices will work
against exporting on the world
market. If we need $ll.OO, we
can ’ t compete on the world market
And many of the countries that
need the milk can’t afford to pay
for it. So it must be a gift But here
at home, even California’s milk
prices are lower than ours in the
East.
In the future, the Dreisbachs
believe young farmers will find a
local niche in the market. And with
the reduced cost of rotational graz
ing, they hope these young people
can treat their farm like a business
as well as a farm because they love
the land and the cows.
t
ft
I.’
. #
14 at 7 p.m. on the Gene Martin
farm, 224 Eastern School Road,
New Holland.
“This small pesticide storage
shed,” said Lucas, “allows the far
mer to store all chemicals on the
farm in one place that is used
exclusively for pesticides.”
The well-ventilated shed on the
Martin farm includes a sealed
storage cabinet, shelves, plastic
trays to store chemical containers,
protective clothing, pesticide
application records, and pertinent
resource information. The shed is
locked and marked with appropri
ate warning signs. In addition, the
shed is located at a mixing site that
t r>
Jt ~
With a painting of their most famous cow, Wilderness
Chief Allure EX94 that was presented at the recent state
Jersey convention, Bob and Helene Dreisbach were hon
ored with the distinguished service award.
Charolais Seminar,
Field Day July 12
CLARKSVILLE. Md. On
Saturday, July 12, the 3rd Annual
Charolais Educational Seminar
and Field Day will be held at the
Central Research and Education
Center of the University of Mary
land in Clarksville.
The day is sponsored jointly by
the Colonial Charolais Associa
tion, the Cooperative Extension
Service of Howard County, and
the University of Maryland
C.M.R.E.C.
minimizes potential health and
pollution problems in the event of
fire or accidents. Lucas notes that
local volunteer firemen are espe
cially concerned about fighting
fires where pesticides are stored.
For more information, contact
nil f ni
Four pens of Charolais cattle
will be available for the morning’s
judging contest and is open to all
4-H, FFA, and breed association
junior members. Official placings
and reasons will be given by Cliff
Orley of Lebanon. Pa., a national
ly recognized judge of many
breeds of cattle.
For a complete schedule of the
day’s activities, contact Bob Bell
at (410) 442-2005, Martin Hamil
ton at (410) 313-0707, or Tom
Moreland at (301) 596-9550.
Jeff Stoltzfus, (717) 354-1522 or
Jerry Martin, (717) 396-9423.
got milk?