A42-linoMter Farming, Saturday, March 14, 1998
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
GETTYSBURG (Franklin Co.)
A congenial group of registered
Holstein breeders left the Farm and
Home Center in Lancaster Tues
day morning for the annual tour
sponsored by the local Holstein
Club. Even though the day got
progressively colder and windier,
the warmth of fellowship and the
visiting with fellow dairymen in
Franklin and Adams Counties
made, for an enjoyable day for all
41 of us on the tour bus. Our hosts
showed us an incredible number of
high producing and high scoring
cows.
The first stop was 80-Joy Farm
where the John and Bonnie Hess
family have built a new milking
facility and free-stall bam to
expand the operation for their five
children, in-laws, and
grandchildren.
They started milking in the dou
ble 10 (expandable to 18) milking
parlor in September of last year.
Since then, they have increased the
herd from 240 cows to about 450
cows with an eye to reach 500
cows. The herd average is
23,000 m, and the herd is divided
into various feeding groups
according to age and production. In
addition to a registered and grade
Holstein herd with 65 percent
registered, a few notable Brown
Swiss cows are in the herd.
The calves are raised to nine
months at the home farm and then
moved to a neighboring farm to
grow into replacement heifers. The
larger operation has realized some
efficicnces of scale that include a
lower electricity bill. In the milk
ing parlor one person can do the
milking. On 3x, the parlor is util
ized efficiently with a two-hour
clean-up time between milkings.
They farm 900 acres.
The beautiful herd at Penn Gate
Farm, owned by Steve and Chris
Wood, catches your eye as you
walk into the de-stall bam. Tall,
strong cows with picture udders
not only show excellent type, their
records posted above the stalls
include many above 30,000 m, with
daily production records up to 169
pounds.
The calf barn at Rice-Crest.
Lancaster Holstein Tour Group
Sees Many Excellent Cows
Noted for their show herd, Perm
Gate’s most recent honors include
the All American Best Three
Females that woe present in the
bam.
Steve said they flush several top
cows for their own herd improve
ment but have somewhat backed
off from contracts because of the
length of time it takes to fulfill the
contracts.
About one-fourth of the herd is
classified excellent. A bam fire
several years ago burned down into
the stable from the upper floor and
has made the Woods very con
scious of the possibility of losing
the whole herd along with the bam.
A neighbor came home from his
off-farm night job three hours ear
lier than usual and noticed the
smoke coming from the bam. He
called the fire company and awa
kened the Woods. They were able
to lead the cows to safety, but
today, a fire alarm system is in
place to give warning both in the
bam and in the house.
The neighbor received a regis
tered calf from one of Woods’ best
cow families as a gift for saving the
cows.
At Rice-Crest Farm, brothers
Dale and Fred Rice milk 265 cows
that average over 22,000 m. They
are especially noted for two cow
families that form the basis of their
ET and embryo exporting busi
ness. Eight daughters of Luke out
of Ned Boy full sisters are an
impressive part of the herd.
Of course, the Rices are the
breeders of the Tesk Terry and the
newly released Marty bulls. The
brothers are in partnership with
their families, and the herd size and
the acres farmed has steadily
increased. Machinery repair work
and building construction and
repair are done with the help of
their four full-time employees.
Because of the lay of the farm land,
mote than half of the manure is
spread by irrigation directly onto
the fields.
The cows ate milked in a free
stall and milking parlor set-up. The
Lancaster group pulled into the
farm at noon behind another tour
bus that included the Lebanon
County Holstein tour group. Both
(Turn to Pajjo A 44)
arm.
The Lancaster tour caught up with the Lebanon tour at Rice-Crest Farm.
Joy Hess talks about some of their top cows with Lancaster tour group.