Susquehanna County Dairy Day Draws More Than 800
(Continued from Peg* A 23)
When considering i. new enter
prise, it’s also important to consid
er your goals and resources. Is the
new project meant to supplement
income, replace the existing enter
prise, or create on-farm employ
ment? What are your physical
resources, marketing potential,
financial constraints, or labor
availability?
“Some of the most successful
alternative agriculture projects are
kids’ projects,” ,said Brads tree t,
“because the kids don’t know
something won’t work. They’re
willing to try new things.”
How you market your product
can make or break you success.
There is a hog producer in his
area who raises hogs for specialty
barbecues. He raises about ISO per
year and sells them for $.65 per
pound.
“People don’t know what the
market price is. People will pay for
what they want, not what they have
to have,” said Brads trcct.
Dairyman Roderick Grosvenor of Gibson receives a teta
nus vaccination from Pennsylvania Department of Health
Injury Prevention Coordinator Theresa Wamaglrls at the
1997 Susquehanna County Dairy Day. Wamaglrls notes
that everyone, especially farmers, should receive a booster
every 10 years. In total, 39 tetanus shots were given and 26
participants were screened for skin cancer at the event.
David Bradstreet, Broome County, N.Y. extension agent,
exchanges alternative agriculture ideas with dairy producer
Dale Empet and maple syrup producer Tim Empet, both of
Kingsley. “YouVe got to throw out aH the rules of what
you’re used to and try new things,” said Bradstreet.
Wyoming County Extension Agent Karen Bracey delivers
a program on stress management at dairy day.
If the thought of alternative agri
culture has elevated the stress
levels at your farm, you could
relate to the wisdom of Karen Bra
cey, Wyoming County Coopera
tive Extension agent, in her pre
sentation, “Headbanging 101.”
“If there’s one thing you can do
(to reduce stress), it is to take your
work seriously and yourself light
ly,” said Bracey.
She noted that we tend to make
our own stress but we don’t neces
sarily have to carry that stress
around with us all the time.
“Once you’ve been through
some really lousy things and sur
vived them, you strengthen your
character. That gives us confi
dence to go through other things
and perspective to know what’s
important and what’s not”
She then illustrated her idea of
stress as psychological gravity
with a bag and 40 pounds of bricks.
Each time something stressful hap
pened in her day, like her child
throwing a tantrum causing her to
A meal was provided to all Dairy Day participants free of charge, compliments of
more than 70 commercial exhibitors. Here Susquehanna County Dairy Ambassador
Stacy Rezykowski, light, and Roselyn Adams offer milk to all who come through the
line.
be late for work, or getting a flat
tire, she added yet another brick to
her bag. By the end of the day, her
bag was full, yet she still had other
tasks to complete. The extra “40
pounds” of stress made the remain
ing tasks more difficult
“You need to get rid of stress on
a regular basis.” said Bracey. “If
you don’t you won’thave the abil
ity to enjoy life because you’ll be
weighed down.”
Bracey admits that some things
never go away such as deep pain,
but that’s OK as long as you get rid
of the excess stress.
Bracey employs positive ways
to lighten the stress load, such as
excercise, prayer, relaxation tech
niquesm or fun and humor.
“We need tn learn how to have
fun,” said Bracey. “Smile and
laugh whether you feel like it or
not. Lcam to play. Escape from the
center of the universe.. .. The
LDHIA Board Meets In February
JOE GRAYBEAL
President
The committees of LDHIA met
in the morning with the ful board
conducting business in the after
noon. Rodney Denlinger pre
sented tokens of appreciation to
the four lab technicians for the re
cent 100 percent Quality Certifi
cation received from NDHIA. The
lab has received the 100 percent
Quality Certification four conse
cutive years.
The volume of samples passing
through the lab continues to grow.
LDHIA is receiving lab work
from other affiliates for MUN
testing. The new wet chemistry
Bentley equipment is performing
exceptionally well and allowing
some herds to use bulk tank MUN
testing on a trial basis. Early re
sults are encouraging but not inde
pendently verified. The Board ap
proved a proposal from the lab
committee for pricing of samples
tested.
The finance committee, chaired
by Clair Oberholtzer, brought two
proposals before the Board. The
first was to purchase a new com
puter for the office. This computer
will be used by Pam Lehman to in
put “basic” herds. LDHIA it ex
periencing rapid growth in this
area, and expects this growth to
continue. The second proposal
dealt with the method of purchas-
world will go on even if you’re not
up on all the current events. Look
for the humor in today’s crisis.”
The theme of feeling good and
having a positive attitude was con
tinued by motivational speaker
Maria Fanning, who began her talk
with a “thank you” from all the
people who benefit from dairy
farmers.
“I want to thank you from all the
chefs of the world and all the won
derful cheesecake that you make
possible. I want to thank you for all
the senior citizens of the world
who are healthy today because
they drank milk. I want to thank
you for all the people enjoying lei
sure sprats. Because of the time
you spend producing food, they
don’t have to worry about having
enough.”
She also touched on alternative
ways that fanners can make a liv
ing, highlighting the immeasur-
Lancaster
DHIA
Lancaster Da/ry Herd improvement Assoc.
O/ct Line Ref. Manhe/m, PA 7Z545
fZtZJ 665-5960
ing the new Bentley MUN equip
ment Both proposals were ap
proved by the Board.
The field committee, chaired by
Steve Hershey, updated the Board
in several areas of interest. Work
is continuing on the appropriate
method to promote records of
supervised and unsupervised
herds. Several approaches are be
ing reviewed with plans to be fin
alized in the near future.
A proposal was put before the
Board to increase field support
staff with a part-time position. A
substantial number of new herds
are joining LDHIA and the in
crease in staff is expected. The
proposal was approved. Time was
spent by the Board reviewing the
areas now receiving service from
LDHIA and where future growth
able success of Orville Reddenba
cher and his popcorn.
“He knew what he was doing
and he did it well,” said Fanning.
She also touched on the impor
tance of advertising our product
and of getting agricultural curricu
lum in elementary schools.
“We need agriculture in our
schools so people know what to
do,” she said. “My goodness,
we’re heading toward having a
country full of people who don’t
know how to produce anything!”
Following Fanning’s presen ta
' lion, 27 pies were auctioned off,
bringing a total of $1,308 to be
divided between the 4-H dairy
program and the dairy princess
program.
Visitors, exhibitors, and hosts
agreed the day was a success.
*1 was very happy,” said Place,
county extension director.
will likely occur.
The number of herds using
PCDART has grown to 70. Steve
Hershey and Jcrc High are updat
ing all PCDART herds to version
6.2. This includes the new graph
ics program. PCDART workshops
are scheduled for March 12 and 19
at the lab.
Jay Mylin, general manager, re
ported that LDHIA is running
smoothly. Everyone is very busy
as the increased growth is filling
everyone's schedules to the full
est Management is constantly re
viewing operations to keep excel
lent service to the members while
working to keep overhead costs to
a minimum. Management is aware
that dairy fanners are experienc
ing similar concerns. The next
meeting of the Board is April 16.