V 01.43 No. 28
Nina and James Burdette own and operate Windy Knoll
View Farm, Mercersburg. James is the new Pennsylvania
Holstein Association president.Phofo by Joyc» Bupp, York
County correspondent
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
WEST CHESTER (Chester
Co.) In suburban areas, straw
berry picking isn’t what it used to
be.
The large-scale customers
those who hand-pick dozens of
quarts from pick-your-own opera
tions may be the norm in areas
of Lancaster County. But for the
more urbanized parts of southeast
ern Pennsylvania, especially near
the big cities, consumers want only
a day or two serving of pre-picked
June Dairy Month Issue: June 6
Office Closed May 25
A special tribute to the daily industry is part of the annual June
Dairy Month promotion. Lancaster Farming again plans to espe
cially feature dairy in the June 6 issue. We are working to promote
the dairy industry through special visits with farm families, DHIA
reports, farm management reports, dairy recipes, and messages
from our advertisers. Of special note: we plan to introduce the first
module of a dairy management course written by a well-known
dairy instructor that will be published in 10 weekly lessons and
archived on our home page on die Internet for continuing review
and use by dairy farmers around the world.
Our office will be closed Monday, May 25, to observe Memorial
Day but will open again for business at 8 a.m. Tuesday. If you have
a news story or an advertising message to be placed in this special
June Dairy Month issue, please contact our office any day, Monday
through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our phone number is (717)
626-1164. Our fax is (717) 733-6058.
Four Sections
Chester County Orchardist Moves Focus Away
From StEisvberries, Onto Tree Fruit
strawberries that don’t need toffee
cut, washed, and prepared.
For growers such as Alan and
Paula Johnson of Northbrook
Orchards near the town of Union
ville, the time has come to
“rethink” their operation.
“The strawberry business is a
long cry from what it used to be,”
said Alan Johnson.
In the past, Johnson remembers
a thriving business filled with cus
tomers who would hand-pick box
es of strawberries and rake them
(Turn to Pago A2B)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 16, 1998
Pennsylvania Holstein President Says
Job Is To Steady The Course
JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
MERCERSBURG (Franklin
Co.) Real people. Real cattle.
Real money.
Those are the three legs of the
platform from which newly
elected Pennsylvania Holstein As
sociation (PHA) president Jim
Burdette pi? ns to lead the state’s
largest dairy breed organization.
Burdette, his wife Nina, and
their sons Justin and Kyle, own
and operate Windy Knoll View
Farm, Mercersburg. Their milking
herd of 76 head and its offspring is
internationally known and re
peatedly All-American honored
for type and showring accomp-
Lebanon Youth Plant Riparian Buffer
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
SOUTH ANNVHUE (Lebanon
Co.) Those who walk, jog or
drive along Brickcr Lane in South
Annville Township will see some
thing strange bordering Beck
Creek.
Lining the banks of the stream,
from the bridge downstream, are
egg-shell colored, 4-foot “sticks.”
The light colored sticks are in
stark contrast to the soft, lush
Alan and Paula Johnson own Northbrook Orchard near West Chester. “The straw
berry business is a long cry from what it used to be,” said Alan. In the past, Johnson
remembers a thriving business filled with customers who would hand-pick boxes of
strawberries and take them home to fill the freezer, bake pies, or make jams and jellies.
Now, “people want the quarts picked for them.” Photo by Andy Andnwa
$29.50 Per Year
lishments, along with ongoing
breed recognition for bloodlines
and overall performance.
In late February, at its annual
state meeting and convention, the
PHA board elected Burdette for a
two-year term as its head. He
came to the position well-pre
pared, having served as Franklin
County’s state director for five
years before his election to the
executive board four years ago,
the last two as the state vice presi
dent.
Burdette’s involvement with
the breed association has grown
and matured in part through the
family’s showing and mer
chandising activities as well as his
greenery of the alfalfa fields on
either side of the stream, the tall
grasses along the stream edge, and
die watercress and aquatic plants
undulating in the clear stream.
The sticks arc tree protectors.
A closer look reveals they arc
actually corrugated plastic sleeves,
slipped over a stake, used to pro
tect tree seedlings.
They were placed there by more
than a hundred school students
from four Lebanon County public
600 Per Copy
early participation in PHA’s Pro
grams Development and Educa
tion committee.
“One trip working with that
committee and I was hooked,” he
says of the quality of people and
the exchange of ideas he was ex
posed to among the organization’s
pool of leadership and volunteers.
He also credits several local
Franklin County fellow breeders,
like Harold Crider and Paul Eck
stinc, with encouraging him to be
come involved. As PHA’s presi
dent, Burdette sees personal in
volvement as the key to a
member’s getting the most out of
what the organization offers.
(Turn to Page A2l)
schools, along with some paroc
hial and home-schooled students,
who participated in a recent Leba
non County Conservation District
riparian buffer planting project.
Doug Wolgang, district conser
vationist, along with Andrea Long,
district nutrient management spe
cialist, spent a day recently at the
streamside, as different groups of
students arrived in automobiles
(Turn to Page A 22)