86-Lancastef Farming, Saturday, May 23, 1998 Daview Farm Is Thriving Center For Cows, Promotion And Family LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Fanning Staff KUTZTOWN (Berks Co.) “If you need a social life, don’t be a dairy princess,” Erica Rae Davis said. Her words might sound like a deterrent to prospective dairy prin cess candidates, but Erica is one of the most staunch defenders of the dairy princess program. “What you put into it is what you get out of it You’re only giv ing up your social life for a year to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The rewards of the program go with you forever,” Eri ca said. After completing a year as the Beiics County Dairy Princess, Eri ca knows the cost of wearing the crown and being a spokesperson fa* the industry. A freshman at the Penn State Berks Campus, Erica took a lighter course load to accommodate dairy princess duties. She’s taking sum mer classes to make up classes in hopes of transferring to Main Campus in January. Ater achieving a degree in dairy and animal science and a minor in communications. Erica’s ultimate gpal is to work at the state or national level for the Holstein Association. ,In the meantime, many of Eri ca’s classmates know her as “Cow Lady.” The nickname didn’t faze Erica, who took it as a compliment and used the publicity to tell class mates things about farming and dairy products of which they didn’t know. “Hardly anyone knew my real name,” Erica said. Go to one of the local fairs and you can almost always find the Davis family settled with their show cows near the end of the bam. “We like it at the end because that is where most people like to stop and ask questions,” Erica said. She encourages visitors to take a turn at brushing a cow. She explains how cows need to have a calf before they can give milk. The family, which includes parents Luther and Teresa, and siblings Gregory, 15; Aaron, 9; and Jillian, S, have about 60 milk ing cows and 60 young stock—all registered Holsteins, 22 of which Erica owns. She received her first ralfwhr ’.hr fr >ld. More of Erica’s classmates know her as the “Cow Lady” than by her first name. Erica Is proud of the nickname and uses every opportunity to educate the nonfarming com munity with farm life and dairy products. The original calf grew to produce four heifers before birthing a bull. That established a sturdy founda tion for Erica’s growing herd. Macy the cow is Erica’s favorite bovine and is a 4-H project Erica is both owner and breeder of the grand champion Holstein and won grand champion showman and reserve champion fitter with her. The 6-year-old is excellent in 1992-2 E. The family also has an Astri bull'proven in Sirb service. The S-year-old bull is rated excel lent ’9O. “He likes to be a pet and gets quite jealous when we pay atten tion to the calves housed nearby,” Erica said. The bull loves to be clipped. Tbe family lives on a 155-acre farm with 135 tillable acres put into com and alfalfa. The Century Farm is owned by the Lester Miller family but the Davis family has lived on it for most of Erica’s life and it is named Daview Farm. The herd belongs to the Davis family. “We use only family labor so sometimes it’s difficult to get everything done. But we want to stick to this size,” Erica said. Most business decisions are decided by discussing it with the whole fami ly- “We believe in what we do. Our cows are our paycheck and we treat them with respect,” Erica said. The herd averages 24,200 pounds although a few have reach ed 30,000 pounds. Erica admits that she and her dad are more prone to give cows a second chance than most other far mers might. “Dad and I are really attached to the cows. Although we’ve seen lots of births, we experience the same feeling of wonder every time a calf is bom,” Erica said. Growing up on the farm has taught Erica to accept the good with the bad, the sad times, and the happy ones. “I grew up with the strong opin ion that the dairy farm is a strong part of whom I am and always will be,” she said. Erica described herself as a for mer shy 8-year-old who was trans formed into a communicator through involvement with 4-H, Junior Holstein, Dairy Bowl, and the Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Program. “I ihed b’ im— and 1 don’t mean that in a negative way—to participate and get involved in those organizations,” Erica said. She spent five years as a dairy ambassador before being selected as county dairy princess. As a member of the Dairy Bowl, Erica said that she learned to handle stress and compose herself in public. “Practice makes perfect,” Erica said. “And poise and composure enhances communication.” Poise and composure came in handily when Erica appeared on the PBS television channel to pre pare cheesy scallopped potatoes. Erica had read how the channel wanted potato recipes for a special feature on the show. Erica sent in a recipe and a few facts about herself and was lucky to be one of the few contestants selected to prepare their entries on camera. “I felt really at ease. And the exposure was great. The program was aired three times with an esti mated audience of 50,000 people each time,” Erica said. During her reign. Erica tried to find nonfarm activities in which to promote the dairy industries. One of these was the Blood Bank, where in addition to donating blood, she handed out cheese, promotion crackers, and dairy recipes to parti- , ' , . cioants It has helped me become more She 'also made 115 classroom fluem . in to “« on their appearances. In addition, the Davis own level, Teresa said, family offers its farm for dairy is the one who often to n explains on-farm activities to the “Rids are so impressionable. It approximately 300 children who teaches them good habits that *. e annually, hopefully will continue through She is also the official photogra lifc? shesaid of the importanccof P, her * I?®™ 10 st pP tractor m teaching kids about the importance J* ™ ddle of a J° b m order to run of including dairy products in a for ber camera - . t . healthy diet Enca 18 amazed at *6 man y Erica said that teachers often adults who do not realized that cal asked questions and told her that C 1“? 18 avai,able ,n low fat they learned a lot through her pro- ... . .... sentation that they did not know I Idee milkout of the tank. I like about dairy products before. “ Wlth loisofcream Enca said Erica credits her mom for being However, she finds the majonty of creative and coming up with origi- females are concerned about fat, so nal ideas in teaching dairy promo- she tells them that low-fat daily tion to both kids and adults. Pf oduc !f <*" them aU ** cal ' Her mom said, “I watch the Cl “™ need> . . reactions of the children and build Jp et . Un ? calcium flan dairy on it with other ideas.” f£ luct> “ more effective than In the classroom. Erica uses two acalc l um wh ' ch balloons and says. “If we had no y° u a!l the catoum at one time and bones, we’d have no form at all. So much “ loBt 1118 absoibed stand tall and get the calcium you rnto the bloodstream. need, because if you don’t, you . BeB,d 9 B ’ BetUn«8 etUn « l alciura fr ° m will develop osteoporosis. Your prodac ' s “ ■ lot m °« fun bones will become so weak that To P y° ur *g«abta with butter even a sneeze can make a bone and K cbee ? e - MtUcshakes give you a break.” With that. Erica uses a pin doub,e becaust to pop the balloon—a sound effect y m . milk and ice cream that leaves a lasting impression. ,n it, Enca said. In classroom presentations. Eri- . She bad lots <* promo ca plays “Mary Cowkins.” a char- Uons ’ bu ‘ one . most , r “ enl actor that is a spinoff of Mary Pop- waBtbc Mmyknd Womens Fest. pins. Instead of Mary Poppins We took 900 pictures of people famous work. Mary Cowkins with a milk mousteche. shesaid. teaches children to say. “Superin- Sh ° d ‘ vul « ed . the Bec r et f that calciumfablisticexperalidelicious” whipped cream is smeared on for a through repetition. The word , mous,ache . since milk doesn t works great in catching kid’s alien- leave a vlvld cnou 8 h mark for tion and helping them to attach the Futures word to good-tasting dairy . This summer, Enca is hostess products mg m a restaurant, where the news After ’completing a school has spread about her dairy princess promotion, teachers often say to ude * an 9 ther adve f Be - Erica, “You’re going to study ment that Enca uses to the advan elementary education* right?” * of die dairy industry by telfing Although Erica isn’t planning folks the truth about dairy products on a career in education, she does and farming. . enjoy participating in the America sbe 18 home, Enca is Reads program and tutors Head TT t» kt ■ rri A Start kids during summer months. f***|| //y| r t y | t,/\ I / Teresa said that watching Erica J fulfilling dairy princess duties has actually enhanced her own com munication skills in dairy Oavlew Farm In Kutztown Is home for Luther and Teresa Davis and their children, Erica, former Berks County dairy princess; Gregory, 15; Aaron, 9; and Jilllan, 5. responsible for feeding the baby calves morning and afternoon. She sprays the feet of the cows with a special mixture to reduce straw berry warts. She also is her dad’s relief milker—the only erne he trusts. He went 13 years without miss ing a milking. “I broke his streak by finishing milking before he got back from fieldwork,"JErica said. Instead of expressing gratefulness that she finished the milking in 114 hours instead of the normal 2 hours, her father was skeptical of her ability to do everything proper ly. “We’ll see how many cows get mastitis,’’ he mumbled. The cows did not get masdtus, and Erica gained her father’s approval as “the only relief milker I trust.” This year, with a bit of prodding bom Erica and her mom, her dad will travel to the Dairy Expo. “Mom and I went last year,” Eri ca said of the event that amazed and challenged her. She borrowed a calf from an exhibitor so that she could participate in showmanship. “It was exciting to show a top show animal, and I’m friends of the family ever since.” At Dairy Expo, Erica had two animals in the showcase featuring different daughters of sires, a Bel lewood daughter and a Astri daughter. “It was exciting that so many people got to see animals from our farm,” Erica said with obvious pride. Despite the long truck ride out and back and fitting and bam crew exposure, the cows came back without a scratch on them. Luther’s purpose in going to Dairy Expo is primarily to see the results of cow genetics firsthand in order to improve the breeding in their stock. While cows are a prominent focus of the family, Teresa is quick to point out that the the kids are the couple’s main focus. When it com (Turn to Pago B 7) DTE
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