Chris and Rob Waddell take pride In their Apple Sham*
rock Farm and Its Dairy of Distinction status.
FORAGE CHOPPER KNIVES
Gehl 8 KN ROTOR $44- 5 °
830/881 $64. 00
6 KN ROTOR $49. 50
New Holland | 890/895 *44. 5 °
$44^50
John Deere 3960/3970 I
Case-IH
Fox
New Holland 770
Big Savings on Shear Bars, Grind Stones and Bolts
1 -800-223-5202
5200 Zenith Parkway • P.O. Box 2252 • Rockford, IL 61131-0252
Visit Our Website: www.zenithcutter.com
Family and home are important to Rob and Chris Waddell and they take pride In
their dairy farm home.
Waddells Build For The Future
Special Pricing Good Through June 30th
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 6, 1998-A23
MARSHA ANN CHESS
Mercer Co. Correspondent
TOWNVILLE (Crawford Co.) A
strong desire to succeed in the dairy industry
by growing and increasing efficiency
prompted Crawford County dairy fanners
Robert J. and Christine Waddell, Townville,
to build a new free stall bam and expand
their herd.
Waddells are currently milking 280 head
of primarily grade Holsteins and arc slowly
growing to 400. Much of their growth will
be internal, but they are buying between 80
and 100 heifers from a neighboring fanner.
They decided to expand because they are
outgrowing their current facility.
“We feel it’s the direction the industry is
taking.” said Chris. “Rob is very progres
sive and likes the challenge.” Rob added, “It
will help us become more efficient.”
Currently, they are in the process of
building a new, 206-stall, free stall bam, but
they plan to expand it to 400 stalls. They
also plan to build a new parlor in two to five
years.
Planning for the new free stall bam, par
lor, and herd expansion has been ongoing
for several years.
“We did a lot of budgeting and planning,”
Chris said. “We spent money to bring a con
sultant in, and looked at finances again and
again.”
In addition to spending a lot of time look
ing at the financial aspects, they toured
farms and considered a wide range of de
signs.
Rob said he followed a rule-of-thumb
when considering changing an operation,
“Do everything with the worst case scenar
io, figure lower milk prices and production
than you realistically expect”
Before they started construction they
constantly worked to improve their rolling
herd average, which is currently 23,000
pounds of milk, and their harvesting system,
to get forages off faster..
“Your planting and harvesting set up yOur
feed for next year,” Rob said, “so it’s im
portant to get things in and off at the right
times.”
Like most farmers, they are continuously
working to improve milk production and
cropping efficiency.
Waddells have even planned the move in
to the new facility to help ease the transition
and reduce stress on the animals.
“We plan to move first calf heifers and
younger cows first,” Rob said. “We’re go
ing to try to do everything slowly and right”
They hope to begin moving into the new
bam by mid-July.
The Waddell family originally came to
Apple Shamrock Farms in 1976, when
Rob’s dad. Bob, bought the 243-acre hum.
At that time there were 105 Jerseys and one
Holstein on the farm.
4 1 98
(Turn to Pagt A 26)