Glass-Bottled Milk Remains Tradition At Oley Dairy
(Continued from P«o* A 42)
Rose said the petting zoo is
home to several different types of
pygmy goats, llamas, alpacas,
onus, rheas, and several exotic
monkeys and birds. Also included
is a dairy calf.
Each of those who work in vari
ous aspects of the store “brings
talent and experience” to bear,
according to Rose. With all the
work that needs to be done, all stay
busy. The store is open year-round.
“Our hats are off to Gene and
Darlene, who did all of this for 28
years by themselves,” Rose said.
The ice cream parlor is the
“icing on top of the cake” for the
store’s success. Rose noted. Peo
ple come as far away as the Read
ing Airport to buy one of 51 flavors
of homemade ice cream.
An employee, Curt Payne,
makes all the ice cream. He’s been
doing so for 25 years. ‘The man is
an icon,” said Rose.
The store also sells fresh pro
duce in season. The produce is
from the Leola Auction in Lancas
ter County. They also purchase
from Kulztown Auction.
The “focus” of the enterprise is
the look of “country” to the store,
said Rose. That includes home
made baskets, artwork by an artist
named Bob McGee from Bechtels
ville, and wrought iron candles.
The store is home to tour groups
through the spring. During April
and May, many preschoolers come
to visit. They receive a guided tour
School kids leave the marks of their favorite experiences
at the dairy.
Graham Pledges $105,000 For World Dairy Expo Sweepstakes
MADISON, Wis. Produceis
can bet on their genetics by being
one of the first entrants in the new
Bill Graham World Dairy Center
International Sweepstaakes to be
held at World Dairy Expo.
Three-year-olds from all seven
breeds will have a chance at
$35,000 in prize monies donated
by Bill Graham, cofounder of the
World Dairy Center. Additional
prize money will be determined
by entry fees collected.
The Bill Graham World Dairy
of the zoo, visit the animal house
(open only a couple of times each
year), and sample a free serving of
ice cream. More than 100 schools,
including head start programs in
Pottstown and Reading, visit the
dairy.
And don’t forget Bessy the
Cow.
Bessy is a large plastic Holstein
that used to sit on the roof of the
store. Now, because of “leg prob
lems," Rose noted, Bessy sits next
to the deli counter. Lots of custom
ers bring their children to visit her.
“I remember this cow with my
parents when we used to visit
here,” said Rose. It was on the roof
until it fell over.
“Families bring their children
here to have a good time with the
family.” he said. “We try to stay
family-oriented.”
The ice cream parlor is going
through some minor renovations,
including changing seat cover col
ors and some work on the counter
top.
But the store remains a dairy.
Maybe it has something to do with
the milk.
“I’m a heavy milk drinker,” he
said. “Milk tastes better in a glass
bottle.”
Store hours are regularly 7
a.m.-8 p.m., and, when the season
develops, will be open until 10
p.m. The store is open seven days
per week all year long, except for
Easter, Thanksgiving, and
Christmas.
Center International Sweepstakes
is a futurity contest where animals
entered as calves are not shown
until they are three years old. Ayr
shire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey,
Holstein, Holstein, Jersey, Milk
ing Shorthorn and Red & White
will each have their own futurity
and $35,000 will be distributed,
$5,000 per breed. The sweep
stakes will also include the selec
tion of a supreme champion which
-will receive $l,OOO in additional
prize money. Graham has pledged
Visitors to Oley Turnpike Dairy recently stand next to Bessy the cow. In back, Frank
Natale with granddaughter Heather, 1 and Gabrlelle, 5.
JACOB GUFFEY
Bradford Co. Extension
Agent - Dairy
TOWANDA (Bradford Co.)
This time each yeare our dairy in
dustry receives special attention as
June is recognized as Dairy
Month.
Dairy promotion committees
conduct dairy festivals and select
county dairy princesses who pro
mote our number one industry.
Pennsylvania dairy families arc
special people, continually being
challenged to produce milk more
efficiently.
This past January and February,
I volunteered, through Citizens
Network for Foreign Affairs, for
an assignment working with dairy
farmers and a milk handler in
Moldova, which is a former re
public of the Soviet Union. My
partner was Mark Rogers, a Ver
mont dairy farmer.
As I compare the Pennsylvania
dairy industry to the Moldova one,
I am mote appreciative than ever
of the management capabilities of
our dairy families.
Moldovan dairy cows average
about 10 pounds of milk per cow
per day. We have challenges, and
we ate not receiving enough for
our milk, but we are much better
off than the Moldovans.
You may ask, “How can they
keep their cows from producing
more milk?”
They really would like to in
crease production. Many times we
were asked, “How can we increase
our cows production?” One can
list many reasons as to why the
to provide the $35,000
money for three years for a total of
$105,000.
The seven separate futurity
classes will take place on the last
day of World Daily Expo, 2001. A
$25 fee is required for entries
postmarked by Sept. 8 of this year
and a $5O fee is required for en
tries postmarked after Sept 8. En
tries will only be accepted until
Nov. 1,1998. For an animal to be
eligible for the 2001 sweepstakes
it must be bom between Sept I,
Dairying In Moldova
Moldovan dairy industry is in the
position it is today. But, most if
not all of the blame rests with the
former communist government
which stifled progress in all areas.
The cows are of no particular
breed and conformation wise re
semble our dairy cows of many
years ago. As I understand under
the communists, dairy farmers
were required to use AI. However,
the farmers did not have a choice
of bulls, with the same bull of
questionable genetics, being used
for two years. As a result, their
genetic progress stopped.
Here in the U.S., we have a
wide choice of bulls through AI
that enable us to select the gene
tics which will help increase milk
production and our net farm in
come. Yes, not everyone takes ad
vantage of this opportunity, still
persisting in keeping a herd bull
which in most situations does little
to help increase our income.
Those herds are slipping back
wards.
The Moldovan dairymen would
like out options. We were able to
convince those in Moldova to or
der U.S. dairy semen.
The daily feed intake for a milk
ing cow in Moldova consisted of
dry, whole stalks of com fodder,
without com grain, plus over ma
ture grass hay made in late
August
On most farms, the feeding of
grain, salt, minerals and vitamins
was non existent Very poor grass
pasture was utilized in the sum
mer. The cows were very thin.
Occasionally we met a farmer
1997 and Aug. 31, 1998.
Entry forms will be available
July 1 in the World Dairy Expo
premium book. If a producer has
been a cattle exhibitor at Expo in
the last three years you will re
ceive a premium book in July. If
you have not exhibited in the last
three years, please call Expo at
(608) 224-6455 to have a form
sent out with the Expo premium
book in July.
World Dairy Expo is held at the
Dane County Expo Center in
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, June 6, 1998-A43
who was feeding a little commeal
plus sunflower cake, but most
cows were eating just enough to
maintain their body and not
enough to produce much milk.
Services such as forage testing
and feed programming for bal
anced rations were unheard of in
Moldova. We developed simple
fact sheets to help them learn how
to improve their feeding practices.
Here in Pennsylvania, we would
have a healthier, mote profitable
dairy industry if the use of these
feed programming services was
expanded.
Cows were milked by hand
even on the state farm we visited.
This particular farm had 135 milk
ing cows. Total labor force was 60
full-time employees. Milking sup
plies were not readily available.
The strainer was a piece of cloth.
Somatic cell counts were un
known.
The future of the dairy industry
in Moldova rests with the private
farmers as the larger state run
farms are being broken up into
small tracts through the granting
of land settlements to the people
who worked on these state farms.
Through land transfers between
individuals, it is hoped that those
interested in dairying will be able
to accumulate enough land to sup
port a profitable dairy herd. This
has already started as some were
trying to sell land to Mark and 1.1
am sure that we were thought of as
rich Americans.
Madison. Wis. The sweepstakes
will become part of Expo, an
annual event that draws more than
68,000 dairy producers from
around the world. The World
Dairy Center is a 5-year-old busi
ness park located on the East side
of Madison, Wis. The park in
clude? many dairy and agricul
tural-related organizations. Gra
ham is the land owner and one of
the original developers.