A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 13, 1998
Three generations with the WD 45. Jeffrey Fritz restored this Allis Chalmers WD 45
while he was In high school. The 45 horsepower tractor was purchased new In 1956
by his great-grandfather, Carroll Fritz, who was George’s father and Daniel’s grand
father. George Fritz is seated on the tractor, Daniel Is on the left, and Jeffrey is on the
right.
Fritz Farm Home
To Three Generations
KAREN BUTLER
Maryland Correspondent
NEW WINDSOR, Md. Any
farm in central Maryland that can
stay in business and prosper
through the entire 20th century
has got something going for it
In the case of the Fritz dairy
farm, that something is the Fritz
family.
Located just outside New
Windsor, three generations of the
Fritz family now work on the farm
that is home to a milking string of
67 registered Holsteins.
George Fritz and his son Daniel
were bom on the farm that was
purchased in 1912 by Charles
Fritz, Daniel’s great-grandfather.
Now George and Daniel, along
with Daniel’s wife, Sharon, work
the farm. Daniel and Sharon’s son
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and daughter, Jeffrey and Jessica,
are also employed there, making
them the fifth generation of the
Fritz family on the farm.
This August, Daniel and Sharon
will celebrate their 2Sth wedding
anniversary. Although she was not
raised on a farm, Sharon Fritz says
she is a “convert” to dairy Cum
ing. She was a school teacher, and
Daniel was driving a school bus
when they met.
George and Daniel milk the
cows. Daniel does most of the
breeding. Jeffrey, a 199 S graduate
of FSK High School, is responsi
ble for most of the fieldwork, and
since his sister Jessica went away
to college, takes care of the calves,
too. He also helps milk and breeds
some cows. He is engaged to mar
ry Stacy Peterson in May 1999.
t •
Jessica is a sophomore at the
University of Maryland working
on an animal science degree. She
is a member of Alpha Zeeta, the
ag honors society. She is Carroll
County farm queen and a past
county dairy princess. She also
served as alternate Maryland state
dairy princess.
Jessica is especially well
known for her outstanding per
formance in dairy judging. She
was a member of the Maryland
4-H dairy judging team that won
the national contest at Madison,
Wisconsin in 1995 and went onto
Europe. That year at Madison she
set a record that still stands for the
highest score ever in individual
reasons.
In addition to her work at home,
Sharon Fritz is active in the Car
roll County Farm Bureau. She is
past chair,of the women’s com
mittee and is secretary-treasurer.
She was active in the publication
of the women’s committee cook
book, a book that has been distri-
2
Daniel with Fritz Farm Workman Lass, a 12-year-old
homebred cow finishing up her 12th lactation. Lass has al
most 234,000 pounds of lifetime milk and will freshen In
July. She Is classified Very Good 85.
buted throughout the states and
even in Russia.
In 1980 Daniel and Sharon
added 60 acres to the property,
bringing it to a total of ISO acres.
Over the years the Fritz family has
steadily made improvements on
the farm. They milk in a flat par
lor. They have added three Harvc
store silos two 20X80s and a
20X60. Renovations have been
made to the bam, and they have
built a heifer shed and installed a
Slurrystore. Last summer they
:onstmcted a shop building.
The Fritz family is committed
to registered Holsteins. In feet,
3eorge himself has a lifetime
membership in the National Hol
stein Association, although he
said he hasn’t been very active in
J»e Association for the past sever
al years. He said his father, Carroll
Fritz, had cows registered in the
old Harrisburg Association in the
!ate 1940 s and early I9SOs.
The family’s success with their
:ows is evident in both the milk
ank and the show ring. They have
i herd average of 20.826 pounds
of milk, and ship their milk to
Land-of-Lakes Cooperative.
George owns about five heifers
and calves. Jeffrey has 10 milk
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cows and 13 heifers. He recently
registered the Misty-Bottom pre
fix with the Holstein Association
for his herd. Jessica has five milk
cows and eight heifers.
Jeffrey has had a great deal of
success with a calf he purchased in
1988 at the Carroll County calf
sale. He considers “MSV Bear
Milky Way” a foundation cow in
the Fritz farm herd. Purchased as a
four-month-old heifer, Milky Way
was eventually named supreme
champion at the Carroll County
Fair and was reserve junior All-
Maryland in 1993 as an aged cow.
She is a DOM (Dam of Merit)
with the Holstein Association and
has more than 20 descendants on
the farm, most of them owned by
Jeffrey.
Fritz Farm Workman Lass,
bom in 1986, is a 12-year-old
homebred cow finishing up her
10th lactation. She has almost
234,000 pounds lifetime milk and
will freshen in July. She is classi
fied Very Good 85 and has one
daughter in the milking string.
Both Daniel and Jeffrey are ac
tive members of the New Windsor
Volunteer Fire Company. The
family are members of Linganorc
United Methodist Church.
VIS
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