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PFRIODICALS DIVISION 048
PFNN STATE UNIVERSITY
WZO9 PATTE LIBRARY
UNIV PARK PA I6BOZ .
V 01.44 No. 27
Record-Breaking Sextuplets
Provide Frisky Handful
For Haldeman Family
These six frisky kids provide a handful of energy for Bonnie
Haldeman, son Luke, 17, and daughter Hannah, 15. The
Haldemans present their sextuplets, three females and three
males born April 27 to one of their Nubian goat nannies.
According to the Haldemans, animal specialists at Penn State
and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture have no record
of a goat giving birth to six kids. Luke noticed the nanny was
having trouble after the first two were born. Dr. George Keck,
retired veterinarian, helped deliver the remaining four. For the
first few days, the runt of the litter walked on its knuckles, but
after round-the-clock bottle feedings by the Haldemans, all the
kids are frisky and healthy. The nanny is doing fine also, taking
the record-breaking family in stride. Of course she had practice
three years ago when she gave birth to quadruplets. The
Haldemans have five nannies on their Campbelltown farm.
Photo by Lou Ann Good.
National Farm Groups Create Unified Policy Statements
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
ST. LOUIS, Mo. A lengthy
position paper calling for changes
in national farm policies represents
a consensus of 29 of the United
States’ farm and rural groups,
according to a news release.
Issued April 27 by the National
Fanners Union (NFU), the group
that spearheaded what it is calling
a “National Agricultural Summit,”
the leadership of 29 of the nation’s
farm organizations last week
arrived at a consensus on policies it
wants the nation’s political leaders
to adopt
The Pennsylvania Young Far
mers Ag Spokesperson of the
Year, Shirley Krall, is an avid
believer that farms serve as the
Shirley Krall
Four Sections
The 29 organizations listed
included the NFU, the National
Farmers Organization, the Ameri
can Farm Bureau Federation,
National Grange, and a number of
commodity producer
organizations ranging from
producers of beef ami milk to
tobacco, rice, peanuts and
sugarbeets.
According to NFU, immediate
ly following the “summit” held in
St Louis, “The leadership of 29 of
the nation's farm organizations ...
forged a broad consensus on a
number of critical issues facing
(Turn to Pag* A 22)
best source for educating the non
farming community. Her efforts at
the county level pushed her on to
state competition where whc was
selected the state winner to repre
sent Pennsylvania at the 1999
National Young Farmer Educa
tional Institute Convention to be
held in Hcrshcy in December. Turn
to page B 2 and 810 to read how
Shirley, husband Tom, and four
children spread agriculture facts to
the people who don’t know much
about farming. In addition, we
have the Pennsylvania Young Far
mer newsletter including individu
al chapter news in this issue start
ing on page A 34 and continuing on
page C4-S. You’ll want to check
out all the pages in this issue dedi
cated to Young Farmer news.
Photo by Lou Ann Qood.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 8, 1999
On his 243-acre Hamilton Heights Dairy Farm near Chambersburg, Cliff Hawbaker
has enacted what dairymen only dream about develop an inexpensive system that
mirrors the multimillion dollar municipal waste treatment facilities used by boroughs
and townships. Photo by Andy Andnws
Chambersburg Dairyman’s Manure Management
Dream Slowly Becomes Reality
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
CHAMBERSBURG (Franklin
Co.) To Cliff Hawbaker, it’s
neither impossible nor expen
sive to turn manure manage
ment dreams into reality.
On his 243-acre Hamilton
Heights Dairy Farm near Cham
bersburg, he’s enacted what dairy
men only dream about develop
an inexpensive system that mirrors
the multimillion dollar municipal
waste treatment facilities used by
boroughs and townships.
A project begun last fall to test
his dream taking manure
wastes, obtaining treated, fluid
$31.00 Per Year
results, and using the liquid to irri
gate pasture systems is coming
to fruition. This summer, an elec
trical pump system, underground
lines, and wide-area broadcast
spreaders will be installed on the
dairy.
For many farmers that are sur
rounded by development, Haw
baker may have found a practical,
inexpensive solution to odor and
nutrient problems.
“I personally do not mind the
smell of a cow, a pig, or a chicken,”
he said during an interview this
week at the farm. “But the animal
waste odors have to go. That is
something we in agriculture have
600 Per Copy
to deal with."
Hawbaker’s 400-head regis
tered and grade Holstein dairy is
surrounded by development a
golf course to the west, a large
elementary school to the south, a
housing development to the east,
and a main public road north of the
farm.
“Because of my neighbors
and I’m a neighbor to somebody as
well we have to live with that,”
he said. “My neighbors could care
less whether I put one ton of ani
mal waste per acre or 10 tons or 30
tons as long as they don’t smell
it when they schedule their after
(Turn to Pago A 24)