84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 28, 1999
Becoming A Champion
(Continued from Pag* B 2)
land has been named premier
breeder in Pennsylvania from
points tallied from the state Farm
Show and Pennsylvania breeder
shows. Points are tallied for bred
cattle, which have been purchased
and shown by other owners.
“Showing fits in well for us,”
Barb said.
The one thing that Larry does
that Barb doesn’t is fit the cattle for
shows such as the state Farm
Show, Atlantic National, Breeder,
and Keystone International Lives
tock Exposition (KILE).
Clipping styles are set at nation
al shows.
“Every year, we see something a
little bit different. Every fitter does
something a little different,” Barb
said.
Some styles, at first, don’t seem
appealing. “But if the cattle do
well in the show ring, then you
take a closer look.”
Larry said he realized the impor
tance of Hiring an animal when he
was a teen-ager. He had attended a
national show where he saw hair
body clipped similar to the way
they are trimmed today. “I
couldn’t wait to get home and try it
and I was the first in the area to
try it," Larry said.
In the ’6os, people concocted
their own mixtures to prepare
cattle for the show ring. Today, the
market abounds with products.
The Weavers generally feed 120
head of market steers. Silos are
used for storing the harvest.
Weaverland’s white bams with
gray trim, and the stone and stucco
house have been in the family for
tour generations. The bam is dated
1805. The house is older but no
date has been established.
Weaver’s have added their own
personal style with a brick patio
and walks surrounded by profuse
perennials. The kitchen table is
placed in front of long bay win
dows that overlook acres of rolling
farmland.
When Larry began farming, the
farm had 44 acres. Later, he pur
chased an adjoining farm with 40
acres that had been part of the orig
inal deed.
Contented cats and frisky kit
tens, and an occasional moo belies
the facade that all is well in
farming.
A summer drought has resulted
in severe losses. Larry estimated
r MIX
PEANUT \
HULLS 1
For 1
BEDDING
Most effective
as bedding for all
kinds of beef and ,
dairy cattle, hogs, ’
horses, steep and
Any
(Ami
that he had a 70 percent com loss,
the worse that he or his dad
remembers.
Larry is what he calls “a pioneer
in ag preserve” because their farm
was the first in the area to be
included in ag preservation.
“The whole program could have
been set up differently. Instead of
giving money outright, they
should have given farmers a tre
mendous tax break that was ongo
ing. Government has got to pre
serve the farmer instead of the
farmland. If farming is profitable,
the best farmland will be pre
served,” Lany said.
A farmer who has remained on
the cutting edge of technology, the
Weavers are frustrated by declin
ing commodity prices and high
equipment costs.
“I’m in all the wrong things,”
Lany said of raising beef and eight
acres of tobacco. A few years ago
he got out of the hog market when
it was snuggling.
Barb takes cate of the farm
bookkeeping. She also worked for
the tobacco auction cooperative
formed in the county.
This has been a tough summer
for many farmers and the Weavers
are no exception. Barb said it was
so depressing to look out the win
dow and see crops shriveling that
she took off to Potter County to
spend 10 days at their cabin. Dur
ing hunting season, the couple
hunt together. She also finds relax
ation from farm pressures by play
ing golf.
The Weavers said that breeding
cattle has been the one area of
farming that has remained stable
for them.
The couple both love watching
“the babies,” Barb said. “There is
no greater satisfaction than breed
ing and seeing how the calves turn
out. And it’s great to see kids who
purchase our stock do well in
shows.”
There is also a downside. Occa
sionally stock is sold to some who
don’t feed them properly. One in
particular, Barb said, had the
appearance of a champion, but
when she saw it after it had been
sold, it was a bag of bones.
“I cried,” she said. “You need
the right kind of calf to begin with,
but you also need precise feeding,
exercise, and breeding to continue
(the lineage).”
“Years ago, you made the calde
look tall. Today you want them to
look more blocky,” Larry said.
Grand champion bull honors went to Weaverland Fullback 829 at the Pennsylvania
Angus Breeders Show. The October 1998 son of RKo 9F83 of SHII Fullback was exhi
bited by Weaverland Valley Farms. From left are Pennsylvania Angus Queen Sarh
Grim, Allen smith, judge; Barb and Larry Weaver, and daughter Kristin Ebersole.
« .
>ella ... > grand . impion .male honors at the Pen
nsylvania Angus Breeders Show held recently In Huntingdon. The April 1998 daught
er of Rlto 9F83 of SHII Fullback first topped the junior division. Weaverland Valley
Farms, New Holland, exhibited the winning entry. From left are Sarah Grim, Pa. Angus
Queen; Allen Smith, who evaluated the 95 head exhibited In the open show; and Barb
and Larry Weaver with daughter Kristin Ebersole of Weaverland Valley Farms, New
Holland.
Meat packers have a big influ
ence on finishing. For a number of
years, lean was in style.
“But people found out it's no
fun to eat lean meat Now you want
meal marbling and it must have a
J
'!keh)i;r«
black hide to be labeled Certified
Angus,” Larry said.
From the time Lany first started
showing until today, he said that
things have changed dramatically.
‘ ) I , I 1
.SHU ,V
(Turn «o P»o* B 5)
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