A34-Lancaater Farming, Saturday, February 19, 2000
x
Robert Jackson boosted the efficiency and profitabil
ity of his dairy and farming operations.
Six Mid-Atlantic Farmers
To Be Inducted As
2000 Master Farmers
(Continued from Page A2B)
Robert Jackson’s farm roots
go deep - seven generations deep
in Fayette County. While his
father and uncle were Master
Farmers of their generation, this
generation of Jacksons had to
earn his, too', via continual
building of the partnership busi-
(Continued from Page A 1)
is devoted to support adminis
tration of the Farmland Preser
vation program.
The budget also calls for an
additional $375,000 for the
Animal Health and Diagnostic
Commission and two new initia
tives totaling $795,000 to help
fight animal diseases.
$720,000 will be devoted to
monitoring the West Nile Virus
in mosquitoes, birds, and ani
mals. This virus can be transmit
ted as encephalitis to people.
$75,000 will go toward a
Pennsylvania Dairy Quality As
surance Program to prevent the
presence of infection in dairy
and beef products.
The $375,000 will be used by
the Commission to fund pro
grams and research to identify
and prevent new transmissible
diseases.
“These new initiatives and
the ten percent increase for the
Animal Health Commission will
help farmers who are dealing
with animal health issues,” said
Senator Bill Slocum, chairman
of the Senate’s agricultural and
rural affairs committee.
Part of the animal health ini
tiative is increased funds to
combat Johne’s disease.
“The Governor’s budget pro
posal also continues 1999’s initi
ative to control animal health
emergencies arising from for
eign livestock diseases,” said
Hayes.
ness.
After graduating from Penn
State with an associate degree in
ag business, the Brownsville
dairyman returned to work full
time on the farm in 1975. By
1988, his father, Bob (a past
Master Farmer), retired from
their partnership. The younger
Bob took over with a bent
toward improving efficiencies
and a business sense that has
State Budget Includes Increases For Animal
Disease Prevention And Ag Promotion
Hayes, Bunt, and Slocum all
commended the governor for his
increased support to promote
agricultural products at home
and abroad. An additional
$179,000 is devoted to expand
ing consumer awareness and
markets for Pennsylvania’s food
commodities.
“There is much to like in the
Governor’s proposed budget
from the standpoint of the agri
culture industry,” said Bunt.
Slocum agreed. “The Gover
nor has treated agriculture real
fairly in the budget,” he said.
“That coupled with the drought
relief package from last year is a
real plus for agriculture.”
From here, the Governor’s
proposed budget will be intro
duced as a House bill. Over the
next several weeks, both the
House and the Senate will hold
hearings on the budget.
The House takes action on the
proposed budget first and makes
amendments to it. Then they
send it over to the Senate to ad
dress the proposed budget and
make amendments.
Eventually a joint-conference
committee made up of both
House and Senate members will
come to agreement and approve
their final version. Then the
budget will return to Governor
Ridge for his signature.
steadily increased profits almost
every year since. One primary
reason is that the farm’s low
debt load has underpinned the
business growth over the years.
Today’s Double J Farm in
cludes 455 acres, of which 335
acres are cropland. Another 75
acres of cropland are rented to
grow feedstuffs for the 125-cow
registered Holstein herd averag
ing close to 23,000 pounds of
milk production. Cows are
milked a double-six parlor and
housed in freestall facilities that
provide a stall for every cow.
Milking cows are split into high
producer and low producer
groups and fed for peak efficien
cies at both levels.
Cow comfort and consistency
in how they are fed and handled
is important to Jackson and his
three employees. Numerous
management practices contrib
ute to the bottom line. That in
cludes monthly foot care and
trimming, reliance on total
mixed rations and maintaining
more than adequate forage sup
plies to help weather drought
year shortages. Written records
are important. With them, Bob
meticulously tracks cow per
formance and handles the herd’s
artificial breeding program.
Wife Joy keeps the farms
records on computer, in addition
to being mother to their chil
dren, Andrea, Amber, Adam
and Aaron. Bob and Joy have
received numerous awards, in
cluding recognition for serving
as western regional leaders to
Pennsylvania Council of Coop
erative’s young leader confer
ence in 1993; in 1994, they
served as conference chair
couple.
Jackson is a past president of
the Fayette County Holstein As
sociation, and a current board
member. He’s also a board
member of the local Dairy Herd
Improvement Association, an
alternate delegate for Dairy
Farmers of America and a
deacon at their local church.
Otv‘ tnl'tig Ttet Senator
Slocum wants to see added to
the budget is something to ad
dress the inheritance tax issue.
“My colleagues and I are very
concerned about this tax, which
is probably the single number
one reason why family farms are
lost,” he said. “Although it’s not
in the budget, I am anticipating
that we will move in the direc
tion of lowering or eliminating
this tax.”
One of the things that Repre
sentative Bunt wants added is
an appropriation for Penn State
University to help restore the
lost capacity in the College of
Agricultural Science.
In addition to the increases
that Ridge proposed for ag pro
motion, farmland preservation,
and animal health issues, there
are also several other increases
included for the Department of
Agriculture. Those include:
✓ $201,000 to provide informa
tion and technology improve-
ments.
✓ $120,000 to provide equip
ment for the Bureau of Ride &
Measurement Standards.
✓ $109,000 for equipment at the
Equine Toxicology Lab in West
Chester.
✓ $lOO,OOO for county fairs,
along with five percent increases
for both 4-H and FFA.
James Witter expanded dairy and farming operations
dispite major challenges.
Jim Witter learned early to
seek the bright side of life amid
the dark. Born in Shippensburg,
and raised on a small dairy
farm, he wasn’t enthralled with
dairying until he became a
Dairy Herd Improvement Asso
ciation (DHIA) milk tester at
age 18. That work showed him
there was a different kind of
dairy farming, one he could get
enthused about. It also intro
duced him to his first wife,
Joann. And at age 21, they were
married and began crop sharing
the home farm they bought 12
years later. That same year
(1970), Joann died suddenly,
leaving him with a daughter and
five sons. About six months
later, he married Miriam who
has been his helpmate ever
since. Together, they raised his
children Jean, Paul, David,
Timothy, Steven and Mark.
Witter’s sense of community
and flair for fun led to several
unusual projects. In 1977, an
open house was scheduled for a
✓ $99,000 to support food safety
and plant industry laboratories.
✓ $67,000 to the All-American
Dairy Show and a five percent
increase for the Keystone Inter
national Livestock Expo and the
Jr. Dairy Show.
✓ $536,000 for state food pur
chases.
The budget continues to pro
vide one million to production
agriculture through allocation to
conservation districts and 3.23
million to nutrient management
programs.
In addition to the agriculture
budget, Hayes applauded other
Horse Pasture Workshop
BEDFORD (Bedford Co.)-
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion in Bedford and Fulton coun
ties will be holding two horse
pasture workshops in Breeze
wood and Somerset. The Breeze
wood workshop will be held on
March 7, 2000, at the Gateway
Travel Plaza and the Somerset
workshop will be held on March
23,2000, at the Ramada Inn.
The purpose of the workshop
is to teach horse owners how to
improve the quality of their pas
tures. Topics covered at the
workshop will include Managing
Soil Fertility, Plant Species
Selection, Pasture Renovation,
and Weed Management, Poison-
new slurrystore being built on
the farm. Jim went a step far
ther and hosted a concert inside
it. In 1995, Witterdale Farms
hosted a three-acre corn maze.
More than 24,000 people walked
its two miles of paths -- built as
part of the annual Shippensburg
Corn Festival.
Today, the business encom
passes more than 400 owned
acres with 320 acres being crop
land. Another 250 acres, mostly
cropland, are rented. Son David
and nephew Tom manage the
dairy herd. Jim’s third son, Tim
and fifth son, Mark, help with
fieldwork and morning milk
ings. Their 300-cow milking
herd averages about 18,700
pounds production. Witter has
served on boards and in leader
ship positions of county farm
groups and the local Chamber of
Commerce. He’s also been active
in his local church, and founded
the Shippensburg Chapter of
Fellowship of Christian Farmers
which he still leads.
budget initiatives that will help
ruial Pennsylvanians and agri
businesses.
“Financial assistance for vol
unteer fire and ambulances ser
vices, property tax rebates,
better education for young
people, and improved highways
and bridges these are all
things important to agricul
ture,” said Hayes.
“Overall, it’s a good solid
budget,” said Slocum. “It’s a
great effort to cut taxes and put
money where it’s needed. It’s a
great budget for agriculture and
for Pennsylvania tax payers.”
ous Plants, Watering and Fen
cing for Pastures, and Grazing
Management.
Melanie Barkley, Bedford County
Extension Agent, said “The work
shop is a great way for horse
owners to learn how to increase
the amount of grass produced in
their pastures. Horse owners
can then develop a diet for their
horses which includes grass.”
For more information you can
contact the Penn State Coopera
tive Extension Office in Bedford
County at (814) 623-4800 or in
Fulton County at (717) 485-
4111. Cost for the workshop is
$lO.OO. The fee includes materi
als and refreshments.