812-Lanca»ter Farming, Saturday, March 4, 2000
Pennsylvania Young Farmers Over 30 are J.Kenneth and Lisa Wiker. They own a
75-acre dairy farm in Holtwood. In addition they rent 200 acres. As a hobby, they
grow 5-acres of cabbage and daylilies for a wholesaler.
Wikers Are Pennsylvania’s
Outstanding Young Farmers Over 30
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
HOLTWOOD (Lancaster
Co.) “I’m just an ordinary
guy, not very interesting for a
story,” Ken Wiker said.
Wiker may be an ordinary
guy but he’s done a remarkable
job on his 75-acre Holtwood
farm. He recently received the
Outstanding Farmer Over 30
Award at the annual convention
of Pennsylvania Young Farm
ers.
Ken, his wife Lisa, and chil
dren Matt, 11, and Emily, 9,
work together milking Holsteins
and farming about 300 acres.
Sounds ordinary.
But what is unusual is that the
Wikers raise cabbage and dayli
lies.
Wiker said that he got into the
alternative crops as a hobby. But
raising five acres of green cab
bage outgrew the hobby status.
Harvesting cabbage is labor
intensive, requiring each head to
be cut off with a knife and boxed
for wholesale marketing.
Suffice it to say that neither
his wife nor his kids share the
same passion for hobby farming
when the seasonal crop de
mands sunup to sundown har
vesting. Even Wiker grew weary
of the labor-intensive crop.
The Wikers stumbled across a
crop that they do enjoy harvest
ing daylilies.
A neighbor who sells green
house supplies asked the Wikers
to grow Stellardore daylilies.
According to Lisa, growing
daylily roots is fairly easy. And
most welcoming is that they can
use a potato digger to remove
the roots to sell. The roots need
to be divided annually and re
planted. Depending on the
weather, both a spring and a fall
crop can be harvested.
Because raising cabbage is no
longer a hobby, Wiker said that
he is considering phasing out
growing it and planting more
flowers.
“With flowers you only need
to use a herbicide and cultivate
them. You don’t need to worry
about bugs,” he said. He also
plants two acres of pumpkins.
Of course, flowers, pumpkins,
and cabbage are only sideline
businesses from the mainstay of
milking and crop growing.
Two years ago, the Wikers
added 20 stalls that forms an L
shaped barn. Lots of windows
allows natural sunlight. At that
time, they also added a TMR
mixer, which makes feeding
much simpler, and automatic
water bowls.
Mattresses and barn stormer
fans increase cow comfort.
About 95 cows are milked twice
daily with a pipeline system.
Herd production is 23,000
pounds milk, 725 pounds pro
tein, and 810 pounds butterfat.
Despite busy schedules, family time is set aside for
relaxation.
BST is used to maintain produc
tion on lower-producing cows.
Wiker generally takes care of
the twice daily milking except
on weekends, when Lisa and
Matt help. Milk is shipped to
Land O’ Lakes.
Wiker recently purchased the
home farm from his dad, Ken,
who continues to help out with
the fieldwork. Conservation
practices were always important
on the Wiker farm. These in
clude contour strips that range
in size from two and a half to
five acres. Terraces and grass
waterways control erosion and
water movement on the soil,
which is a combination of
Glenig and Chester silt loam.
Wiker said that cropping with
rye and corn silage is important
for controlling soil runoff.
Minimum tillage practices in
clude chisel plowing, disking,
(Turn to Pag* B 15)
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