PER lODIC v£RB ITY
V 01.45 No. 21
Berks County teachers visited Dutch Valley Food Distributors near Myerstown Tues
day evening. From front, bottom to top, are Joanna Fryer, St. Ignatius Elementary; Clyde
Myers, Berks County extension agent; Neil Fisher, Schuylkill Valley High School; Kathy
Fisher, Mount Penn Elementary; Kay Frantz, Brandywine Heights High School; Cindy
Jarozenski, St. Ignatius Elementary; Wes Siegrist, Dutch Valley Food Distributors; Joan
Crossan, Cumru Elementary; Bob Allison, Brandywine Heights High School; Jeannine
Campbell, Wilson Southern Junior High; Sally Koch, Wilson School District; Irene Straw,
Northeast Middle School; and Donna Meloy, intern at the Wyomissing School
District. Photo by Andy Andrews
Berks Teachers Learn Y2K Worries Translate
Into Business Boom For Food Company
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
MYERSTOWN (Lebanon
Co.) Wes Siegrist of Dutch
Valley Food Distributors re
members the items delivered last
year to customers worried about
potential Year 2000 problems.
Out the doors went bags of
rice, beans, soups all sorts of
items from the rush of people
who wanted to stock up for fear
that stores, for whatever reason,
would run out of them.
The year’s rush to purchase
bulk food items “just hap
pened,” Siegrist, sales manager,
told more than a dozen Berks
County grade and high school
teachers Tuesday evening at the
annual Berks County Ag In The
Classroom Teacher Seminar.
The teachers visited Dutch
Valley as part of the seminar.
Siegrist said that last year, to
stock up for any Y2K emer
gency that would occur, many
people did their own canning.
For Dutch Valley Food Distrib
utors, sugar demand was up. “It
was a tremendous year,” said
Siegrist. “It was crazy. What
you expected customers to take,
they didn’t. And what you
didn’t expect customers to take,
they took.”
Dutch Valley Food Distribu
tors, which specializes in bulk
foods, was founded by the
Melvin Burkholder family,
Manheim, in 1974. The com
Five Sections
pany began in the “back end of a
butcher shop” about two miles
from where the company’s
headquarters is, north of Myers
town.
Because sugars are essential
in the meat process, the shop
bulked up on them. Neighbors
purchased sugars and other
The Pennsylvania Beef Expo is scheduled next week. In
this photo, junior exhibitors at the 1999 show get ready to
enter their beef animals.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 25, 2000
items in the ensuing years. Fi
nally, a distribution site was set
up at the current location, once
part of the Burkholder farm, in
1978.
The company is operated by
Mel Burkholder and his three
(Turn to Page A 24)
$31.00 Per Year
Business Plan Grant Helps
Dairyman Evaluate Options
JAYNE SEBRIGHT
Lancaster Farming Staff
WHITE HORSE (Lancaster
Co.) Gordon Hoover of Lan
caster County knows a good op
portunity when he sees it. That’s
why he took advantage of the
Pennsylvania Dairy Stakehold
ers’ business planning assistance
program.
The Stakeholders’ group is
providing grants to farmers who
want to develop business plans
for their dairy operations. The
goal of the program is to encour
age dairy farmers to develop
business strategies for their op
Gordon Hoover utilized a business planning grant from
the Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders to evaluate his 120-
cow dairy operation and plan for the future. Photo by Jayne
Sebright
Special Farm And Home Section
The special features that usually appear in Section B can be
found in our special Farm and Home Section again this week.
Look for regular features such as: Home on the Range, You Ask,
You Answer, Cooks Question Corner, and Homestead Notes. In ad
dition, Mailßox Markets arf also in the Farm and Home Section.
March 30 to April 2 ,fr
At The Penn State Ag Arena
Excitement Abounds Over Expo
The Pennsylvania Junior Cat
tlemen’s Association will con
duct its 10th annual Junior
Steer and Heifer Preview Show
at the 11th annual Pennsylvania
Beef Expo, scheduled March 31-
April 2 at the Penn State Ag
Arena, State College.
The Expo is an excellent op
portunity for Pennsylvania Cat
tlemen’s Association junior
members to exhibit animals and
partake in a weekend of fun and
learning.
Since its creation in 1989, the
Pennsylvania Beef Expo has ex
panded over the years to include
600 Per Copy
erations.
Farmers who apply can
receive a grant for up to 75 per
cent of the cost to work with a
consultant and develop a busi
ness plan. The grant is limited to
$1,500, so if a plan costs more
than $2,000 to develop, the
farmer would only receive
$1,500.
Currently 11 farmers have
completed their business plans
with the provided grant monies.
Another 10 have been through
the approval process and are
working on plans. Three are cur
(Turn to Page A 27)
various activities aimed at both
junior and senior PCA members.
This year’s Expo begins with
the annual Pennsylvania Cattle
men’s Awards Banquet and
Meeting, scheduled Thursday,
March 30, at Celebration Hall,
State College. The festivities will
begin with a social hour at 6
p.m. followed by a prime rib
buffet at 7 p.m.
Cattle producers will be rec
ognized this special evening for
several awards including the In
dustry Service Award, Commer-
(Turn to Page A 35)