Creative Solutions Overcome Challenges Of Large Dairy Farm
Becca and Paul are the oldest two cousins who help
out on the Mason farm by feeding the calves. Their fa
thers, Steve and Alan, feel the job helps them learn re
sponsibility and money sense.
JAYNE SEBRIGHT
Lancaster Farming Staff
NOTTINGHAM (Chester Co.)
As farms grow in size, raising
families and teaching children
the farming work ethic becomes
more and more difficult. Em
ployees with specific responsibil
ities often eliminate opportuni
ties for children to help out the
way they can on smaller farms.
Steve and Alan Mason, along
with their father Robert, are de
veloping work projects on the
farm to help their children learn
the importance of hard work and
being responsible.
Steve and his wife Nancy have
four children, Becca (13), Joanna
(9), Ben (7), and Sam (5). Alan
and his wife Pam have two chil
dren, Paul (9) and Julie (6).
The Masons farm 700 acres
and own 400 acres in Chester
County. They milk 350 register
ed Holsteins.
Steve manages the milking
help and health aspects of the
herd, along with the planting,
spraying, and cropping sched
ules. Alan handles feeding the
cows and harvesting the crops.
He also works closely with the
nutritionist to formulate the ra
tions. Robert takes care of breed
ing, general maintenance on the
farm, and is part of the manage
ment team.
Both Pam and Nancy, whose
full-time jobs are raising their
children, help out on the farm
when they can. Robert’s wife,
Mary Louise, has been the book
keeper on the farm, but she is
now passing down that responsi
bility to Pam.
Robert and his brother, who
has now passed away, began
farming more than 50 years ago.
Floras To Head Penn State Food Science Department
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) John Floras, professor of
food process engineering and
packaging at Purdue University,
has been appointed head of the
department of food science in
Penn State’s College of Agricul
tural Sciences, effective June 28.
“Along with his superb re
search record, John brings to this
position excellent preparation
and experience in curriculum de
velopment and enhancement,
and strong leadership skills to
continue to move our food sci
ence programs to higher levels,
said Robert Steele, dean of the
college. “He is a great addition to
our college’s leadership team.”
Floras has made substantial
contributions in the application
When Steve and Alan graduated
from college, the four began the
integration process so that Steve
and Alan could be a part of the
business.
“We started the integration
process and estate planning right
away because it can be extremely
difficult in this area with such
high land values,” said Steve.
“The objective was not to cash in
on our assets, but enable the next
generation to continue in farm
ing.”
The Masons’ desire to contin
ue in farming follows through to
both Steve and Alan wanting to
teach their children about farm
ing and the responsibilities that
go along with it.
“Something we struggle with
is how we incorporate our chil
dren into the business so they
learn responsibility and money
sense at a young age,” said Steve.
“As a farm gets bigger and you
hire more employees, it gets
harder to have children involv
ed.”
One way the Masons have en
abled their children to help on
the farm is by making the two
oldest cousins responsible for
feeding the calves. Robert’s
brother was taking care of the
calves until he passed away. Sud
denly there was a job to do that
nobody was assigned. Robert vol
unteered to manage the calves if
he had a couple of kids he could
train. So Steve and Alan volun
teered Becca and Paul to feed the
calves.
“We made it into a position of
responsibility,” said Steve.
“Through working with the
calves, they are learning about
money. We’re teaching them that
they give so much to God, put so
much in their checking account,
and have so much left to spend.”
of chemical engineering, applied
mathematics and industrial sta
tistics to understand the many
phenomena that drive food pro
cess engineering and packaging
systems. His work has generated
significant innovations in effi
cient food processing and pack
aging systems, while improving
the value, quality, safety and
shelf life of food products.
His accomplishments include
developing effective peeling pro
cesses for fruits and vegetables,
optimizing a calcification process
for diced tomatoes and establish
ing new, environmentally friend
ly techniques to commercially
ferment vegetables using low-salt
brines. He also designed “active”
packaging films with antimicro
bial properties that improve food
The kids also are learning a
strong work ethic and have to
ask their grandfather’s permis
sion for time off from their job.
“He’s always willing to give them
a day off when they need one, es
pecially because they’re his
grandchildren,” said Steve.
Although the other children
are still too young for any major
responsibilities on the farm,
Steve has set up a single hutch
with a couple of small, weaned
calves for the kids to take care of.
“I pay them so much for each
calf that leaves the hutch,” said
Steve. “If a calf dies, we find out
why it died. Death can be very
traumatic for young children,
and it helps them learn responsi
bility.”
According to Steve, it is hard
to measure the success of his calf
hutch project. “Sometimes they
want to do it, and sometimes
they don’t.”
Still, the kids are learning at a
young age about work and earn
ing money. The Masons have
also considered other projects to
help the kids get involved in
farming.
“We thought about finding an
interest that each child has and
helping them pursue it,” said
Steve. “For instance, if one child
wants to grow pumpkins or dried
flowers, then we could give them
a plot of land, help them get
started, and they would be re
sponsible for taking care of the
plot, harvesting the crop, and
selling it. Another child might
want to raise pigs, so we give
them the space and resources to
do that but it would be their
responsibility.”
Steve, Alan, and Robert work
Creative solutions abound at the Masons’ dairy operation in Nottingham. Whether it’s
coming with ways to teach their children good work ethic, growing enough forage for
350 cows on 400 acres, or double cropping to maximize nutrient requirements of
ground, the Masons use innovation to come up with solutions.
safety and extend the shelf life of
some packaged foods.
Floras has been elected to the
executive committee of the Insti
tute of Food Technologists (IFT),
and has chaired several national
and regional IFT committees
and divisions. He was awarded
an honorary research visiting
professorship in the department
of biotechnology of Denmark’s
Technical University. He also
has assisted in developing a
graduate curriculum and pro
gram for the department of food
science and technology of Aristo
telian University in Thessaloniki,
Greece, and has been an external
reviewer for the department of
applied biology and chemical
technology at the Technical Uni
versity of Hong Kong.
closely together on their dairy
farm. They also work closely
with their employees. They look
for quality employees when they
do their fadring.
“Good help is part of the busi
ness,” said Steve. “You have to
hire quality people, or what
you’re doing is quickly lost”
The Masons use the team ap
proach for getting work done.
“Nobody can say they’re any bet
ter than anyone else,” said Steve.
“We all work together.”
On the Masons’ 400 acres of
owned land, 180 to 200 acres are
planted in com silage, while an
other 125 acres are rotated in for
age wheat and forage soybeans.
The forage soybean crop is a va
riety that the USDA has been de
veloping for the past few years.
“This year is the guinea pig
year for the forage soybeans,”
said Steve. “We are replacing
our alfalfa acres with the new ro
tation. We plant com silage, take
it off in the fall, plant wheat, har
vest it in the spring, and plant
the forage beans to be harvested
in the fall.”
The Masons will use this first
year to determine how well the
new rotation works and whether
or not the acres are balanced.
“We double crop extensively
on our farm because it helps out
our nutrient management plan
and maximizes our land base,”
said Steve. “We make sure we
can raise all of our forages on the
land we own.”
Living in prime development
land, the Masons are never sure
from one year to the next how
many acres they will have. So
they don’t grow any forage on
the non-owned farmland. In
stead they use it to raise soybeans
A native of Greece, Floras re
ceived his bachelor’s and mas
ter’s degrees in food science and
technology from the Agricultural
University of Athens, Greece,
and his doctorate in food science
and technology from the Univer
sity of Georgia in 1988. Begin
ning as a technician and produc
tion supervisor at a fruit
processing plant in Andravida,
Greece, he advanced to plant
manager.
Later, he served as a research
assistant first at the University of
Athens, then at the University of
Georgia, before coming to Pur
due University, where he rose to
the rank of full professor.
He is a member of the Ameri
can Society of Agricultural Engi
neers, the American Society for
and grain com. The com is sold
as a cash crop, and the soybeans
are roasted and used in die ra
tion.
“You’re always waiting for
the other shoe to fall when
you’re farming on 300 acres of
prime development area,” said
Steve. “You can get concen
trates anywhere. But you must
figure out creative solutions for
growing forages.”
With 400 acres of owned
land and 350 milking cows, the
Masons also have developed a
comprehensive nutrient man
agement plan.
“We were already accounting
for manure through our yearly
crop reports,” said Steve. “The
nutrient management plan just
made everything legal.”
Growing more forages and
double cropping enabled the
Masons to use more nutrients
on their farm. “We spread ma
nure before we plant the wheat
in the fall and after the wheat
comes off in the spring.”
“What fanners have to real
ize is that nutrient management
is the law and our responsibil
ity,” said Steve. “As we get
larger, we can’t loose sight of
the environment or water quali
ty in order to chase economic
efficiency. We need to make
sure we’re being proactive and
avoiding any problems before
they happen.”
Whether it’s creating work
projects for their kids, develop
ing an unusual rotation of for
ages, or finding ways to proper
ly utilize nutrients on their
farm, the Masons find creative,
solutions to every challenge
they face on their dairy farm.
Quality Control and the Institute
of Food Technologists. He also
belongs to Phi Tau Sigma, Sigma
Xi and the Society of Plastic En
gineers. Floras has published
more than 36 refereed articles,
19 book chapters, 12 other pub
lications and 70' research ab
stracts. He has presented more
than 55 invited lectures and
serves on the editorial boards of
the Journal of Food Quality
and the trade publication,
Food, Cosmetics and Drug
Packaging.
Floras* wife, Patricia, has a
master’s degree in food science
from the University of Georgia
and worked in the beverage de
velopment division of Upton’s.
They have two sons: Dimitri, 9,
and Nikolas, 7.