A22-Lancasttr Faming, Saturday, July 22, 2000
(Turn to Pago A 22)
“Hel” in “Reu-Hel Farm.” Scott
and Connie incorporated with
Connie’s parents, Elwood and
Ruth Ohlinger, in 1991 and built
a home on the farm. The house
is situated across the driveway
from the home Connie grew up
in and where her parents cur
rently reside.
Scott’s parents, George and
Mary Troutman, also a farm
family, reside in Myerstown.
Connie’s sister and her family
also live on a nearby farm and
help the family milk occasion
ally. The Troutmans, both 35,
believe that the farm is an excel
lent place to raise Jason, 12,
Eric, 9, and Douglas, 7.
Milking more than ISO regis
tered Holstein cows in a 54-
stanchion barn with six visotron
milkers takes a substantial
amount of manpower, as the
Troutmans have discovered.
The combination of milking
and switching groups of cows
takes three people about three
and a half hours. “It’s difficult
to find help,” said Connie. “And
we can’t operate with less than
three people, so someone has to
quit field work to help milk.”
The solution may come with
new facilities in the future.
“We’re hoping to expand,” said
Connie. “We’re not very far yet
but you have to start some
where.” They are currently
working on the plans for expan
sion to 250 cows and a parallel
parlor.
Since Scott and Connie both
grew up on a dairy farm, they
treat many of the cows on their
own. Scott works on sore feet
while Connie dispenses the nec
essary medications. “It’s all on
farm training,” said Connie.
“There was a time that I wanted
to be a vet, but I followed a vet
erinarian around and decided
that I have enough cows I can
practice on here rather than
treat somebody eise’s.”
Currently the farm has almost
150 registered Holstein heifers
Calves housed in the new, 30-head calf barn are always
glad to see Eric moving up the line. The barn, built in 1995,
is equipped with a feed room and a mixing room with a hot
water heater. The calves are fed colostrum at birth and for
the first three days. At weaning, the calves are picture for
registration With the Holstein AssoclatlCn, dehorned,' KD.' ’
tagged, and castrated If necessary.
Troutmans Named Outstanding Berks Farm Family
and has sold 16 registered Hol
stein bulls for AI in the United
States besides selling cattle on
consignment each year. The
Troutmans have also exported
embryos they have exported to
France and Holland. They sell
15-20 head per year for dairy
purposes.
“My grandfather started early
with AI about 45 years ago, se
lecting for type and high pro
duction, so a lot of what we have
today dates back to what my
father and grandfather did with
the herd. Now we have genera
tions of our own breeding,” said
Connie.
Reu-Hel farm spreads over
541 acres on six different par
cels. With the addition of 200
rented acres, the family raises
about 300 acres of com and 200
acres of alfalfa plus smaller
amounts of soybeans, barley,
wheat, and oats on 680 acres of
tillable land.
The herd is classified every
year by a Holstein Association
classifier. With the last classifi
cation the farm had 17 Excellent
48 Very Good, 45 Good Plus and
12 Good cows. The herd average
is more than 24,000 pounds
milk, 923 pounds fat, and 778
pounds protein.
Although the family does
show cows and have a few re
serve all-Pennsylvania honors,
the boys’ interest seem to lean
toward sports at this time. “We
pursue what they enjoy,” said
Connie.
The boys can End a game to
play year round, with baseball in
the spring, swimming in the
summer and winter, and soccer
in the fall. Their father has been
an example as he enjoys his posi
tion as pitcher for the Northwest
Berks fastball league. “Sports is
his outlet,” said Connie.
Besides attending sports
events, “I go to meetings,” said
Connie, who was just elected
state director for Berks County
to the State Holstein Board, a
three-year term. As director she
will represent the county’s re
sponses to state decisions in the
dairy industry.
A former dairy princess,
Connie still works at promoting
dairy products. Each year the
Holstein Club sells five-pound
blocks of cheese as a fundraiser,
and, since 1990, Connie has sin
glehandedly sold and delivered
5 tons of cheese.
“I wrote a letter to agri
businesses suggesting that they
give cheese to their employees as
a Christmas gift,” said Connie,
“So they’ll buy 40-50 blocks at a
time. Also the cheese is good so
if I can get people to buy it once,
they’ll usually buy it again the
next year.”
Each member of the Trout
man family added a long list of
accomplishments and organiza
tional involvement and leader
ship to the farm family
application. Scott has long been
a member of the Ontelaunee,
Berks County Pomona, and
Pennsylvania State Granges and
has participated on the volley
ball and bowling grange leagues.
A member of the Berks County
Holstein Club, Scott has also
served on several committees for
the club besides helping on
Young Farmer teams and com
mittees. He was also a director
for the Berks County Dairy
Herd Improvement Association.
Connie’s list includes involve
ment in the Granges, the Hol
stein Club, 4-H leadership and
committee involvement, Farm-
City Council Representation,
Young Farmers membership
and ambulance attendant certi
fication.
“Fanning is getting harder all
the time, whether it’s just find
ing help or dealing with new reg
ulations. I still enjoy what I do,
though, I wouldn’t want to do
anything different. It’s a really
nice place to raise the boys,”
said Connie.
Would you eat at your feed
bunk? Are your cows eating
fresh feed every bite they con
sume? If you answered “NO” to
either one of these questions,
then we need to evaluate your
feed bunks.
During the hot humid days of
summer, it is hard to keep the
feed fresh at all times. This is
something that needs to be done
if we are going to keep dry
matter intakes at their maxi
mum levels. You need to keep
the bunks dry and clean of all
foreign matter. Are you feeding
five percent over what the cows
are eating? If so, then you need
to sweep the bunks before each
feeding and feed it to another
group of animals. This will keep
the feed fresh for the milk cows
at all times.
One way to keep the feed
fresh and the bunks smelling
clean is to sprinkle some sodium
bicarbonate down the bunk.
This will both freshen-up and
dry out the feed bunks. Be sure
to clean all debris from the
bunks before you spread the bi
carbonate.
I can’t stress this enough,
keep the bunks clean, dry and
fresh. If you have any questions,
please feel free to give me a call
Another product of Scott’s shop is the automatic shutoff ** Jhe extension office (717) 485-
feeder at the heifer barn, a feature which makes Jason's
“Scott designs the landscape,” said Connie. “1 just tell
him what I want and he figures it out and does it. Rai, i[° a J
ties accent the flowerbed which adds a dash of color to the
calf barn.
Largejilies grace the pond, a highlight of the Troutmans*
back yard. “Ponds are really cool but It’s not like they Just
exist, ** said Connie. “They’re a lot of hard work with weeds
and aphids and strong roots to break up.” Milo, the family
cat, scopes the activity of the pond’s resident fish.
After his shop burned down years ago, Scott got a now
shop where he builds innovations such as the cart to move
calves, such as this young one, from the barn to the new
calf bam. He has also created portable vaccination chute
and heifer feeder for the farm. His current project is a
1937 Ford.
Are Your Feed
Bunks Fresh??
Greg Strait
Dairy Extension Agent
Fulton Co.