H| PERIODICALS DIVISION MHM f
WZO9 PATTE LIBRARY
PENN UNIVERSITY B | I jI P^H
Vol. 46 No. 4
Turkey Farming
The Right Fit
For Eckert Family
MICHELLE RANCK
Lancaster Farming SUrff
MOUNT ZION (Lebanon
Co.) While America is busy
thinking about Indians and Pil
grims, football games and har
vest decorations, the Eckert
family is busy providing the
centerpiece of many heavily
laden Thanksgiving tables
the turkey.
Kelly and Heidi Eckert, along
with children Katie, 10, Kevin,
3, and Keith, 2, have 32,000 tur
keys in their six-barn operation.
Bird-raising is a high
maintenance business. One
batch of 16,000 turkeys con
sumes 450,000 pounds of feed
delivered 20 tons at a time to the
farm, and requires 6,000 to 8,000
gallons of gas, mostly to main
tain the 80-degree temperature
necessary when the birds are
poults.
Kelly drives his own truck,
hauling spring water five days a
week. Heidi is a nurse at Lancas
ter General Hospital. “We’re
More Than 700 Attend
Ag Industry Banquet
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Stuff
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) With its theme, “With
Vision There Is Hope,” the Lan
caster Chamber of Commerce
and Industry conducted its 24th
annual ag industry banquet
Tuesday evening here at the
Lancaster Host Resort and Con
ference Center.
Donald E. Horn, chairman of
Pennfield Corporation, was
honored with the George C.
Donald E. Horn, chairman of Pennfield Corporation,
center, was honored with the George C. Delp Award for
lifelong contributions to Lancaster County agriculture.
From left, Brent Landis, the Chamber’s agriculture ser
vices coordinator; Horn; and Mark Price, chairman of the
Chamber’s Agriculture Committee. Photo by Andy Andrews
Four Sections
busy, but we enjoy it,” said
Heidi. “We don’t sit around. It’s
more a way of life, if anything.”
The Eckerts also utilize the
help of neighbor Brian Weaver,
who works six days a week at
the farm.
Thirty acres of hay and 100
feeder-to-finish pigs round out
the Eckert’s operation. Kelly’s
father owns the adjacent 16-acre
farm that houses the pigs.
Kelly, who grew up on a six
acre farmette, learned about the
business and gained an appreci
ation for agriculture as he
helped his neighbors farm.
The Eckerts researched dif
ferent avenues to farm for two
and a half years before settling
on turkey farming. “We looked
at all the different kinds of
farms,” said Kelly. “It’s hard to
get a farm to pay for itself.”
The search included which
farm “would be right for us,”
said Heidi.
(Turn to Pago A2B)
Delp Award, presented by Mark
Price, chairman of the cham
ber’s Agriculture Committee.
Price said that “the recipi
ent’s heart beats for agriculture
in Lancaster.”
The Delp Award honors indi
viduals who have provided “sig
nificant and outstanding
contributions to agriculture in
Lancaster County,” said Price.
Horn, who lives in Lancaster,
(Turn to Pag* A 35)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 25, 2000
Kelly and Heidi Eckert, along with children Kevin, 3, Katie, 10, Keith, 2, and neighbor
Brian Weaver have 32,000 turkeys in their six-barn operation in Lebanon. These 9-
week-oid turkeys will leave as finished birds at 13 weeks old. Photo by Michelle Ranch
Thanksgiving Day is every day for Terry and Susan Fisher and their daughters, Tara, 7,
and Katelyn, 20 months. Turn to page 814 to read about the Fishers’ journey to China to
adopt Katelyn, abandoned on the steps of an orphanage. Photo by Lou Ann Good
Land Benefactors, Award Winners Named
At Farmland Trust Annual Dinner
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Editor
MILLERSVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) For the Lancaster Farm
land Trust, last week’s annual
meeting again recognized land
benefactors and farmland pres
ervation supporters. In his
report on the state of the Trust,
Thomas Stouffer, president, was
enthusiastic about this year’s ac
complishments.
“Farmland preservation has
moved into the mainstream of
both agriculture and good local
and county planning,” Stouffer
said. “We have preserved 14
farms and over 1,100 acres in
the last 12 months bringing
the Trust’s total to 117 farms,
double the number preserved
just five years ago.”
Stouffer said the Trust does
more than preserve farms. They
also follow and respond to im
portant issues that affect the
$32.00 Per Year
county’s best farmland and
therefore the lives of all the citi
zens. They take a pro
agriculture, common-sense
approach to good county plan
ning.
The annual meeting also
highlighted a new book called
“Lancaster County Farm Life”
written by Sara Barton that fea
tures photographs by Gini Woy.
600 Per Copy
(Turn to Pago A3l)