Vol. 47 No. 1 Time Spent Planning, Designing New Milking System Never Wasted Visitors stop to inspect this special needs freestall barn at the Kline family farm during last week’s Northern Tier dairy tour sponsored by Monsanto Dairy, Ag Choice Farm Credit, and the Bedford County Farm Bureau. The floor of the barn is covered with mats to increase cow comfort. The Klines left room to grow as they planned their new facility. Photo by Carolyn Moyer, Bradford County correspondent Quality Products, Home Delivery Keep Vale wood Farms On Cutting Edge KRISTIN RUSSELL Blair Co. Correspondent LORETTO (Cambria Co.) In our “fast food,” “e-mail” world, it’s refreshing to find a Crop Insurance: Part Of Overall Farm Marketing ANDY ANDREWS Editor HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) During the past 10 years, Pennsylvania producers lost upward of $lOO million on po tential yield loss/disaster pay ments because many simply didn’t sign up. “That was $lOO million left on the table,” Gene Gantz, Ag Risk Strategies Inc. president, Millersburg, told about 75 insur ance company and agri-industry representatives last week. That failure to “get the story to producers,” according to Gantz, was detailed last week during the Second Annual Crop Insurance Conference at the Farm Show Complex in Harris burg. Gantz noted that, from the years 1995-2000, for every $1 paid in premium by the pro ducer/crop insurance purchaser, $3.44 was returned. During that time, $5l million in losses were paid across the state. Statistically, Gantz noted, the targeted ag payment has been “2 to 1” over time, he said. In surance agents should look at this as a benefit, “to be able to handle a product like this,” he said. “No other commodity comes as close.” If Pennsylvania farmers re flected the national average, 75 percent of them would have some form of crop insurance. When speaking to producers, Gantz noted that emphasizing crop insurance coverage goes with the whole picture. “I really emphasize the value of state as sistance in my marketing cam- www.lancasterfarming.com business that focuses on the “old-fashioned” virtues of “do it right the first time” and the “customer is our most import ant asset.” paign,” he said. And the benefits of crop in surance extend to every year, not just the “years you have drought. It will pay dividends in Berks Farm-Cit> C onncil I r n i ils Farm Aid Kvrm Plans At Batuj'iei MICHELLE KUNJAPPU Lancaster Farming Staff READING (Berks Co.) About 340 industry representa tives and friends of agriculture Lancaster Farming Turns 46 Forty-six years ago Nov. 4, 1955 Lancaster Farming appeared in farm producer mailboxes in southeast Pennsylvania. Since then, without fail, Lancaster Farming has provided last-minute farm news, market and commodity price reports, agri-industry columns, special features from farm families, and advertising to our faithful readers. And ever since, Lancaster Farming has expanded its circulation to 50,000 mailboxes throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Farmers and agribusiness rely on our farm reporting weekly. For that, we simply say “thank you” to all who made this possible. Four Sections That’s just what the eight sibling family corporation of Valewood Farms in Loretto, Cambria County, represents. From the care of their 200 good years and bad,” Gantz said. “Crop insurance guaran tees producers a payday.” For producers to benefit from (Turn to Page ASS) gathered for Berks County’s 18th annual Farm-City Banquet Thursday evening at the Riveredge Restaurant. Ernest Heckman, president of the Berks County Farm-City Council, opened the banquet, sponsored by the Berks County Chamber of Commerce Farm- City Council. Heckman men tioned the council’s upcoming plans, which include the new “Farm Aid” event planned for next year. The council hopes to have entertainment from Nash ville, Tennessee, at the event, which will conducted in Strauss town. One highlight of the banquet is the story of the exchangee’s thoughts and impressions about their respective days. On October 10 John Moore, editor of the Eastern Pennsylva nia Business Journal, a weekly paper which circulates in Berks and nearby counties, visited Donald Angstadt, co-owner and service manager for Pikeville Equipment. Angstadt is in busi ness with brothers Roger and David in the family-owned John Deere sales and service com pany. (Turn to Page A 42) Saturday, November 3, 2001 CAROLYN N. MOYER Bradford Co. Correspondent CANTON (Bradford Co.) and PORT MATILDA (Potter Co.) If there was one theme that prevailed throughout last week’s two-day tour of Northern Tier dairy farms, it was that time spent planning and designing a new milking system is never wasted. At each stop of the tour, where visitors from across southern Pennsylvania in spected seven different facilities in Bradford and Potter counties, owners spoke about how each building project got its begin nings. For Jaf and Faye Good of Bradford County, looking at other facilities was the first step in the process that lead them to building their own technologi cally up to date 28-stall carousel parlor. “I can’t say we copied any one facility,” said Good. “We looked around a lot and we kind of threw a lot of thoughts to Holstein cows to the processing and packaging of their milk and dairy products just a few thou sand feet from the milking barn, to the “service with a smile” an Ixmcaster's New Poultry President Lancaster County Poultry Association president Andy Bradford, in sales for Wenger Feeds, Rheems, believes the association benefits producers and in dustry representatives. Read more about Bradford on pageA26. Photo by Lou Ann Good $34.00 Per Year gether.” In a period of five or six years, the Goods estimate that they visited at least 40 farms and are thankful to those who opened their facilities to them. When you visit a farm, Good said, “You either learn some thing or come home and appre ciate what you have. You always come away positive.” The Goods decided to expand after juggling cows for many years. From 1986 to 1995, Jay and Faye milked cows in three barns. They decided to consolidate in 1995 by building the first free stall barn. “At that point we had about 210 cows milking,” Jay said. The cow numbers kept grow ing and they continued to milk in the 95-stall tiestall barn until completing the parlor. In this latest project, they also built an additional freestall barn and a special needs barn to accommo date the growing herd. Both the (Turn to Page A 32) proach to home deliveries, Vale wood Farms focuses on qualit}. Valewood Farms has been processing their own product (Turn to Pane A3B) 750 Per Copy
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers