New Jersey Farm Slated For National Holstein Tour
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
PILESGROVE, N.J. Atlan
tic City conjures up images of
sand, casinos, and concrete. Less
than 50 miles away, along one of
the main arteries leading into At
lantic City, is Myerwood Farms,
the antithesis of a metropolis.
The seventh generation farm is
a patchwork of verdant green
growth interspersed with freshly
plowed fields and edged by stur
dy trees. Even a white picket
fence and flowering perennials
around the white farmhouse
exude a peaceful solitude.
But don’t let that facade fool
you. Myerwood Farms is one of
the most modernized farms
around and bustles with work,
high management, and attention
to details.
Passing motorists probably
only notice the Civil War-era
bams, which sit near the road.
But behind the aging bams are
rows of modem pole bams.
“We’ve lost count of how
many we put up. We just put an
other one up whenever we need
it,” said Margery Eachus,
through whose mother’s side of
the family the farm has been
passed from generation to
generation. It is the seventh
generation farm for the Eachus’
one-year-old granddaughter.
Margery, her husband Milton,
daughter Melanie married to
John Richman, and two sons,
Kevin and Todd, keep things
running smoothly. They milk 350
cows three times daily, and farm
about 1,000 acres.
“This is pretty productive soil,
no rocks, but a bit on the sandy
side, which makes it highly ero
sive,” Milton said.
“Folks from New Jersey call
this the second hill east of
Woodstown, but Pennsylvanians
think this is flat,” Margery said
of the land. She remembers when
her father let the cattle cross-the
road to graze on the other side.
It’s hard to imagine that possi
bility with today’s steady flow of
traffic that speeds pass the farm.
“If you want to save your life,
you got to take control,” Milton
said of the need to drive farm
equipment from farm to farm.
When Milton and Margery
married, they first farmed with
her father and brother. They
milked Guernseys for the premi
um given for butterfat.
After Margery and her hus-
Randall G. Renninger
i Certified Public Accountant
Specializing in agriculture and construction industries
“We help business people discover ways to cut costs,
save taxes, and be more profitable”
< Call about our FREE seminars
1
i 1
535 W. Orange Street, Lancaster, PA 17603
(717)299-6480 ♦ Fax (717)299-6390
HEATMOR OUTDOOR WOOD FURNACES
®4 Sizes -18 Colors - Wood or Coal Grates
Forced Draft - Ash Auger Clean Out
c , • . , 888-763-8617 800-743-5883
Stainless Steel Jamestown, NY Staunton, VA
The Eachus family stand in their newest free-stall barn. Participants of the National
Holstein Convention Tour June 25 will have the opportunity to see the layout of the op
eration, which includes an expanded manure pit with two concrete bridges across to
enable heavy equipment to cross. Front loaders are used to scrape the manure from the
freestall barns into the manure pit.
band took over the farm in 1980,
they expanded the herd from 75
head to its present 350. The origi
nal farm is 205 acres, a neighbor
ing 200-acre farm has been pur
chased, and an additional 500
acres is rented.
To meet consumers’ changing
demands, Guernseys were
phased out and replaced with
registered Holsteins. The rolling
herd average is 28,315 pounds.
The family attributes that suc
cess to daughter Melanie, who is
herd manager and oversees labor.
Melanie was graduated from Vir
ginia Tech, where she honed her
knowledge of increasing produc
tion and raising quality animals.
“It’s clean, healthy, comfort
able cows with a high quality
diet,” Melanie said of the milk
quantity and quality.
The difference that cow com
fort can make is demonstrated by
the results the farm experienced
in 2000. That year they added
their fifth freestall bam. With
more room and comfort, the herd
increased from an individual av
COMPARISON WITH OTHER
OUTDOOR UNITS
• Burns up to 1/2 less wood
• Emits up to 1/2 less smoke
• Corrosion Warranty up to 10 times longer
Dealerships Available in some areas
Eastern US Distributor
Outback Heating Inc.
erage of 100 to 107 pounds the
first week in July.
The differences between the
five free-stall bams show how the
new totally open-sided ones are
more for year-round cow comfort
while the older ones were more
for people comfort. The six-row,
160-head freestall bam has an
outside exercise lot of concrete.
Shades are used to sunscreen the
lot during hot, sunny days.
PPS
717-626-5511 - Fax 717-626-5098
ww.proqressivepressure.com EMAIL: info@progressivepressure.com
Jiune is ■
Let PPS Show You What
Hot Water & Pressure
Make HHS-3004-OE2G
Your Parlor,
Stanchion
Barn or
Milk
—Sparkl©
CALL FOR FREE DEMO DETAILS
The sunscreen really pays for
itself, Melanie said. Before they
put up the sunscreen, the cows
didn’t come out on hot days to
use the exercise area.
A special needs bam is used
for calf and hospital care. The
modernized facilities are totally
computerized. Electronic meters
on the cow necks* enable the fam
ily to keep close tabs on every
PROGRESSIVE
PRESSURE SYSTEMS
Congratulations
To All Dairy Folks During
June Dairy Month!
Can Do!
House
part of management. The read
ings cause gates to open and close
automatically to send cows to
sort pens.
Deviation reports are run daily
to pinpoint sick cows, detect cows
in heat, or any other maladies.
Only one person is needed for
each milking time.
The milking parlor was recent
ly expanded from a double eight
to a 10 angle parabone, which al
lows 14 head to be in the parlor
at one time. Five hours for each
milking is required but can be
managed by one person.
A capacity milk tank enables a
trailerload of milk to be hauled
out every other day. Milk is
shipped to Dairylea.
Three different farms are used
to divide heifers by age, which
are always moved as a group and
brought back to the main farm
for breeding, then moved to an
other farm during freshening.
Only top bull studs are used for
breeding.
All heifers are classified. Some
are shown at the South Jersey
open dairy show and the state
Holstein show.
Crops are harvested in a timely
fashion and top quality forages
purchased. In recent years, the
family tore down four silos in
favor of bunker.
The layout of the operation in
cludes an expanded manure pit
with two concrete bridges across
to enable heavy equipment to
cross. Front loaders are used to
scrape the manure from the
freestall barns into the manure
pit.
Sand is used for bedding. Mel
anie explained that sand keeps
somatic cell counts low.
Kevin graduated with a degree
in ag engirteering from StateUni
(Turn to Page A 45)
1248 East
Newport Rd,
Lltitz, PA