Vol. 47 No. 32
What Happens When
The Well Dries Up?
Farm Family Deals With
Limited Supply, Competing Uses
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
GREENCASTLE (Franklin
Co.) One day last August, the
main well on Robert and Norma
Grove’s dairy farm began deliver
ing gritty mud instead of the
clear water it had produced for
three decades. The family first
noticed it on a load of laundry,
fresh out of the washer.
“I just couldn’t believe it,”
Robert Grove said.
It was the first time the
200-foot well failed since its con
struction in 1970. It had served
as the primary source of water
for the 115-cow Holstein herd as
well as household needs on the
farm the Groves own and operate
in partnership with their son
Keith and his family.
“Follow your dreams,” say Donald and Mary Wivell, who
chose to farm even when others advised them not to.
Today the Wivells milk 60 Jerseys on their 600-acre Tioga
County farm.
Photo by Carolyn N. Moyer, Tioga Co. correspondent
Dairy Farming Rewarding
Career For Wivell Family
CAROLYN N. MOYER
Tioga Co. Correspondent
COVINGTON (Tioga Co.)
“My father thought I was crazy,”
said Donald Wivell with a grin
when he talked about choosing
dairy farming as a career.
“I wanted to farm on my own
and my father said, ‘No, stay in
the factory, you’ll be better off.’
“As you can see, I hated any
thing to do with punching a
www.lancasterfarming.com
The well has since resumed
producing water. In the mean-
time, however, the Groves needed
to have two new wells drilled on
the farm.
On the same day the well first
went dry, Grove said he noticed a
neighboring industry was busy
installing a new water pump on
their own property.
Beck Manufacturing, a pro-
ducer of steel pipe fittings, and El
Dorado Stone (formerly L & S
Stone), manufacturer of decora
tive masonry products, operate
adjoining plants just across rail
road tracks from the border of
the Grove’s property near Rt. 11
north of Greencastle.
The two industries share water
(Turn to Page A 25)
clock,” Donald said. “I worked
as a mechanic off and on all my
life before I got farming full
time.”
Donald Wivell was one of 20
children bom and raised on a
Holstein farm in Maryland. His
wife, Mary, is a self-proclaimed
city girl who never thought she
would end up on a farm.
(Turn to Page A 24)
Four Sections
Turn to page B 2 to read how Shawn and Danielle Smoker, Bellville, manage milk
ing 96 cows, farming 110 acres, and parenting 5-month-old Lauren.
Photo by Lou Ann Good, food and family features editor
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) To celebrate June Dairy Month, dairy promotion organ
izations created a 90-gallon ice cream sundae on the steps of the Capitol Building. Here
Rebecca Mowrer, Pennsylvania Dairy Princess, helps top off the sundae with real whip
ped cream. Photo by Michelle Kunjappu
Laura Blauch greets her court, including Little Misses
Sarandon Smith, left, and Valerie Zuck last Saturday at
the 30th annual Lebanon County Dairy Princess Corona
tion. See story page 814. Photo by Andy Andrews, editor
Saturday, June 8, 2002
$36.00 Per Year
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6 States, ( ana fie
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Agricultural leaders from
six states and Ontario, Canada
will gather at the Great Lakes
Forum on Agriculture, hosted by
the Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture, here at the Nittany
Lion Inn June 11-13.
At the forum, “accomplished
speakers will present topics of
21st Century importance,” said
Sam Hayes, Pennsylvania secre
tary of agriculture. “Issues such
as trade barriers, animal identifi
cation, brand marketing of agri
cultural products, weather and
$l.OO Per Copy
(Turn to Page A 26)