Penn State Cooperative Extension
Capitol Region Dairy Team
IMPROVING THE
FAMILY FARM
Roland P. Freund
Regional Farm
Management Agent
The single family farmer today is
something like a one-person band,
attempting to play all the instru
ments at once and still maintain a
steady beat. Things get pretty hectic
at times, some beats get skipped, and
many notes are missed. The stress on
the player is often severe, and many
The PA Crop Insurance Assistance Program has
been extended for crop year Fall 2002 and Spring
2003. Benefits include:
To receive these benefits, contact a crop insurance
agent today. List available at www.RMA@usda.gov.
Enrollment Deadline for Fall Seeded Crops: September 30, 2002
Sam Hayes
Secretary of Agriculture
Growers are encouraged to consider crop insurance protection as part of their farming risk
management plan. All policy fees and approximately 20 percent of net premium costs are paid for
the growers of Pennsylvania.
sour notes result.
Much has changed in the past SO
years to stress the family fanner.
Groups of farmers used to combine
equipment and labor resources to fill
silo, thrash grain, slaughter and pro
cess hogs or cattle, and make apple
butter. Facilities were generally low
investment then, and labor efficiency
was less critical to farm profitability.
Farmers today have become far
more independent: attempting to
control more of their own production
FREE “CAT” Coverage
Discounted Premiums & Fees
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processes. Each of them has invested
more money in equipment and facili
ties which they use for less hours
per year than their grandparents did.
The result is that payments on facili
ties, machinery, and equipment are
crippling many a struggling small
family farm.
Options which family farmers face
under these conditions are to sell out,
expand the business, specialize, or
Pennsylvania Crop
Insurance Program
At Left: Sam Hayes, Secretary of Agriculture
in the field observing first-hand a cornfield
ravaged by this year’s drought.
Ft 11' is
I'd:).
Roland P. Freund
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 21, 2002^37
cooperate. Let’s look at the last two
options and, using dairy examples,
see what a family might consider.
Specialization would enable a fam
ily farm to be more focused, but still
be an independent operation.
• Milk cows. Analysis of dairy
farm businesses in Pennsylvania has
shown that more than 40 percent of
dairy operations could buy their feed
cheaper than they produce it. This
suggests that such operations should
concentrate on milking cows and let
others grow the crops for them. If
they sell their field equipment, they
can reinvest that capital in larger
and better facilities and concentrate
on what they do best.
• Grow feed. The same studies
showed that about 40 percent of our
dairies could have sold the feed they
produced for cash and been more
profitable than dairying. One such
farmer could grow feed on his own
and two other farms and supply the
needs of those two expanded opera
tions. He could do a better job of pro-
ducing quality feed than the three
did independently.
• Raise replacements. This is a
popular form of specialization for
elderly dairymen who still want to
work with animals. To be financially
successful, these farmers need to con
centrate investment on baby calf fa
cilities, minimize investment for
older groups, observe careful biosecu
rity, and turn
out several
hundred head
per year.
• Cooperate
WlCtb
two-family operation. It has been
suggested that two families could
combine resources to operate a
300-cow dairy with a low-cost, labor
efficient parlor. Fieldwork does not
have to stop to get the milking chores
done, and each family can schedule
weekends and vacations away from
the farm.
• Multifamily farm. There are
many ways that a group of farmers
could combine to form a business in
which each of them can be owners
and managers. In dairying, the key is
to get the return on a large parlor
through high use and labor efficien
cy. The group might own the parlor,
but individuals could each own a
milk tank and a bam where they
house their own cows. This arrange
ment might create more problems
than it solves.
A better model might be one which
is operated as a single business. Each
family contributes capital to con
struct the total facility and furnish
the cows. They might lease their land
and equipment to the business and
provide labor and management. The
business could pay each member
wages for labor and management,
lease payments, and profit distribu
tions based on their investment in the
business.
• Business arrangements. Each of
these options requires at least an op
erating agreement. The cooperative
ventures also require the formation
of business entities and some com
plex legal agreements. These will be
the topic for another article in this
series.
Reasners: ‘We Show
Our Milk Cows And
Milk Our Show Cows ’
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Michelle Re
asner and her husband, Jeff, milk their show cows
and the rest of the JEMI herd on their farm in
Newburg, Cumberland County.
While Jeff is kept busy working as an indepen
dent representative for Taurus, Inc. and Semex,
Inc., Michelle cares for the herd. To meet the nu
tritional needs of the purebred Ayrshires, Jerseys,
and several Holsteins, the cows spend most of
their day grazing the different paddocks of the
farm. During the summer and winter months,
supplemental feed and forages are used. The
JEMI herd is milked in a 67-stall barn twice per
day and the rolling herd average is 16,500 pounds
of milk, 5 percent fat, and 3.9 percent protein.
A walk into the farm office is like taking a tour
of show awards and prizes. Banners, trophies,
chairs, and many other awards are displayed.
Michelle began showing cattle many years ago
and has exhibited at the All-American Dairy
Show for more than 15 years. Although the JEMI
show string consists mainly of Ayrshires and Jer
seys, a few Holsteins have also been known to
sneak on the trailer and make trips to shows.
Michelle and Jeffs farm slogan is, “We Show
Our Milk Cows And Milk Our Show Cows.” This
successful farm brings out many different animals
and can be seen at numerous shows during the
season.
Even with her busy schedule, Michelle still
finds time to go “antiquing” and shares this love
with her father, Darwin Braund. A visit to the
farmhouse is quite a treat for any dairy antique
collector. Some of the items were given to Mich
elle and Jeff and some were purchased on antique
outings or visits to collectible shows.
One of the favorites is a Penn Gate Dairy quart
milk bottle given to Michelle by the original
owner of the door-to-door milk delivery business,
Bob Gitt of Littlestown, Adams County. A rare
pair of model Jersey cows are also very high on
Michelle’s list of favorites. Imported from Bes
wick, England, the pair was rescued by father,
Darwin at a flea market where the previous
owner was going to throw them away. A one
quart steel butter chum adorns one of the shelves
of collectibles.
The Reasners display a Davis Swing Chum in
their living room. It was the smallest of the six
different sizes offered by the Vermont Farm Ma
chinery Company of Bellows Falls, Vermont and
is dated May 1; 1877.
One of the items Michelle will display at the
Dairy Antique and Collectible Show at All-Amer
ican is a gallon milk bottle used by the Singing
Brook Farm during their bottling and delivery
business. Obie Snider, president of the All-Ameri
can board of directors, owned and operated this
bottling business from the family farm in Imler.
Butter churns, other milk bottles and selected col
lectibles will also be displayed by the Reasners at
the show.
Many unique and rare items will be on display
and/or offered for sale at the All-American Dairy
Antique and Collectibles Show, which will be con
ducted Sept. 21-25 as a part of the All-American
Dairy Show Week at the Farm Show Complex.
For more information, contact Dr. Darwin
Braund at (814) 863-1383.