Father-Son Team Up
(Continued from Page A 1)
In the past this farm has been
a hog and dairy operation. Dave
became a full-time farmer with
his father Lester in 1964, after his
high school graduation from
Meyersdale Area High School.
His father and mother Lester and
Gladys (Troutman) Korns are
both deceased. They acquired the
farm from Lester’s parents, the
late Earl and Ella (Lepley)
Korns.
The Korns’ youngest daughter
Amanda lives nearby with her
husband Jeff McKinley and their
oldest daughter Lisa lives in New
York with her husband Kevin
Butler and their daughter Emily.
“We love farming and we are
now trying to find a niche in the
market with F-l seed stock and
club calf production,” said Dave.
Dave Korns started out as a dairy farmer and then had
a hog farm for several years. In the early 1990 s he be
came a full-time beef farmer. He has worked with beef
cows all his life and enjoys working on herd genetics.
Here, he feeds some grain to the cows by his home and
barn, but the herd is almost entirely fed hay.
MU* TKaiiks And Best Wishes To JMT
Willow Springs Farm
On The Completion Of Their New 100 Cow Tie Stall Facility.
This well managed, high producing, father and son dairy operation of the Glenn and Lamar Gockley families is located in Northern
Lancaster County at Adamstown, PA. and features
* W/F-Surge Analyst Detachers
* Variable Speed Milk Transfer Pump & Plate Cooler
* Ventilation System w/Fans, Curtains and Evaporative Cooling
FISHER.
717-656-3307
717-445-5519
The father-son team works
well. For Dave, the genetics of
these animals is intriguing. For
Chris, showing and fitting the
beef cows has become a passion.
Chris travels throughout the U.S.
as a showman in beef competi
tion.
With 96 acres of farmland and
more than 500 acres of rented
pasturejpnd and hay ground for
production of round bales, the
Korns try to keep the overhead
down as much as possible. The
pastureland and hay fields are
mostly reclaimed strip mined
land.
“We keep overhead down in
several ways,” said Dave. "We
use a four-wheeler in order to
keep fuel consumption down. We
also strive to keep problem-free
cows.”
The cattle are kept outside on
717-484-2233
LCINiACH tfdhft
. ELECTRIC
mi
717-445-7142
Dave and Chris Koms of Southampton Township in Somerset County feed their herd
of beef cows, mostly Angus-based brood cows, a round hay bale last week. Their farm
stead has been in their family for three generations.
pastureland year-round and are
fed primarily round bales
throughout the year.
The cows must calve at two
years old and are bred back on
time each year. The Koms look
for structural soundness for lon
gevity in a cow and udder quality
and small teats, so the newborn
calf can nurse easily.
An embryologist visits the
homestead regularly. In order to
produce a supreme club calf, a
high quality donor cow is selected
and then her eggs are flushed
and implanted into recipient
cows.
“The donor cow produces fe
males that will produce high
quality club calves,” said Dave.
Cattle are baited into corrals
for synchronization and for
breeding A-I, and for putting em
bryos into recipient commercial
cows, said Korns.
v \
866-665-3525
CEDAR CREST
M. EQUIPMENT
800-646-6601
“We have purchased some
donor quality cows. A Meyer 734
daughter, an Angus Anchor
daughter, and P.S., our proven
Century Touchstone and P.S.
Power Play daughter,” said
Dave. “I like to learn the genetics
and Chris likes to show cattle, so
we are starting to produce
seedstock F-l heifer and club
calves for 4-H and FFA kids.”
Chris most recently returned
from the North American Inter
national Livestock Exposition in
Louisville, Ky., and placed sec
ond in his class. He plans to at
tend more international shows in
the future and enjoys clipping
and fitting a beef cow. Chris has
traveled to Oklahoma, South Da
kota, Wyoming, and other states
looking for quality donor cows to
produce club calf stock.
“I enjoy the artistic aspects of
showing and fitting cows,” said
fc *
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 30, 2002-A2l
* 3000 Gal Mueller Tank
* Sturdy Bill Stalls
* Valmetal 175 Bu. Feed Cart
Awron Hum Conitniction
717-445-8517
717-445-4667
Chris. “You can take an average
cow and depending on how she is
clipped, that animal can do pret
ty well in the show ring. I enjoy
the shows and working with the
animals.”
In addition to their beef opera
tion, Dave also sells field and
natural stone and landscaping
boulders to markets in the East,
and in Baltimore, Md. and north
ern Virginia. He acquires the
stone from Somerset County and
in Maryland on Big Savage
Mountain and other parts of Al
legany County, Md.
“We are in farming because we
love it. In beef farming, the profit
per unit is minimal, so we are al
ways looking at ways to manage
this operation more efficiently,”
Dave said. “Nowadays, farmers
must be able to change and mar
ket their products more effective
ly.”
Rovendale Ag
570-538-95645
' Ephrata National Bank
Bob Zook
1 717-721-5220