Labor, Expansion
(Continued from Page 13)
Though the Hispanic population is a different
culture than dairy producers can be used to, the
workers are flexible enough to labor weekends and
are scheduled time off sometimes during the regular
workweek.
The language challenge proved interesting for the
Brubakers. “My brother Tony took German and I
learned Latin in high school,’’ said Brubaker. “We
had no background in Spanish.”
To manage the large herd, bit by bit the Brubak
ers learned how to communicate. They also took a
13-week crash course in learning the language and
culture from Penn State. Through the course, the
dairymen learned basic language skills.
“With our broken Spanish and the Spanish guy’s
broken English, we got through,” noted Brubaker.
“It’s not as much an obstacle as you might think.”
He noted that he learned a lot from the dedicated
workers.
Dan Hershberger and wife Gayle own Milky Spr
ings Farm in Quarryville. The Hershbergers
manage five full-time employees and two part-time.
Dan noted the farm also uses an Hispanic work
force and uses flexible scheduling.
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Dave Zimmerman, who farms Meadow View
Farms in Reinholds, along with wife Joyce and two
sons, also uses hired workers, including school kids.
The school kids milk three times per week. Five full
time workers are also employed.
Both Dan Hershberger and Mike Brubaker do not
calculate man-hours in ter of milk production,
but pounds of milk per v tcer. The benchmark is
about one million pounds per employee.
Dave Zimmerman uses a milk crew to milk the
600-some cows at 7 a.m. The school kids are em
ployed for the 4 p.m. milking time.
One full-time person enjoys managing herd
health and enjoys “putting in long days,” he said.
The Hershbergers milk about 300 cows. At one
point, before expansion, they were looking at an
outdated freestall setup. “We asked ourselves,
‘what are we doing this for?’ We thought we should
do it right or get out of (dairying).”
Hershberger noted the importance of looking for
the right vendor for facility and herd expansion.
“They want you to succeed, too,” said Dan. If he
were to do it all over again, Hershberger would fill
the new barns “with all heifers, instead of a new
herd of cows.”
(Turn to Page Al 5)
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