A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 7, 2003
Milky Way Farm: 40-Plus
Years Of Direct Marketing
BRIAN SNYDER
Centre Co. Correspondent
TROY (Bradford Co.)
The Fourth of July was hot last
year, so a four-hour round trip in
an air conditioned vehicle seemed
like a good idea.
Headed for an intensive grazing program on Milky Way Farm, this spring crop of
calves displays its genetic diversity.
“And there’ll be ice cream at
the farm when we get there,” I
told the kids to coax them into
submission (they thought a swim
ming pool was a better idea). Dad
prevailed this time, and we set
out down the road to Milky Way
Farm near Troy, Bradford Coun
ty-
When Kim Seeley Of Milky
Way first announced that three
generations of Seeleys were plan
ning to celebrate 40 years in the
direct-marketing dairy business
on July 4, he also expressed con
cern that the turnout would be
low, given people’s holiday plans.
“But we opened on the Fourth
of July in 1962, and we’re going
to celebrate on the Fourth just
the same,” he said.
That kind of firm resolve has
always figured into the Seeley
family business plan. An inter
view with Milky Way founder
and Kim’s father Lewis Seeley in
dicated just how de-
termined this unusual '
family has been «■»!
through the years. J r
“Forty years ago I / .
was president of the %
local chapter of a
large milk co-op,”
Lewis said. “I could
see the writing on the
wall the co-op’s
pricing structure was
not going to put our
four kids through col
lege.”
So Lewis and his
wife Marie took mat
ters into their own
hands, and actually
put their fate (or faith)
in the hands of their
neighbors and friends
who they thought
would buy fresh, local
milk. They built it,
and they came.
In those early days,
the Seeleys at times
sold 300 to 400 gallons
per day at a price that
made sense. And yes,
all four of the Seeley
children graduated
from college (Penn
State), paid for in hill
by the family business.
Lewis worries that
their accomplishment
of staying in business
for four decades might
look too easy to the
casual observer.
However, “the situ
ation was never very
rosy,” he said. “There
were problems right
from the start.”
The word most
used by Mr. Seeley
throughout the inter-*
view was “stress.” He
spoke of long hours, keeping the
shop open initially until 11 p.m.
every day except Christmas.
Keeping good help, he said, has
always been a worry (and a sal
vation).
Penn State ag student Shon Seeley tends to twin belt
ed heifers born on the 4th of July, just in time for the
Milky Way Farm 40th anniversary celebration.
We at Fisher & Thompson Inc. salute dairymen across the nation who are committed to
producing “MILK,” nature’s most nearly perfect food, that fills so many jzjSjST
essential nutritional requirements in the daily diet.
During this “June is Dairy Month,” we congratulate the Dale & Paul Hess Jr. families of
Drumore, Pa. and give them our best wishes on the completion of their new Double 8
Rapid Exit Milking Center, featuring Westfalia/Surge Omni-Analyst detachers. These two
brothers’ fanning operation is nestled in the river hills of southern Lancaster County. We
at Fisher & Thompson Inc. wish to take this opportunity to thank them for the privilege
to be part of their expansion program.
“You can’t play any golf’ in
this profession, he said.
And if keeping the ship run
steady were not hard
nmg
(Turn to Page A 33)
INCORPORATED
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FISHER&
MPSON
MAIN OFFICE:
15 NEWPORT RD
LEOLA, PA 17540
TEL 717-656-3307
FAX 717-656-4530