ROTARY CLUB OF LEWISTOWN
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As a young man I slowly became aware that the land I was farming had been in our family a long time. When I finally discovered it had been since 1754 this burden of stewardship became an integral part of my thinking. Being the eighth generation, I felt and still feel a drive to pass the property along through the family that has been here since the 18th century. I have already begun gifting certain parcels of land to my children; in some cases to the tenth generation, my grandchildren.
The heifers that we now raise along with promoting the "Raised to Graze" concept surely fit into my objectives of caring for his land. We buy these heifers, grow the slowly on strictly rotational grazing, breed them, and will hold our Fourth Annual Sale at the farm next year. During the last three years we have grazed our heifers nine and ten months respectively with the heavy use of stockpiled forage. It is wonderful and exciting being in tune with nature.
Over the 45 years of actively managing the land, my thoughts have been stewardship, conservation, preservation, and perpetuation. We have cleared fence rows, put in contour strips, water ways, diversion terraces, al things to leave the land better than when we started. Alfalfa and corn are by far the main crops that cause the land to be tilled and nearly 150 acres are in grassland used in intensive rotational grazing. Both, what is best for the land and the economic s of operating a profitable dairy farm, have been foremost in my planning.
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