Animal-power Farm Tour

[Carl Russell]

[FONT=&quot]I left the house at 3 am on May 21, 2010, in a rental car headed for Ohio. Running a small farm, logging, being a dad, managing an Internet discussion forum, and basically keeping busy otherwise, I just don’t get away that often. I was on a pilgrimage of sorts, to visit Amish equipment manufacturers, and several horse farmers, networking, as part of my role as an organizer for Northeast Animal-Power Field Days.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Friday was a long day behind the wheel, as I had arranged to meet with the Wengerds at Pioneer Equipment in Dalton, Ohio, early in the afternoon. After 11 hours of virtually uneventful travel, I found myself cruising down a small country road lined with farms of lush green and gently rolling hills.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]My eyes were aching after hours of taillights and road signs, and I felt them drinking in the landscape. The farms seemed to creep right up to the edge of the street. I noticed right away the marked difference in growing season. At home we had just planted our corn, yet here it was nearly knee high. Hay crops were already being harvested in some fields. It was fantastical to be driving through this farmland. In one day I had driven halfway through a season.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Pioneer Equipment is housed in a large steel building, and as I turned into the driveway I saw horse-drawn implements around the parking area. Wagon bodies, walking and sulky plows, and harrows were lined up across the lot. I was honored to meet with Wayne Wengerd and four of his sons who work in the business with him. We had a great conversation about bringing people to public draft animal events, and about NEAPFD.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Before I left, Joe Wengerd gave me a tour of their facility, including a peek at some innovative cultivating equipment they are working on. Having limited exposure to Amish businesses I was surprised by the level of mechanization in the building. Arc welders blazing away, drill presses, benders, and paint sprayers are all run off large gas-powered generators. Pioneer Equipment takes flat and round stock steel in one end of the building, and they completely build plows, wagons, forecarts, and steel wheels, that are ready for delivery out of the other end of the building.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It was still mid afternoon when I left Pioneer Equipment, and in a half an hour I was touring along a grid of back roads looking for David and Elsie Kline’s Farm. As I approached their farm, I saw an Amish man pulling four abreast Belgians out of the end of a cornfield and preparing to turn in again for another pass. I recognized David, so I parked nearby and climbed on the forecart for a few rounds. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Riding back and forth planting in the rolling hillside cornfield that David has worked since he was a boy, we could see four other farmers with teams doing the same thing. Two hours later we had pretty much covered every topic from the BP oil spill, to ways of living that allow us to make generous contributions to our communities. I bid farewell to David and Elsie at about 6pm, and continued on the road into western PA.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Saturday morning I arrived in Punxatawney, where I ate breakfast at a restaurant with a statue of a woodchuck on the counter. Approaching my next destination, I saw an Amish carriage turning into traffic, indicating the proximity to the community I was looking for. Forest Manufacturing is housed in another large steel building where David Miller and his sons build logging equipment from scratch, as well as beautifully detailed ornate steel lattice-work, gates, and railings for stairs.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I had arranged with Andy Carson, a regular contributor to DAP (draftanimalpower.com), to meet me at Forest Manufacturing so that he could pass along his prototype draft buffer. It was great to finally get a close-up look at how he has combined a leaf spring into an single-tree, in order to buffer spikes in draft during work. David was also quite interested in the device, and the three of us had an enthusiastic discussion about the concept. Before we left, those two had agreed to travel together to NEAPFD in the fall.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]From there I drove half the day to Lancaster County. I & J Manufacturing is another shop with a full line of brand new HD farming equipment in their yard. They are located in a community surrounded by neat little farms nestled in the bottoms around creeks and across gently rolling hills. There were girls in the fields hoeing corn, teams cultivating, kids walking along back-road lanes barefoot with fishing poles, and horse-drawn buggies. In the same town I visited White Horse Machine, and was happy to find good interest in our event from both businesses.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I traveled back to central PA for the evening to stayed with Kevin Cook, a young man who is going to do an apprenticeship on our farm. I found myself driving up winding mountain roads in the dark, under heavy rain, and finally beginning to feel road weary. After much needed sleep and a great breakfast, Kevin took me to meet some young farmers who live nearby. Micah and Bethany Spicher Schonberg run Plowshare Produce, a horse-powered CSA in McAlevy’sFort, PA. After years of work on other farms, Micah and Bethany are growing vegetables on Bethany’s parents’ land in Stone Valley, where her great-grandfather farmed with horses in the 1940’s.

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[FONT=&quot]Significant components of this trip were the long stretches of endless highway, traffic, and urban landscapes. Driving through these areas, both the car and I were on “cruise control”. At each stop on the itinerary I would slow down into little islands of greenery and earthy activity. It felt a lot like time travel. The freeways were a blur, while the farm communities brought me into the present, and back to the ground. At Plowshare, Micah gave me a tour of their 2 acres of vegetables, and brought out his team of Haflingers. It was just what I needed to prepare for my 10 hour drive back to Vermont.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I headed northerly through the mountains of central PA, to the Beech Grove Farm of Eric and Anne Nordell. I have read their articles in Small Farmers Journal for years, but nothing compares to a first-hand tour of the gardens, green houses, and spectacular surroundings. This iconic horse-powered couple is so open and generous, it was a shame I didn’t leave time to make my visit more constructive. They shared a wonderful afternoon meal with me, and I was on the trail again.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Next on my list was a stop at Northalnd Sheep Dairy in Cortland, NY, to meet Donn Hewes. Due to conflicts in schedule I was forced to bypass, as Donn and Maryrose were off the farm.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In three days I traveled 2100 miles. In some obvious ways it was exhausting, but in many other ways this trip was truly inspiring. I was blessed to have visited with more than a dozen wonderful people, all involved in real ways with farming, and with the use of draft animals. I also feel as though it was successful for NEAPFD, as three out of the four machinery manufacturers will be attending the event in person.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]After my return, the Nordells wrote me a quick note to touch base on some unfinished conversations. We had shared some enthusiastic comments about the substance of my trip, and we agreed that there would probably be some interest among the broad draft animal power community. In their note they tossed out one last thought. Perhaps there would be some interest in organizing a bus tour to follow the route that I traveled. They even offered to host an afternoon farm tour at their place as part of it.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Find me at the 2010 Northeast Animal Power Field Days, and let’s talk about that.[/FONT]

Carl

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