INSIDE the Ric-Be barn
by Jerry Westbrook
Richard and Betty Weller fit very well into the sandwich generation. But it' more like a Dagwood sandwich. Four generations of farm ownership preceded them, and two more are following. The original farm was established around 1849 by Dick's great-great grandfather. During the period 1888-1914, the farm was out of the family. But it was repurchased in 1914, so in only five years, it will be a Century Farm for the current line of ownership.
The Ric-Be Farm, as it's now known, straddles Summit Road among the gentle rolling hills outside Middleburg, Snyder County. Since its inception, it has grown in size and technology to fit the needs of the family. Today, the main barn complex houses 48 milk cows, a mini-herd of calves near their mamas, a growing harem of heifers in the "raising pen" and about a dozen steers in the finishing pen. The milkers produce around 2,600 pounds of milk a day in the current season. Dairylea has hauled milk from this farm in an unbroken contract since 1927. An unusual feature of the barn is Dick's custom-made stanchions that allow the cows more freedom of movement and prevent "stanchion shoulder," a debilitating condition derived from constant pressing against the tighter old-style wooden or metal stanchions.
Besides more comfortable stanchions, the cows are stabled on thick rubber mats. Being modern, more literate critters, they are treated to a daily dose of The Daily Item newspaper, of Sunbury, though it's slightly shredded. When the cows are done with it, the bedding doesn't go to waste. Well, not totally, anyway. It goes to a concrete digesting pit along with manure and used water, and reinvents itself for its new life as field dressing. During their 35 years in 4-H, the Wellers have seen generations of young people grow into an appreciation of the joys, labors and both the material and intangible rewards of farming. In the mid-1980s, they worked with Young Farmers to develop an inexpensive regeneration system, which allows the cows, rather indirectly, to heat the barn's wash water.
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