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Trotacre Farm will be one stop on the preconference tour of local operations.

April 24, 2019

2 Min Read
A group of Guernsey cows in pasture photographed at close quarters
GUERNSEY SPOTLIGHT: The upcoming World Guernsey Conference will put Pennsylvania and New York Guernseys in the spotlight. Several farms in both states will be visited in June with the main conference held from June 9-12 in Lancaster, Pa.pelvidge/Getty Images

Dave Trotter will be showing off his Guernsey herd’s best stuff to international visitors this June.

Trotacre Farm in Enon Valley, Pa., of which Trotter is a co-owner, is one of several tour stops in Pennsylvania as part of the 16th World Guernsey Conference.

The main conference will be held in Lancaster, Pa., at the Double Tree by Hilton from June 9-12. But Trotter’s farm, which he co-owns with his father and brother, is one of the preconference tour stops. Up to seven farms in Pennsylvania will be visited, Trotter says.

Trotacre Farm is a 500-acre operation with 165 milking cows and the same number in heifers and young stock. The farm also grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa hay.

The farm has been home to many influential bulls and cows, and at one time owned the world-record cow for milk.

Trotter says he hopes visitors will see the best of the Guernsey breed in the U.S.

“I hope they see our Guernsey genetics,” he says. “Some of the milking cows and heifers we have to offer.”

The preconference tours begin May 21 in Texas. The tours will last for nearly three weeks, with farm visits in Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio before finally reaching stops in the Keystone State.

Following the main conference, the tour will then shift to New York state for three more days of farm tours and sightseeing from June 13-15. Stops will include Ripley Farm, a tour of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Coon Brothers Farm and Del’s Dairy Farm.

Along with seeing good genetics, Trotter hopes the tour will open more opportunities for international exports of seedstock. He’s already exported semen from his farm to England and has also done some judging across the pond.

Trotter went to the World Guernsey Conference in New Zealand three years ago. He says it was “awesome” because it gave him the opportunity to not only see new farms but to make some business contacts.

“We’re going to pull some special cattle out, some bulls in AI,” he says. “Hopefully that will interest them in that they like what they see.”

The conference, he says, will also feature an extensive youth program with mock contests, quiz bowl and dairy bowl, a fitting and showmanship competition, and classification.

Other Pennsylvania farm stops include Maple Bottom, Snider’s Homestead, Misty Meadows Farm and Warwick Manor Farm, among others.

The conference will officially be held in Lancaster for four days of workshops on genetics and reproduction, marketing, and estate planning.

Lancaster conference highlights

June 9. Check-in and welcome dinner.

June 10. Genomics and reproduction workshops (morning); Warwick Manor Farm visit featuring classification and showmanship workshops, and lunch (afternoon); Yoder’s Country Market tour of processing facilities followed by dinner and entertainment (evening).

June 11. Individual country reports (morning); milk and milk marketing workshops featuring an A2A2 panel discussion (afternoon). 

June 12. American Jersey Cattle Association presentation and estate planning workshop (morning); Guernsey youth programs (afternoon); farewell dinner and benefit auction (evening).

For more information, visit worldguernseyconference.com.

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