Gary Truckenmiller's math skills have well served his family and their Dry Run Dairy dairy and crops farm near Watsontown, Pa. Building his career on attention to those details has earned this Northumberland County farmer the prestigious Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer Award. He'll receive the award during March 31 ceremonies in Harrisburg, Pa.

Gary and wife Kelly are in a limited liability corporation and partnership with son Alex. Daughter Adrea isn't involved in the farm operation. Gary handles the bookwork and dairy management. Alex manages the field crops, with both supplying labor for their 640-acre land and 100-cow dairy operation.

ADDS UP WELL: Truckenmiller successfully achieves environmental quality and top production in crops and milk production.

The Truckenmillers put three farms into the farmland preservation program. That enabled them to keep farm debt very low and allowed them to cash flow many improvements to boost efficiencies.

Switching to no-till and incorporating liquid manure with an Aerway tool proved to be a good economic move – boosting corn and soybean yields and keeping the nutrients in the ground and on side hills. High-forage diets helped raised milk production to 26,400 pounds per cow. Solar panels mounted on the farm's machine shed helps shave energy costs.

The family is also establishing a rotational grazing system for heifers between eight to 16 months. Rotational grazing allows them to capture value from non-crop land.

Truckenmiller topped state soybean yield contests in two years, and has been no-tilling since 1990. He earned Conservation Farmer of the Year honors and the farm has achieved Dairy of Distinction and Clean Water Farm awards.

Leadership roles
Gary serves on the ADADC Dairy Promotion executive committee and Maryland-Virginia Dairy Cooperative's leadership council. The past president of Northumberland County Farm Bureau still serves on the county's national legislative committee. He's also a township supervisor and a member of its planning commission.

Other leadership positions involved Pennsylvania Dairy Herd Improvement Association board, the Warrior Run Fort Freeland Heritage Society and the Warrior Run School's strategic planning committee. He's a past master and current trustee of the Watsontown Masonic Lodge. He and Kelly have served as assistant treasurer of the Watsontown Baptist Church.

Nominate a 2015 Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer
Nominations for the 2015 Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer awards program are open. Any person or organization may nominate candidates from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia by emailing candidates' names and addresses to [email protected].

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