FOUR LANCASTER COUNTY Dairy Herd Improvement Association su
pervisors received certificates of recognition awards for many years of service to
the dairy industry at the Association’s annual meeting on The Pennsylvania
State University campus, recently.
From left to right, Wilbur Houser, Lampeter, 10 years service; Dean Amide,
Morgantown, 10 years; Harold Lindecamp, Peach Bottom, 15 years; and Owen
Etter, Leola, 10 years. Etter was elected Association President for 1965-66.
MH 30 AVAILABLE AT
P. L. ROHRER & BRO., Smoketown, Po.
MH 30 Available at all AGWAY Stores and
Local Representatives in Lancaster Co.
V***J
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 26, 1965
* , ,«»■
• "Summer Slump"
(Continued trom .rage 1)
ville, Md., has exposed dairy
cows to a variety of tempera
ture-humidity combinations in
an artificial-climate laboratory.
And he has found that cows
can adjust amazingly well to
the direct effects of heat and
humidity.
“The more tiials we lun,”
Dr. McDowell says, “the more
convinced we are that milk
flew tends to decrease largely
because of summertime prob
lems that are the indirect
not the direct result of hot
weather.”
Field studies in Georgia and
Louisiana have confirmed
these laboratory findings, and
Dr. McDowell recommends
that herd managers take sev
eral steps to overcome prob
lems brought on by hot
weather:
1 Provide sufficient high-
Ph. 397-5539
quality feed; avoid mature
pasture grasses.
2 Keep animals from hav
ing to travel far to feed, wa
ter, and shade.
3 Allow grazing only dur
ing the cooler time of day.
4 Control biting insects.
5 Provide enough shade
and unpolluted water.
Cattle in hot climates
shouldn’t have to depend upon
grass pastures for all their
feed, McDowell says In the
South, permanent pastures can
support good milk production
for only 40 days between
June and November. Tough,
mature pasture grasses are
usually unsuited for summer
feed.
A cow ordinarily spends the
energy equivalent of 1 to 3
pounds of milk per day by
foraging for feed. Milk yield
drops even more if the cow
has to walk long distances to
pasture, dunking trough, or
shade
When good grazing is avail-
able, it should 'be restricted
to the cooler hours of the
day Cattle on pasture especi
ally need help in fighting off
biting insects, which are at
their worst during the late
evening and night
The 'best solution of hot
weather feeding lies in use
of drylots In the Louisiana-
Geoigia studies, cows fed hay,
silage, and gieen chop in dry
lots pioduced 98 percent of
their cool-weather milk yield
when daily temperatures aver
aged 91 degrees at the after
noon high and 70 degrees at
the nighttime low
Cows fed stoied iorages har
vested at the proper stage of
matinity pioduced 21 percent
moie milk than cows on pas
tuie Feed required per
pound of weight gam for heif
ei s vent down 27 percent,
breeding efficiency was raised
11 percent, and total cost per
unit of feed energy was re
duced 25 percent
Clean, convenient water is
a hot-weather must, McDowell
says Cows drink up to five
times as much on hot- days as
on cool ones and they’ll
dunk three or four times
moie often Water should be
cool but not moie than 20
degrees below air tempera
ture, cattle drink less if the
water is coldei than that.
Troughs should be fairly shal
low, so that fiesh, cool wa
tei added to the tiough does
not sink through warm, stag
nant water outside the
leach of a cow’s muzzle.
Shade is especially impor
tant in hot climates that are
also dry less so in those
where daytime humidity stays
above 60 percent Shades 12
to 14 feet high are most suit
able for dry climates; for
humid climates they should
be only 9 to 12 feet high.
Tiees aie particulaily good
for shade m humid places
because they permit plenty
of an circulation
MEAT COOKING
Cook fiesh unfrozen meat
right after you take it from
the refrigerator Do not per
mit it to reach room tempera
ture, advises Louise Hamilton,
Penn State extension nutrition
specialist Reasons for prompt
cooking include room tempera
ture varies from 60 to 100 de
grees; some large cuts could
require several hours before
room temperature is reached;
timetables are calculated oa
cuts that are at refrigerator
temperature when cooking be-
5