—Lancaster ff arming, ti
8
“Be Sharp in ’73”
“In 1972, the dairy farmer got
caught between a rock and a hard
place,’’ Herman Stebbins told the
annual dinner meeting of the Red
Rose Dairy Herd Improvement
Association on Tuesday at the
Farm and Home Center.
Stebbins is manager of York
County’s Sinking Springs Farm.
The Holstein herd under his care
has a rolling herd average of over
19,000 pounds of milk and 736
pounds of butterfat annually. For
the past 30 years, he has also
been a farm radio commentator
over radio station WSBA
Because ’72 was a bad year,
Stebbins said, dairymen should
try to be extra sharp managers
this year Drawing on his ex
tensive experience with cows, he
spoke about techniques to keep
milk production up in a time of
rising costs
“This is the winter to cull,” he
emphasized “No matter how
much you like a cow, or how well
she’s done for you, it’s just not
going to pay keeping her, you
just won’t be able to keep her for
sentimental reasons, or to get
just one more calf, if she’s not a
profitable milker Especially this
winter ”
Time is the most plentiful
commodity dairymen have this
winter, Stebbins asserted “That
time can be put to good use, doing
little things that will help fatten
your milk checks. With today’s
milk prices, if you can get an
extra two pounds of milk a day
from a cow, she’s going to earn
One more reason
for buying a new
New Idea Spreader.
Single Beater with
optional upper cylinder.
Farmers buy more New Idea spreaders than any other for
a lot of good reasons The solid wood boxes. Structural
steel supports Heavy-weight gears, transmissions, A-frame
hitches maybe even the new Warranty on Wood. But
here’s another good reason for buying New Idea.
Every new Single Beater spreader can be equipped with
an optional upper cylinder whether it’s the new 116-
bushel or the huge 318-bushel .. or any of the other 3 sizes.
This option levels out heaped loads, and lets you spread
a wide, uniform pattern that does more for the soil. And
the optional hydraulic endgate can be used with the op
tional upper cylinder!
Right now we’re trading big.
A.L.HERR&BRO.
Quarryville
KINZER EQUIP. CO.
Kinzer
LANDIS BROS., INC.
Lancaster
N. G. HERSHEY & SON
Manheim
ROY H. BUCK. INC.
Ephrata, R.D. 2
27.' 1973
Herman Stebbins, manager
of York County's Sinking
Springs Farm, was the guest
speaker at Tuesday’s annual
Red Rose OHIA banquet.
you an extra $4 a month In a 50-
cow herd, that’s an extra $2OO a
month You can do a lot of things
for $2OO a month.”
Stebbins talked about the three
most important aspects of dairy
management - cows, heifers and
calves
“If you try to skimp on caring
for calves this year, you’ll hurt
yourself in years to come,” he
asserted “You’ve got to give
your calves the best possible care
you can afford.”
LONGENECKER
FARM SUPPLY
Rheems
CHAS. J. McCOMSEY
&SONS
Hickory Hill, Pa.
STOLTZFUS
FARM SERVICE
Cochranville, Pa.
A. B. C. GROFF. INC.
New Holland
Dairy Expert Says
Stebbins recommended that
calves be taken from the mothers
the day they’re borp, and put into
individual stalls or pens till
they’re off milk. Well-bedded,
dry pens are a necessity, he
pointed out, but calves don’t need
heat unless the barn is damp.
Calves should be watched
carefully for any signs of trouble,
and treated immediately.
Worming at weaning is im
portant. A good starter feed or a
coarse dairy ration should be
used, and calves should get at
least some of the very best hay
available Stebbins noted that at
his farm, they’ve observed that
calves of just about any age
thrive in the winter weather.
“You should resist the temp
tation to save money on heifers,
too,” Stebbins warned. They need
grain if you want them to grow
into good-sized, profitable cows.”
Clean water and well-bedded
pens are also important. Stebbins
likened a heifer drinking from a
dirty waterer to a person
drinking a glass of water through
shredded wheat. He said heifers
should be wormed and checked
periodically for mange and lice.
They should be penned according
to size They should be bred at the
proper size and to the best bulls
available.
“At our farm, we try to bring a
bred heifer back to the milking
barn about two weeks before
she’s due to calve. We like to get
her used to people, the bam and
other cows before she freshens ”
Stebbins emphasized getting
all the milk from heifers, and
recommended stripping for at
least the first few weeks.
On cow management, Stebbins
first mentioned feeding a
balanced coarse-textured ration
that the cows like to eat, and
putting the feed in something
clean “If you’ve got a manger,
you should get all the old feed out
of it at least once a day.”
In his operation, Stebbins
figures on one pound of feed to
every 2>/ 2 to 3 pounds of milk, plus
lots of roughage.
“Milking is the single most
important thing we do,” he said
“You should try to milk at the
same time every day of the year,
and you should follow the same
routine every day. Your milking
About all
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routine shouldn’t be interrupted
for visiting, making hay or
anything else.”
In stall barns, Stebbins feels
easy milkers should be put at the
head of the line. “You can’t sell
ONCE
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DOES IT
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s ORTHO CHEVRON DESIGN UNIREL REG US PAT OFT
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Ph: 665-3248
Box 276, Manheim RD3
John B. Kurtz
Ph: 354-9251
R. D. 3, Ephrata
•••«••» U«Mk W * >•••« M
on the floor,” he said. Co
should be milked dry at ev
milking. "Very few cows milk
at the same time in all fo<
quarters. As soon as one quart
is finished, take the milker oi
Then, when the last quarter
milked out, put all the teat cu]
back on, and you’ll get anoth<
pound of milk.”
(Continued on Page 9)
397-3539
James High & Sons
Ph: &54-0301
Gordonville
Wenger's Feed Mill Inc.
Ph: 367-1195
Rheems
»W 1
'ery
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