Victor Ziegler (Continued From Page I)
management practices that he can find.
All of Ziegler’s feeds are stored outside. Com silage and
haylage are kept in bunker silos, one of which measures
200x30x14 feet, and holds 3000 tons. Two 24x70 bottom
unloading silos are not in use. A possibility for using them in
the future may be high moisture com, says Victor. Con
centrates are also piled up outside. What about spoilage? “I
feed it too fast to give it a chance to spoil, and it eventually
gets wet anyway once it enters the cow’s stomach”, says
Victor. Brewers grains, also stored in the open, are delivered
to the farm for $l3 per ton.
A long, automated feed bunk is not in use because Ziegler
has found an easier, faster way which is far less complicated
or prone to break down. “Bunker silos,” says Victor, “are
especially desirable for large volume feeding”, and therefore
the type of feeding systems found on other farms, are not
practical for him. The mechanized feeding equipment at the
Ziegler dairy consists of a front-end loader, and a tractor
hitched Ufa 5-ton, self-unloading mixjvagon. Victor smilingly
commented that his one “service call” cost him five dollars,
for the use of his neighbor’s tractor.
The huge mixing wagon is loaded up with roughages and
concentrates in a matter of minutes and then unloaded along
a concreted feeding area which borders a sturdy steel fence.
Victor has found fence-line feeding to be very efficient,
convenient, and fast. It takes three 5-ton loads to feed the
milking herd, which is divided into five groups. One group,
referred to as “specials” are cows due to freshen within 2
weeks and those which have been fresh for 3-4 days.
Ziegler's feeding program allows an average of 30-35
pounds of brewers grains per cow. The protein content of
added concentrates varies from 16-20 percent, depending on
the availability of haylage. Protein requirements are not as
high when haylage is a part of the mixed feed. Additional
protein needs are provided by a commercial LPS feeder.
Unlike most dairymen with milking parlors, Victor does
not feed anything in his milking facility. The original
herringbone section, built in 1956, was equipped with feeders,
but frequent problems caused Ziegler to discontinue their
use. When the parlor was enlarged to a double-12 in 1969,
automatic feeders were scratched from the blueprints.
Three to four people complete one milking in about 2%
hours. Mrs. Ziegler, and the girls work in the parlor just as
frequently as the men. In order to keep high producing cows
on as close to a 12-12 hour schedule as possible, low milkers
are milked first in the afternoon and last in the morning. This
allows for a one-hour difference between morning and
evening milking hours. Production levels sometimes reach
10,000 pounds per day for the 210 milking cows.
There are 470 free-stalls at the Ziegler dairy. By using the
front-end loader and feed-mix wagon, one man can bed all of
them in about two hours. Victor discovered that three scoops
of sawdust mixed with one scoop of topsoil makes an ideal
bedding material because it stays in the stalls better. Topsoil
is easily available because of several building projects in
progress on the farm.
Animal wastes are handled primarily through liquid
manure pits and a lagoon. One of the pits is open, allowing
odors to escape gradually. If necessary, the pits can be en
tered with a tractor and loader to clean out any residues
which the 1000 gallon-a-minute pump may leave behind. All
concreted areas are sloped to aid drainage of mampe
towards the pits or lagoon. Should an energy shortage arise
at the farm, Victor is already making plans for tapping gases
from the manure pits.
Ziegler estimates that ninety percent of his herd is bred
naturally. “There are so many good bulls for sale,” he says
“that it pays me to save the time and costs involved with
artificial breeding. Watching this herd can tie up a good man
for several hours a day,” he claims “I save a lot of
dollars this way.” Breeding problems, so often a thorn in the
dairyman’s life,‘are not as serious for Victor today as what
they could be or have been. In 1959 he lost three-quarters of
his herd to brucellosis and his entire business had to be
refinanced.
Calves are raised in individual pens with slatted floors.
They receive “pickled” colostrum for two months, and grain
and water is supplied at all times after they are about 10 days
old. Milk replacer is fed only if the sour colostrum is not
available.
Every year, about mid-November, after the crops are in
and the first frost has struck, Victor puts an electric fence
around his entire property and lets the older heifers and dry
cows roam freely. They clean up the corn and save Ziegler
about two tons of silage per day. Also, he saves bedding
material, and labor involved in feeding and manure han
dling.
This past summer Victor decided that a cow with a dock
tail would look better, (expose her rear udder), be cleaner,
and be more pleasant to work with. Out of over 200 cows to
have their tails docked about one-half way up, only two bled
significantly. Victor and his hired help are very pleased with
the results. To those who may find fault with this con
troversial practice, Ziegler asks: “What about steers who
were castrated, and bull dogs which have their ears clip
ped?” The cows showed no ill effects of the amputation, he
says.
Victor raises approximately one-half to two-thirds of his
roughage requirements. The main crop is no-till corn. Ziegler
believes in disking his land one time before planting and cites
the following advantages: better conservation, accepts rain
more readily, trash does not float and accumulate in low
areas of fields, less chemicals are needed for weed control,
no army worm, - over-all easier management.
The only other crop raised on Ziegler’s farm is alfalfa
mixed with orchard grass. “I sold my baler nine years ago,”
he said proudly, claiming that two men can handle the same
amount of haylage as four men can handle in bales. Although
Ziegler’s farmland is only slightly rolling he has all of it
contoured and is even considering terracing as an additional
conservation measure.
There is no pasture on this farm. What little land is un
suitable for farming is presently being considered for
building lots. Ziegler’s other “construction sites” include a
combination water-reservoir, swimming pool, and fire
protection facility, and an acre pond for recreation and fire
protection.
The entire Ziegler family is involved with farm chores.
Two hired men round out the labor force. Incentives are
offered in several ways. Victor and his hired men take turns
watching the cows in the maternity pens. An employee
receives two dollars for every fresh cow which stays in the
herd for a reasonable length of time, and one dollar for every
healthy new-born calf, hi addition, Ziegler pays two cents per
hundred pounds of milk produced.
Among Victor’s off-the-farm responsibilities and interests
are positions with various county organizations. This fall he
was elected for a term on the Eastern Lebanon County school
board. He is also active in the Lebanon County Soil and Water
Conservation Committee and the Lebanon County Farmers
Association of which he has served as both treasurer and
Holstein Assoc.
Sees Need For
Calf Vaccination
Directors of the Penn
sylvania Holstein
Association in session at
State College, Pa. have gone
on record to stress the im
portance of continuing
calfhood vaccination. The
State Holstein Directors
think now is the time for a
complete re-evaluation of
the brucellosis eradication
program with continuing
emphasis on calfhood
vaccination at an early age
as the best means known for
complete control of the
disease. Funds spent for the
prevention of brucellosis in
our national herds are but a
fraction of the astronomical
losses which would occur
should there be a serious
outbreak, stated Association
President, Neil Bowen,
Wellsboro, Pa.
Home Furnishings
Patterns Available
Major pattern companies
which used to concentrate on
clothes are now offering
home furnishings patterns.
Extension specialists at The
Pennsylvania State
University say you can now
find patterns for draperies,
curtains, bedspreads,
tablecloths, furniture
covers, pillows and
placemats Also available
are patterns for kitchen
accessories and closet item-.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Feb. 16,1974
president. This Lebanon County Agway Committee
and the Lehigh Advisory Committee help to keep Victor busy
too. In addition, he is serving on the board of directors for the
local chapter of Teen Challenge, and he is a youth director for
his church.
Victor and Grace Ziegler have five children. Bonnie 19, is
employed as a nurse’s aid at the Evangelica. Church home.
Sharon, 18, is a secretary at a local hydraulic foundry. Both
still make it out to the bam occasionally, says Victor proudly.
Sixteen year old Teresa is a junior at E.L. Co. high school.'
Lynn, 15, is a sophomore at the same school and is currently
more interested in soccer than anything else, says his Dad.
Thirteen-year-old Leon’s favorite sport is football. “They all
help”, says Victor.
'Die family, members of the Heidelberg Chruch of the
Brethren, recently sponsored a family from Uganda, East
Africa. “You can’t help anybody else without helping
yourself at the same time,” says Victor. He paid tran
sportation and other costs to bring the Ahmed Pabani family
to this country. They live in a home owned by the Zieglers.
Victor has also hired young men who have been in trouble
and has made all the comforts of his home available to them.
Economic pressures of the past year have caused many
farmers to quit, but Victor is optimistic about the future. “It
has to get better,” he says, “because world markets are
opening up. Foreign economies can now afford our
agricultural and non-agricultural products,” Furthermore,
Ziegler forecasts an end to Americans' past habits of “buying
luxuries first, and necessities second.”
“Twenty or thirty years ago anyone could farm,” says
Ziegler. “That’s not true anymore. You need to be in
dustrious and have lots of initiative.” Reflecting on past
efforts, achievements, and lessons, Victor advises: “The
time to do something is when someone wants to help you.
Seventy-five percent of success is positive thinking. Plan
ahead. To get ahead, you must go into debt. Stick your neck
out for an opportunity.”
Ziegler credits his success to God-given blessings, of which
he considers his good health and a loving wife to be the most
valuable.
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