.6—Lancaster Farmlm I Complete blood tests are an im- breeding problems. Although the jortant part of the Project 1870 cows are anemic, this condition alone vork. This lab technician is counting doesn't seem to be causing the he while cells in a blood sample repeat breeding. The Project 1870 :aken from the herd of John Behrer, group is trying to get at the root of Spruce Creek, near State College. Behrer’s difficulties. ‘ Behrer’s herd is experiencing repeat Working For (Continued From Page 1( •eceive from their veterinarians and extension specialists. - 3 roject 1870 members want to find out why discrepancies :xist between laboratory findings and field experience. Along with Guss and other members of the group, we nsited two of the project herds, a healthy one and a herd with problems. Both were short drives from the Penn State campus. Driving to the problem herd, Guss said, “It’s kind of musual for extension people to get involved in a project like his. Usually, we take research findings to the farmers. Here, <ve’ve got people with practical field experience working on jroblems in the field to develop guidelines that are going to je used in the field. I think it’s a good approach.” Dr. Richard Adams, a dairy science specialist at Penn state and another member of the research project, explained hat they were trying to take into account all the factors on a arm that might affect cows. He said they were taking soil md water samples, feed and forage analyses and, most mportantly, blood samples from cows in each herd. hi addition to Adams, Guss and this writer, three other project members went along that day to the farms. They were Dr. Jerry Jung, with the U.S. Pasture Research Laboratory at Penn State and a member of the university, agronomy staff, and William Stout and David Belesky, agronomy graduate students. Stout and Belesky are preparing a research paper on the micronutrient findings burned up by the study. Stout has been with the project since ts inception and expects to complete bis doctoral -equirements later this year. As we pulled into the lane at the problem herd farm, Jung explained his role as an agronomist in the project. “Dairy aimers are moving more and more towards feeding just one or two crops to their animals,” Jung said, “and this may be .he cause of some of our problems. They’ve gone to less oasture, and some farmers feed little or no hay. “These practices simplify the farmer’s job of growing feed, but they complicate the task of putting together a balanced ration,” Jung noted. Not only are some farmers putting all their eggs into one oasket, they might even be using bad eggs, seems to be his message “In the 60‘s,” Jung explained, “agronomists were con cerned with boosting the persistence and production in orage crops. We weren’t concerned with the composition of .he plants themselves, and now we think that might have oeen a mistake. Much of the alfalfa grown today, for example, is deficient in potassium. We need to do more work, too, on other micronutnents like zme and magnesium. Penn State’s leading the nation in research on these mcronutnents in cow health.” John Behrer’s was the first farm we visited. Behrer has 50 head of Holsteins with fertility problems. Blood tests have shown that Behrer’s cows have hemoglobin counts some 22 oercent lower than normal, and red blood cells counts as much as a third lower. He follows Penn State recom mendations on feeding Behrer told the researchers that he .ned also to follow recommended fertilizer levels for his USED TRACTORS Ford 8N w-Loader Farmall A w-Plow Farmall Super A w-Loader (Excellent Cond ) Farmall M Diesel (Good Cond ) Also New Leyland Diesels Available A. C. HEISEY Farm Equipment Inc. ROl, Jonestown, Pa 17038 Phone 717-865-4526 I ocated ‘A mile South of Fredericksburg off Route 343 Saturday. July 27. 1974 ■u„ ■S \ 1 1 : cropland. Even so, he is having repeat breeding problems. Some kind of mineral imbalance is apparently causing the mtertility-anemia syndrome in Behrer’s cows. Since he’s been a part of Project 1870, the Spruce Creek dairyman has experienced some improvements in his herd health. The project is concentrating on the milk fever-downer cow snydrome as well as the infertility-anemia syndromex. A Project 1870 report on Behrer’s herd says that the repeat breedings probably aren’t a result of anemia, but doesn’t say yet what is the cause. With the assistance of Mike Behrer, John’s son, Guss drew blood samples from the necks of the cows in the herd. For the purpose of blood sampling, all cows in the study are divided into four stages of lactation, one-to-90 days, 91-to-180 days, 181-270 days and 271 days to dry. Equal numbers of animals are selected from each stage of lactation, and an attempt is made to take blood samples from the same animals at each bleeding. Animals removed from the herd are replaced in the bleeding schedule by an animal in the same stage of lac tation. Water on all the farms is tested, too, and good water, ac cording to Guss, is the one thing all the model herds have in common. The water on Behrer’s farm is a bit harder than normal, because it’s spring water straight from the limestone soil, but it is pure. From Behrer’s farm, we went to the farm of Harold Lucas, TRY A CLASSIFIED AD A MILKMOVER SYSTEM Sets you out of the barn sooner-with more money in your pocket' It saves your lugging heavy pails of milk from barn to cooler • HAS MORE MILK CAPACITY • PERMITS FASTER MILKING • ELIMINATES EXTRA HELP • PROTECTS MILK QUALITY • IS 100*. SELF CLEANING • HAS ELECTRIC CONTROLS • FITS INTO ALL BARNS • EASILY INSTALLED Available thru your local dairy equipment dealer or call the fac tory collect to arrange for a free demonstration on your farm. Manufactured by d/oug m INDUS'OIES INC WOHIMSON P.O, BOX 283, ELKTON, MD. 2192 X Phone 301-398-3451 •* V • s/' • it Why are some well-managed dairy herds productive, fertile and profitable, while others are plagued with milk fever, downer cows, anemia and breeding problems? Penn State's PENN-JERSEY HARVESTORE P. O. BOX 91 Dr. Jerry Jung, left, and Dr. Samuel Guss check out a hay sample at the farm of John Behrer. Behrer has one of the problem herds in Project 1870. Problem herds were carefully chosen so that only well-managed herds with problems are represented in the study. HARVESTORE Fed Cows Produce More Milk SYSTEMS, Inc. Project 1870, financed mainly by donations from the dairy industry, is trying to answer that question. Their work might help more cows to be as contented as this bucolic critter. NEW HOLLAND, PA. PHONE 717-354-5171
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