Two lifestyles at the same time EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of two parts describing life on the farm in Germany. The information is based on observations made by the author while visiting the area In 1974. KLEMPAU, West Germany - Finding a wooden home or even a wooden barn in Germany would be as unusual as finding a bam in the United States which is built of marble. The Germans use bricks the way Americans use two-by fours. The rural setting of farms, as we know them here, are absent. It’s life on the farm and life in town all at the time. Since cows, implements, feedstuffs, and even hogs and chickens share the same building with the farm family, one would think it would result in an unpleasant situation, but neither I nor my wife found that to be true. Evidently the builders of a century or more ago found ways to keep the noise and odors out of the living quarters. This type of con struction was brought about by severe winters. .jAn American farmer visiting this area should not be Vi-prised to find only one breed of dairy cattle. After all, this is the original home of the black-and-whites, and they received their name from this province, Holstein. Different trends in breeding, due to marketing and management considerations, have left remarkable dif ferences between the European Holsteins and their New World cousins. The European Holsteins are a dual-purpose Junior CHAMP, an automatic, all air and vacuum operated detacher, with CHAMPION detacher features at a low cost. Besides being easy to install and simple to operate, Junior CHAMP uti lizes some of the very same convenience and performance features that, until now, were available only on the CHAMPI ON model ‘EP’. Features like the support arm: a 4-hnk, flexible, easy to position arm that assists the operator in attaching the milkmg unit to the cow. And the same air-powered fetract mecha nism for quiet, dependable retract performance. MD Coop Milk Producers Shenks Farm Service Coy Price, Equipment Dealer • Manager Lititz, PA 13011 795-2727 {7I7J 626-1151 - Landis Farmstead Automation Carl Shirk Milton, PA Lebanon, PA (7171 437-2375 1717] 274-1436 Lloyd Kreider Cochranville, PA [2ls] 932-2934 «b Junior^ I HAMP DETACHER ALU AIR AND VACUUM OPERATED Dairying in Germany: animal; raised for both milk and meat. They are, therefore, lacking in the features we associate with good dairy character. These shorter-legged, rounder, stockier animals appear to be stronger and less prone to a number of problems we encounter in the U.S. Displaced abomasums, for exam ple, are unheard of. Two veterinarians I talked to could only remember one case between them. The theory presented by one veterinarian was that twisted stomachs are due to nervousness. While I can make no authoritative comment on this thinking, I can definitely point out that cows I saw in Germany are very apathetic to whatever goes on around them. Dairymen agreed that problems, particularly breeding difficulties, increased as production increased. Most herds averaged 11,000 pounds of milk per cow per year, but 15,000 pound herds were not uncommon. Fat tests generally run higher than what is considered average for American Holstein herds. Holsteins with a higher than 4.5 per cent test are numerous. American and Canadian bulls have been introduced into Europe in recent years. Surprisingly, matings do not always have favorable results, regardless of how good a pedigree or proof the American sires have. Extensive studies are being made and it is expected that American breeders will even tually have to keep the European dairyman in mind. Per- ■e BOU MATIC The fact is, Junior CHAMP is primarily the ‘CHAMPION’ detacher without the electronic automation features. Then, to control the mode of opera tion, the consistent, accurate, vacuum operated Little CHAMP flow sensor is used. This feature along with the air powered features from the ‘CHAMPION’, join to make Junior CHAMP, by far the finest intermediate detacher available Will Godwin Zone Manager (717) 872-8585 MILKING SYSTEMS ING, 4-LINK TE AND MAINTAIN URATE FLOW SENSOR NUAL OPERATION C.I.P. WASHING ss4Q°° wrt/a F. 0.8. Clugston Implement Chambersburg, PA (717) 263-4103 Hoover Refrigeration Morrisons Cove, PA [Bl4| 793-2783 Jones Dairy Service Lester Jones, Jr. Medfortf, NJ [6o9] 267-5246 ' Lancaster Farming, Saturday. Oct. 16.1976 formance is by far the major consideration on the farm as well as at the breeding units. German dairymen like to breed their cows so that calves are bom in the spring. A minimum number of cows are milked during the winter. Calves are raised in much the same way as in this country. Milk replacer is a common feed. Sour colostrum has been used for years. And like on many farms in the U.S., calves and heifers are housed wherever there is room for them. Technological advances are as much a part of European agriculture as they are in the United States. Bam cleaners, pipelines and automatic washers are on almost every farm. As mentioned, earlier, however, there are no regulations concerning their installation, use and maintenance. A pipeline, for example, can be installed with any number of risers to get around doorways, feedbins, hay chutes and so forth. Cylindrical sponges are a part of the cleaning system of one pipeline manufacturer. To clean the line, the dairyman first sends a series of sponges through it. This forces the remaining milk to the receiving bowl in the milk house. The same procedure is followed to remove water from the line at the end of the wash cycle. Manure handling is very different in Schleswig-Holstein. Every farm has a bam cleaner and a manure stacker. Manure is hauled only a few times a year, and is often a community affair. Farmers get together with loaders and spreaders and spend all day fertilizing their fields. The lack of bam snow, extremely narrow litter alleys and insufficient light are among the most noticeable differences between the interiors of American and North European dairy bams. American expectations and German methods are strikingly different. Lack of space and architectural styles from centuries ago are primarily responsible for this situation. Litter alleys are only three or four feet wide in some cases and cows are squeezed into stalls so that only half of them can lay down at a time. An American fanner would think he never left home when he strolls into the German farmer’s machinery shed. The names and colors are all familiar. German, French, British and Italian manufacturers are also represented, but most noticeable are the tractors and equipment with American names. Manufactured in Germany according to German specifications, these implements and tractors differ slightly from our own. They are built and equipped to meet strict equipment and highway safety regulations. Tractors must have mud guards on all wheels, rollguards or cabs are standard, and pulled implements are required to have (Continued on Page 89] WEX PH] UNIQUE SURFACTANT ||gj T. I assures superior results *** ,9 with ag-chemlcals ■ Makes water wetter ■ Reduces foaming of ag-chemicals ■ Helps suspend wettable powders ■ Causes greater saturation ■ Improves coverage and penetration ■ Aids compatibility of specific ag-chemical combinations Proven on millions of acres during five growing seasons NUTRIENT RELEASE AGENT helps you feed your crops Wex helps your crop achieve its genetic potential by ■ Releasing more soil nutrients ■ Increasing trace nutrient uptake ■ Enhancing fertilizer activity ■ Distributing nutrients throughout the root zone Thereby increasing your real yield at harvest Like ali living things your crops should be fed properly [CONKUWI j. NEVIN BOLL Lititz, PA (717) 626-0954 WILBUR D. GRAYBILL Mifflintown, PA (717) 436-2574 JAMES A. LENTZ Manheim, PA (717) 665-2809 SHOLLENBERGER FARM SUPPLY Centerport, PA (215) 926-2722 KARL VAN DYK York, PA 89 (717) 755-8849
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers