58
—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 4,1978
Fine timing
(Continued from Page 56)
Fox recommends that
silage be treated in some
way to assure even levels of
protein and also to help
preserve the feed. Even with
NPN treated silage, it
remains important to feed
some soybean meal with it,
Fox recommends. He
suggests a half to three
quarters of a pound per day
per head.
The ideal range to treat
silage, according to Fox, is
at 30 to 35 per cent dry
matter. It’s not recom
mended that farmers at
tempt treatment when the
silage tests above 40 per cent
dry matter.
Making sure that protein
and mineral levels are
adequate for fed cattle is one
of the most critical areas of
production, Fox em
phasized.
Some other methods
cattlemen can consider to
achieve their protein goals is
to add urea and minerals to
their feed. It’ll improve feed
efficiency by about three per
cent, Fox’s statistics
showed. Adding cold-flow
anhydrous ammonia took
three per cent more feed to
equal the standard set by
soybean meal and silage.
Urea has been proven more
efficient due to its increased
effect on lactic acid
production.
A high silage ration, ef
ficient as it may be, is not
necessarily the most
profitable When com is
cheap, the statistics change,
obviously. When corn is
comparatively expensive,
the idea of com silage and
soybean meal becomes more
lucrative.
No mater what the feeding
program, feed costs go up
“by tremendous amounts”
as cattle get fatter. That's
why everyone is recom
mending these days that
producers whatch their
weights and grades closely.
Cattle are to go to market at
grade, not over-fattened.
Fox revealed that hay is
not necessarily beneficial in
getting feeder cattle started
on com silage. Cattle gain
slower on hay, he said, and
even if they’re slow on
silage at first, they’ll catch
up due to silage’s higher
energy content.
The benefit of hay feeding
is that it will encourage the
more timid individuals to
come up to the feed bunk, he
admitted.
Nevertheless, the Cornell
researcher says a cattle
feeder can take his animals
right off the truck and put
them on silage. “They’ll get
accustomed to it, and when
they do, they’ll really take
off,” he assures. He also
reminded his audience not
be too concerned about their
cattle not eating too much at
first. Given the cir
cumstances that some of
those cattle had to go
through to reach the farm,
they can’t be blamed for
not “stuffing themselves” to
start with. “If you were
chased around, penned up,
trucked around, and felt
miserable as a result of it,
you wouldn’t eat too much
either,” he explained.
Fox also noted that a hay
and gram ration is better
initially, if that’s what a
feeder chooses to work with.
Such a ration, however, is
not recommended afterjour
to six weeks. In either case,
a switch to silage could
mean a period of lost if
ficiency since the cattle
aren't accustomed to such a
diet.
Some other feeds and
feeding tips Fox offered
include: Adding corn to com
silage isn’t worth the cost,
and intake stimulants
haven’t been proven wor
thwhile.
Concluding his presen
tation, Fox urged his
audience to pay attention to
the little tilings in their
management. It can add up
to a difference of $l3B per
steer.
According to research
done at several universities,
the details to watch for and
manage correctly are: the
environment in which you
cattle are raised - clean,
healthy surroundings are
conducive to growthier
cattle; healthy cattle at the
start give you an advantage
right from the beginning -
buy only good quality cattle
to mixumze returns.
Feed intake, a balanced
ration, a digestive stimulant,
a metabolic stimulant, and
sale condition are other
Hog
indentification
required
HARRISBURG - Sows
and boars over six months
old that are shipped across
state lines for slaughter will
have to have identifying
tattoos or tags starting
March 23. F.J. Mulhern,
administrator of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, said the
I.D. mark will make it
possible to trace he animals
back to herd of origin if
brucellosis is found. Another
new requirement is that
when such animals are
transported across state
lines fro breeding purposes
they must first be tested for
brucellosis.
factors whichfare to the loss
or gdn a cattleman has at
his disposal.
“The little things add up,
they’re very important, Fox
concluded.
When Dairy
Farmers Talk
Dairy Farmers Listen
And what they hear about most today are the benefits of membership in
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J Wilbur Burkholder,
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
“We need Eastern to guarantee a place for our milk and get a
better price They have many programs (insurance, health,
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Russell Carson, Newbury, Vermont
Just as these dairy farmers do, Eastern speaks out and reaches out with
a strong helping hand, offering many other positive and promotional
advantages to its members Eastern works'
V EASTERN
w MILK PRODUCERS
COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION. INC.
Kinne Road, Syracuse, New York 13214
tfotct Umen U « tfyut"
"ft \
»E StEA
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R.D. 4 MYERSTOWN, PA. 17067
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“If we didn’t have co-ops like
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Joe Ponzi, Philadelphia, New York