Milk production can be helped with buffers PISCATAWAY, N. J. - With Spring here, hot Summer weather is just around the comer, .bringing with it production problems in dairy cattle, says Dr. R. W. Stanley, chairman of the animal science department at the University of Hawaii. Stanley’s studies have shown that dairy cattle gain excess weight, consume less roughage and show a drop in butterfat test .and milk, production when tem peratures soar 'above 80 degrees. Although Hawaii is blanketed by 8(1 degree temperatures all year, dairy cattle in the Midwestern and Northern states also suffer from reduced production brought on by high tem peratures and humidity in the Summer,Stanley says. Ip general, a dairy cow subjected to high Summer When you need money, talk to a Mend. National Central Bank. One of the biggest advantages National Central can offer you is personal service - local contact through local offices. We have 57 otfices throughout Southcentral Pennsylvania farm areas. So there’s one close you. to You . probably know your local National Central manager. He’s ' neighbor, a friend. He knows iking, he appreciates the lancial demands in farming, ion C Shertzer and his son, Philip, with Doug Good, Managar, Pnnce and James Street Office. temperatures is a poor bet to work efficiently for a dairyman, he says. Research has shown acid builds up in the rumen when cows are subjected to high temperatures, he adds, and that contributes to reduced appetites and feed ef ficiency. Excessive stomach acids are usually neutralized by sodium bicarbonate, a natural buffer contained in cows’ saliva. But when acid levels build under high heat conditions, additional sodium bicarbonate may have to be fed, Stanley says, to bring rumen pH back into balance, v Supplemental sodium bicarbonate is highly soluble, and helps natural sodium bicarbonate combat excess rumen acid. “That’s when I advise putting it in feed. Under high heat, if you hold that but- and he’s backed up by a seasoned agri-finance department. Most importantly, when you ask to see him, he’s willing to come -~=to you. And he’ll work along with you to establish an individual credit position so that you can go about your business, knowing the money Is there when you need it. You’ll find trust. You’ll find- experience. You’ll find a friend at National Centra! Bank. terfat up you’re in good shape,” he says. In an 18-week study done by Stanley and Dr. L. Rung of the University of Hawaii, cows fed sodium bicarbonate .gave more milk and but terfat, rid themselves of excess body fat and were more feed efficient than those without sufficient sodium bicarbonate. Holstein cows 60 to 90 days into their lactations were split into three groups in the study. One group-the control-wasn’t fed sodium bicarbonate; a second group received sodium bicar bonate at a level equal to 1.8 per cent of its grain ration; and a third group was fed sodium bicarbonate at a 2.8 per cent level. All Holsteins received a corn silage, grain and pineapple bran ration. Pineapple bran—the pineapple fruit’s dried hull and core-is high in energy, contains soluble sugars, not much fiber and contributes to acidic conditions in the rumen, Stanley says. Cows fed sodium bicar bonate outperformed the control group in butterfat percentage. “Under high heat conditions we can modify the ration by feeding sodium bicarbonate to enhance fat test and get a more efficientand persistent animal,” says Stanley. Those Holsteins fed 1.8 per cent sodium bicarbonate did best in butterfat production. Their milk contained 3.55 per cent butterfat on the average, while the control group averaged 3.29 _ per cent. The third group averaged 3.32 per cent butterfat. Butterfat percentages are lower in tropical zones than— NATIONAL CENTRAL BANK Er# Member FDIC/Fediral Risirve System Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 21,1979 they are in temperate ones, Stanley points out. “Cows constantly in high tem perature conditions don’t test-as well,” he says. “In Hawaii, we don’t consider a Holstein’s drop in butterfat critical until it gets below 3.2 or 3,3 per cent. We’ve had somedrop below 2 per cent” More' milk was produced by buffered cows; those receiving 2.8 per cent sodium bicarbonate did best, averaging 52.49 pounds of milk per day. The control groupdveraged 51.74 pounds perday. Both .groups fed sodium bicarbonate lost weight, inculcating increased metabolic efficiency, Dr. Stanley Jeels. “An efficient animal mobilizes nutrients and loses weight. We want to eliminate fat depots, but increase butter fat test and milk production,” he ex pl?!ns. ilains. The control group gained an average of 3.56 pounds during each trial period, while the lowland high level sodium bicarbonate groups lost an average of 8.6 and 3.01 pounds, respectively. The ration dairy cows receive-and how much is fed-determines the amount of supplemental sodium bicarbonate necessary to neutralize excessive adds, Dr. Stanley suggests. At a pH of 6.82, rumen content was most addic in the control group. Cows fed 1.8 per cent sodium bicar bonate averaged a pH of 7.11, the most alkaline of all groups. “The level of fed sodium bicarbonate has to be regulated with the levels of acids in the digestive system,” Dr. Stanley says. In an earlier study, lac tating dairy animals at the University of Hawaiiwere fed upto 0.75 pounds~oF sodium bicarbonate per t day with pineapple }p in their ration, (eapple green chop is acidic,” Stanley adds. ' are indications that HYDRONIC WOOD STOVE And HOT AIR WOOD STOVE FOR CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEMS 1 Mod*! 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Splitting Axes, Fireplace Accessories HEAT ONE ROOM OR AN ENTIRE HOUSE Phone: (717) 733*9644 the more-acidic the rumen, the more bicarb is needed.” Stanley suggests dairymen deciding to try the buffer to start feeding it at a low level-0.25 pounds per day-as ‘ a general rule of thumb. “Increase in at increments until you hit an optimum level, then keep it there,” he explains, if results are noted. Maintaining roughage levels during high tem perature periods will help keep butterfat tests from dropping. Says Stanley: “file manner in which you handle them during the high heat period affects how your cows will do later. If you feed them more grain to ‘do them a favor’ you may mess them up for eight to nine months.” Balanced rumen pH is especially important in early lactation stages to maintain high butterfat percentage tests. If butterfat is allowed to slip because of increased acidity, cows in early lac tations “will be so geared to being inefficient that you won’t get higher butterfat and milk production by feeding them more later in their lactations,”—-Stanley adds. in a separate field trial study done by Drs. Stanley and Kung, no significant difference was noted in reproductive efficiency among test groups. “If you enhance per formance and keep her body weight down, this animal is going to be a better breeder, although we haven’t seen significant differences as of yet,” Stanley adds. THE ft WOOD The Glenwood is designed to meet today's need for a high efficiency wood fired boHer. With its fully baffled interior and sec ondary combustion chamber, the gases of the wood are forced to be thoroughly Ignited and burned before leaving the stove, thus generating more usable heat from less wood. 19
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