Dl4—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 17,198 ft.
Computers and cow leasing can pump up profits
UNIVERSITY PARK -
With changes in agriculture
proceeding at a rapid pace,
computers and the
technology that goes with
them are offering more and
more potential as an
essential management aid to
dairymen.
“Progress in computers
should not make anyone in
agriculture uncomfortable,”
says John Speicher, dairy
farm management specialist
at Michigan State Univer
sity. Speaking to Penn
sylvania dairymen attending
the recent dairy herd
management conference at
Penn State, Speicher added,
“We should not back away
from computers, but should
employ their advantages to
our benefit.”
Speicher noted that dairy
herd improvement
associations offered the first
computerized dairy herd
management system which
identified cows and gave
important management data
to farmers. He said DHIA
records have been valuable
in providing knowledge
about herd sires and in
maintaining a record base.
Little named recipient
of Dow Study Tour Scholarship
UNIVERSITY PARK -
Richard F. Little, Montour
County Extension director of
Penn State’s Cooperative
Extension Service staff, has
been named recipient of a
1980 Dow Study Tour
Scholarship.
little is one of 30 Ex- Jose P h Macialek.- extension
tension agents in the United (Community resource
States who will study development agent and state
agricultural research, tour program chairman,
production, and marketing UtUe is one of five agents
practices in California. The selected from the Northeast
Dow Study Tour will start m States on the basis of Ex
the San Francisco area June tension program respon
-16 and terminate in San sibilities, program ac-
Diego on June 27. complishments, future
The 1980 tour is sponsored educational plans, and
by the National Association professional goals.
COMIN
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He stressed that a com
puter can be used in all areas
of the farming operation,
with the dairy herd just one
part of the total farm pic
ture. He said, “There are
presently computers ac
tively being marketed and
utilized which can offer
information on individual
animals which is kept in
storage and can be called on
to help the manager make
decisions.”
Such a complete system,
Speicher said, “helps the
manager be fully informed
about all the animals all the
time.”
Speicher said the use of
“mini” or “micro” com
puters on the farm is a real
possibility, along with the
idea of using on-farm ter
minals.
Other areas which can be
computerized to a farm
manager’s advantage in
clude crop production, the
needs for which will parallel
needs in a dairy herd.
Computers can give in
formation on moisture, pest
concentration and can even
be employed to measure
of County Agricultural
Agents and Dow Chemical.
“The tour provides an
opportunity for extension
educators to observe in
novative ideas and rapidly
communicate these ideas to
farmers and industry
representatives,” says
FEATURING
temperature for irrigation,
he said.
A computerized financial
accounting system can be
employed as a good business
management tool to show
profit and loss and give
advice on such things as
culling to help dairymen
maximize income. Payroll,
tax reporting, and personnel
accounting can also be taken
care of with computers.
There are innumerable
decisions aids which can be
called forth from a com
puter, including tax planning
and providing balanced
rations.
While all these
management areas lend
themselves to com
puterization, Speicher noted
that in most cases it is a
matter of producing
programs .to get the proper
information. And while
computers have become
cheaper and cheaper over
the years, Speicher says,
“The cost of programming is
going up as fast as com
puters go down.”
If the proper elements are
combined, a wide variety of
information can be available
to the dairymen. Before such
systems come into common
usage, however, he said the
programming must be
economically feasible.
In another area of
management, Speicher
presented information on the
economics of raising, buying
or leasing herd
replacements.
Using statistics which
included the costs of raising
heifer replacements in
cluding feed and labor,
Speicher showed that buying
replacements can be an
economically viable option.
He pointed out, however,
that as the cost of
replacement heifers rises,
some of the advantages in
sales are lost.
Furthermore, he pointed
out, dairymen lose their
genetic base when they sell
their calves. He said, “It is
UNE7
hard to buy heifers that you
could breed yourself.”
Speicher noted every
expense on the farm goes up
as milk production goes up,
but said that income goes up
faster.
He said agreements can be
written when selling calves
with an option to purchase.
In this way a dairyman can
get back the same heifers he
sold earlier which offers
some big advantages. It’s
difficult to find people
willing to raise heifers,
Speicher said, because of the
Treating your grass or alfalfa silage this year with SILO GUARD® can
substantially increase the feeding value of your silage. Since the goal of
making silage is to preserve the ensiled forage as near to the crop har
vested, any loss is undesirable. If protein is lost or becomes heat damaged
during fermentation, the ensiling process was unsuccessful. Also, the
development of high temperature during fermentation means the process
was wasteful of energy. Heat developed during fermentation is energy that
is lost for feeding.
ENSILING TEMPERATURES
90
•F
Treated Untreated Treated Untreated
ALFALFA SILAGE SORGHUM SILAGE
Research at the University of New Hampshire on wilted orchard grass
silage showed a 3% increase- in available crude protein with SILO
GUARD versus untreated silage.
SILO GUARD reduces dry matter
loss. Kansas State data on
sorghum silage treated with SILO
GUARD reduced total dry matter
loss during fermentation.
This means there was 8.5% more
dry matter in thetreated silage
PROPRIONICACID
i so
2 .50
25
.15
.05
Green Chop Silo Guard
Treated
Test data In 2,000 lb of 45% dry matter alfalfa silage, 13 lb of propnomc acid was
produced by the addition of SILO GUARD
This “extra" level or propnomc acid also increases the "bunk life” of silage and inhibits the
growth of yeasts and molds in silage after it is removed from the silo All these benefits and
more can be realized when you treat your silage this year with SILO GUARD
SILO GUARD works on all types of silages, including corn silage and high moisture corn
Save more of the valuable nutrients in your silage with Silo Guard.
Richard E. Houser
Lebanon, PA
717-272-0638
Serving Lancaster, Lebanon,
Dauphin & Berks Co.
Silo Guard*
An Aid to Fermentation
INTERNATIONAL STOCK FOOD CORP
high mortality.
Speicher said there are
presently not many people
raising heifers on contract,
because up to now it hasn’t
been profitable. However, it
is better now than a few
years ago, and is becoming
more profitable.
Leasing can offer some
advantages to the cost-wise
dairyman, Speicher said, but
added that as interest rates
increase, leases come out
ahead.
Leasing overcomes
problems of accumulating
Untreated
Silage
If we missed calling you, call collect today!
Roy L. Coover
Carlisle, PA
717-766-1053
Serving E. Cumberland, York & Adams Co
Waverly, N.Y 14892
enough cash or credit to
purchase cattle, and it
conserves working capital
leaving additional capital
available for use in other
parts of the farm business.
This can improve cash flow.
Speicher cautioned that a
thorough understanding of
the terms of the lease are
important as well as the
timing of all costs and
returns. No one should enter
into a contractual
agreement without an un
derstanding of these terms.
SBB
SILO GUARD reduces heating
research at Kansas State
University on both alfalfa and
sorghum silage showed how ef
fective SILO GUARD can be in
reducing heat
DRY MATTER LOSS
15
8 9
«>
“■6
Treated
Silage
SILO GUARD increases add
production. Alfalfa silage test
results at the Cargill Research
Farm showed how SILO GUARD
influences the production of
beneficial Propnomc Acid
Lester D. Burkholder
Shippensburg, PA
717-532-4203
Serving Franklin,
W. Cumberland & Perry Co.
Untreated
Silage
*