A42—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 7,1981
BY SHEILA MILLER
UNIIVERSITY PARK - Pa
dairy and livestock producers
packed the auditorium of the J
Orvis Keller Budding on the Penn
State campus Monday for the 1981
Dairy and Livestock Day.
Welcomed by College of
Agriculture Dean J M. Beattie, the
producers began a full day of
management and marketing
seminars.
Kicking off the session was
Robert H. Rumler, executive
chairman of the Holstein
Association of America,
headquartered in Brattleboro,
Vermont.
Rumler advised the producers to
use caution in their operations, but
added young farmers should not be
overly concerned about the
economic future of entering the
animal industry
“The livestock industry has
always offered a great degree of
stability,” he stated, but warned
producers to be careful about over
extending their capital in
vestments. "Each producer must
work toward developing an
operation with the highest ef
ficiency possible with the least
f mancial investment. ’ ’
Concerning the recent doom and
gloom forecasts for the
agricultural future, Rumler
commented these types of
headlines serve no good purpose.
“I feel there is reason for op
timism,” he said, “The American
public has been well fed at low cost
over the years ”
Rumler added financial in
stitutions’ hesitant attitudes
toward investing in the
agricultural industry are a
reflection of areas where banks
have over-extended credit lines to
farmers. These revenue sources,
he said, are responsible, especially
in the dairy industry, for con
tributing to surplus milk
production.
“The financial community has
encouraged more dairy operations
to start up, adding more cows and
milk to the market. Financial
institutions have to be responsible
in directing their clients into
profitable enterprises This over
extension of credit has led to in
creased interest and debt,” he
reflected
Commenting on the future of
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Penn State hosts full house
foreign exports of breeding stock,
Rumler called on his experiences
in the Holstein Association and
said the U.S. has the highest level
and largest genetic pool for
Holstein cattle than any other
place in the world He added as
long as the U.S. maintains a level
of superiority in the genetic base of
cattle, there will continue to be a
demand for breeding stock in
foreign markets
He noted, however, the market
level for the live animals has been
somewhat depressed during the
last few years. He cited reasons for
this market trend which mcluded
the fact the domestic market was
quite good, the rise in tran-
sportation costs, the conservative
work economy, and import
regulations which tended to be
overly restrictive
Rumler spoke about the current
popularity of embryo transferring
and noted “ET is moving out of the
novelty stage and is rapidly
seeking its place as a gentic tool in
all breeds of cattle. ”
The Holstein executive closed by
expressing his concern with recent
foodfadism”
"The American public hears
propaganda ranging from don’t eat
meat and eggs to don’t drink whole
milk. The animal industries,
however, are producing the
greatest percentage of nutrients
for the human diet
"People now-a-days hear anti
propaganda which lists almost
everything as being carcinogenic
These consumer groups will cry
wolf once too often.
“What the public needs to
practice is common sense eating
habits don’t over eat and eat
well-balanced meals ”
Robert O Martin, director of
Farm Systems Research and
Development at Agway’s
Syracuse, N Y office spoke to the
producers on energy.
“There is no energy shortage,”
he said, "but we’re facing an
energy crisis brought on ourselves
by our thirst for a standard of
living created by cheap fuel ”
He cited energy sources * all
around us” such as water, coal,
uranium, wind, wood, methane,
solar, and gasohol, as potential
energy sources.
Martin discussed research and
development done by Agway in the
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Professor of Dairy Science
Larry D Muller spoke to dairy
producers on the "hottest topic in
the dairy industry' feeding
buffers to dairy cows
"There are many questions on
feeding buffers we don’t have
answered,” he stated, ‘ Buffers
have been handled with a shotgun
approach on the farm give them
a shot and see what happens. ”
Muller cited the various buffers
available, which include sodium
bicarbonate, magnesium oxide
and magnesium carbonate, ben
tonite, cement dust, and calcium
carbonate and calcium oxide
These buffers, he said, work either
in the rumen or small intestine,
affecting fermentation and fluid
turnover to correct acidosis.
What brings on the acid con
dition in the digestive tract'* Ac
cording to Muller there are seveal
things.
increased use of concentrates
Research compares Suffolk,
UNIVERSITY PARK - Is it
possible to get too much of a good
thing 9 According to T.S. Kat
sigianis, assistant professor of
animal science at the Umversity of
Kentucky, the answer is • ‘yes’
Katsigianis spoke to sheep
producers during the 1981 Dairy
and Livestock Day held at Penn
State on Monday. He discussed
current research which compared
Suffolk and Fmnsheep-cross ewes
in lamb and wool production.
The study looked at Suffolk,
which produce the epitome of
growth and carcass conformation
in lambs, said the researcher, and
Fmnsheep which demonstrate
early sexual development and
prolificacy
A major factor in the study in
volved artificial rearing of lambs
According to Katsigianis, ewes
were allowed to raise only two
lambs, with any extra lambs being
taken from the ewe within 24 hours
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high moisture grains which
add to the acid load;
increased amounts of ensiled
forages in operations striving for
increased labor efficiency through
mechanical labor;
reduced particle size of feed;
acid water; and
early lactation ration adap
tation.
All of these items listed result m
less chewing, less salivation, and
less rumination, he pointed out,
resulting in decreased natural
buffers.
Muller showed on a graph how
ascetic acid in the rumen
decreases in higher gram rations
Propionic acid, in turn increases,
and results in a lower milk test
This can occur when the ration
consists of 60 percent ensiled
forage and 40 percent grain, he
noted.
When the rumen pH drops to 6.2
or lower, Muller stressed there can
be problems. A natural drop in pH
occurs four hours after feeding, he
said. With buffers added to the
ration, this drop m pH is reduced
Finnsheep productivity
of birth,
‘ The longer a lamb nurses its
natural mother, the more it will
resist the artificial system, ’ he
explained
In the artificial rearing, the
lambs were fed a commercial
lamb milk replacer with 30 percent
fat. They were fed from a multiple
nipple nursing bucket, with two
lambs per nipple. Cold milk was
available to the lambs at all times,
with tepid milk only given the first
few days The lambs were then
weaned at 30 days and put on feed
This 30 day weaning was due to the
expense of the milk replacer,
Katsigianis said.
The study revealed both breeds
had 90-100 percent fertility rates
with both producing lambs as
yearlings However, the number of
lambs varied, with Finnsheep
cross ewes producing two lambs as
yearlings and Suffolks only
producing singles. This prolificacy
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Signs that a cow might be suf
fering from acidosis include going
off feed, less cud chewing, loose
stools, reduced fecal pH, un
digested gram in feces; and
reduced milk fat.
Muller emphasized a cow’s milk
test will not be brought back to
normal with the addition of buffers
to the ration, but it will be im
proved. Palatability problems
related to buffers in the ration will
lower the dry matter intake and
will result in lower milk produc
tion.
The dairy scientist noted there is
a major problem in prepartum
rations for dry cows and the rapid
change over to a high gram diet
after calving. This problem, which
can aggravate acidosis, is not as
much a problem in stanchion
operations where cows are fed on
an indivdmal basis as in operations
using group feeding.
The benefits ot feeding buffers,
he concluded, will be higher milk
test, greater feed intake, and
better starch utilization which may
trigger more milk production
difference earned through in the
second and third lambing season
with Finns having three or more
lambs and Suffolks having two
lambs
Despite the fact the Suffolks had
fewer lambs, the total weights of
the lambs were comparable, noted
the researcher. The single Suffolk
cross lamb weighed 12.6 pounds,
while the two Fmnsheep-cross
lambs totaled 12.6 pounds. The
larger Suffolk-cross lambs
required lambing assistance for
the yearling ewes, Katsigianis
said.
In wool production,- the Suffolk
crosses sheared slightly heavier
fleeces, however there was no
difference in quality, the
researcher noted.
The study revealed Suffolk-cross
ewes produced lambs that had a
slight edge on the Fmnsheep-cross
weaned on the ewe, but the Finns,
(Turn to Page A 43)
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