M2—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, August 15,1981
PRODUCE OR REPRODUCE? stretches beyond the unlucky
Let’s just say it's the nature of number (13) that real losses can
the beast! In order to produce mount up. And these losses don’t
(milk, that is) a cow must showupontheDHlA report—they
reproduce (calves of course), must be computed from some of
Actually, reproduction comes first, your own local date,
with milk as a by-product. August The benchmark in figuring
is a good time to take a look at the breeding effiency is call
number one priority in the dairy “days open” the number
business, since it begins the season of which a cow is not preg
of establishing a “Base” for next nant. If the average “days
years pricing system. open” exceeds 90 for the herd, the
Just getting cows bred can be of calving interval shoots beyond the
some concern, let alone the hassle year and things will never be the
or pleasure of selecting the correct same again. In addition to fouling
mates, but that’s a subject for up your production base, there will
another tune. Getting them safe be losses of actual production, as
with calf on time is our prime well as added costs for Artificial
object now, because timing can Insemination (AI), Veterinary
have a profound influence on next fees, calf losses, replacement
years profits. Your profits will be losses and excess culls,
affected by the time of freshening Just how great are these losses?
as well as the interval between Using the formula developed by
calving dates. Dexter Putnam, Penn State Dairy
How much does calving interval Specialist, for the annual DHIA
actually influence profits? Each workshops, here are some quick
year at our workshops for DHIA eye-openers.
members, we go through an
exercise to determine the potential
loss of income when the herd
calving interval exceeds 12
months. It’s when the interval
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For example, a 100 cow herd
with a 13 month calving interval
(120 days open) requiring 2.1 (AI)
services per conception will ac
cumulate a production loss of over
*59,95
WEST CHESTER - “Penn
sylvania Farmer’s Association has
requested the current tarriff on
mushroom imports be continued to
allow the mushroom industry to
adjust to increasing imports”,
reported Harold Kulp, president of
500 lb. of milk per cow. With a
profit above feed cost of $6 a
hundred lbs., or $3O per cow
$3,000 for the herd. Add to this loss
these figures;
Added AI cost per day open
.15; Added Veterinary cost per day
open - .15; Calf loss per cow per
day (assuming a calf value of
$125) .32; Adding cost of
replacements per cow per day
(if replacements cost $1,600 and
culls are worth $500) .91.
To added losses per cow, per day
open, amount to $5,156. Plus the
above milk loss, the total is a
staggering $8,156 per year!
Some of this is of course
theoretical, but the exercise points
up some often overlooked aspects
of what happens to income when
you run into breeding problems on
a herd basis.
In discussing the economics of
reproduction, I haven’t attempted
to tell how to avoid the problem.
Suffice it to say that you now have
your hand on your pocketbook and
are fully aware that reproduction
is the first step m production. As
Drew Lewis says, “If the income is
less than the outgo, the upshot can
be your downfall."
The formula used in the above
calculations are available from the
Penn State DHIA. I’ve
programmed them for the Apple
11, which increases their
usefulness tremendously.
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Chester PFA reviews gas leases,
mushroom imports
* y»
-*•*> .-L
the Chester County Farmer’s
Association during the Board of
Directors’ monthly meeting held
last week at Highland Orchards.
The reported testimony was
presented at a hearing held by the
International Trade Commission
in Washington on July 30,1981.
Chester County PFA members
also heard from fellow member
Richard Steele who reported on a
recent energy meeting held in
Carlisle. Both he and Norman
Aamodt attended the session.
“If drilling for gas in a new field
in West Virginia is productive,
expect to see buyers of gas/oil
leases in Chester County,” Steele
told the group. He explained the
geologic formation extends from
West Virginia through this county.
If gas/oil is found in West Virginia,
it is likely that similar pockets
could be found here.
Steele advised farmers to form
energy groups and to supervise the
writing of new leases. Groups of
farmers would have more power in
negotiating favorable terms with
lease purchasers. Steele recom
mended any farmer contacted by a
gas/oil lease buyer, should contact
any Farmers’ Association director
to secure information and
guidance for protection.
Ed Taczanowsky, regional field
director for PFA suggested
“farmers should not accept, nor
should they cash any checks for
leases without first renegotiating
the lease. Only sign a one year
lease and be sure that it includes a
clause that it will be renegotiated
each succeeding year.”
Steele advised farmers to make
sure the lease contains provisions
for disposal of discarded equip
ment, for roads to be put where
farmers want them, for handling
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waste water, for the royalty to be
paid even though the well is a
producer and is then capped.
“Be sure that everything is
covered in writing in the lease,”
Steele cautioned.
Kulp announced that the
regional legislative up-date
meeting will be held on August 27,
at 7 p.m. at Denver, Pa. He asked
members of the legislative com
mittee to attend. He also said that
District 3 (which includes Chester
County) will be electing a new
director at the State Annual
Meeting. Nominations for a can
didate from this County should be
submitted to Harold Kulp within
the next two weeks.
Policy Development meetings
will be held: September 8 at David
Hodge’s, Marshallton; September
10 at Robert Mast’s, Christiana;
Richard Breckbill’s residence,
Oxford and Arthur Yocom’s,
Elverson; and Harold Kulp’s on
September 24. All Farmer's
Association members are urged to
attend one of these meetings to
express their opinions on Farmer’s
Association policy.
County policy positions will be
voted on by all county members at
the fall banquet to be held on
October 1 at the-Brandywine Club
in Chadds Ford. Chairmen of that
event are David Hodge and A 1
Bartels.
Farm-city weekend is scheduled
for November 21-22. Byron
Hawthorne, chairman for the
event, asked that farmers who
would make their farms available
for city visitors on those dates to
contact him at 215/383-5494. He
stressed the importance of having
farms named early so that
brochures could be printed up.
P.o. Box 366, Lititz, PA 17543
Phone
717-626-1164 or 394-3047