Alo—Lancaster Faming, Saterday, April 17,1812
Abnormal operating expenses
There was an interesting question raised at
Tuesday’s stray voltage seminar, sponsored by
the State Grange.
“Why should a farmer have to pay to solve
off-farm stray voltage problems?" was the
query of Agway’s Stanley A Weeks, Farm
Energy Utilization manager from Tully, New
York
After posing this somewhat controversial
idea to the group, Weeks went on to express
his sentiments that the financial burden of
handling the tingle syndrome on the farm
should not r est with the farmer if the source of
the problem is off-farm
We agree, especially after hearing a case
testimony presented by Juniata County
dairyman ArtZug
Zug explained how he first experienced the
elusive electrical phenomenon after pur
chasing a 265 acre farm in March 1979 Two
years later, and after exorbitant expenses, the
dairy farmer quite accidently solved his stray
voltage headache
Zug related that when he moved his herd of
milking cows into his new 60-comfort-stall
barn, his cows suddenly became nervous and
their 16,500 pound rolling herd average
began to slip downwards.
“I hadn't heard of stray voltage back then,”
recalled Zug. When his cows started turning
up with more mastitis, Zug said he blamed his
milking system’s vacuum regulator
Three vacuum regulators later, and after
much trial and error, Zug said there was no
progress and production continued to pitch.
His somatic cell count kept skyrocketing and
his cows were getting more and more irritable.
About that time, Zug recalled, he began
seeing articles appearing in the farm press
that made him suspicious that he was a victim
of the stray voltage syndrome. He talked to
equipment dealers and when voltmeter
readings were taken in his barn, Zug's
suspicions were confirmed. The meter
registered IV.
By December 1979, Zug was able to move
his cows into a new free stall barn But what
he’d hoped to be a solution to his problems
turned out to be a transfer.
“When I put my hand into the water bowls in
the new barn, I could feel a tingling on the
surface of the water,” explained Zug Another
reading proved his senses to be accurate
another IV was registered.
While Zug’s somatic cell count climbed from
100,000 to 800,000, the dairy farmer
desperately searched for a solution to his stray
voltage problem He drove in 14 ground rods
and connected each water bowl to the ground,
installed a new breaker panel, and overhauled
his entire electrical system Still no response
Zug was involuntarily doing his part to curb
the overproduction of milk, watching his
herd’s record drop to 14,000 pounds
"But, 1 considered myself lucky when I
thought of my one neighbor’s dire situation
His milk production had drooped at the same
jg= «!"«■= ■■!■■■"' ■ i bsb
NOW IS THE TIME
To Manage Alfalfa Stands
With nearly every species of
livestock, the feeding of top quality
alfalfa hay or silage is highly
recommended. At dairy meetings
we hear how good alfalfa is in the
rations, and at sheep meetings we
learn that good alfalfa hay is the
backbone of the ewe feeding
Off the
Sounding
By Sheila Miller, Editor
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
program. Alfalfa meal is often
used as a source of protein in other
rations. It all adds up to the fact
that alfalfa is one of our most
important forage crops. Every
farmer should make a special
effort to produce maximum
amounts per acre. This takes
management along with proper
time mine did, but his was from 16,000 to
8,000 pounds,” said Zug.
A new milking parlor was added to the
operation. And still the unwelcomed guest was
present So, in another effort to outfox the
phantom voltage, Zug established a gnddmg
system in his new parlor which “grounded
everything.”
A false glimmer of hope must have crossed
Zug’s face when, after his first milking in the
revamped parlor, there was no stray voltage
problem But Zug’s rejoicing was shortlived
when one week later IV was recorded on the
meter
“I spent a lot of money to solve a problem
just to find it staring me in the face. I called in
electricians, grounded everything, made sure
my electrical wiring was heavy enough to carry
the load, installed a new center pole and
transformer and that cost me about
$5,000,” Zug itemized
Adding in the cost of his production loss
over the two years, stray voltage had robbed
this dairyman of roughly $35,000.
After eliminating every possible source on
the farm, Zug concluded that his stray voltage
problem was wandering onto his property
from somewhere else. So he got in touch with
his utitility company.
The company's engineer planned to try to
solve the mystery through process-of
elimmation turning off the power to
neigbonng properties one by one. But, even
before the experiment began, Zug’s consistent
stray voltage reading in his milk house sud
denly dipped to a 0.3 V reading. And that’s
where it stayed.
When he called his neighbors to find out if
they had done anything different, Zug was
shocked and relieved to learn that his
neighbor had employed an electician that
weekend to fix a bare electical wire on his gas
pump. The farmer decided the problem was
worth fixing after he continued to get shocked
each time he touched the silo chute
So, for two years, damaging stray voltage
had traveled a distance of IV2 miles to Zug’s
farm, creating an uncontrollable nightmare for
the young dairyman.
Even though the stray voltage mystery has
been solved, it will be at least another year
until the dairyman recoups production. Cows,
unfortunately, must have some elephant in
their blood since they don’t seem to forget
but for that matter, who could easily erase
those twice-dailv shock treatments And even
after the mental anguish has been cured,
some of Zug’s cows may never recover from
the mastitis the stray voltage indirectly
caused
So, who should pay for the damage stray
voltage induces 7 Can we, like the utility
companies, pass it off as “normal” operating
expenses 7
We don't think so
lime, fertilizer, insect and disease
control. Smce we are now at the
beginning of another cropping
season, more attention to alfalfa
might benefit many farmers. Don’t
be satisfied with a poor stand. The
crop is worthy of our best at
tention.
Board
(Turn to Page *29)
OUR OWN
EMMAUS ROAD
April 18,1982
Background Scripture:
Luke 24:13-35.
Devotional Reading:
Romans 14:1-9
The two men who set out for
Emmaus on the first Easter
Sunday are men after our own
hearts. It is easy for many of us to
put ourselves in their sandals: as
we walk the seven miles between
Jerusalem and Emmaus, we
would, as they did, find ourselves
deep in conversation about the
troubling events of the past week.
And, if approached by a stranger
along the road, it could be expected
that we probably would appear to
him, as Luke put it, “looking sad.”
Nor would we be less confused by
what we had witnessed in
Jerusalem. Jesus, the one whom
we had assumed was God’s
Messiah, came to a tragic end on a
Roman cross on a hill outside the
city. And, if that wasn’t enough,
some women in our group had
utterly confounded us with the
assertion that they had seen Jesus
alive. We’d like to think that means
the women saw the Master, but
how can we be sure?
Him They Didn’t See
How ironic! The two disciples on
the road to Emmaus found it
difficult to believe the women’s
testimony because, although they
found the tomb empty, “him they
did not see.” Yet, all the while they
are telling the stranger this, they
are standing in the presence of
their Risen Lord, “But their eyes
were kept from recognizing him.”
OUR READERS WRITE,
AND OTHER OPINIONS
4 questions , one answer;
Many people have asked me to
express my views regarding the
upcoming Milk Promotion
Referendum. Because of my
unique experience of having been
involved for nearly 40 years m
virtually every aspect of the in
dustry in a decision making
position, 1 believe 1 can help
dairyr i en decide how best to vote.
Fim, let me remind all active
dairy farmers that they will
receive a ballot from the State
government early in May. AH
dairy farmers are eligible to vote
regardless if they are members of
a cooperative and their
cooperative chose to block vote for
them. Remember, ballots should
be sent m between May Bth and
May 22nd, or your vote may not be
counted.
Dairy farmers must analyze
these four questions as they relate
to this program when deciding how
to vote. Can dairy farmers af
ford another deduction another
WAV’ HAWS
" *> j
"It really isn’t I just want the cows to think it is.”
What kept them from seeing him?
Is it not likely that they were so
wrapped up in their disap
pointment and confusion that they
really didn’t recognize him?
And isn’t it just as likely that
there are times when we fail to
recognize the Risen Lord in our
own presence because our doubts
and fears have dulled our sen
sitivity?
There was another sense in
which they were not seeing clearly.
“0 foolish men, and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets
have spoken! Was it not necessary
that the Christ should suffer these
things and enter mto his glory?" It
was because the crucifixion
dominated their minds and hearts
that they could not see the
resurrection. They looked at what
had happened to Jesus as a
crushing and humiliating defeat
for the kingdom of God. But the
Risen Christ is challenging them to
see his Passion m another light.
Instead of concentrating on the
human depravity that put Jesus on
the cross, he is leading them to
focus on the divine love that went
to the cross with him and
prevailed.
Their Eyes Were Opened
Perhaps the scales of doubt and
fear had begun to flake away from
their eyes. Eventually, as they sat
and broke bread with him at the
table, something m the way the
stranger blessed and broke the
bread suddenly revealed him for
who he was.
Later, as they marveled over
their experience on the way back
to Jerusalem, tliey looked back at
what had happened and remem
bered: “Did not our hearts burn
within us while he opened to us the
scriptures?” We may not see
clearly the features of his face, but
if in some experience we sense our
hearts burning within us, we can
recognize the Risen Christ on our
own Emmaus roads.
added cost? Are milk promotion
expenses of packaged milk and
dairy products a proper raw
product production cost? Will
this program improve Class 1 sales
and be beneficial? Should
cooperative block voting of their
membership be allowed in
establishing mandatory milk
check deduction programs?
Question I: BUI Knox, Editor of
Hoard’s Dairyman, speaking at
the Dairy Symposium in Kansas
City last month, effectively,
pointed to the wrong directions
given to dairymen in the mid 70’s
regarding food shortages. As a
consequence, supplies expanded,
and now mdk prices will tumble
drastically in the near future. In
addition, a variety of milk check
deductions are confronting
dairymen today. The National
Milk Producers Federation is
pushing for a 5 percent hun
dredweight nation-wide promotion
Wr
vote no
1
Ws'
\M f '