A32—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, June 23,1984
(Continued from Page Al)
American, Sire Power and herd
dispersals. A reasonable price,
according to Dennis, was paid for
each animal.
“We were fairly conservative in
our purchases,” he said. “We
never spent any high prices for
cattle.”
The average price on the Nichlos
herd was $BOO per head, Dennis
said. A second herd of about 50
Holsteins was purchased from
George Stock, Cumberland
County, for an average of $9OO per
head.
When building the Holstein herd,
Dennis said he was fortunate to get
cattle bred to outstanding sires,
namely, Kingpin and Elevation.
Another advantage he cited was
that Elevation was available
through Sire Power at that time
and at a reasonable price.
“We used him extensively,”
Dennis said. “I’d say that 80
percent of the matings were to
Elevation.”
Other studs that contribute
heavily to the Wolff’s mer
chandising enterprise are
Chairman, Glendale, Bova and
Valiant. Valiant, Dennis said,
would run a close second to
Elevation, “as far as I’m con
cerned.”
In addition to breeding animals
to top sires, other factors play in
the Wolff’s merchandising
philosophy. An important factor, is
selecting the right time to sell the
animal.
“There’s a certain time in every
cow’s life when it’s the right time
to sell her,” Dennis explained, “if
that’s what you’re going to do.”
The time to sell a cow, Dennis
said, comes when the following
criteria are met: “If your herd’s
ready to start merchandizing
cattle off the top end of your herd,
and once your herd’s reached that
point where you feel comfortable
that you can sell a few good cows
and still maintain a top quality
herd, then you’ve made a decision
that you can start selling.”
Another point to keep in mind is
when and where to sell the
animals.
“When a milking cow is young,
that is the best time to capitalize on
her,” Dennis said. “She’s been
classified and she’s established a
cow index.”
Also important is to mer-
A certain time exists in every cow's life when it's the right
time to sell her, says Dennis Wolff.
chandise quality cattle. A quality
Holstein, Dennis described, is an
animal ‘ ‘that has the quality to win
a top consignment sale and sell in
the top percentage of that sale.”
Embryo Transfer
To cover their merchandising
program, the Wolff’s rely heavily
on their embryo transfer (ET)
program. Cows are flushed - eggs
removed - at least once a week and
usually twice a week.
“It’s the number one prioritv.”
Dennis said of their ET work. “It’s
the number one money maker. ’ ’
Because of the ET program,
Dennis said they are able to
merchandize a larger number of
cattle, as well as a large number of
frozen embryos. It’s all part of the
merchandising program, he ad
ded.
About 99 percent of the embryos
are sold overseas, normally
through a marketing company,
Dennis said. In the past few years,
about 800 embryos - fresh and
frozen - have been sold.
“We’ve been fortunate enough in
the last few years to be able to
merchandise frozen embryos to
cover our embryo transfer
program,” Dennis said.
The amount of embryo transfer
work is the reason behind Pen-Col
housing 500 animals. Around 90
cows are milked and a herd of
between 35 and 40 animals is
maintained, many of which are
donor cows for the ET program.
The herd average is 17,000 pounds
of milk with a 3.9 percent butterfat
test.
Dennis cited that his goal for the
combined embryo transfer
merchadising program is to make
money and have financial success.
“I guess that would be the only
reason you’d be crazy enough to do
as much embryo transfer work as
we do,” he laughed.
Future Outlook
Despite the tough times
dairymen are facing now, Dennis
is optimistic about the future of his
merchandising operation.
“The future of merchandising
looks good, both domestically and
internationally,” he said.
Dennis said the reasons for his
optimism relate to the continuing
advances in embryo transfer
technology.
The embryo transfer techniques,
Dennis said, are continually im-
Approximately 500 head of Holsteins make up the dairy and merchandising operation
of Pen-Col Farms, located in Millville, Columbia County.
proving. The pregnancy rates are
continually increasing. Embryos
are being frozen successfully now
and are being split successfully.
They also, Dennis continued, will
m the near future be sexed suc
cessfully.
“As these factors become per
fected,” he said, “the elite cows
will become continually worth
more money.”
Although the future outlook looks
good, the current dairy situation
has had an impact on the Wolff’s
mercandising income. Cattle
prices are down.
“Three years ago, a young cow
or bred heifer that would bring
$2,400, you could probably buy
today for $1.200 or $1.300. ’’ he said.
This lower price has affected the
Wolff’s selling decisions. Dennis
said that more cows are put back
into the herd and the culling line
for removal percentage has been
raised.
“There’s no question that we
sent cattle to the auction last year
that three years ago we wouldn’t
have,” Dennis said.
The dairy situation, Dennis
continued, has had no effect on the
upper end - the elite cattle - of their
merchandising program. It has,
Looking over a pen of embryo transfer (ET) calves, Dennis
Wolff says the ET program is the number one priority in his
merchandizing operation.
Whatever
it’s
Howard Williams, calf manager at Pen-Col Farms, is in
charge of the entire calf program which includes a large
percentage of embryo transfer animals.
however, created a loss for a
middle to the market.
“There seems to be no middle to
the market,” Dennis explained.
“At one time we could mer
chandise average quality cows,
maybe a 2-year-old milking 14,000
pounds. That market has com
pletely stopped.”
- In another year or two, Dennis is
People are either going to buy a hopeful that the dairy situation will
good cow or not buy at all,” he run its cycle and offer a more
continued. positive outlook for the industry.
gfflTUßl
it holds,
in your hands
Leaning towards optimism,
Dennis said he doesn’t think the
dairy situation will get any tougher
than it is now.
“Dairy is no different than any
other phase of agriculture,” he
said. “It runs cycles. Dairying
runs a little bit longer cycle.”
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