A22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 13,1984
Hostetter dairy:
BY WENDY WEHR
MCVEYTOWN—James Hostet
ter is a dairy farmer who believes
in conservation. He and his wife
Patricia have just won a national
soil and water conservation award
for their outstanding conservation
practices. But in other aspects of
his dairy operation he also prac
tices conservation, conservation of
time and labor for one, and of
precious capital inputs for another.
But don’t get the wrong idea
practicing conservation and being
conservative aren’t necessarily
the same thing. Hostetter has
made his share of innovative
changes in his dairy operation over
the years as well.
Hostetter has 47 milking head of
registered Holsteins on his farm,
which is nestled between the ridges
of Mifflin County west of
Lewistown. His son Gregory is
part of the operation these days,
too, but while his son and daughter
were growing up and in college,
xfer
James Hostetter believes planting no-till is a good con
servation meaure. He purchased this no-till seeder last spring
and was pleased with his stand of no-till alfalfa.
The Hostetter dairy farm is a compact free-stall operation that's all on one level and
•inder roof.
James Hostetter set up an efficient
one-man dairy operation.
Hostetter has been dairy far
ming for 20 years. But his in
volvement in the dairy industry
began before that, as a DHIA milk
tester in Mifflin County for 12
years and also as a handler of
Chore-Boy milking equipment.
Although during those 12 years
he knew he wanted to have his own
dairy operation, Hostetter waited
for the right opportunity to pur
chase a place and get started with
his own herd.
The previous owner of the
Hostetter farm had milked some
Guernseys, so the first order of
business after puchasing the place
was to do some remodeling, such
as improving and increasing the
size of the stanchions in the barn
for the Holsteins and building a
new milkhouse.
no-till planter
I'ictnn sifuc Mifflin County farm
Conservation pays
Dairy Exclusive
“At that time I could have spent
$40,000 to $50,000 on a milking
parlor,” says Hostetter, “but in
stead I invested around $3,000 on
improving what was already
here.”
Hostetter is sold on the prac
ticality and efficiency of flat
milking bams, although he admits
that all the stooping during milking
does bother some people.
For Hostetter the beauty of his
set-up is that it is all on one level
and all under roof, making chore
time more pleasant and easier for
one person. With stanchions for
milking on part of the lower level
of the bank bam, the surrounding
barnyard and other buildings are
used for free-stall housing for the
different groups of cattle.
When calves reach two months
of age they enter their first pen and
then are graduated through three
different free-stall areas.
Hostetler has an excellent record
for growing replacements.
“We rarely lose any calves,” he
noted, “I really can’t remember
the last time we lost a heifer here.”
It was nearly 10 years ago that
the Hostetlers set up separate
housing for the dry cows, a real
improvement in the free-stall
operation.
“We had had our dry cows in
with the others,” he explained,
“but they were really eating too
much silage and getting too fat.
And then we were having problems
with displaced stomachs.”
To get the dry cows away from
the free-choice silage bunk, they
built 10 stalls and two box stalls
away from the other cows.
“When I walk out here each
morning and evening, I can easily
look over the dry cows and see if
any are ready to freshen and then
put them in the box stalls,”
describes Hostetler. Since that
improvement there has been a real
savings in feed and the dry cows
are in much better condition as
they begin their next lactation.
All in all, the Hostetter operation
is a step saver, easily managed by
one person. Hayfeeding, for in
stance, was streamlined with the
introduction of the big round bales.
Hostetter only needs to put out a
round bale once a week for the
cows.
The Hostetler herd has a rolling
herd average of a little over 18,000
lbs. milk and 720 lbs. fat with a four
percent test.
Although sound management
practices in a number of areas
contribute to the above average
production records, a definite
boost to production was James
m many ways
James and Patricia
Wr
James and Patricia Hostetter, Mifflin County dairy couple
and finalists in the National Soil and Water Conservation
Awards program.
Dry cow housing
The separate dry cow housing includes free-stalls and
useful box stalls for just-fresh cows and heifers.
Hostetter’s decision to participate
in the mobile near-infrared
analysis program of Penn State.
In an effort to make the lastest
technology in feed and forage
analysis available to the farmers,
Penn State began a pilot project
over a year ago in which the
computers and analysis equipment
are all in a van that goes out to the
farms. On-the-spot feed testing is
completed and ration programs
developed.
“Since we started on the
program about a year and a half
ago, our rolling herd average has
increased steadily every month,” ,
states Hostetter.
The mobile testing unit comes to
the farm once a month to test the
forage, hay, silage, and grain mix,
explains Hostetter. The tests
produce same-day results,
analyzing what the farmer is
feeding now and then suggesting a
feeding program for the next
month. This contrasts to other
feed analyses that may have as
long as a three-week delay before
the farmer obtains any results or
recommendations.
The success of the first year of
the program led to a continuation
of the project on a fee-schedule
that is set up to pay its own way.
Hostetter still thinks its
economical and is sold on the
benefit of the program.
“For instance, last month they
recommended that I drop the
protein down to 11 percent. Nor
mally, I would have said that’s not
enough and kept right on feeding 14
or 15 percent. But I reduced the
protein, saved on feed costs, and
our milk production still increased.
The testing program gives you
confidence to make changes. ’’
Usually the Hostetters raise all
the alfalfa and com that they need
for the cows, and have some left to
sell. They farm about 180 acres,
100 owned and 80 acres of nearby
rented land. Even after last year’s
poor growing season, they had
enough roughage and nearly
enough corn, says Hostetter.
And that’s one reason they
decided not to participate in the
milk diversion program. “We did
think strongly about participating,
because everyone needs to help get
production in line with demand,
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