Luke Bowser looks toward bright future in dairying
BY BETSY STITT
Staff Correspondent
NEW ENTERPRISE _The
hard work and long hours needed
to put together a Junior Holstein
Member Scrapbook was worth the
effort for Luke Bowser, who was
recently named the State
Distinguished Junior Holstein
Member at the state convention.
Luke is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Donald Bowser, who live on a farm
in New Enterprise along with their
55-cow dairy herd. Growing up and
working with his parents around
the farm sparked an interest and
helped Luke decide to become a
Holstein breeder.
Luke currently owns 24 dairy
animals, which have a rolling herd
Luke Bowser and his wife, Julia, look over the scrapbook
that won in the state contest.
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State Distinguished Junior Holstein Member
average of 16,500 pounds of milk.
Although he likes them all, Singing
Brook Pete Billie A is probably his
favorite. Using her and her dam,
Luke is hoping to build up his herd.
Luke also owns a quarter in
terest in a Troy daughter with Bill
Petit of Huff and Puff. A two-year
old. she is scored 87. They have
several contracts on her and they
may pursue an embryo interest.
In outlining his responsibilities
on the farm, Luke said. “I do a
little bit of everything, but my
main job is caring for the dairy
herd.” He works closely with the
feed mill to maximize production.
Through a program called Extra-
Factors, the mill tests the forage
and then tailors the grain ration,
Luke and Julia look over the Bowser herd, their future in the dairy industry.
which is fed according to
production. Luke said they top
dress the high producers’ rations
with soybean meal.
Luke also makes the breeding
decisions. He said he likes to breed
with bulls that will make
something good on the first
generation. Some of the bulls he is
currently using are Star Wars,
Tempo and Elevation.
Luke is beginning to pay more
attention to protein production
when selecting bulls. Although his
milk company is not yet paying for
protein, Luke thinks they will be in
three to five years and by then he
will have his cattle producing more
protein.
Playing the. numbers game is
something Luke shies away from.
“I chose bulls to improve my cows
in both type and production, not by
their numbers,” he said.
He does not understand why for
so long the Holstein industry bred
99 c
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cows for function and longevity
and made great progress and now
looks only at numbers. Luke thinks
that this could slow progress.
Luke likes fancy cows that last.
“Cows that last 10 to 12 years are
going to pay more bills,” he said.
One of Luke’s goals is to breed
the first 100 point cow. Other goals
include having a 20,000 pound herd
average with a 4.3 test, because he
thinks butterfat is going to become
more important. He would also like
to have a comfort stall barn with
computer feeders and a smaller
herd of 45 to 50 realty good cows.
Luke has been an avid showman
for a number of years. He is a
member of the Morrison’s Cove 4-
H Dairy Club and the Northern
Bedford FFA. Between the two
clubs, he said, he has become
addicted to showing.
Even when he is too old for these
groups, Luke said he plans to
continue showing. One of his goals,
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he noted, is to “win big” at the
National Shows.
Luke was a member of the 4-H
judging team, which he credits for
helping him to recognize good
cows. The knowledge he gained as
a team member also helps in the
merchandising business, which he
has recently become active in.
Luke said it is a little hard to sell
an animal, but he is getting used to
it and has been able to buy better
animals with the funds he received
from selling.
Luke has mixed feelings about
selling cattle to foreign countries.
“It is a big market with a lot of
potential,” he said, “but I would
sooner be sending them our dairy
products.”
In talking about the current
dairy situation, Luke has doubts
about the herd buyout program.
However, he said, he thinks a
quota system w.ould work. He also
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