D2-Lancaster Farming Saturday, May 24,1986
226 Head Registered for NW Keystone
Junior Beef Classic
MEADVILLE - Ron Boales,
beef extension specialist at Ohio
State University, will judge the
Northwest Keystone Junior Beef
Classic at the Crawford County
Fairgrounds tomorrow.
In the breeding classes 114
animals have been entered to
compete for $lOOO worth of
trophies. Entries have been
received for the following breeds:
Angus, Charolais, Polled Hereford,
Shorthorn, Simmental, Limousin,
Franklin
SHIPPENSBURG - For
southcentral Pennsylvania 4-H’ers
eager to start the show season, one
of the year’s first opportunities
takes place at the Shippensburg
Fairgrounds next Saturday, May
31.
The event is the joint beef and
market lamb preview show
sponsored by the Franklin County
4-H Baby Beef Club and the
Keystone 5 Star Livestock
Association.
Both shows are open to 4-H
members only, with the beef show
getting underway at 10 a.m., and
the sheep show starting at 1:30
p.m., or at the conclusion of the
Fall Direct Marketing Program
CORNING, N.Y. -
Although New York beef
cattle producers are just
finishing the spring calving
season, they are being urged
by Direct Marketing
Coordinator Lee Kraszewski
to “plan now for fall
marketing.”
Kraszewski, who is
charged with implementing
and conducting the New
York Beef Cattlemen’s
Association statewide
program for direct
marketing of feeder calves
this fall, is continuing the
informative phase of the
program.
“We plan to direct market
quality feeder calves in
October and November but
producers who are in
terested in participating will
Tulsa To Host Nat'l Polled Hereford Juniors
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The
Sooner State will be opening its
doors to junior Polled Hereford
breeders from across the U.S. in
mid-summer. Tulsa, Okla., will be
the center of activities as the host
city for the I3th Junior National
Polled Hereford Heifer Show and
Forum, July 20-24.
There will be an abundance of
activities at the Tulsa State
Fairgrounds for all members of
the family, with the main event
being the heifer show on Wed
nesday, July 23, through Thursday,
July 24. Steve Radakovich of
Earlham, lowa, will be the lead
judge for the Junior National, and
serving as associate judge will be
Belted Galloway, Chianina, and
commercial.
In the steer show, 112 entries are
scheduled to compete for the $2OO
and $lOO grand and reserve
champion prizes. Steer classes will
be divided by hip height.
Divisional champion and reserve
steers will receive a rosette.
The 226 head of cattle will be
shown by approximately 130
exhibitors. Many exhibitors will
arrive today to prepare for Sun-
Co. To Hold Baby Beef,
Lamb Preview Shows*
beef event.
The steer show entry fee is $5,
and premiums will be paid on the
first five placings, as well as for
the champion and reserve. There
will also be four showing and fit
ting classes by age groups.
Members from Adams, Cum
berland, Dauphin, Franklin,
Fulton, Lancaster, Lebanon,
Perry, York and Washington
County, Maryland are invited to
enter their steers and sheep.
The sheep show entry fee is $2.50
per lamb, and premiums will be
paid to exhibitors of the champion,
reserve, and first five placings.
Three age groups will be featured
NY Cattlemen Prepare
need to start getting ready
now,” Kraszewski said. He
added, “the emphasis will be
on quality and this means
calves will have to be
castrated and dehorned this
spring in order to qualify for
the pre-conditioning
requirements.”
The New York Beef
Cattlemen’s Association
received a $30,000 grant
from the State Department
of Agriculture and Markets
to develop and implement
the direct marketing
program in order to provide
a competitive marketing
alternative for the state’s
beef cattle industry.
Kraszewski said, “direct
marketing programs have
consistently returned more
dollars to producers than
Bill Tufts of Hillsboro, Texas.
There will also be a
Hereford/Polled Hereford steer
show at 1 p.m. on Thursday.
Highlighting this year’s Youth
Forum will be keynote speaker
Faye O’Dell of Kansas, Okla. He is
a coach and counselor for the
Cookson Hills Christian Home, and
was previously coach and athletic
director at Perry High School.
O’Dell combines humorous
anecdotes with highly motivational
messages addressing national and
spiritual values. The Forum will be
held Monday afternoon, July 21.
The National Junior Merit
competition will be the highlight of
the week for a number of out-
day’s show and take part in the
judging contest. The judging
contest starts at 2 p.m. and is open
to all livestock judging teams and
individuals interested in judging
beef cattle.
The various breed associations
will have display booths to
promote their breeds. The Pa. Beef
Council Queen along with the Pa.
Polled Hereford Queen will assist
in awarding prizes. The program is
open to the public.
in the sheep showmanship and
fitting contest.
For information on the beef show
contact Leon Lebo, 717-597-2176, or
597-2618, evenings. Entries should
be payable to Franklin Co. 4-H
Baby Beef Club and mailed to
William Reagan, 191 Franklin
Farms Lane, Chambersburg, Pa.
17201.
Entries for the sheep show will
be accepted until 11 a.m. on show
day and may be mailed to Loretta
Berkheimer, 1321 W. Lisburn Rd.,
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17055. Make
checks payable to Keystone 5 Star
Livestock Association.
they would receive by
marketing their calves in
traditional means- i.e.
weekly livestock auction
sales.”
Kraszewski will, in the
next weeks, be making
personal contacts with
‘feedlot operators and buyers
in Pennsylvania, Virginia
and the midwest to deter
mine their needs as to
volume and quality. This
information will enable him
to assemble feeder calves at
times and in areas to meet
buyer demands.
Cattlemen interested in
this program of direct
marketing are asked to write
Lee Kraszewski, RDI, Box
120, Coming, N.Y. 14830 for
guidelines and information.
standing youth being honored for
their achievements. In addition,
officers and directors for the
National Junior Polled Hereford
Council will be elected. Other
special activities at the Tulsa Show
will include a livestock judging
contest,. speech, scrapbook and
beef bowl competitions as well as
team and individual showmanship
contests.
For more information on the 13th
Junior National Polled Hereford
Heifer Show and Forum, contact
the American Polled Hereford
Association Youth Department,
4700 East 63rd St., Kansas City,
Mo., 64130 (816) 333-7731.
Fleece Day scheduled In Berks Co.
WOMELSDORF - Wool will be
the watchword at the second an
nual Fleece Day and Sale
scheduled for June 7 Amazing
Acres near Womelsdorf.
The event gets underway at 10
a.m., with craft demonstrations
and displays of fleece and sheep
that will be offered for sale. A
sheep shearing demonstration is
Recognizing Feed Problems
How often can you blame
production problems on the feed
program? Not too often.
Deficiencies in health, en
vironment or management cause
most problems in a hog operation.
But occasionally, the feeding
program is the culprit. When it is, I
have found that feed problems fall
into one of these categories:
Low Feed Intake
Even though this one’s a little
hard to believe, inadequate feed
intake is a common nutritional
problem. For example, you might
house sows in partially slatted
pens and feed them on the floor.
You provide the recommended 18
to 20 square feet per head, but it’s
difficult to spread the feed out
enough to provide the same
amount of feed for each sow. So
you have some sows getting only
two or three pounds of feed each
day.
Feeding stalls are an effective
solution but they’re also expensive.
A cheaper answer is interval
feeding. Feed twice as much every
two days or three times as much
every third day. When the “boss”
sow gets her 10- or 15-pound share,
there’s enough left for the timid
sows. Except during the coldest
times of the year, this scheme does
a nice job of keeping sows uniform.,..
Feed intake in the farrowing
house can be a problem too,
especially during hot weather.
Commercial drip coolers are a
good investment. I’ve even seen
effective drip coolers that were
made from Mi-inch black plastic
with a small hole over each sow.
Holes can be made in the plastic
line with ear tagging pliers.
Constructing enclosed hovers for
the baby pigs will also let you
lower the farrowing house tem
perature during the cooler months.
That will help increase sow feed
intake.
Market hogs can be short
changed on feed intake. The empty
feeder is an obvious cause, but a
full feeder with clogged holes will
have the same effect. The waterer
has to be working, too. Hogs
without water will stop eating
within a few hours.
Moldy Feed
It’s no secret that moldy feed can
cost you a lot of money. When the
mold toxins are high in con
centration, the results are easy to
see swollen vulvas, prolapsed
rectums, feed refusal, vomiting or
abortions. But there could be just
enough of the toxins present to
cause losses that aren’t so obvious
like slower rates of gain or lower
feed efficiency.
If you discover a mold problem,
the best alternative is to get rid of
scheduled for noon, with carding
machine demonstrations running
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wool dying
with natural dyes will also be
featured.
Amazing Acres is located in
Berks County, four miles north of
Womelsdorf on Route 419. For
information call Debbie Mikulak,
215-589-4023.
the moldy ingredient. If that’s not
practical, dilute the moldy
ingredient with uncontaminated
grain. Use only clean grain for
gestation feeds.
Two aggravating things about
moldy grain: 1) The grain may
look and smell normal, but stiU
contain mold toxins. 2) Moldy
grain can sometimes be diluted to
as little as 100 pounds per ton, and
still cause problems.
Not Following Directions
Most commercial feed com
panies provide adequate levels of
nutrients in their supplements and
premixes when they’re added at
the recommended amounts. If you
add 30 pounds of premix instead of
the usual 50, the cost per pound of
rain will be higher even though the
cost per pound of fttd will be lower.
The mistake we see most often is
when producers make gestation
feed with com and supplement.
Most companies require a mineral
pack in addition to the com and
supplement. Leaving the mineral
pack out will save a few bucks, but
it also shortchanges the sow on
some critical minerals like
calcium, phosphorus and
selenium. As a result, the sow may
not cycle or settle normally or she
may have increased incidence of
mastitis.
Low Supplement Levels
Even when feed is mixed
properly and according to direc
tions, deficiencies can occur. For
example sows should get 18 grams
of calcium and 14 grams of
phosphorus each day. If you’re
feeding five pounds per head per
day, that translates into .8 percent
calcium and .6 percent
phosphorus. If you’re feeding less
than five pounds, these per
centages should be increased.
That’s where some companies fall
short.
Vitamin E is another nutrient
that’s often short, in my opinion.
Many feed companies will match
NRC guidelines for vitamin E, but
little more. Increased storage
time, pelleting, or molds can have
drastic effects on vitamin E. Why?
Because it’s antioxidant. It acts
like a preservative. So it’s the first
vitamin to go. The symptoms of
vitamin E deficiency are endless
white muscle disease, mastitis,
gut edema, stomach ulcers just
to name a few.
How much vitamin E should be
added’ For gestation, prestarter
and starter diets, 20,000 to 30,000
I.U. per ton. For grower and
finisher diets, 10,000 to 15,000 I.U.
will be adequate. At these levels,
you’ll spend a little more for some
good insurance.
Biotin, another vitamin is often
supplemented at low levels, or not
at all. Limited research is showing
improvements in production when
sow diets contain 400 mg of biotin
per ton. That costs less than one
penny per sow per day.
Summary
When you suspect a nutritional
problem, check for obvious things
like low feed intake and mold
symptoms. If it seems more
complicated than that, don’t
hesitate to ask the Extension
Service for help. That’s why we’re
here.