Dairv Business ,*\ Newton Bair The Hazsard of Farming A good friend of mine just lost his most valuable animal in a freak accident. She was a heifer that had milked over 30,000 pounds of milk as a 2-year-old. While scratching her neck on a gate post, her neck chain caught on the hinge pin. She must have panicked, and before it was noticed, she strangled to death. Of course it was a tragic loss to the breeding program, as well as a considerable loss in potential income. We sigh and say, “So what? It happens all the time.” Well, not all the time, but enough to make us shrug our shoulders and go on ignoring the possibilities that confront us daily. We can all recall some incident that seemed unpredictable at the time. Maybe it cost us dearly, or maybe was just a warning. Perhaps we learned a lesson from it. Maybe it was ignored and soon # MMPRMAM HOLLANDERRD, RD3 / I |y||y| tnl’lnll NEW HOLLAND, PA 717-354-9611 MANUFACTURING CORP. CALL FOR PRICES AND YOUR LOCAL DEALER AIR-O-MATIC VENTILATION SYSTEMS Wall Fan With Hood And Cabinet •W"jE—?CS» Rugged, Heavy Duty WAGON GEAR ZIMMERMAN AUGER SYSTEMS FOR EMPTYING MANURE PITS Efficient Economical and requires less Horsepower than most systems .! JUB Portable forgotten. After all, there’s no use in ‘crying over spilled milk,’ is there? That phrase is all too ap propriate to the dairy business. It seems that there is too much ‘spilled milk’ on the farm. While some of it is not worth crying over, there is always some incident or accident that has a profound effect on the income of the business, and the smooth flow of family life. Sometimes the business just can’t stand even a small loss that might be prevented. The purpose of this sermonizing, I think, is to sharpen our awareness of the hazards that are most obvious, so that something can be done before it is too late. The ones that occur to me won’t necessarily be the most important to you, but might set you to thinking about them. One of the most common hazards 48” High-Volume Portable Cooling Fan Variety of Sizes Made to Order Stationary to our best cows is tramped teats. Why do we cram a 1,400 pound cow into a three-foot wide stall and expect her to lie down and get up without injury? And why do we expect that same cow to back out of the stall when there is an eighteen inch gutter right behind her? Twice every day, she is put to the test. It’s either break a leg trying to turn around so she can jump across the gutter, or back up, step down, drag her $1,500 udder on the concrete, and risk a serious injury. The next hazard is often a high lintel, slippery slope, or sharp curb at about the right height to do the most damage. Neck chains can be dangerous, as my friend found out. DHIA rules require some kind of permanent and easily read identification for each cow. Sometimes the neck chain with a permanent number is the most convenient, especially if tie stalls are used. All we can do is look for likely places where they might get caught, and protect or eliminate them. Leg straps are acceptable, and present less of a hazard to the cows' health. Large ear tags are also used, but can get lost and need to be replaced. Branding is ideal, but takes more doing to get the job done. Branding presents no hazard once it’s done, and is the most permanent type of identification. Slippery concrete can be roughened for a non-slip surface at fairly low cost. The cost may be much less than the loss of one good cow. So can the removal of a sharp rock in the pasture lane, and the time it takes to gather up that mess of old barbed wire along the pasture fence. ;ile, leal OR And ’orn Gross Cap. 3,000 to 24,000 lbs. How about removing that piece of junked machinery that the cows must walk around every day? There seems to be plenty of room to go around it, but some frisky critter is bound to get pushy and force old Favorite right into tho rusty pile of iron. No, we’ll never think of every danger that- .JarGu-^he (Continued from Page A 22) Jerry adds. “We wanted to try the program and get a good overall picture of the year.” But in the second half, the program was more difficult. Sheppard explains that the second half of the program was taken from an existing farming program and only partially matched to the initial session. The actual program was sent in separately and was apparently being tested for the first time during the West moreland County month-long trial. The Schimpfs found it difficult to match their specific dairy and livestock items to the basic cash flow plan, which was based on “Frank’s” beef operation. And when time came to run the final program, Sheppard discovered that the printer didn’t work. Although the test ended on June 30, as of mid-July the participants including the Schimpfs had not received a print-out of their cash flow plans because of the printer problem. Despite their disappointment in the second session, the par ticipants were basically pleased Chester Co, 4-H Lamb Show/Sale Slated WEST CHESTER - The third annual Chester County 4-H Market Lamb Show and Sale will be held at the Goshen County Fair. Twenty market lambs, raised by county 4- H members will be shown on Monday, July 28, beginning at 7:30 p.m. All lambs will be sold at Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 26,1986-A35 USDA Computer Program auction at the fairgrounds on Wednesday, July 30, at 7:30 p.m. Auctioneer for the sale is Bill MacCauley. All local businesses or any one interested in a lamb for their freezer are invited to attend this event. Further information can be obtained by calling 215-696-3500. bam. We’ll not remove them all, but shouldn’t we at least try to eliminate the most obvious hazards to the health and well being of our most valuable asset? And while we are thinking about the health of our cows, let’s not forget to be even more conscious of the hazards to ourselves. with their experiment. Sheppard explains that the program appears to be effective, at least as a teaching tool. In addition to comments from the participants, the program’s effectiveness is measured by a quiz the par ticipants take at the beginning and end of the first session. “Most people I tested scored about 70 percent prior to running the program. They showed marked improvement in their knowledge after they ran the program and used the workbook,” Sheppard says. Frye says the program is ef fective because it keeps par ticipants involved. “You have to answer questions every few seconds. You can’t sit back and sleep like you could at a workshop. You have to stay with this.” The Schimpfs hope that the program progresses well during its final evaluation and that more j programs are available soon. 1 Jerry says, “We’re looking for ward to using more programs like this. We believe that in farming, as in all businesses, good managers succeed. We want to work smarter, not harder.”
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