FahtilNg WttffHiy ,Aiif erst 2,158 S
Virginia Cattleman
(Continued from Page D 2)
tleman AI breeds his six best cows
and then has them flushed about
every three months. These eggs
then go into the percentage host
mothers or “recips” and the top
cows remain open and can be bred
again. “It’s not really as much
trouble as AI as far as the labor
and all,” Wilson notes. “It’s a busy
/week but then you don’t have to
worry about it for the next 60 to 90
days.”
Eastep’s daughter, Karen,
elaborates. “If you were AI
breeding, you might have to get
two in today, and one in tomorrow,
and two in the next day. But by
using ET’s on all of the recips, you
catch them once, give them a
lutalyse shot, watch them while
they’re in heat and get them in the
day of the transplant. You know
when they should be coming in.”
The donor cows require more
attention, however, alnd it does
make for a busy week at Lakeview,
Karen admits. “Donors get shots
every day starting out with one the
first evening and the next day
getting two shots for five days, and
then ending on the last day with
one. Then, after you give them that
last shot, they should come in heat
a day or two later because they
also get lutalyse with the last two
shots. Then you AI and seven days
later you flush and transfer,” she
explains.
The shots contain a fertility drug
which causes the cows’to super
ovulate, Wilson reports. “Each
time we’ve averaged right in the
neighborhood of 20 good eggs. We
try to have about 20 to 25 recips
ready and we usually use them all,
freezing any excess eggs for later
use. We AI breed the next so many
best purebreds and then we use the
bottom half for recips. So they’re
all either being flushed, carrying
calves, or are the recips that didn’t
catch and will be used the next
time.”
So far the cattleman has 50
embryo calves on the ground or on
the way, and he’s been more than
pleased with the results. The costs
are high, though. The ET service
Eastep uses charges $3OO for the
first flush, $250 for the second and
$2OO for the third, with a maximum
of $750 per visit. Then the cat
tleman is charged $250 for each
successful pregnancy within 60-80
days.
“We figure we’ve got an average
of $5OO in each embryo and
that’s taking into consideration
you lose when you put the eggs into
these cows and five or six of them
don’t catch. Then you’ve got these
cows you’re carrying open for 90
days or more, so you’ve lost two
calves you’d have had if you’d bred
them to a bull or used AI. We might
go up to the bam when the 21 days
are up and see them in heat, but
you can’t breed them back because
that would be a successful
pregnancy when the service came
back to check.”
It’s still worth the cost, Karen
Eastep and her father believe. “It
has to be,” Karen explains. “In
stead of having a $4OO half-blood
Lamb
To Vote
WASHINGTON - Lamb and
wool producers will have an op
portunity during an August 18-29
referendum to vote on whether'
they want the American Sheep
Producers Council, Inc., to con
tinue its market promotion and
improvement program on their
behalf.
According to Milton Hertz,
Acting Administrator of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s
Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service, the
agreement to be voted on is similar
to one approved in 1982, except it
heifer you might have a $l2OO full
blood heifer or one worth a little
more.” And Wilson agrees.
“Even if we get a real nice three
quarter bull out of a half-blood,
he’s still real hard to sell. If you do
get him sold, he might, or might
not, bring five cents over market
price. But if you can price a bull
calf out of that same cow at $l2OO,
that’s over $1 a pound. And after
that ET calf is on the ground, it
costs the same to raise it and get
him up to a 1,000 pound bull as it
did that three-quarter. And you
can sell him for more.”
KEN CLUGSTON VERNON SEIBEL
665-6775 665-2782
CRAFT-BTLt
CONSTRUCTION INC.
FARM-HOME BUILDING
R.DJ2 MANHEIM, PA.
PH; 665-4372
BUILDING & REMODELING FOR—
DAIRY RESIDENTAL
SWINE POLE BUILDINGS
BEEF STORAGE
• Corner Systems
• Electric Center Pivots
• EZ-Tow Pivots
VfIIAEV
Contact Hammonton, New Jersey Office
PHONE * 609*567-3910
Serving Your Total Ag Irrigation Needs
QUALITY IRRIGATION
SINCE 1953
and Wool Producers
On Promotion Program
would authorize deductions of up to
6 cents per pound on shorn wool
and 30 cents per hundredweight on
unshorn lambs marketed in 1986.
Deductions from producer in
centive payments for 1982 through
1985 were 4 cents and 20 cents
respectively, he said.
Hertz also said the new
agreement would permit USDA to
withhold part of any wool incentive
payments that might be made to
producers on 1987-90 marketings to
finance the council’s promotion
activities.
He said deductions would be
used by the council to finance
advertising and sales promotion
programs for wool and lamb and
programs to develop and
disseminate information on
product quality, production
management and marketing
improvement for wool and sheep.
ASCS county offices will
distribute copies of the agreement
and ballots to sheep producers
early this month. Producers may
cast their ballots by mailing or
delivering them in person to
county ASCS offices by the close of
the referendum, Hertz said.
Anyone who has owned sheep six
months old or older for at least 30
consecutive days during 1985 may
vote. Votes may be cast by in
dividuals or by cooperatives.
Members of cooperatives which
cast votes would not be eligible to
vote separately in the referendum.
The agreement requires approval
by two-thirds of the total volume of
producers, or two-thirds of the
total volume of production
represented in the referendum.
The National Wool Act of 1954
provides the authority for
deductions and for promotion
activities. Sheep producers have
approved the program in each of
the eight referendums held since
1954. In the most recent referen
dum, in 1982, 72.6 percent of the
producers approved the program.
w“i<i7
FRANK A.
FILLIPPO, INC.
- WANTED -
DISABLED & CRIPPLED
COWS, BULLS & STEERS
Competitive Prices Paid
Slaughtered under
government inspection
Call: Frank Fillippo -
Residence - 215-666-0725
Elam Ginder - 717-367-3824
C.L. King - 717-786-7229
• Linear Systems
• Water Drives
• Val Com Energy Analysis
Complete Irrigation System Design,
Sales, Parts & Service
& SON CO.