DlCkiuweaster Famhe setor*y, Fefcnwy 2S, ISS7
Herd Health Programs
BETHLEHEM - “Is the
veterinary profession going to help
the dairy farmer stay in business,
or is Coca-Cola going to
manufacture a low-fat product
made from soybeans? ’ ’
Turning a statement of policy
into a question. Dr. Elwood Borger
welcomed a large crowd of
dairymen and veterinarians to the
Dairy Herd Health Seminar held
recently to educate veterinarians
and dairymen to work together for
greater profits.
The seminar was held at the
Holiday Inn, Bethlehem, last week,
and was sponsored by several ag
businesses and the Ackermanville
Veterinary Hospital. Total herd
health programs which the
veterinarian could introduce and
aid in implementing with his dairy
farmer clients, and which the
dairyman could then carry out on
his farm were stressed throughout
the day.
“We should all be working
together for better profits,” stated
Dr. Charles Gardner, Acker
manville Veterinary Hospital, as
he echoed the sentiments of his
associate. “Dairy farmers will
have to continue to change if they
want to remain profitable, and the
role of the veterinarian will have to
change to,” he continued.
Gardner maintained that there
are six key areas of dairy
management that a veterinarian
must have a good working
Berks Cattlemen’s
LEESPORT - The meeting of
the Berks County Cattlemen’s
Association scheduled for
Tuesday, Feb. 24 has been
rescheduled for Thursday, Mar. 5
at 7:30 p.m. in the Berks County Ag
Center. The meeting is open to the
public. Anyone with an interest in
NEED
MORE ROOM?
Read The
Classified
ON ftiv 6CVS OVCA / ROOI ESfOfC
knowledge of to help his client. The
knowledge of these key areas and
the willingness of the dairyman to
allow his veterinarian to treat
sickness, prevent disease, and
maximize herd performance add
up to a total herd health program.
Basics of nutrition, mastitis
control, reproduction,
replacement animals, housing and
records, were all addressed by
Gardner. The records of a
dairyman, whether DHIA, calf
records, or supplemental records,
brings all of these areas together
for the veterinarian, according to
Gardner. Also, the dairyman as
well as the veterinarian must be
motivated and must benefit from
such a program to ensure its
success.
Following this point, the
featured speaker, Dr. James
Jarrett, Rome, Ga., began his
discussion on making a total herd
health program work on the farm.
A previous president of the Bovine
Practitioners Association, and a
contributor to Hoard’s Dairyman,
Jarrett explained his basics of
good cow management in a
practical, common sense ap
proach.
“Too often we know what to do,
we just don’t get it executed,” he
began. “Good management
depends on getting the little things
done.”
Jarrett began by discussing
Meeting Postponed
beef or dairy cattle is invited to
participate.
For more information about the
Association or the upcoming
meeting, contact Mike Firestine,
secretary, 717-6664185 or Clyde
Myers, county agent, 215-378-1327.
Veterinarian+Dai
Require Team Effort To Succeed
mastitis and stated that the control
program begins in the en
vironment of the cow.
“Water, except in the watering
trough, is one of the worst enemies
on a dairy farm,” he stated.
Jarrett suggested: clipping
udders for added cleanliness; pre
stripping before milking to reduce
count in the bulk tank; pre-dipping
to get pre-kill on bacteria; and
completely drying off a cow before
attaching the milking unit.
He also advised having the
milking system checked often,
checking equipment often and
using a good teat dip. lodine, with a
broader spectrum of killing bac
teria, and with glycerin added so
that it stays on the teat longer is
Jarrett’s preference.
The replacement program on a
dairy farm, “begins the day you
turn the mother dry,” according to
Jarrett. “I like to see most of the
vaccination program concentrated
in that dry cow,” he continued.
“Every dairy farm has three
rations,” Jarrett noted as he began
his discussion on nutrition, one of
his four areas of concern, “the one
that’s calculated, the one that’s
mixed, and the one that’s fed,” he
stated. Nutrition, Jarrett con
tinued, deals with quality forage
and the art of storage, and “you try
to get her to eat one more bite.” He
added that cows should be fed as
much on body condition as on
production.
Success in reproduction has
much to do with dry cow
management, according to
Jarrett. Shock her to dry her off
and then gently get her going uphill
•s
UNIPEL 20-10-10
fits so many corn fields:
It’s 2-1-1 ratio is good for corn fields with a good Phosphate/Potash balance -
a UNIPEL single application fertilizer for quick & easy Spring fertilization.
Apply through your corn planter or broadcast 20-10-10 this Spring to provide
quick availability of nitrate Nitrogen for early - planted corn in cool soils, to
give it a quick growth “kick”. You’ll also provide long lasting Nitrogen for
continued growth promotion through the growing season.
If there ever was a fertilizer you could call “The
Reliable One”, it’s Unipel 20-10-10. How can we
fit it into your Spring fertility program?
P. I. ROHRER & PRO., INC.
SMOKETOWN, PA
Profits
Speakers for the sem
Program included, left, Dr. Elwood Borger, Dr. Charles
Gardner, Dr. James Jarrett and Dr. Charles Rinehimer.
just before she calves, Jarrett
advised.
“The best cow person on the
farm should be responsible for
heat detection,” Jarrett explained.
The person, the time of day, and
the surface can all effect good heat
detection.
Concerning infectious diseases
and vaccination programs in
volving reproduction, Jarrett said,
“If you put her under enough
stress, you can break any vac
cination program.”
“It all works together,” he said
as he concluded his presentation.
“It’s a matter of putting the total
package together.”
Also on the program was a
review of computer programs
developed for a total herd health
program. Dr. Charles Rinehimer,
Ackermanville Veterinary
Hospital, presented the computer
&Wjj
Wi
program. Stressed as an ideal
program to monitor changes in the
herd over each month, Rinehimer
is currently working with several
clients on this program.
Gardner summarized the
curriculum of the seminar in one of
the handouts he provided to all
participants.
“A total herd health program
can pay good dividends for the
veterinarian administering it, and
especially for the dairyman
receiving it. It requires at the
outset, that both the dairyman and
the veterinarian want the
veterinarian to be an integral part
of the herd management team.
Beyond that it simply requires the
proper knowledge on the part of
the veterinarian and the
willingness to institute and follow
sound management programs on
the part of the farmer. ’ ’
i l!
wi
m
km
©a
*
L,
»v
Chevron
9 Ortho
PH: 717-299-2571
j Nipt . 1
'
m
iM
k s \'^
FERTILIZERS
Helping the War fa Grow Better
f H M