A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 14, 1987
Dairy Herd
(Continued from Pago A 1)
can and should begin by selecting
which cows should be bred and
which cows should not be bred.
So there is no quick and easy
formula. There are no magic num
bers. Much of the decision to cull
depends upon the quality of the
stock available to replace it. To
continously improve the produc
tion and to achieve uniformity
throughout the herd the operator
must have consistently better
replacements.
The future of the dairy herd and
consequently the dairy farm itself
depends upon the quality of the
herd replacements. The goal is
quite obvious. However, the right
program to acheive this goal is not
so obvious. And all this must be
done while keeping costs down.
There are many factors in a
dairy herd replacement program to
be considered. And each factor
must be looked at for economy,
value to the program and suitablity
to the individual fanning opera
tion. As in any fanning operation,
what works for one fanner may not
work for another. And also, the
only way a herd replacement prog
ram, or any program will work is
that it must be followed. Although
well-intentioned, a program will
fail if it is one that asks more than
the operator can give in time,
money, and labor.
PRIORITIES
“Your best genetic material are
the just bom calves and they
deserve the same best management
practices and attention because
they will be your best cows in the
future,” said Glenn Shirk, Lancas
ter County Extension Dairy Agent.
“One problem is that the farmer
may be inclined to pay attention to
the critters which are paying the
bills and may tend to overlook the
need and value for proper care of
the young livestock and may short
change them on management,”
adds Shirk.
That concepts not news to any
dairy farmer. However, although
farm production has increased
over the pas t decade the work force
has not. Already stretched to
capacity any labor intensive pro
ject must be scrutinized for its
positive values.
“Considering the technical com
plexities, the work, the size of
farms, the labor force has not
doubled. When is enough work
enough?”, asks Shirk.
The program for raising young
stock for herd replacement, must
be one that blends well with the
rest of the production concerns and
neither deters good management
practices nor consumes the time
and energy of the owner.
What Works For Some
For as many different farms,
there are as many different heifer
raising programs. And for all top
ics ideas and opinions are diffe-
Replacement
rent What works for some, may
not work for others. And while
some programs may be very suc
cessful, the operator finds it diffi
cult to pinpoint why. Throughout
the series of articles the herd
replacement programs of several
dairy farmers will be discussed.
Each farm is different and each
program is tailored to meet the
individual needs and limitations of
that farm.
Peter Winner, and his parents
Raymond and Louise Winner,
operate the Penn-Del Farms, of
Willow Street, and raise all their
own replacements for their 60-plus
head milking herd of Guernseys.
Calves and heifers number nearly
50 head.
For the most part Peter is satis
fied with his herd replacement
program, but there are some parts
he would like to change. However,
he is quick to point out that the
Winner family has been raising
their own replacements basically
the same way for 17 years and it
works.
Helene Dreisbach of Hamburg
in Berks County, operates the
dairy portion of Long Meadow
Farms, with approximately 100
milking Jerseys, and raise all their
own replacements. Dr. Robert
Dreisbach, DVM, handles the
nutritional needs of the dairy herd
and work is shared by all including
Patty, the Dreisbach’s daughter
and her husband Todd. Todd
recently added 16 milking Jerseys
of his own from his North Carolina
herd to the Dreisbach herd. In the
past 15 years the Dreisbach’s have
experimented with nearly every
facet of herd replacement. They
now have a program with which
they are receiving good results.
Kenneth Umble and his wife
Marilyn, operate the Glen Valley
Farm, in Atglen, Chester County.
Glen Valley Farm is home to 110
head of Holsteins with a 60 head
milking herd. They raise most of
their own replacements and do
some merchandising.
Mt. Ararat Farms near Port
Deposit, Maryland, raises all their
own replacements for the
200-head Guernsey farm. The
young livestock are nearly, half of
that number and Nevin' Kratz,
Herd Manager, says they experi
ence few problems in the heifer
replacement program. Basically in
the fifteen years he has been at Mt
Ararat, little has been changed and
he hopes the success continues.
Components of a herd replace
ment program to be discussed;
—health
—nutrition
—isolation
—immunization
—ventilation
—management
—labor
—housing
(Turn to Pag* A 27)
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