BY PAT PURCELL
ALLENTOWN (BERKS CO.)
Bovine Somatatrophin (BST)
can increase milk production per
cow per day on an average
between 8 and 11 pounds depend
ing upon dosage, according to Dr.
David Galligan,of the University
of Pennsylvania. Although that is a
substantial increase in milk pro
duction and would also add size
able income to the milk check, that
apparently is not enough to con
vince dairy farmers that BST is for
their cows.
Galligan spoke to a full house at
the Penn-Jersey Dairy Exposition
held in Allentown on Wednesday,
concerning several studies being
conducted on the effects of BST.
The effects of BST appeared to be
the main concern of the audience.
Farmers were quick to question
Galligan on its safety, health pre
cautions, consumer concerns and
its value to the farmer.
Galligan noted severals specif
ics about BST:
Certain amounts of BST
BST Effects And Forage Loss Are Topics
At Penn Jersey Dairy Expo
are already found in cows without
an injection and is also found in
their milk.
Cows treated with BST
produce milk which has the same
level of BST in it as cows without
the injections.
Somatotrophin is not
found in man.
Somatotrophin is a protein
and is digested as any other
protein.
According to Galligan’s studies,
the amount of daily per cow
increase in milk production
depended upon the dosage admi
nistered and also the lactation
number for the cow and also
whether the cow was injected near
day 30 or after day 100 into the
lactation cycle.
BST can also have an effect on
the lactation curve by increasing
the peak milk production and by
enabling the animal to level-off at
a higher production rate which can
have some bearing on culling.
But with the higher levels of
milk production is there any effi
ciency lost in feed intake? Galligan
said no.
“We found that the increased
dry matter intake was in response
to production. A cow producing 90
pounds of milk per day whether
she was on BST or not would still
consume the same amount of feed.
However, the cow with the BST
did have a higher efficiency rate.
So we were spreading fixed costs
over more units of production,”
explained Galligan.
More study and more data are
needed to determine the effects of
BST usage on reproduction. His
study showed slight increases in
reproduction problems with cows
on BST, but, acording to Galligan,
because the differences were so
slight a much larger number of
cows needed to be studied.
This study did not show any
problem with ketosis or any other
metabolic diseases. However,
there was a significant increase in
mastitis with high level doses of
BST. But again, more research was
needed to determine the effect.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 13, 1988-El3
In a separate but related study
which simulated several dairy
farm operations over a span of six
years increases were from $.27 to
$.64 in profit per cow per day.
Also, he noted that the small pro
ducer could enjoy the same margi
nal increase as the larger producer.
BST use would enable the far
mer to produce the same milk with
fewer cows; more milk with same
number of cows and also to keep
cull cows longer. Galligan noted
that more research needs to be con
ducted on the health and reproduc
tive effects. Also, according to Dr.
Lumin Kung of the University of
Delaware, within the next six
months the Eastern European
Community will approve the use
of BST. Galligan predicts that BST
will be accepted in the United
States in the early 1990’5, but said
the adoption rate by farmers was
not so easy to predict.
Snake Oil and Foo Foo Dust
“There are too many products
on the market labeled as forage
preservatives and too little
k
research that has been done.
Beware! There’s a lot of snake oil
and foo-foo dust out there. You’ve
got to do your homework,” stated
Dr. Lumin Kung, University of
Delaware.
There is no way to prevent for
age loss, but it can be discouraged
with the proper use of good pro
ducts. THe key is finding the right
product and implementing good
management procedures. Forage
preservatives can help reduce loss
if crop is harvested at the proper
stage of maturity, is chopped at
1/4” to 3/8” and is stored in an air
tight silo.
“The number one priority is to
fill the silo rapidly and continous
ly. This is number 1. Seal the silo
immediately. If you are tired and
have one last wagon to put in, do it.
Otherwise when come out in the
morning to do it, it will have
already begun to deteriorate,” said
Kung.
Time of harvesting is crucial.
Each day that forage is not
harvested after bud stage equals 1
lb. of milk production per cow per
day loss.
Also, hay drying agents in this
area are necessary simply because
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