A2B-L*ncaster Fanning, Saturday, March 12, 1988
BY HELEN KELCHNER
Columbia Co. Correspondent
BERWICK (COLUMBIA CO.)
Richard and Virginia Yule of
Millville, Columbia County, have
reached a goal they set out to attain
17 years ago. At the Pennsylvania
Holstein Convention in Lancaster
last month. Yules Pride Dairy
received the Progress Breeders
Registry Award. This is national
recognition from the Holstein-
Fresian Asso. of America.
In order to qualify, applicants
must belong to DHIR, have a 75%
home-bred herd with a DHIR aver
age of 21,481 lbs. milk minimum,
768 lbs. butterfat and a BAA of
103.4 percent. The Yule herd is
more than 75% home bred, has a
DHIR average of 22,686 lbs. of
milk with 783 lbs. butterfat and a
BAA of 106.5 percent
Virginia and Dick feel this is a
very prestigious award, one which
they had set out to capture early in
their farming career. They just
missed it in 1980 because of their
relocation from New York state to
Pennsylvania when their home
bred stock dropped because of
their farm sale.
The Yules farmed 300 acres in
New York with 200 head of cattle
and a $200,000 machinery invest
ment Dick was overworked with a
heavy investment and was not
doing what he wanted. That was to
improve his registered Holsteins.
His dream was to cut out the farm
ing and concentrate on the herd.
In 1980, Yules had the oppor
tunity to sell out - lock, stock and
..ng... jg\
Award presented to them at the Pa. Holstein Convention in
Lancaster. This is a national recognition of the Holstein-
Fresian Asso. of America.
Dick . ister.son Sunny Craft Chief Spirit
and My Kinda Aprils Milkmaid, an excellent cow which Yule still has in his herd. This
bull was Judged Excellent at 2 yrs. 10 mos. Dick chose to keep the bull on the farm and
prove him under his care. He has produced outstanding heifers.
Yules Pride Farm Reaches Long Term Goal
barrel with the option of retaining
some of the best head for seed
stock. The move to Pa. was a
gamble. The Yules weren’t sure
they could pull off their dream of
working exclusively with a dairy
herd.
Dick said they chose their Mill
ville site for several reasons. First,
the farm had small acreage. He
intended to purchase feed and bed
ding allowing him more freedom
to develop the herd. Second, he
needed a location convenient to
available feed sources. Third, he
looked for cattle merchandisers
within a reasonable distance. In
addition, he felt the area had the
right atmosphere of competition to
present a challenge. Also, Yules
did not overlook the warmer cli
mate. Their former farm in Herk
imer County, New York was once
described as “eleven months of
winter and one month of poor sled
din’”. Dick recalls losing a crop of
com to a snow storm in the middle
of June.
The move to Millville was not
without its shortcomings. The
farmhouse had only three bed
rooms and the Yules still had five
of their seven children living at
home. A wing addition to the
house was a priority.
They explained the hardest part
of the move was the stock they left
behind, a direct result of 19 years
of herd development and one of the
top herds in Herkimer County. The
Yules were able to make a com
promise with the buyer in which
they brought 36 calves and 12
Randy Sones grooms Houghdaleßarae Phoebe. She was a iry Good 86 out of Ele
vation when Yule purchased her in February 1987. With a year of Dick’s feeding prog
ram, she has reached a 25,450 lbs., 4.4% with 1056 B.F. and her index has increased to
91.
milking cows with them to Pen
nsylvania. Although their best
stock went with the selling deal,
they were fortunate enough to
bring out calves from some of their
best head which gave them an edge
in their reorganized venture. At
that time they had just gotten then
foot in the merchandising door and
the move to Pennsylvania gave
them the incentive to refine then
business.
The present herd consists of 51
milking head and 50 head of young
stock. The herd average of 22,686
lbs. with 783 lbs. butterfat gradual
ly increases as herd improvement
methods take affect For instance,
these numbers are up from 19,264
lbs. with 685 lbs. butterfat just four
years ago.
An example of alO year old that
has benefited from the improve
ment method is Killdee Van Bess
sired by Rosemere Fury Ivan.
Bess, an excellent 93 is the highest
in butterfat production of Yules
herd. Just 4 years ago she had
29,309 lbs., 4.4% test, 1295 B.F.
and a BAA of 113 percent. That
has increased currently to 35,480
lbs., 4.4%, 1364B.F.andaBAA of
114.7. Bess had been in a flushing
program for foreign markets. She
ranks among the nation’s top but
lerfat producers.
Another outstanding cow is
Tops-Up Ginger Spirit, Excellent
92. She is a 10-year-old with
records up to 24,700 lbs. 4.5 test
and 1090 lbs. butterfat. She was
the 100,000 lb. cow at Bloomsburg
Fair in 1987. Her embryos have
been exported to France, Germany
and England. She has a very good
86 daughter, Yules Pride I Jon
Sonya- E T whose embryos were
bought by Germany.
Sire Power purchased one of
Yule’s bulls, Yules Pride Eleva
tion Ace, which scored 89. Ace
was top sire for Sire Power in his
heyday between 1977 and 1979.
This was prior to the Pennsylvania
relocation. Dick had several of this
bull’s daughters which a group
from Germany viewed at the New
York farm.
The German group was so
impressed that they took a substan
tial supply of Ace’s semen back
home with them. Then, last sum
mer the group made a return visit,
this time to Yule’s Pennsylvania
farm to view the present herd.
They brought along a photograph
of one of Ace’s offspring, a
daughter which is doing a super
job for them. They were well
pleased with the Ace progeny and
the Yules were equally pleased to
learn of the positive results. Yule’s
embryo exports run 70 to 80% suc
cessful. They have also had three
yearling bulls and one two-year
old purchased by Russia.
Dick has a feeding program
which he credits for his improved
production figures. The herd is fed
dry hay and high moisture com
with protein supplement. He says
his mix of 'A each soy bean meal,
distillers and whole cotton seed is
the basis of his improved butter fat.
The whole cotton seed, a high
energy ingredient, is the factor that
makes the difference. While some
dairymen find its use controver
sial, Dick says you’ve got to give it
a chance. When he first tried it, he,
too, didn’t notice any difference,
but he stuck with it. After 3 or 4
months, he felt his cows took on a
“blush”. He can only describe it as
a signal when the butterfat began
to increase.
Over the past several years,
Dick has reassessed his value of a
cow. The USDA index for produc
tion gives a cow only about one
and a half lactations “life”. After
this peak period, many dairymen
following the index numbers get
rid of the cow. Dick feels the index
is important, but only as a tool used
with other factors. He can’t see a
3-year-old high-producer not
growing into an 8 or 10-year-old
cow which not only continues sub
stantial production, but which has
the capacity for providing calves
and embryos for marketing.
Dairymen can get carried away
with index numbers and what hap
pens is they end up with prime
stock having a productive life
average of 3.4 years built from
index on top of index on top of
index. Although this can impress
some markets. Yule has experi
ence which shows otherwise.
Dick likes to look at cow fami
lies. He purchased Houghdaleßar
ae Phoebe at the State Convention
sale in February 1987. She was a
Very Good 86 out of Elevation, not
an impressive index by today’s
standards to attract competitive
merchandising. But, her mother
was a 12-year-old with high pro
duction and tests and she had two
maternal sisters that are excellent
with good milking fat. Last year
Phoebe’s production reached
25,450 lbs., 4.4% with 1056 B.F.
and her index increased to 91.
What has pleased Dick about
this cow is that after the German
group that visited his farm to view
the herd had studied Phoebe’s fam
ily, they ordered embryos from her
because of her type rather than her
index. Phoebe is still a productive
cow at age 6. Dick is concerned
that young farmers starting out will
lake the Holstein Red Book too
seriously. If they use the basis of
high production for 2 and 3 year
olds which aren’t around as old
cows, what have they
accomplished?
The Yule philosphy is that if the
cow can pay for herself in one or
two years, then hang on to her- let
her produce calves and embryos
along with milk and allow her to be
financially productive to age 8 or
10. Indexes make “good looking”
cows, but which in many cases
bum out too young, while “types”
provide cows that can work even
as aged stock. This is where the
cow’s family history, is valuable.
Dick says, “A two-year-old with
a 16,000 lb. production which
becomes a 25,000 lb. to 28,000 lb.
producing age cow is of more val
ue financially, than breeding that
(Turn to Pag* A 34)