A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 30, 1988 Bittersweet Farms (Continued from Page A 1) lying idle. “I always like horses and cattle together,” she explained. So she decided to become a seed stock producer. After spending time researching the various beef breeds, Maara dis covered Salers while in her native Canada. Salers have been bred to forage on native grasses in miles of rocky terrain. The mountain cattle are used for labor as well as valued for their milk and beef. The first fullblood Salers bull, Vaillanl, was imported to Canada in 1972, and its semen was distri buted throughout North America. Research into the breed sold Maara on the breed, and she pur chased three mature cows and nine heifers over a six-month period for seed stock. Of these, one cow was Princess Blue 74P, a cow which since has produced eight class win ners and grand and reserve grand champions. Currently Bittersweet Farms has the largest Salers herd in Pen nsylvania with 75 fullblood (100%), purebred (93.75%), and crossbred animals. Calving ease a top trait There were many characteristics that sold Maara and Hamilton on Salcrs. Primary among these is the breed’s calving ease. “We haven’t had to pull a calf from a Salers, and this year we’ve had a 100 percent calf rate,” Hamilton reported proudly. “A Salers calf has a low birth weight, and it is just like a string bean: long and skinny.” Much of the calving ease comes from the Salers dam’s large pelvic area and her birth canal’s down ward slope. Once bom, the calf is up and suckling, usually within a half hour. From that point on rale ol gain is high, producing heavier weaning weights than many other breeds. did V Diane deN Maara, owner of Bittersweet Farms, has been raising champion Salers since 1984. Her herd currently numbers 60 Salers fullblood, purebred, and crosses. named champion Salers female at the lowa Be6f Exposition. The heifer brought $2,800 from Feemster Farms in Indiana. Another plus for the Salers is their early maturation and high fer tility. Females conceive and breed back quickly, and bulls can cover more females than other breeds, according to Hamilton. Salers are good foragers, often covering a 40-mile area. “They’re good on the range, which is impor tant,” Hamilton said. “They’ll eat anything. In the winter they can feed on hay without any loss in weight.” Salers afficionados also claim that because females can convert any type of grass into high levels of butterfat, calves grow faster and better than other beef breeds. The cattle do well in fecdlots as well, being put on the rail at 12 to 14 months with weights ranging from 1,150 to 1,400 pounds. Packers like a Salcrs carcass because of its leanness, which con sumers currently are demanding from their beef. “A Salcrs has won the carcass class at the Denver National Western Show the past seven out of eight years,” Hamil ton noted. “The meat is 50 percent leaner than that of an Angus- Hcreford cross. Salers meat has only '/< -inch backfat.” The U.S. Olympic Committee is sold on Salcrs meal as well, giving it their endorsement. They particu larly were impressed by the beef’s leanness. Top traits transfer Other positive Salcrs character istics include heavy bones and hooves, good coat, resistance to diseases including pink eye, high tolerance to temperature extremes, and an easy disposition. To top this all, these traits arc passed on in crosses. And Salers cross females are non-terminal, which allows farmers to improve their herd rather than dilute it. When asked if there were any undesirable qualities in a Salers, Princess Blue is one of Bittersweet’s original Salers cows. A champion herself, she has produced eight class winners and grand and reserve grand champions. Bittersweet Farms Inc. Hamilton responded, “1 haven’t found any yet. They’re efficient foragers, good calf raisers, weigh off heavier calves on just grass, breed and calve easily, and have lean meat. We wanted an easy keeping cow, and we have it. A Salers is a balanced breed.” When Maara began building her herd, she started with females that would represent different types of beef cattle traits such as depth and length. “We started our own gene pool, if you will,” she observed. “I thought if we had three family lines representative of different trails, our customers would have a choice.” For instance, if a farmer needed to add depth to his animals, he could purchase Salens with that trait. Maara developed her herd most ly through embryo transfers (ETs) with Holstein cows as recipients. Although Holstems don’t do well on the range in winter, Maara and Hamilton opted to use them because of their availability. “We’re moving away from Holsteins, though,” Hamilton remarked. “Holstems aren’t easy keepers. Their feed bills in winter are 100 high.” After weaning this year, Hamilton plans to sell off all Holstein cows and use Salers or crossbred beef breeds. Bittersweet Farms have had more than 100 ETs in the past three years, bom mostly from January to March and in September. Although Hamilton and his assistant, Mick Scrafford, are pre sent when the cows calve, they don’t have to help the Salers dams. Holstems on the other hand, may need help pulling the calf out. Once the calf is bom, it is tagged, weighed, measured, and tatooed. Every morning the cattle arc herded into a corral where the calves are separated out. At this point Hamilton and Mick can check the health and progress of the young calves, but mostly they use the time to halter break the ani mals. Also during this time, in the first half of the year, the cows and heifers are clipped and checked for heat. Salers seed stock Bittersweet Farms is a seed stock operation for the Salers, and their animals go about half and half to purebred and commercial herds. “We’re not able to hold onto bulls more than 14 to 15 months,” stated Hamilton. “They’re in demand now because of the Salers’ low birth weight. And because the market is strong in bulls now, we can afford to keep the females until the market comes around.” Salers add pounds In commercial crosses Salers will add pounds at weaning lime and produce an animal that con verts feed well. This means less money invested in the animal before slaughter. In a cross, the Salers also will National Dairy Board Recognized For Advertising Effectiveness ARLINGTON, VA A National Dairy Board advertise ment directed toward physicians has won a prestigious award in the medical print advertising field. The Board was the recipient of a Special Award for Significant Achievement presented by Mod em Medicine at its 15lh Annual Aesculapius Awards in New York. Modem Medicine, a clinical jour nal reaching over 120,000 primary care physicians nationwide has presented the awards, named for the Greek god of medicine, for 15 years. ' This year marks the first time that a nonmedical or nonpharma cculical ad has earned recognition, according to Bernard Rogers, publisher of Modem Medicine. “The National Dairy Board’s effective advertisement for dairy calcium received an extremely high physician interest score. The Board's innovative marketing plan to reach physicians in a clinical journal environment, which is traditionally dominated by phar maceutical marketers, demon- * '" contribute hybrid vigor, well shaped pelvic area on the females, lower birth weight in calves, fertil ity, and good carcass performance. Bittersweet Farms has produced many winning Salers, having had a grand and reserve grand champion female and bull for every year they have been showing. They’ve sold bulls from Florida to Oregon and from Maine to California and had many repeat buyers. “I talked to guys who’ve said their best females have come from our herd,” recalled Hamilton. “It makes me happy to hear that. It lets you know you’re doing something right.” With acres of healthy Salers of all ages and championship animals year after year, it is obvious that Bittersweet Farms is a winner in the seed stock business. strated unique foresight and exper tise. It was a plan that proved tre mendously successful as our reader interest studies showed.” In acknowledging the award. National Dairy Board CEO Joseph Westwater praised the role physi cians have played in helping to communicate the importance of dairy calcium to their patients. Westwater also gave credit to American dairy farmers for having the foresight to invest in effective promotion, nutrition and product research which has resulted not only in program accolades, but in significant dairy consumption increase. The National Dairy Promotion and Research Board, composed of 36 dairy fanners, was established by The Dairy and Tobacco Adjust ment Act of 1983 to develop and administer a coordinated program of promotion, research and nutri tion education to strengthen the dairy industry position in the marketplace. This effort is financed by America’s dairy farmers. , * 4
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers