A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 28, 1968 How To Keep Cows Cool When The Temperature Goes Up BY GEORGE F.W. HAENLEIN Extension Dairy Specialist University of Delaware NEWARK, De. Hot weather will be here soon and with it the problems it causes our dairy cows —less'feed intake and fewer estrus signs (at least during the day), low er milk production and lower farm profits. For years we’ve talked about the advantages of shade trees in the pasture and fans in the bam. New research in Arizona and Florida with implanted thermometers shows that much more than pro viding shade trees and a few fans needs to be done to reduce the bad effects of heat stress on our cows. When it gets about 78 degrees F Scholarships For Home Economic Students FLEMINGTON. NJ Johanna Farms, Queens Farms and Tuscan Dairy Farms have announced the establishment of a scholarship fund for the children and grand children of suppliers. Each year, $l,OOO each will be awarded to 10 college-bound high school seniors planning majors in dairy production, technology or science. Any son, daughter or grandchild of a dairy farmer sell ing milk to Johannan, Tuscan or Queens Farms is eligible. All entrants must write an essay answering the question “What do you see as the future of the dairy industry in the United States?” Essays should be double-spaced and no longer than 1,000 words. Ransome Lift TOYOTA Jill Skid Steer Loaders mSjp gpph The Clear Choice In Breaker • Caretree Tree Transplanter Versatility These Attachments Also In Stock For Sale or Rental Free Vandal Proof Kit For The Month of May On Any, New TOYOTA Call the Skid Steer Specialist in your Area Ransome Lift Equipment Co. 2975 Galloway Road Bensalem PA 19020/(215)639-4300 Steve Costello Lou Tmari Bensalem Pa 215/245-2797 Larry Aumiller Lemoyne, Pa 717/763-0980 717/667-2373 in the bam or shed, cows begin to experience heat stress and milk output drops. Usually this temper ature is reached in the bam before the outside temperature gets that high. We don’t need to wait for 90 degree F days for production to suffer. On our recent Delaware- dairy Extension tour we saw several interesting new deve lopments in ways to cool cows more effectively. Fan ventilation is of limited val ue because it can’t lower the temp erature inside a bam or shed below that of the surrounding air, although the so-called wind-chill effect does provide some relief. Actual air temperature reduction can be achieved either with Evaluation will be by an indepen dent panel of judges. “We’re eager to leam what the next generation of dairy farmers sees when it looks to the future,” commented Kurt Goldman, presi dent of Johanna Farms. “We also want to do our part to encourage the children of our suppliers to stay with the family business, and to continue doing business with us during the years to come.” For applications, farmers should ask their field representative or send their name and address to Johanna Farms Scholarship Prog ram, Johanna Farms, Inc., Fle mington, N.J. 08822. The deadline for entries is June 15, 1988. Backhoe Don Cyriacks Mt Laurel NJ 609/778-4500 201'840-8280 Rich Desmond West Chester Pa 215/431-7503 302/32*1232 refrigerated air conditioning, which is usually too expensive to use on our cows, or with evapora tive cooling. What we saw in action in north ern Florida on our May tour was evaporative cooling plus fan plus shade applied to dairy herd man agement on a large scale. Some of these large herds averaged 60 pounds of milk per cow per day. So, does this kind of cooling sys tem pay? A typical installation consisted of overhead sprinklers, misters or foggers plus many large fans tilted to blow a breeze over the cows’ backs, plus large sheets of black nursery house netting tied over the entire feeding, loafing and sleep ing areas. We were told that this system would pay for itself in a year if it boosted milk production by as little as five pounds per cow per day for between 100 to 150 days. This new evaporative cooling system involves wetting down the cows with overhead misters, log gers or sprinklers on a timer sche dule of so many times per hour and using the fans to force air onto the wet cows. The fans cause the sprinkler water to evaporate, thus cooling the cows to below the out side temperature. The shade pro vided by the netting enhances the cooling effect. At the same time, the misters or foggers cool the sur rounding air so that as the cows inhale it they lose additional body heat through their lungs. Apparently, sprinklers plus fans are best. We were told that at least Blade Larry Breault Foglesville, Pa 215/395-7074 215/949-0893 Harry Patrick 717/838-3307 Larry Breault Wilkes Bare Pa 717/825-2789 Use, not ownership, creates profit. In fact, your accountant might tell you that leasing may be the most cost-efficient finan cing source available today. If you’re interested in a financing alternative that may pro vide you with tax advantages and other benefits, consider Agri- Lease by Telmark: No down payment... 100% tax deductibility ... Bank/credit lines stay open. For information, contact your local Telmark representative. Glenn Lathrop, West Chester, PA 215-430-6163 Mike Fullam, Mifflinburg, PA 717-966-9202 Note Telmark leases are now available throughout the Northeast, KY, Ml, OH, VA and WV Minimum lease $5,000 one 36-inch fan is needed for every 40 cows to produce a desired air speed of 400 to 600 feet per minute. Additional fans are neces sary in holding areas where cows are grouped close together, and an extra fan is needed for every 30-feet distance. The University of Florida research project that we saw used PVC pipe mounted under bam roofs just under the fans—about 8 feet high with 0.22 inch orifice plastic nozzles. The sprinklers operated at 10 psi pressure for 1.5 minutes on 15-minute cycles, with the 'A horsepower 36-inch fans blowing for 13.3 minutes. Sprink lers applied 0.05 inch rainfall equi- RCMA March Premium (Continued from Pag* A 1) prices. “We’re losing hundreds of dairy farmers each year who can no longer make a living. They see their income drop, while their costs increase. No business can afford to operate under those con ditions for a prolonged period,” he said. Recently released figures com piled by Walter Wasserman of the Cooperative Extension Associa tion of Cayuga County and Cornell University show that from March 1987 to March 1988 approximate ly 1,400 Northeastern dairy farms stopped production. Agriculture observers believe that the farm economic situation during 1988 is expected to be far worse. Wasserman’s report also shows that the blend price paid to farmers in the region dropped 5-6 percent. IN FARMING WHOEVER OWNS T MAl@ffEz9l THEMOST^ RIGHT? WRONG. Agri-Lease ■ w iv Tfxmajw * valent during each sprinkling. Tot al installation costs varied from $34 to $ 165 per cow. Sixty gallons of water per cow were used on days above 78 degrees F. Electri cal consumption was 1.8 kilowatt hour per cow per day. In parts of Florida this system has to operate for eight months, and payback was 1.4 years for the $165 per cow installation. Feed consumption increased signific antly and producers averaged $0.69 extra milk income per cow per day. Anyone with questions or wish ing more details should contact Dr. George Haenlein at the University of Delaware (302-451-2522). or as much as 68-cents per hundredweight. ‘The RCMA premium is cer tainly not making up for the entire decline in farm income, but we are working on increasing premiums. Additionally, RCMA’s leadership in paying premiums has caused many private dealers to pay pre miums of their own directly to pro ducers which are helping to lessen the impact of falling prices,” Zuber said. RCMA is currently involved in a major membership drive so that the organization can more effec tively bargain for their farm prices. Zuber noted that during April 49 new members joined RCMA. “The key to the future is signing-up every milk producer in the North east. Farmers have to stick together,” he said.
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