02-Lancaster Farming Saturday, October 7,1989
Fred Weaver’s white-faced steer, right, was named grand champion steer at the
Ephrata Fair. The 1,290-pound steer went to Aaron Groff, right, of Ephrata National
Bank. Nichole High, center, sold her reserve grand champion to Blue Lake Builders,
represented at right front by Matthew and Danny Martin, and Reinhold Lumber, repre
sented by Terry Kauffman, right rear, photo by preston whitcraft
Ephrata
Goes To
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
The bald-faced steer led out by
Fred Weaver at the Ephrata Fair
topped all others to be named the
grand champion. The 1,290-pound
middleweight steer’s champion
title was yet another to add to the
Ephrata Fair Champion
Hogs B $6.50 E
Renee Zartman, center, of Ephrata sold her grand champ
ion gilt to Blue Lake Builders for $4.25 per pound. Repre
senting the firm was, from left, Danny, Joshua, Steven,
Matthew and Gene Martin, photo by preston whitchaft
-igpu..
Good’s reserve grand champion hog for $3.50 per pound. It
was only fitting that Hatfield buy the hog as Good has been
representing Hatfield -at various summer swine sales pur
chasing other champions, photo by preston whitcraft
Steer Championship
Hometown Exhibitor
Ephrata man’s long list of
winnings.
Weaver, the son of Carol and
Roy Weaver, sold his Angus/
Chianina/Simmental crossbred to
Ephrata National Bank, repre
sented by Aaron Groff, for $1.50
per pound or $1,935.
The reserve champion rosette
went to the 1,320-pound Angus
exhibited by Nichole High. High,
who showed last year’s supreme
champion at the Ephrata Fair, is
the daughter of Larry and Mae
High of Lititz and Shirley Burris of
Elizabethtown.
Top bidders for the steer were
Reinhold Lumber and Blue Lake
Builders, who purchased the ani
mal for $1.30 per pound.
A partial list of the winners
follows.
PREVIEW SHOW
UghtMlght
1 Jodie Weaver, 2. Jaton Kline
Medlumwcight
1. Heather Yoder, 2. Nlckie High
Heavyweight
1 Cauy High, 2. Fred Wuvar
SALE SHOW
Lightweight
1 Keith Zimmerman. 2. Jason Kline
Mediumwelght
1 Fred Weaver, 2 Jodie Weaver, Krista Martin
Heavyweight
1 Nickie High, 2 Kristin Chupp
Sal* Champion
Fred Weaver
Reserve Sale Champion
NlcKle High
SHOWMANSHIP A FITTING
Class 1
Casey High
Class 2
Heather Yoder
Class 3
1 Nickie High, 2 Jodie Weaver, 3 Jaton Kline
Fish Conference
To Explore Local
Production
ALLENTOWN (Lehigh Co.)
A familiar animal may be mak
ing a new splash on Pennsylvania
farms in the ’9os. If they flourish
as hoped, they’ll have a ripple ef
fect throughout the farm and food
industry in this region.
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion announces its Erst conference
for those interested in raising fish
commercially, either indoors in
tanks or outside in ponds or race
ways. The conference is set for
Wednesday, November 15, from 9
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Berks Ag
Center near Reading. A trade
show of suppliers and a fish buffet
are included in the day’s events.
“We’ve found the experts and
producers who know our area and
climate, and who can give inter
ested growers the basics of how to
make a profit raising freshwater
fish,” said Jeff Patton, Extension
agent-marketing and a conference
organizer. “Our goal is to help
producers make sound, informed
decisions on whether and how to
start up in this business.”
Although Pennsylvania’s cli
mate doesn’t match that of the
“catfish belt” of the south, other
species and methods show prom-
(Turn to Pago D 3)
Beef Briefs
John Comerford
Penn State Beef Specialist
PLANNING FOR THE
NEXT BREEDING
SEASON
It may seem a little premature,
but the time to begin planning for
the 1990' breeding season in the
beef herd is right now. There area
couple of very good reasons for
this. First, the forage supply for the
winter is limited in some cases and
of poor quality in most places. Sec
ondly, there is nothing a producer
can do to influence profitability
more than getting cows bred on
time.
The single most important eco
nomic factor in the cow-calf enter
prise is weaning a live calf. The
factors that contribute to success
fully selling a calf from every cow
are the percentage of cows that
cycle during the breeding season,
the percentage of those cycles that
are fertile, and the percentage of
successful matings from a fertile
bull. These factors are multiplica
tive; that is, we would not add the
values for each one together and
get an average. Rather we would
multiply each one by the next to
determine reproductive efficiency.
For example, if 90 percent of the
cows have a fertile cycle during the
breeding season and 90 percent of
the matings produce a pregnancy,
this results in 81 percent of the
cows actually getting bred.
While fertility of the bull is
something that can be measured
and, given the bull remains health
y, is somewhat consistent, the
number of cows that cycle during
the breeding season is not mea
sured until it is too late. Nutrition is
of vital importance with this trait,
and that is why now is the time to
start planning for this part of a suc
cessful breeding season.
A study in 1978 by Bellows and
Short showed why nutrition is so
important to reproduction, particu
larly in the young cow. They com
pared heifers and cows for birth
weight, calving difficulty and
rebreeding performance by feed
ing one group about 120 percent of
“book” requirements and another
group about 90 percent of sug
gested requirements beginning
about 90 days before expected
calving dates. All of them got the
same feed after calving. They
found those receiving more pre
calving feed had calves that were
heavier at birth, but experienced
no increase in calving difficulty.
Further, those that got more feed
came back in heat more quickly
and were bred earlier in the breed
ing season. This is important
because it shows that pre-calving
nutrition is of greater importance
than how cows are fed during lac
tation on breeding efficiency and
while there were no differences in
weaning weight in the current
year, there will be a difference in
weights the next year with a calf
bom two weeks earlier in the sea
son. In addition the pre-calving
nutrition study shows that 90 per
cent of requirements is not too far
off and may reflect the kind of for
age we may have for this winter.
How to stretch feed
Here are some of the things you
can do to stretch and effectively
use the forage you have available
to get cows cycling on time next
year
•Forage Analysis. There is so
much variation in forages this year
it is important to know what the
feed value really is. Some of the
hay was cut very late in the year,
some was rained on repeatedly,
and some was made on stands of
questionable composition. All of
these things will contribute to the
feed value of the hay. A laboratory
analysis will tell you how much
will need to be fed and what sup
plements will be necessary.
•Crop Residues. There is a
wealth of feed value in stalk fields
that could help save some hay. A
good estimate is that a month of
grazing a stalk field will save a big
bale of hay per cow. Grazing, usu
ally using portable fences, is the
desired method of feeding it
because'the cows will have access
to feed that may not get into a bal
er. The optimum use of a stalk field
is made by grazing 1/4 acre per
cow and moving the fence as they
clean it up. Allowing access to the
entire field at once will reduce the
grazing time available in half
because they will eat the “best first
and leave the rest”. For most cow
herds, no supplemental feeds will
be needed because the feed
requirements of the cow are at their
lowest during this time of the year.
•Pregnancy Palpation. One of
the most cost-effective manage
ment tips is palpation of the breed
ing herd. This will locate the open
cows and allow the producer to
spend his money only on cows that
have the potential to return some
thing. In years like this one,
nobody wants to throw hay and
feed down an empty hole.
Separation of the Herd. It may
be helpful to separate the herd into
a couple of different groups to
winter them. Not everybody has
the facilities to do this, but young
and thin cows will benefit greatly.
The young cow has a particularly
different nutritional requirement.
She needs about double the daily
protein as the older cow, and will
often be dominated by the older
cow at feeding time. Feeding to the
“average” protein needs of the
herd is costly for these older cows.
The condition of the cow at calving
has been shown to be very impor
tant in the ability of that cow to
cycle on time. Thin cows have
some“catching-up” to do, and they
can keep calves coming another
year by getting a little extra feed
during gestation.
•Proper Supplementation. For
most cow herds the most deficient
nutrient is energy, not protein. In
fact there is probably more over
feeding of protein in the beef herd
than anywhere else. A full-feed of
most grass and grass-legume hays
will provide all the protein a beef
cow needs until she calves. Even
then, unless they are very heavy
milking cows, the protein needs
are met with this kind of forage.
The most cost-effective source of
energy is plain shelled com. The
exceptions are with young cows
and those on com silage-based
rations. Again, the only way to
really know what is needed is to
get an analysis of the forage.