A2O-Uncast«r Farming, Saturday, December 2,1989
/FOCUS
Pennsylvania / ""
Dairy Herd ““
improvement AssociationN CaU I ‘ B °o- D HI-TEST for service or information.
On The Record
Dick Barth
PA DHIA
General Mgr.
HURRY UP AND WAIT!
In my last article on reorganization we
looked at inequitable service rates which
are a major problem with DHIA’s feder
ated structure in Pennsylvania. This time,
let’s look at another problem, which is not
quite as obvious, that reorganization of
Feeding And Managing
Dry Cows
BY JIM CLARK
McKean C. Dairy Agent
The most amazing aspect of being a Penn State Extension
Agent is the wealth of information which overflows from my
desk daily.
I arrived m McKean County in July of this year and have been
running ever since. My past experience as a vocational
agriculture teacher in Penn Yan, New York and an extension
agent in Bennington, Vermont, had prepared me for the varied
agricultural questions which come into the McKean County
Extension Office.
What is truly unique, is the quantity of resources and informa
tion available to residents of Pennsylvania from Penn State’s
College of Agriculture. One of those resources, available from
your local Penn State Extension office, is a new free publication
entitled Feeding and Managing Dry Cows prepared by A. J.
Heinrichs, V. A. Ishler, and R.S. Adams.
As I read this publication I was reminded of a Vermont farmer
who used to say he was so busy chasing the cows he didn’t have
time to fix the fences. Taking time to properly manage dry cows
can help dairy farmers obtain maximum dry matter intake, good
health, increased reproductive efficiency, and optimum milk
production in the following lactation.
The dry period is necessary to allow the mammary gland to go
through a normal period of involution and to ensure that the
mammary cell numbers continue to multiply during early lacta
tion. A short or absent dry period greatly reduces the number of
secretory cells in the mammary gland.
Many studies show that cows dry 60 days give approximately
250 pounds more milk the following lactation, compared to
cows dry fewer that 40 days which produce approximately 500
pounds less milk the following lactation. The reason for keeping
dry periods close to 60 days is short dry periods do not allow
enough lime for mammary gland involution while long dry per
iods result in excess body condition.
The recommended production level for drying off ranges
between 13 and 22 pounds of milk per cow per day. Reduction of
feed is often a useful tool to reduce the quantity of milk pro
duced. Ideally grain should be eliminated and a medium to low
quality forage fed about a week before the dry-off day. This
should sharply reduce the amount of milk secreted.
Cows should NOT be milked partially for several days as a
means to dry off, because this increases flare ups of mastitis. The
National Mastitis Council suggests dry treating all quarters
from all cows with an approved long lasting dry treatment
product.
In addition, a teat dip should be used and animals housed in a
clean and well-bedded environment as the chance of new infec
tion is high at this point. As with any health program you should
work with your veterinarian to develop a program specific to
your farm.
The main portion of the dry period is the time one week after
drying off to two weeks before freshening. This is a lime when
the body condition of the cows should dictate the energy level of
the diet being fed. (If body condition scoring is a new term for
you, be sure to pick up-extension circular 363 Body Condition
(Turn to Pago A2l)
DHIA can help solve.
Anyone who has served in the armed
forces knows what it means to hurry up
and wait. You hustle around to be some
where on time only to get there and find a
long line, so you wait. This characteristic
is so much a part of the market climate in
the U.S.S.R. that Soviets hire people just
to wait in line for them to buy groceries or
clothes. But, we don’t have any such prob
lems in DHIA. Such problems exist only
in Communist countries, or in dictatorial
organizations like the military service.
Right?
Wrong. Time and again we find that
dairymen have asked for DHIA services
from their county associations only to be
placed on a waiting list until one of the
county’s present supervisors has room on
his testing circuit. If the farmer is lucky,
he will be the last one needed to complete
a circuit and a new supervisor will be
hired. Or, someone will quit soon after the
Your Full-Service John Deere Dealers
ADAMSTOWN
EQUIPMENT INC.
Mohnton, PA
(near Adamstown)
215-484-4391
BARRETT CARLYLE & DEERFIELD AG & FOSTER EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT MARTIN, INC. TURF CENTER, INC. SALES
Smicksburg, PA Hagarstown, MO Wataontown, PA Elmar, NJ
814-257-8881 301-733-1873 717-538-3557 609-769-1535
John Deere 4955
Breaks Performance Records
The Nebraska Tractor Tests represent the standard for comparing tractor
performance. And this year, all six new John Deere tractors, from 105
fanner asks for service and there will be
room to put him on test
Supervisors continually confirm this
situation exists in many places. When a
member quits testing, that supervisor
quickly finds a replacement who he has
had in his “back pocket” for some time.
How many are there in this “back pocket”
statewide? Hard to say, but two per super
visor is a conservative average, and two
times 246 is close to 500 farmers waiting
to have some kind of record keeping sys
tem from DHIA. How long do they wait?
We have no idea, but the length of time
probably varies greatly from months to
years.
SO WHAT?
So what, you ask. Why is that a con
cern? I waited to get testing services when
I joined DHIA, why shouldn’t everyone
else?
We all know that DHIA is the only
CLUGSTON FARM
EQUIPMENT EQ W U E T C
Naadmora, PA ““
717-573-2215 301-452-5252
BARTRON
SUPPLY, INC.
Tunkhannock, PA
717-836-4011
CLUGSTOH EVERGREEN ABC qroff INC
mPLEMEHT, TRACTOR CO INC.
Chambaraburg, PA Labanon, PA 7i7.!uu.4iai
717-263-4103 717-272-4641 7 7 354
authorized provider of official dairy cow
records. But, because we are the only
game in town we have an obligation to
provide services to dairy farmers when
they need it, not when it is convenient for
us to provide it. That’s a responsibility the
association accepts as part of its member
ship in National DHIA. And that’s a
responsibility any good service organizA
tion lives up to. '
However, it is understandable that local
associations might resort to making new
members wait. Adding a new testing cir
cuit, especially a part-time one, is a hassle.
Finding a new supervisor is difficult and
time consuming- placing ads in the paper,
interviewing candidates, discussing who
to hire with the region manager and other
board members- these are chores that vol
unteer board members who are busy with
their own farms often don’t have time for.
So, you can’t blame the local boards for
not wanting to rock the boat.
Then too, there is the problem of how a
new full-time employee with a part-time
circuit will affect the cost of running the
local association. How can a small associ
ation with one employee afford to carry a
new second employee until he builds up a
full-time circuit? «
REORGANIZATION’S? 9
IMPACT
A statewide direct member association
will help ust>e prepared to add new mem
bers all the time. By eliminating county
line barriers for service purposes we will
be able to assign full-time employees to
The John Deere 4955 broke the
most records, but all six 55 Series
H.R. GUTSHALL &
SONS, INC.
Carllsla, PA
717-249-2313
ROBERT G.
HAMPTON, INC
Shiloh, NJ
609-451-9520