A22-Lancastw Farming, Saturday, January 13,1990
/ FOCUS I
Pennsylvania / "
Dairy Herd J
Improvement AssociationN CaU I ' BOO ' DHI ' TEST for service or information.
THOMAS E. PIPER
Adams County Extension Agent
With dairies looking for milk
and paying record prices, this is
not the time for lost production due
to herd health problems. What can
be done to keep the herd healthy
and economically productive?
To get started, let me suggest
that you become familiar with the
Pennsylvania Dairy Health and
Biosecurity Manual which has
been prepared by Dr. Larry J
Hutchinson, D.V.M., extension
veterinarian and his staff at the
Pennsylvania State University.
Developed in support of a state
wide extension program on the
health and biosecurity of animal
enterprises, this handy reference
manual provides a check-list of
practices which, when customized
by you and your veterinarian, can
become the health management
plan for your herd.
Focusing on the modem concept
of production medicine, the man
ual is organized into eight sections.
The first is a calendar of health/
biosecurity practices for protecting
the herd from the entry of new dis
eases and to minimize the spread
of diseases within the herd. The
remainder of the manual is a series
of information sheets explaining
the whys and hows of the checklist
practices.
Does Your Herd Compare?
STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) —This data is
pulled from Pennsylvania DHIA’s mainframe
computer each week. It is a one-week summary
representing approximately one-fourth of the
herds on test, as they are tested monthly.
These data are valuable from a business man
agement standpoint and can be used for compar
ing your operations to the averages from almost
1,400 herds across the state.
DHIA Averages for all herds processed between
12/25/89 and 1/02/90
Number of Herds Processed
Number of Cows Processed
Number of Cows Per Herd
Milk Per Cow (Lbs)
%-Fat
Fat Per Cow (Lbs)
%-Protein
Protein Per Cow (Lbs)
Average Days in Milk Per Cow
•Value for CWT Milk(s)
•Value for CWT Grain(s)
•Value for CWT Hay(s)
•Value for CWT Silage(s)
•Value for Pasture Per Day(s)
•Value for Milk Per Cow Per
Year(s)
•Feed Consumed Per Cow Per
Year(Lbs)
A: Grain
B: Hay
C: Silage
D: Day Pasture
•Feed Cost Per Cow Per Year(s)
A: Grain
B: Hay
C: Silage
D: Pasture
•Total Feed Cost Per Cow Per
Year(s)
•Income Over Feed Costs Per
Year(s)
•Grain to Milk Ratio
•Feed Cost Per CWT Milk(s)
Avg Level For 836 SCC Herds
generated figures
Here is a brief overview of the
contents:
• Disease Control—Beginning
with control of new animals enter
ing the herd, you are reminded to
obtain health certificates, to isolate
new animals for a minimum of 21
days, and to test them for Brucella,
tuberculosis, and for certain low
prevelance diseases that are absent
or controlled in your herd such as
Johne’s, Bovine Leukosis and cer
tain forms of mastitis.
• The Calf and Heifer Calendar—
Lists recommended practices to be
performed at birth and at different
intervals through preparation for
freshening at 24 months. These
include vaccinations, dehoming,
and checking for normal weight
gains.
• The Cow Calendar—Monitors
pre-calving practices from dry
treatment at last milking to provid
ing added selenium and vitamins
A, D, and E and consultations with
your veterinarian on dry cow man
agement. Post-calving recommen
dations include a pre-breeding
reproductive examination with
goals for re-breeding.
• Environmental management—
Will help you control the outside
sources of disease organisms. This
section reflects the lessons we
have learned from the costly Avian
Influenza epedemic in poultry
flocks. Programs for vaccination
1,050
61,699
58.7
16,917
3.73
631
3.21
543
315
13.56
8.21
4.15
1.51
.29
2,295
6.761
2.761
14,679
61
555
114
222
18
911
1,383
1:2.5
5.39
336,612
and parasite control are suggested.
• Medicine use—A final section
will keep you in compliance with
drug use requirements.
Fact sheets supporting the
checklist will improve your under
standing of the Bovine Leukosis
Virus, the chronic Johne’s disease,
and the value and limitations of a
health certificate.
The remainder of the manual
focuses on the whys and hows of
the checklist practices. Sections
deal with control of new arrivals;
control of farm traffic; separation
of groups of animals on the farm;
and the importance of sanitation
and disinfection.
A section on preventive medi
cines outlines which products to
use and when to use them. The
need for a programmed approach
to disease and parasite control is
stressed, including management
practices as well as vaccine and
drug use. In the section on main
taining disease resistance, he
authors provide valuable reference
material on maintaining water
intake and quality. The influence
of stress on production and health
is discussed and suggestions are
made for decreasing stress in dairy
animals.
The role of environment and
health is explained and reliable
guidelines are offered for mechan
ical ventilation, hot weather com
fort, restraint and handling.
The Food and Drug Administra
tion and the milk marketing co-ops
are setting up new regulations
which mandate the proper storage
of drugs. A section in the manual
on meat and milk quality provides
instructions for acceptable drug
storage and an approved drug use
guide. Practices for preventing
antibiotic contamination of milk
and meat are listed.
Fact sheets and tables included
in the manual are short and to the
point well-illustrated, and easy to
read. Fact sheets on disposal of
dead animals and preparation of a
footbath are followed by a table of
common disinfectants including
chemical characteristics and uses.
The section on preventive medi
cines provides valuable back
ground material on controlling
ringworm, managing contagious
mastitis, identifying and controll
ing both external and internal
parasites.
You’ll find valuable tables on
internal parasite control products
and cattle vaccines. The latter
identifies the disease, the causative
organism, symptons, and avail
able vaccines together with how to
use them and other prevention/
control measures.
Designed as a loose-leaf noter
book, the Health and Biosecurity
Manual is designed to provide
unbiased information and to serve
as a workbook for planning and
recording your health/biosecurity
procedures. Read it, then sit down
with your veterinarian to custom
ize the checklist for your herd situ
ation. Add or modify items as
necessary. Be sure to update the
customized checklist once or twice
per year. Additional information
sheets from your veterinarian,
your extension agent or other sour-
Average Farm Feed
Costs For Handy
Reference
To help farmers across the state to have
handy reference of commodity input costs in
their feeding operations for DHIA record
sheets or to develop livestock feed cost data,
here’s this week’s average costs of various
ingredients as compiled from regional reports
across the state of Pennsylvania. Remember
these are averages so you will need to adjust
your figures up or down according to your
location and the quality of your crop.
Com, No. 2y - 2.76
Wheat, No. 2 - 3.97
Barley, No. 3 - 2.15
Oats, No. 2 - 1.69
Soybeans, No. 1 - 5.45
New Ear Com, - 71.53
Alfalfa Hay - 130.25
Mixed Hay - 115.75
Timothy Hay - 111.75
ces may be added as they become
available.
To obtain a copy of the Pennsyl
vania Dairy Health and Biosecuti
ty Manual, send a check in the
amount of $B, payable to “Penn
State University,” to Publications
Distribution Center. 112 Agricul
tural Administration Building,
University Park, 16802. Ask for
Milk Quality
Meetings Scheduled
WEST CHESTER (Chester
Co.) —To help dairymen in Ches
ter and Lancaster counties improve
the quality of milk they are produc
ing, eight barn meetings have been
sheduled starting the end of the
month through mid-March.
Dairy extension agents in both
counties and industry representa
tives will be providing informa
tional programs on five different
subjects aimed at better enabling
farmers to produce better milk.
All meetings are to run from 10
a.m. to noon. Chester County
agent Walter Wurster are to dis
cuss bonus money; Lancaster
County agent Glenn Shirk and a
local veterinarian are to cover
somatic cell counts; Wurster and a
cleanser industry representative
are scheduled to talk on P.I.
counts; Shirk is to talk on off fla
vors in milk; and a dairy fieldman
and a local veterinarian are set to
discuss drug storage regulations.
The meetings are scheduled:
• Jan. 30, Lancaster At the Roy
A. Miller farm, 30-A Durlach Hill
Road in Stevens. To get there, take
Rt. 322 west from Ephrata two to
three miles and turn north onto
Durlach Road. At a “T,” turn left
onto Clay Schoolhouse Road; turn
right again onto Durlach Road and
then turn right at the next cross
roads. The Miller farm is the first
on the right-hand side of the road.
• Feb. 2, Lancaster At the Earl
N. Landis farm, Manheim RD 7.
To get there, take Rt. 283 west of
Lancaster City about three miles
and then turn north onto Rt 722; at
the first crossroad, turn left onto
Colebrook Road. At the first lane,
l|T , KIC &
the manual by name. Some county
extension offices may have a supp
ly on hand so you may want to
check there before ordering.
The Dairy Health/Biosecurity
Manual, if used as suggested, will
help you do an even better job of
managing your herd for health and
profitability. Use it to improve
your competitive position.
turn left to the first farm.
• Feb. 6, Lancaster—At the Welk
Acres farm, 269 Camargo Road,
Quarryville. To get there, go to
Quarry ville and at the junction of
Routes 372 and 472, head north
past a funeral home onto North
Lime St Go to the second farm on
the right-hand side of the road.
• Feb. 9, Chester—At the Jonas B.
Stoltzfus farm, 5549 Old Philadel
phia Pike, Whitehouse. In the town
of Whitehouse. the farm is almost
directly across from the restaurant
• Feb. 16, Chester At the Wil
liam L. Stoltzfus farm, Atlgen RD
1. To get there, head north from
Cochranville on Rt. 41 about 2'A
miels; it is the first farm south of
Octorara High School.
• March 2, Lancaster At the
farm of Erwin Oberholtzer, 52
Brubaker Road, Lititz. Head north
from Lititz on Rt 501, turn east
onto Newport Road; after two
miles, turn left onto Clay Road;
take second right onto Carpenter
Road, then turn right onto Lincoln-
Bninnersvillc Road; turn right
onto Brubaker Road, keep left and
Oberholtzer’s is the next farm.
• March 13, Chester—At the Ste
phen S. Stoltzfus farm. Honey
brook RD 3. To get there, head east
on Rl 322 and take first farm on
the left-hand side as leaving
Honeybrook.
• March 16, Lancaster At the
Benuel S. Fisher, 810 Deiter Road,
Strasburg. From Rt. 222 between
Rcfton and Hessdale, turn north
onto Walnut Road; take a right
onto the next road and Fisher farm
is on the right