A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 3,1990
/ FOCUS
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Dairy Herd i '
Improvement CaH 1 - 800 -DHI-'reST for service or information.
WATER ARE YOU
TAKING IT
FOR GRANTED?
By CLYDE A. B. MYERS
Berks Co. Extension Agent
On today’s dairy farms, no area
which could affect production
levels should be overlooked. This
includes water, one of the most
important nutrients in dairy nutri
tional management
For herds with lower production
levels, water may not be as critical.
But if your goal is 18,000 pounds
of milk production or greater per
cow, water becomes essential.
Water plays important roles in
all body functions. Because 85
percent of milk is water, you can
not expect’top production from
your cows if they are not getting
the quantity and quality of water
required.
Some background
No water can be called pure
water. All water has different
levels of various compounds,
depending on the surface or under
ground source. The compounds
range from minerals such as iron,
calcium, and nitrates to microor
ganisms such as coliform bacteria
to hydrogen sulfide, a natural
occurring gas from bedrock which
gives water a rotten-egg smell.
Realizing that there is no pure
water, standards must be set,
which may affect health and pro
duction. For humans they are
called maximum contaminant
levels (MCLs) and are determined
by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). For this article,
water will be addressed only from
a dairy herd aspect, because levels
that affect humans and animals can
be very different. You can obtain
information on water for humans
from your county Extension
office, local Department of Envir-,
onmental Resources (DER) office,
or local health authority.
Water standards for contamin
ants for dairy cattle and other ani
mals have been determined
through some research and a lot of
on-farm experience. Though not
“written in stone,” these figures
How 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
1/15/90 and 1/22/90
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 Elays in Milk Per Cow
•Value for CWT Milk(s)
can guide farmers in the right
direction in solving a water
problem.
But before discussing different
contaminants which could affect
production, let’s look at ways to
determine if you have a problem.
There are more water treatment
systems on the market that can
supposedly solve a water problem.
You need to know what your prob
lem is before looking for a solu
tion. You cannot afford to make an
investment which will not give
returns.
Are your animals drinking
the correct amount?
Whenever production levels are
not meeting expectations, every
body involved with your farm
from veterinarian and feed consul
tant to county agent and, of course,
you should become an investi
gator. Because of increased public
awareness and some actual farm
problems, water becomes one of
the first potential culprits.
Obtaining information on the
question, “Are your cows drinking
normal levels of water?” is some
times difficult. Lower milk pro
duction, lapping, not drinking at
the hotels or fountains, and more
solid consistency in the fecal
material could all be signs of
reduced water consumption. How
ever, they could be signs of other
problems.
The best way to determine water
consumption is to have a meter put
on the water line. Ideally, the meter
should be placed on the line that
goes just to the milk cows. When
installing the meter, arrange for
bypass piping so the meter only
operates when you are checking
consumed levels. This will extend
the life of this piece of equipment.
Consumption should be IS-2S
gallons per day normally and
25-30 gallons per day in the sum
mer months for milking cows,
depending on the breed and the
moisture in feed and milk produc
tion. Record readings to establish
base consumption. Also check on a
monthly basis and whenever you
suspect a problem.
As an investigator, if you find
consumption is normal, then pro-
1,463
82,296
56.2
16,982
3.69
628
3.19
541
315
13.63
ceed to other potential culprits. If
consumption is low, check for
stray voltage, especially at the
water bowls and fountains. Stray
readings of 1 volt or higher can be
jolting the cows enough that water
consumption is affected.
While checking for stray vol
tage, also check for clogged pipes
as well as bowls and fountains that
are not working properly. Make
sure your pump, pipes, and water
system are capable of providing
water to all bowls and fountains if
all animals want to drink at the
same time.
Also begin to analyze your
water for contaminants. There are
many potential contaminants
which could be the problem and a
complete water test could cost
more than $5OO. Begin by testing
some of the basics, such as total
bacteria, total coliform, fecal con
form. fecal strep, pH, nitrates, and
iron. If you test for fecal strep and
Prostaph Testing Introduced By DHIA
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) —PA DHIA offers a new
milk quality tool for Pennsylvania
dairy producers, announces Gen
eral Manager, Dick Barth. The
DHI Prostaph Test, marketed by
Pro Science Corporation is
designed to operate in central
DHIA laboratories and uses the
standard DHIA milk sample to
determine the Staphylococcus
aureus antibody level. A two
month phase-in period began
January IS and will be complete
on March 15, 1990. PA DHIA
members and supervisors have
been mailed a letter explaining the
test and when it will be available
in their county. To arrange for the
test simply contact the DHI super
visor in your area. Non-members
may call 1-800-DHI-TEST to
make arrangements.
The Prostaph test, designed to
detect cows infected with Staph
aureus mastitis uses the regular
milk sample routinely collected
for component testing. Ther test
provides significant advantages
♦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)
♦lncome Over Feed Costs Per
Year(s)
♦Grain to Milk Ratio
♦Feed Cost Per CWT Milk(s)
Avg Level For 836 SCC Herds
♦Member generated figure*
fecal coliform, you do not need a
total coliform reading.
If these turn up negative and you
are still having a water intake prob
lem, look to other minerals, heavy
metals, pesticides, petroleum pro
ducts, and organic pollution. The
above contaminants are more
expensive to test for. You may
want to use water from a tempor
ary source to see if water intake
increases.
Reading results
Tests should always be done at
laboratories that have been
approved by EPA and DER for the
specific tests you want to have
administered. Your local Exten
sion and DER office should have a
list of laboratories.
It is essential to have your tests
read by an unbiased individual
who will not benefit from equip
ment sales. Water treatment equip
ment is expensive to purchase and
maintain. Just because the sales
person has seen the equipment
increase production at your neigh
bors’ farm doesn’t mean it will do
the same for you.
Help in reading your water test
reports could come from your
Extension agent, veterinarian, or
feed company representative.
Your Extension office will have
pamphlets on water. Three specific
background reading sources
include “Recommended Testing
Options for Water” by Richard
Adams and Bill Sharpe; “Water
over bacteriological culturing in
speed, ease of use and cost. Most
importantly, the test can be
obtained with no additional work
on the part of the dairy producer;
they simply tell their supervisor
on test day.
Staph aureus mastitis is a conta
gious udder infection and is
responsible for approximtely $1
billion of economic losses to dairy
producers in the United States
each year. It is often sub-clinical
and persists in udders of infected
dairy animals, not in the environ
ment. Most transmission occurs
during the milking process when
Staph aureus contaminated milk
comes in contact with the teats of
uninfected animals. Therefore, it
is necessary to identify the
infected animals to begin eradicat
ing the problem.
Staph aureus is extremely resis
tant to antibiotics and can rarely
be effectively treated or cured. To
control mastitis caused by Staph
8.38
4.18
1.49
.30
2,315
6,711
2,908
14,374
65
563
121
215
20
920
1,395
1:2.5
5.42
323,756
Average Farm Feed
Costs For Handy
Reference
To help fanners 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 tire quality of your crop.
Com, No. 2y - 2.76
Wheat, No. 2 - 3.94
Barley, No. 3 - 2.14
Oats, No. 2 - 1.74
Soybeans, No. 1 - 5.47
New Ear Com, - 74.74
Alfalfa Hay - 128.75
Mixed Hay - 108.00
Timothy Hay - 98.75
Intake and Quality for Dairy
Cattle” by Richard Adams; and
“Safeguarding Wells and Springs
from Bacterial Contamination”
Special Circular #345.
Before buying, consider renting
or a lease-buy option. If improve
ment is to take place, results
should occur within 30 days of
installation. Unless other problems
are aggravating your situation,
results should be especially visible
in cows that are freshening.
As you strive for higher produc
tion levels, all areas of your dairy
cow machine must be fine-tuned
Don’t take water for granted.
Bam Meetings
WEST CHESTER (Chester
Co.) Eight bam meetings in
Chester and Lancaster counties
will focus on how dairymen can
improve the quality of the milk
they produce.
All meetings will run from
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The,
programs will cover topics such as
bonus money, somatic cell counts,
P.I. counts, off flavors, and drug
storage regulations, for dairy
fieldman and local veterinarians.
Feb. 9: Jonas B. Stoltzfus, (Rt
340) Whitehouse, PA; Feb. 16:
William L. Stoltzfus, Atglen, PA;
Mar. 2: Erwin Oberholtzer, Lititz,
PA; Mar. 13: Stephen S. Stoltzfus,
Honeybrook. PA; and Mar. 16:
Benuel S. Fisher, Slrasburg, PA.
aureus, producers must identify
infected animals, separate them
and milk them last until they can
be culled from the herd.
Although identify, separate and
cull appears to be the recom
mended course of action concern
ing infected animals, PA DHIA
makes no recommendations and
strongly urges dairymen to
involve a veterinarian in all herd
management decisions based on
test results. Skilled interpretation
of Prostaph test results requires an
in-depth knowledge of mastitis
control. Two veterinarians work
ing closely with this program are
doctors Robert Eberhart and Larry
Hutchinson at Penn State.
Staph aureus is the newest
option available to producers
through Pa DHIA. There are near
ly 250 DHIA supervisors provid
ing services to approximately
6,000 producers each month, a
member services number is avail
able 24 hours a day.