A22-L»ncaBter Farming, Saturday. February 24.1990
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Pennsylvania /■
Dairy Herd I
Improvement AssociationX CaU for service or information,
Why Lebanon County
KENNETH L. WINEBARK
County Extension Agent
Lebanon County
The role of the county agent, in
an intensive and productive agri
cultural county, such as Lebanon
County, is very exciting, interest
ing and quite challenging.
There are many things that can
make this fast-paced job very gra
tifying. One of those is the oppor
tunity to work hand-in-hand with
producers under certain produc
tion programs that provide real
insight into guiding and evaluating
their management decisions.
An example of such a program
is DHIA.
This past fall, I had the pleasure
of announcing to 2SO Lebanon
County DHIA members that they
were number one . . . that’s
right. .. number one in the state
of Pennsylvania for milk
production.
This honor, that was bestowed
upon my dairy fanners, once again
made me quite proud. Lebanon
County’s average DHIA produc
tion record of 18,360 lbs. of milk
per cow was 1,374 lbs. higher than
the state average. Lebanon Coun
ty’s production was also 420 lbs.
higher than a year ago.
The question that I find intrigu
ing is, why?
My experience and dairy sci
ence studies at Penn State tell me
that milk production performances
are the result of two main criteria
genetics and environment.
In the field. I’ve found that it
really doesn’t matter how good the
genetic makeup of a cow (or any
thing else); if it is not properly
cared for, you have little or
nothing.
This same axiom can be
reversed. That is: Though it may
help, the greatest tender loving
care in the world will not make up
for a lousy breeding program.
To put it bluntly, my training
and experience has taught me that
it takes a balanced program in all
How Does Your Herd Compare?
STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) —This data is
pulled from Pennsylvania DHIA’s mainframe * Value for CWT Silage(s) 1.50
computer each week. It is a one-week summary *Value for Pasture Per Day(s) .32
representing approximately one-fourth of the *Value for Milk Per Cow Per
herds on test, as they are tested monthly. Year(s) 2,307
These data are valuable from a business man- *Fced Consumed Per Cow Per
agement standpoint and can be used for compar- Year(Lbs)
ing your operations to the averages from almost Grain 6,727
1,400 herds across the state. Hay 2,796
C; Silage 14,378
DHIA Averages for all herds processed between D: Day Pasture 67
2/05/90 and 2/12/90 ‘Feed Cost Per Cow Per Year(s)
Number of Herds Processed 1,438 A: Grain 553
Number of Cows Processed 81,506 B: Hay 117
Number of Cows Per Herd 56.6 C: Silage 216
Milk Per Cow (Lbs) 16,762 D: Pasture 21
%-Fat 3.69 ‘Total Feed Cost Per Cow Per
Fat Per Cow (Lbs) 619 Year(s) 908
%-Protein 3.19 ‘lncome Over Feed Costs Per
Protein Per Cow (Lbs) 535 Year(s) 1,398
Average Days in Milk Per Cow 315 ‘Grain to Milk Ratio 1:2.4
‘Value for CWT Milk(s) 13.76 ‘Feed Cost Per CWT Milk(s) 5.42
‘Value for CWT Grain(s) 8.22 Avg Level For 836 SCC Herds 341,705
‘Value for CWT Hay(s) 4,19 ‘Member gaienied fifuree
Give More Milk
disciplines, to survive in the dairy
industry.
But to better answer the ques
tion of why Lebanon County dairy
farmers are producing so well, I
put the question to some top Leba
non dairy farmers.
I’ve been able to establish that
there are some prevalent thoughts
shared by these farmers that seem
to have given Lebanon County the
edge in becoming the top produc
ers in the state.
Many of these ideas I’m sure
won’t take you by surprise, but
they may help you either rest easin'
in knowing that you’re doing a
good job, or possibly to re
evaluate your current situation and
make changes toward higher
production.
The Good Qualities
Of Land And Soil
Dennis Kauffman of DGK
Holsteins, also county DHIA pres
ident, said he feels that, first and
foremost, Lebanon County far
mers are “blessed with good land
that has the capability of producing
top crop’yields even in some poor
er years.”
According to Kauffman, much
of the Lebanon Valley is limestone
soil that has top production capa
bilities. It has some of the most
productive soils in the world, yet
this land is being threatened by
houses, industrial parks, shopping
centers and parking lots. It is
threatened to be taken out of agri
cultural production.
Kauffman said he also feels that
personnel are a key to making
Lebanon dairy production strong.
Not only do we have a “good group
of DHIA supervisors and directors
working for our interests, but we
also have an excellent corps of
feed service people helping to
balance our feeding programs to
optimize production,” said
Kauffman.
Quality Trained People
Harold Bollinger, of Willow
Maple Farm, who has a history of
Cows
having a top producing herd, said
he agrees with Kauffman.
Bollinger said that “the excel
lent veterinarian care that my herd
receives is unmatched. We have
some of the best vets anywhere,
here in Lebanon County,” he said.
Good genetics is another strong
point for DHIA herds in Lebanon
County. Many agree on that
Dependable Bloodlines
Ken Mase, past DHIA president
in Lebanon, said he feels that
“most everyone in the county is
striving for more superior gene
tics. We have much-higher pro
ducing two-year-olds, as a result of
better breeding programs.”
Chiming in on that same vein
are the Bollingers and Roy Nolt
Bollingers have been strength
ening their genetic base for years;
everything has been bred AI since
1944. It doesn’t take long, when
talking to Harold or Donald Bol
linger, to detect the strong belief in
artificial insemination. In fact,
Harold has served as a director for
Atlantic Breeders Cooperative for
33 years.
At the Roy Nolt farm, genetics
is a major concern, too. The Nolts
had the top-producing herd in
Lebanon County in 1989, with a
24,236 lbs. of milk Rolling Herd
Average. At the Nolts, bulls arc
hand selected from the red book to
match each individual cow.
Roy and Janice’s son, Duane
makes the bull selections to com
pliment each cow. Duane selects
bulls with +l,OOO lbs. PD’s for
milk that also have balance in other
traits. Roy said he remembers his
father’s comments that “it takes
the same amount of time and feed
and care for a good animal as a bad
on.” He said he now lives by this
rule.
Nolt said he breeds for produc
tion because “that’s what you get
paid for.” But he does admit that
their cows must also be sound in all
respects including type, for the
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 arc 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 - 3.84
Barley, No. 3 - 2.15
Oats, No. 2 - 1.74
Soybeans, No. 1 - 5.47
New Ear Com, - 74.25
Alfalfa Hay - 119.25
Mixed Hay - 103.00
Timothy Hay - 99.00
Nolts also like to sell good bull
prospects as AI studs.
Reproduction: Close Eye,
Quick Action
Bruce Heilinger, owner of
Lebanon’s top producing herd in
1988 and second in 1989 sees yet
another key in his herd
reproduction.
Heilinger said he keys in on
“good management and getting
cows bred back quickly,” he said.
By 60 days past calving, Heilin
ger is starting to swing things into
action. At that time, he boosts the
phosphorus levels by side dressing
those cows. He also has included
the injection of iron, vitamin B
complex, and selenium into his
management scheme. Heilinger
says “his cows now clean better,
show better heals and have less
mastitis.” *
He said he also pays particularly
close attention to his herd for signs
of heat, when the cows are let out
on the lot. Heilinger has not yet
met his goal of 12.5-month calving
interval, but he’s not giving up.
Heilinger, like most dairy far
mers, said he feels that his “forage
is critical” and that he believes in a
well-balanced ration. He does his
utmost to grow and harvest top
quality forages, that are the basis
of his feeding program.
Roy Nolt is also a stickler for
quality forages, noting that he for
age tests everytime a change
occurs.
Nolt said he monitors what goes
in, by what comes out His watch
ful eye examines the consistency
of the manure for management
tips. “The cows let you know when
feed changes,” Nolt explained.
Cleanliness is also high on the
Cumberland Co-op
Meeting Today
SHIPPENSBURG (Cumber
land Co.) The 60th Annual
Meeting of the Cumberland Val
ley Cooperative will be held to
day, February 24, at the Shippens
burg Area Senior High School, it
was announced by Henry A. Zajac
of the cooperative which has its
main office in Shippensburg.
Branches are located at Chamb
ersburg, Newville, Longsdorf,
Mechanicsburg and the Shippens
burg feed and fertilizer plants at
1-81 Exit 9.
The meeting will open with a
luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. to which farm families, who
are patrons of the Cooperative are
invited. The formal meeting will
start at 1 p.m. Officers will report
priority list, according to NolL He
said he feels that “little things
make the difference in feeding
cows.” When feeding the herd, the
Nolt family members have often
been asked, “would you want to
cat out of that?”
Nolt said it is his subtle way of
saying that clean troughs and fresh
feed and water are a must in his
bum. He also attributes his TMR’s
consistent ration for part of their
success.
Ken Mase said he saw some
thing else happening in 1989 to
Lebanon County herds that may
have helped lead the way to being
the top-producing county.
“Many cows were culled due to
high beef prices,” Mase said. “I’m
sure other counties had the same
situation, but we may have culled
harder. Often it is more profitable
to do a better job with fewer cows,”
he said.
Among the other things that 1
have also seen happening among
Lebanon dairymen is doing little
things that keep cows comfortable.
I see many Lebanon County
dairy farmers paying attention to
making sure their herds have fresh
air, clean dry beds, providing fans,
designing their bams for comfort
(ie. rubber mats)... in essence,
maintaining a clean, well
managed operation.
And from my years here, I can
attest that Lebanon Conty dairy
farm families are good managers.
And, as I see it, it boils down to
the words of a song: It’s the
“Touch of the Master’s Hand”.
My hat is off to you, the good
dairy farm families that provide us
all with natures finest. .. Quality
Milk.
on the progress of the Coopera
tive. Slides on the CVC activities
will be presented by Wayne D.
Baker. The entertainment program
will close the meeting with the
drama group from the Shippens
burg Area Senior High School.
Officers of the Cooperative in
clude: Wayne G. Craig, 2833 Or
ristown Road, Shippensburg,
president; Ronald C. Allison, vice
president from 1900 Warm
Springs Road, Chambersburg;
Dennis W. Lehman, 8044 Church
Road, Shippensburg, secretary
treasurer, Harry A. Mohn, New
burg, member of the executive
committee: and Paul E. Hombak
er, Shippensburg RS, chairman of
the board.