A2B-Lancastef Farming, Saturday, May 18, 1991
Heifer Management Enhancements
ROBERT ORMSBY
Director of Member Education
The Pa. DHIA Heifer Manage
ment Option is designed to help
members manage their heifer
herds, improve identification of
heifers and subsequently for
cows entering milking herds
increase the efficiency of progeny
test programs conducted by AI
units and other breeder groups.
At present approximately one in
six Pennsylvania heifers enter DHI
milking herds with the sire
unknown, and one in eight have
unknown dams, slowing genetic
progress.
Improved heifer herd manage
ment should put money in the
Average Farm Feed
Costs For Handy
Reference
To help farmers across the state
to have handy reference of com
modity 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 loca
tion and the quality of your crop.
Com, No. 2y - 2.69 BU. 4.82
CWT.
Wheat, No. 2 - 2.62 BU. 4.38
CWT.
Barley, No. 3 - 2.01 BU. 4.24
CWT.
1.45 BU. 4.52
Oats, No. 2 -
CWT.
Soybeans, No. 1 - 5.63 BU. 9.40
CWT.
New Ear Com - 67.42 BU. 3.37
CWT.
Alfalfa Hay - 109.25 BU. 5.46
CWT.
Mixed Hay - 85.75 BU. 4.29
CWT.
Timothy Hay - 86.25 BU. 4.31
CWT.
i ,J'
■j ftw "'***>*- Penn-Atlantlc Region
ii ‘1 1 *• P.O. Box 43
t ipl*” ■’ —L — l ~- Elizabethtown, Pa. 17022
Western Pa Southeast Pa. Northeast Pa.
Robert Smola Florian Geider Don Hohn
412-942-0125 215-266-7328 717-663-2929
pockets of DHI members through
heifers that enter the milking herd
at a younger age. Fully two-thirds
of die heifers entering DHI milk
ing herds are 25 months or older.
The extra milk an older heifer pro
duces during her first lactation will
not offset the additional costs of a
later freshening animal.
A heifer with a high genetic
potential produces more offspring
and has a headstart on her lifetime
production when grown and man
aged to freshen the first time at 22
to 24 months of age.
A few minor enchancements
have been made to the Heifer Man
agement forms. These changes
improve the understanding of the
instructions and make them easier
to use.
The remarks codes used are
listed on the auxiliary sheet now
for use by dairymen and others
who are entering data on the
sheets.
Two major enhancements intro
duced recently are the ability to
choose a sort order for heifers on
the reports and a code generating a
registry application for any heifer
you indicate, whether young or
old.
When the heifer management
option was started, the heifers
were sorted by control numbers.
For the most part, the control num
bers are in age order because the
numbers are assigned as the calves
are recorded on the cow bam sheet.
Purchased heifers added to the
heifer herd are assigned the next
available control number causing
them to be out of age order.
The dairyman usually will not
use the control number to identify
a heifer. He will use either a name
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He now has the additional
option of sorting them by name,
eartag, visible ID, or registration
number. The choice is made on the
management options page in the
grid that lists the various reports.
An added plus is that the choice
can be made for each report.
Until recently, the applications
for registry were generated only
for calves reported on the cow bam
sheets and they had to have a regis
tered sire and dam.
Due to popular demand, a code
has been introduced that requests
an application for registry for any
heifer on the heifer bam sheet.
There may be a reason why you
will need an application fora heif
er from a cow identified as a grade.
The code to use is RA and it goes in
the treatment code area on the bam
sheet accompanied by the date you
are requesting it.
The Pa. DHIA Heifer Manage
ment Option does not tell you how
to manage your herd. It serves as a
resource or tool to better equip you
to make your own management
decisions. If we can keep track of
your heifers’ ages, sires, dams and
reproductive status, we have
accomplished a useful task for
you.
When we supply you with appli
cations for registry (pre-printed),
PTAs of the heifers, sires, and ser
vice sires as well as various sum
mary reports, then Pa. DHIA is
accomplishing its goal of provid
ing a service that enhances your
opportunities for profitability.
You local DHI representative is
ready to assist you with this and
answer questions you may have
about any of our programs.
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How Does Your Herd Compare?
STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) This data is pulled from Pennsyl
vania 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 management standpoint and
can be used for comparing your operations to the averages from almost
1,400 herds across the state.
DHIA Averages for all herds processed between 4/29/91 and 5/06/91
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
Ycar(S)
•Feed Consumed Per Cow Per
Ycar(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 1,141 SCC Herds
generated figure*
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