A3B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 22, 1991
GEORGE F. W. HAENLEIN
Extension Dairy Specialist
University of Delaware
NEWARK. Del.— In these
hard times for dairy fanners, when
milk prices have hit rock bottom,
advice on how to survive on the
farm is widespread and varied,
from how to make more money,
with a new "wrinkle" in production
equipment perhaps, to how to cut
expenditures--the so-called "fat"
in farm management.
Certainly, the calving interval,
current and projected, is an accu
rate barometer for where the "fat"
in a particular farm management
might be.
The calving interval could reve
al where something is wrong in the
reproductive management of the
dairy herd.
According to our recent DHIA
herd summaries, 25 percent of the
herds showed 14 months and lon
ger calving intervals instead of the
optimum 12 to 13 months. One
herd actually averaged 17.0
months!
Another way to look at the
calving-interval barometer is to
find the average stage of lactation
of all cows in the herd. Cows peak
in lactation and then trail off, with
less and less persistency towards
the low end of productive levels at
the cessation of lactation.
Thus, the "smart" dairy farmer
maximizes the majority of his herd
to be always at or near peak lacta
tion level. This means in terms of
"days in milk" an average not
much beyond the ISO-day halfway
mark of the normal 305-day
lactation.
But, again according to our
recent DHIA herd summaries,
there are few "smart" dairy far
mers, only one in four to be exact
Twenty percent of all herds with
averages of more than 200 days
listed the worst 280 days!
These fanners also had cows
with the longest "days open,” that
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is, not bred or at least not pregnant.
These dairy farmers no doubt are
working as hard as their neighbors,
seven days a week, but with the
majority of their cows beyond
peak lactation, they are getting less
money for their hard labor.
An additional consequence of
such management is that these far
mers are short of calves and short
of replacement heifers.
Fewer pregnant cows means
fewer available calf replacements,
and with an average herd age of
less than 5 years, at least one-fifth
of the herd has to be replaced annu
ally to maintain herd size.
A good conception rate is about
75 percent, and if half of the calves
bom are normally bull calves, one
can expect half of 75 in a 100-cow
herd, or a little better than 35 heif
ers, provided mortality is not too
high.
This means when one-fifth of
the herd needs replacement annu
ally, only 20 of the 35 heifers are
needed and 15 heifers are spares
that can be sold for profit to neigh
bors or culled to maximize genetic
progress.
However, our bottom herds that
averaged 200 days in milk or more
and went beyond 14 months' calv
ing interval will not come up with
more than 40 to 50 percent concep
tion rate.
You can easily check this figure
for your herd by counting how
many cows calved during the last
12 months in your herd. Compare
this figure to the total number of
cows in your herd to arrive at an
approximate current conception
rate percentage.
With a 40- to 50-percent con
ception rate, you can expect at best
no more than about 20 heifer
calves per year in a 100-cow hod.
If you need one-fifth for
replacements, you would have
barely enough for yourself, and
certainly none to spare for sale to
neighbors or for genetic culling.
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So, the first way to make money
with heifers is to have some to sell
and cull by having a good herd
conception rate.
However, at least two more
ways of making money with heif
ers exist
Looking at our DHIA herd sum
maries again, more than two
thirds of all our herds have first
calf heifers coming into milk for
the first time at 26 to 28 months of
age or later, instead of the opti
mum 24 months, which adds up 2
to 4 months of milk income not
received by the dairy farmer for
every one of those heifers!
At a daily average of 50 pounds
milk and about one-third heifers in
most of our herds, this means that
for a 100-cow herd the following
is true: 33 heifers X 60 days X 50
pounds milk/day X $ 11.00 per 100
pounds of milk = $10,890.00 per
year, a significant sum of money
lost because the heifers were raised
too slow, bred too late, and calving
60 days, on average, beyond the
optimum 24 months of age.
And this sum of more than
$lO,OOO in a 100-cow herds trans
lates from the 60-days delay to a
LOSS OF MORE THAN
$lBO —MONEY NOT MADE
FOR EVERY DAY BEYOND 24
MONTHS DELAYED FIRST
CALVING!
You can blame it on feeding,
heat observation, genetics, but in
any case, the bottom line is the
same; in these hard times, you can
survive better if your heifers calve
at 24 months the first time.
There is a third opportunity for
making more money with your
heifers A.I. (artificial
insemination).
Sure, you might say, I do A.I.
with my cows. It is good enough
for genetic progress, but I do not
want to hassle with heifers for
breeding. I am too old for this and I
do not have a restraining breeding
chute for catching heifers in heat
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Thurmont Co-op G.S. Snyder Coleman's Feeds Walker Company Noll's Mill, Inc.
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Heifers
But when you need a new trac
tor, don't you go and buy one?
Why, then, if you need a breed
ing chute and a catching gate, don't
you just buy one? It will make you
money and I can tell you how.
The latest figures just released
nationally on the genetics of U.S.
dairy bulls tell the story.
Natural-service bulls, that is
bulls used on heifers or as "clean
up" bulls, on average have about
only one-tenth to one-hundredth
the genetic values of all current
U.S. A.I. bulls.
This is an enormous advantage
that dairy farmers not using A.I. on
their heifers forego, and only
because it is more "convenient" to
let a bull do the job! What a price to
pay!
Current Holstein A.I. bulls aver
age + $l6O predicted transmitting
ability difference (PTA) versus
natural service Holstein bulls
+$10; for Brown Swiss, the
respective difference was +slo3
vs. +s3; for Guernseys +sll7 vs.
+sl3; for Jerseys +sl39 vs. +sB;
Manure Handling
Tour
ELIZABETHTOWN (Lancas
ter Co.) The Chesapeake Bay
Program is now over five years
old. Since then, major emphasis
has been placed on manure man
agement and nutrient loading on
farm fields.
The cooperative extension and
conservation district offices of
Dauphin, Lancaster, and Lebanon
counties have arranged a traveling
tour of six farms to highlight man
ure storage management practice
alternatives.
The tour will be on Tuesday,
July 16, from 9:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.
OR CALL
1-800 833-3322
and for Ayrshires +s97 vs. +sl!
Many of our dairy farmers are
now very particular about picking
the best A.I. bulls possible for their
cows, even at premium prices for
the semen.
Why, then, breed the heifers of
such cows back to less valuable
natural-service bulls, diluting the
initial expensive semen invest
ment in the good cows?
Furthermore, heifers usually
have a 10 percent better concep
tion rate than cows, so using
expensive semen is wiser on heif
ers in which the conception suc
cess rate is likely to be higher.
Overall, there are at least 3 ways
that you can make money with
heifers: 1) get the herd average
calving interval in line with 12 to
13 months; 2) get first calf heifers
to come into milk at 24 months of
age; and 3) use A.I. sires on all
heifers, even if it costs buying a
breeding chute.
Accomplishing these 3 aims
will pay you handsomely in these
hard times.
Set
in the area near Elizabethtown,
Campbelltown, and Deodate. A
map is available upon request from
any of the above offices.
The tour features manure stack
ing, gravity flow transfer systems,
barnyard runoff collection, con
crete tanks, and reception pits.
Lunch is available for no charge
for anyone pre-registered by Tues
day, July 9. To register, call the
Dauphin County Conservation
District at (717) 921-8100.
For additional information, con
tact your local cooperative exten
sion or conservation district office.
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Advantage of high-moisture hay treated with BALE
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Study Study
Increase in
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+ 29.2%
Increase in
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4-44.2%
harvested
By baling hay at a higher moisture, there is less leal
loss and the result can be mors dry matter and more
protein harvested per acre.
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Mill Cresson, PA.
Intercourse, PA (814) 886-4171
(717)768-3431
+ 28,0%
4- 39.7%