DHIA Rotting Herd Average
Cows on Days in Fat Fat Protein Protein
Date Test Milk Milk Lbs. % Lbs. %
9-01-91 150 84.5 18,275 652 3.6 591 3.2
1-12-91 125 85.1 18,872 697 3.7 610 3.2
4-06-90 110 86.0 19,016 694 3.6 613 3.2
Third Generation
on Huntingdon
County Dairy
Farm
The Yoder farm has been in
the family since 1944,
when it was bought by
Elmer Yoder. Willard Yoder Sr.,
his son, grew up on the farm
then rented it for two years
before buying it from his father
in 1959. Willard Sr. still owns
the land, but Willard Jr. and his
wife, Betsy, own the cows.
The third generation of
Yoders take care of things in the
bam, but Willard Sr. continues
to be in charge of the field work.
Over the years there have
been a lot of changes on the
farm. Tie stalls were replaced
by a freestall bam in 1965. For
many years thereafter, cows
were fed all their grain in the
double-six milking parlor, but
that changed when Willard Jr.
and Betsy installed their
computerized feeding system.
Now cows get their daily
ration of grain from feeding
stations in the barnyard.
The family's division of
ownership and labor is working
out well for all concerned. The
latest generation of Yoders gets
to spend a lot of time with the
cows, while Willard Sr. focuses
on producing quality forages for
the herd.
A new 25’x90' silo has just
been installed on the farm.
Willard Jr. said they expect to
fill it with haylage from their
175 acres of alfalfa. They also
bale some hay.
A second silo will be filled
with com silage - they harvest
300 acres of com - and a third
structure with high moisture
shelled corn.
In all, there are three silos on
the farm. When they are all up
and running, Willard Jr. plans
to produce a TMK (total mixed
ration) to be fed in the bam.
With the feed balanced by one
of Permfield’s PFR (Precision
Formulated Ration)
concentrates, he expects to see a
significant production increase.
Willard Jr. and Betsy Yoder
Willard Jr. and Betsy Yoder and their daughters, Nicole and Janelle.
Computer Helps Herd of Heifers Hold Its Own
Willard Jr. and Betsy
Yoder have 150 cows
milking on their farm
near Huntingdon, and 52 of them
are first calf heifers. That's better
than a third of the herd. And
whether you call her a first calf
heifer or a first lactation cow,
one thing’s for sure - she’s not as
Fresh cows are fed a base TMR
and challenged for top milk
production with a computer
feeder.
productive as she’s going to be
farther into her working life.
The young herd is the result of
a change in ownership in 1989,
when the Yoders bought 60 cows
from Willard Sr. who, at the
time, had about 200 cows on the
farm. The rest of the animals
were dispersed. The 60 they
bought, plus 25 they already
owned, gave Willard and Betsy
a starting herd of 85.
The farm, however, with its
500 tillable acres, 100 acres of
pasture, 90-stall freestall bam,
double-six herringbone parlor,
three Harvestores, full-time
hired man and a well-stocked
equipment shed is set up for a
bigger-than-85-cow herd. So,
even as they were getting into
the business, the Yoders knew
they wanted an eventual herd
size of 150 cows.
They have, in fact, added 60
animals to the milking string,
and they’ve done it almost
entirely by growing their own
replacements.
In February of 1990, three
months after they took over the
herd, the new operators
installed a computerized feeding
system that doles out grain and
pellets to high producing cows
according to their production.
The grain is high moisture
shelled com. The pellets are a
Precision Formulated Ration
(PFR) from Pennfield. The
Yoders' PFR is a 32% protein
mix with flaked beans.
Every cow in the milking herd
gets enough feed in the bunk to
support 55 pounds of dairy
production. If she goes over
that, she gets extra feed from
the computer system.
Each cow on the computer
wears an electronic device called
a transponder around her neck.
When she pokes her head into
one of the special feeding
stations, the transponder sends
out a signal to tell the computer
which cow is ready to eat.
The computer knows how
much extra feed that cow is
entitled to, and, if she hasn't
eaten her ration for the day, she
gets what she's looking for.
"Our DHIA records show a
small decline in production,"
said Willard Jr., "but that's to be
expected, I think, if every third
cow is in her first lactation."
"Ordinarily in that situation,
you could probably look for an
even bigger decline. The
computer helped us keep
production where it is by
boosting our high producers
even higher."