Dairy Day II (Continued from frog# Et) Dairy producers who suspect that their herds are being fed excessive degradable protein can test the blood for levels of urea nit rogen, though it is extremely important when blood samples are taken. O’Conner said he recommends not taking blood for these tests for at least four hours after the cow has received its major meal for the day. In other areas of dietary con cerns to reproduction, the role of beta carotene seems shaky. While O’Conner said that the corpus luteum is rich in beta car otene, and beta carotene is broken down into the necessary Vitamin A, he said he could find no conclu sive evidence to support feeding beta carotene as a dietary supplement O’Conner said that as long as the forages were of adequate qual ity, there should not be a lack of mM beta carotene in a cow’s diet How ever, he said there may be some farms where levels are not adequ ate and supplemental feeding may help. (He said it did increase hog health when fed as a supplement) A blood test is available to determine whether beta carotene levels are adequate. Selenium is a trace mineral important to the proper physiologi cal function of a cow, O’Conner said. It is involved in the formation of antibodies and improves the ability of white blood cells to fight disease and helps increase the smooth muscle contractions, espe cially in the uterus. The levels of selenium are set by regulation, though O’Conner said it would takes ingestion of 10 times the recommended level' to cause toxicity. New Thoughts O’Conner also gave a talk on A d al If Z' %m * ! /* v i; new and basic conepts in reproduc tive management, focusing on new findings that strongly suggest that the estrous cycle of a cow is not as simple as once thought O’Conner showed a slide of a growing follice and a corpus luteum both at the same time, which isn’t supposed to occur under the old theory of a 21-day cycle. Tri-County Agronomy School DAUPHIN (Dauphin Co.) The cooperative exten sion offices of Dauphin, Northum berland, and Schuylkill counties will present an Agronomy School for field crop producers on Wed nesday, March 18 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., at the Gratz Fire House in Gratz. Topics of interest include an update on a proposed nutrient management bill by Paul Craig, extension agent; weed control strategies following the drought of #►sl^ ») Mi He said a range of 18 to 24 days has been recorded and is now explainable. What has become apparant is that while the corpus luteum may cycle regularly, there are subcy cles of follicle growth occuring simultaneously. He said this discovery goes a long way to explaining some of the discrepencies in activity which occur in studies concerning the 1991, by Bill Curran; com root worm control strategies, by Dennis Calvin; cropping strategies for hedging periods of environmental stress, by Allan Shoener; soil fer tility and com diseases, by Nor man Conrad. This meeting qualifies for pesti cide training credits. There is a $5 lunch/registration fee. To register contact the Dau phin County Cooperative Exten sion Office at (717) 921-8803 before Thursday, March 12,1992. The Pennsylvania State Univer- :■• \l ' • t N f ' ' .' v i * f Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 14,1992-E7 effects of prostaglandin and others aspects of reproduction, such as determining stage of cycle by palpating. What it means is that efforts are going to be put toward on further studying this subcycling in an attempt to increase reproduction of cattle. In the meantime, it helps allow for understanding some of the delays in getting cows to respond. sity is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifi cations as determined by Universi ty Policy or by state or federal authorities. Direct all affirmative actior inquiries to the Affirmative Action Office, The Pennsylvania Slate University, 201 Willard Building, University Park, PA 16802-2801. % . \ i *
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers