A344jncm»f Farming, Saturday, September 5, 1992
TERRY L. MADDOX
Huntingdon County
Extension Director
Many producers spend less time
planning a herd replacement poli
cy than the dollars and cents of
this management issue justify.
Cows are culled to avoid trou
ble, control herd size, or meet cash
needs said Bennett Cassell, dairy
specialist at Virginia Tech.
Age at first freshening seems to
just happen rather than being plan
ned. Most estimates of rearing
costs per heifer are well over
$l,OOO and are higher for older
heifers even with less cosdy in
puts during growth.
With 35 percent culling, the
number of replacement heifers re-
Retail Food
Self-
Inspection
Program
Begins
HARRISBURG
(Dauphin Co.) The
Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Agriculture has
prepared a Retail Food
Establishment Self-In
spection Program, ac
cording to Agriculture
Secretary Boyd E.
Wolff. The program is
designed to supplement
ongoing departmental
inspection efforts and
existing store programs.
Under the program,
managers of retail food
stores are given a five
page listing of items de
signed to ensure the
safely of foods through
out their establish
ments. A sheet used to
log refrigeration tem
peratures is also in the
packet.
“This gives retail
store managers an im
portant inspection tool
to assist in their estab
lished food safety pro
grams,” Wolff said.
“Through the efforts of
the Department and the
retail industry, consum
ers arc assured contin
ued safely and quality
of the food supply.”
The inspection pro
grams were mailed to
40 supermarket chains
m early August. The
program has been well
received by the super
markets and will be ex
panded to include inde
pendently owned food
stores and convenience
stores.
Money Made Calving Heifers Early
quired for a 100-cow herd increas
es from 70 if heifers freshen at 24
months to 105 for 36-month-old
first calf heifers.
An average herd must keep IS
more heifers to freshen at 29
months of age compared to 24
months. The $15,00 to $lB,OOO
those heifers cost would make a
nice addition to most herds’ in
comes.
Recent research at Washington
State University suggests freshen
ing heifers even earlier than 24
months and providing a longer
calving interval for additional
growth and development after first
calving.
It is easy to delay heifer fresh
ening since rearing can be less in-
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tensive; heifers are larger at fresh
ening and thus compete better
with mature cows, and their yields
go up.
However, easier doesn’t mean
more profitable. Costs of delayed
freshening outweigh the benefits
and represent an opportunity for
considerable savings to profit con
scious dairy producers.
The Keys To
Cow Cooperation
Chasing a wandering cow into a
milking parlor or pushing an ani
mal into a holding pen can be frus
trating for a modem dairy produc
er.
With mechanized equipment
and facilities, they have exceeded
the technological expectations of
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TRACTORS A EQUIPMENT
their predecessors. Yet each year,
excessive time and energy is still
spent physically moving dairy
cows into the parlor.
Purdue University animal sci
entist Jack Albright has research
ed animal behavior techniques
which, at a minimal cost, can re
duce the physical requirements of
moving livestock. These tech
niques also can increase the effi
ciency of the available dairy fa
cilities, equipment, and human re
sources.
Albright said that through the
proper training of cows and milk
ing parlor operators, cows can be
induced to cooperate within the
system instead of being forced to
conform.
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He has identified several tech
niques to minimize the physical
labor requirement and get the
greatest number of cows in and
out of the parlor in the shortest
amount of time. The techniques
are designed to maximize milk
production and minimize em
ployee stress and frustration.
Provide dairy cows with a con
sistent environment. Producers
should use the same vocal com
mands at each milking and have
gates open and ready for the cows
to enter.
Music can add to a consistent,
pleasant environment, benefiting
both the milker and the cow. Mus
ic provides an environment which
the cow becomes comfortable.
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