AlO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 16, 1993
OPINION
Time To Lower SCC
Beginning July 1993, the somatic cell count (see) limn for
bulk tank milk drops to 750,000 cells/ml, or a linear score of
5.9. It is not easy to lower the herd see quickly when there is no
see or culture history for the herd. Historical records of indivi
dual monthly sees are needed, and culture results are helpful in
identifying the problem cows and designing control procedures
for a herd. Cows with clinical mastitis have sees in excess of
1,000,000 while subclinical (invisible mastitis) cows can have
cell counts between 200,000 and 1,000,000. Clinical cows rep
resent a small percentage of the herd, but they indicate that
many other cows in the herd have subclinical mastitis. To con
trol mastitis, both the clinical and subclinical mastitis cows
need to be identified. Individual cow sees that show the number
of cows at risk for subclinical mastitis are available from DHIA
at a low cost, while milk bacterial cultures are nearly ten times
more expensive and more difficult to arrange.
According to Bill Heald, Penn State Dairy & Animal Sci
ence, somatic cell counts for a herd should be less than 300,000
cells/ml, but require concerted mastitis control efforts. This
level of cell count is well worth the effort and should be the
goal of most dairy farmers. Some herds need more than three
years of mastitis control procedures to get to this lower level of
cell counts. A change in cell count of this size returns 400 to
800 pounds of milk per lactation. In added milk production
alone, that amounts to $2,880 to $5,760 per year for a 60-cow
herd. Procedures that lower cell counts include dry cow ther
apy, teat dipping, milking hygiene practices that maintain clean
dry udders at all times, milking machines kept in good working
order, and isolation of and eventual culling of chronic cows that
fail to recover. Elimination of the source of the infection is the
primary concern, while treatment of clinically infected cows is
secondary and often not very helpful.
Don’t be caught with high sees that could jeopardize your
income. Set a goal for a somatic cell count of less than 300,000
cells/ml. Develop a mastitis control program with your veter
inarian or advisers to accomplish the goal. To measure your
success, subscribe to an see program such as DHIA that moni
tors udder health. Good udder health can pay you big
dividends.
r
Farm Calendar ,
w
Franklin County Holstein Assoc,
meeting, Lemaster Community
Building, 7 p.m.
Dauphin County Holstein Assoc,
meeting, Western Sizzlin, Har
risburg, noon.
New Jersey Bred Equine Breeder
awards dinner. Freehold Gar
den Hotel and Conference Cen
ter, Freehold, NJ.
Mercer County Dairy Day, Vo-
Tech Center, Mercer, 10:30
Northeast Winter Dairy Manage
ment Schools (West), Sheraton
Inn, Batavia, N.Y., thru Jan. 19.
Northeast Winter Dairy Manage
ment Schools (East), Ramada
Inn, Watertown, N.Y., thru Jan.
19.
Eastern Pennsylvania Turfgrass
Conference and Trade Show,
Valley Forge Convention Cen
ter, thru Jan. 21.
Crop Production Satellite Semi
nar, Forage Crops, Penn State.
Raleigh DHIA Workshop, Robert
Fulton Fire Hall, Wakefield,
12:30 p.m.-2;30 p.m.
Westmoreland County Holstein
annual meeting, Knights Court,
New Stanton, 10:30 a.m.
Agricultural Issues Forum, Kreid
er’s Restaurant, Manheim, 3
p.m.
Forage Crop Seminar, Penn State
Schuylkill Campus Conference
N YS Farm Direct Marketing Con
ference, Kingston Holiday Inn,
Kingston, thru Jan. 21.
Lime, Fertilizer and Pesticide
Conference, Days Inn, State
College, thru Jan. 21.
Dairy Cow Nutrition Short
Course, Cecil County Court
house, Elkton, Md., 10 a.m.-2
p.m.
Ag Information Series, Forest Ste
wardship and Erosion and
Sedimentation Control,
UNILEC Building, Dußois,
7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Beef Evaluation Program. Live
Evaluation, Leesport Fanners
Market, Leesport, 6:30 p.m.
Farm and Home Foundation annu
al meeting, Lancaster Farm and
Home Center, 6:30 p.m.
Composting poultry and large ani
mal carcasses workshop, 191
Franklin Farms Lane, Cham
bersburg, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Pa. Holstein Southcentral Champ
ionship planning nfeeling.
Western Sizzlin Steakhouse,
Harrisburg, 10:30 a.m. -
Bradford County Holstein annual
meeting. North Towanda
Methodist Church, North Tow
anda, 7:45 p.m.
Forage Crop Seminar, Penn State
Schuylkill Campus Conference
To Look For
Fire Hazards
The recent fires in poultry and
swine operations reminds us we
need to be constantly looking for
Are hazards and correcting them.
Some areas to check are;
• Electrical wiring. Check for
exposed wires and broken insula
tion. Especially look at electric
motors and light fixtures.
• Check gas and fuel oil systems
for leaks and unsafe installations.
• Keep all types of heating
devices clean and in good condi
tion. Inspect flexible gas hoses for
wear and replace when necessary.
• Inspect safety chains and
cables used in hanging the brood
ers to determine that chains and
cables are properly connected and
in good condition.
• Be extremely careful when
handling gasoline. It is flammable
and explosive.
• Store all combustible scrap
debris and waste material in cov
ered metal containers.
• Select, provide, and regularly
service the proper fire exting
uishers for the type of material in
areas they are to be used.
There are many people who will
help you with a fire hazard assess
ment. They include your insurance
agent, local fire company, and fire
safety equipment sales people.
You should also invite your local
fire company officers to visit your
farm so they may become familiar
with your facilities, location of key
items, and specific hazards.
To Cope
With Stress
Farming is a stressful occupa
tion. Recent weather problems,
increased government regulations,
pests, diseases, long hours and
money problems are a few of the
things contributing to stress.
According to a recent study, far
mers have the highest rates of
death due to stress related condi
tions. Heart and artery disease,
hypertension, ulcers, and nervous
disorders top the list of killers.
The National Safety Council
Northeast Winter Dairy Manage
ment School (West), BPO Elks
Lodge, Mcadville, thru Jan. 21.
Northeast Winter Dairy Manage
ment School (East), Holiday
Inn, Oneonata, thru Jan. 21.
Dairy MAP, Family Time Restaur
ant, York, £:45 a.m.-3 p.m.*
Urban Forestry Workshop, Capris
Restaurant, Lake Wallen
paupack, 8:30 a.m.-2:45 p.m.
Part I Beef Cow Herd Manage
ment Short Course, Belle Ver
non Holiday Inn, also Jan. 27
and Feb. 2.
Dairy MAP, Mercer Extension
Center, also Jan. 27.
Dairy MAP, Somerset Vocational
(Turn to Pago A3l)
offers the following tips to reduce
stress and improve mental and
physical condition:
• Acknowledging that stress
exists in your life is the first line of
defense.
• Do not minimize your reac
tions to stress. If you keep stress
buried inside, it is liable to create
mental and physical problems.
• Talk out your problems with
family, friends, or clergy.
• Eat a well-balanced diet and
try to limit the amount of caffeine
and alcohol intake.
• Get enough sleep.
• Keep all machinery in good
condition. Eliminating possible
breakdowns will help reduce
stressful bad days.
Remember, you can not control
the weather, but you can control
your ability to deal with stress in
productive, not destructive ways.
To Keep
Disease Off
Your Farm
We are in the heart of winter
when disease becomes a more
' ~/hr^Tf< ! /
Bt LAWKENCE W ALTHOUSE
*®3!SILS
THE ONLY WAY
January 17,1993
Background Scripture:
Acts 11.
Devotional Reading:
Ephesians 2:11-22.
More churches have floundered
and even come apart at the seams
because of someone’s insistence
that their way is “the only way”.
Sometimes, like that, it is boldly
said, and other times more subtly.
Nevertheless, many of us assume
that there is but one way to wor
ship. to baptize, to teach, to be
lieve, or to '"itness, and it is our
way!
Several times a year I am en
gaged by local churches to con
duct a weekend program. I am of
ten surprised to find that one or
more members of these churches
begin their participation in these
programs with an attitude of deep
suspicion. My wife and I have just
returned from such a weekend in a
United Methodist church several
hundred miles from Dallas, our
home. At the end of the last pro
gram, one man told me that, his
first impression was that I might
have been “of the Devil”, but that
he was glad to find that, despite
some things I had said that were
troubling to him, I wasn’t.
FINALLY “O.K ”
This man and I are both follow
ers of Jesus Christ, but, because I
didn’t enunciate my faith in the
same terminology that he does and
believes to be essential, he began
with considerable doubts about
the validity of my Christianity. I
am glad that eventually he came to
the conclusion that I am “0.K.”,
but troubled to think that we could
have been alienated from each
other because my way .was not his
way. Although we come from two
different worlds, the fact that we
are both disciples of Jesus Christ
should have been a bridge to bring
us together, rather than to separate
us.
Maybe I’ve used analogy here
before, but it doesn’t matter. A lit
tl? boy charged his friends an ad
mission fee, admitting them to his
backyard so they could see the
eclipse. Christians are sometimes
like that, assuming that the eclipse
important factor in our animal
operations.
To reduce the risk of a disease
outbreak, tighten up your biose
curity. Do not go to local auctions,
especially if you are a poultry pro
ducer. These poultry auctions have
birds coming from many small
flocks with an unknown disease
status.
MG, LT, and AI are a few of the
diseases you could bring home
with you. Keep visitors out of your
bams. Make sure people entering
your bams are wearing clean
clothes and boots that have not
been on another farm.
Keep your farm and buildings
clean. Have an effective rodent
control program.
By practicing a good biosecurity
program, staying away from other
animals, keeping a clean opera
tion, and controlling people traffic
in your buildings you will be plac
ing several excellent barriers to
keep diseases off your farm.
Feather Profs Footnote: "The
man on the top of the mountain did
not fall there."
can only be seen from their own
backyard, when, in reality, it be
longs in no one’s backyard. So,
the'experience of God is depen
dent upon no “one way”, no single
doctrinal interpretation, no one
candle statement, because God is
bigger than any of our backyards.
In Acts 11 we can see the pain
ful manner in which some of the
earliest Christians learned this les
son. Whatever they thought about
Gentile converts to Christ, they
did not believe that it was possible
for them to have any kind of rela
tionship with them. Circumcised
lewish Christians certainly could
nave nothing to do with uncircum
cised Gentile Christians. There
was but one way and that was not
the way! Even the most discerning
of the apostles knew that
sn
WITHSTANDING GOD
But, apparently, God’s way was
different from theirs. So, Peter re
turns to the Jerusalem church and
tells of an absolutely amazing
thing that happened to him at Jop
pa: God told him to minister to
some Gentiles and then, when
they accepted Christ, the Holy
Spirit fell on them, just as it had to
the Jewish Christians in Jerusa
lem. Reluctantly, Peter let God’s
revelation overcome his prej
udice: “If, then, God gave the
same gift to them as he gave to us
when we believed in the Lord Je
sus Christ, who was I that I could
withstand God?” (11:17).
Good for Peter! He asked the
skeptics in the Jerusalem church
the same question we must always
ask ourselves: who are we that we
should withstand God? And we
need to take personally the ad
monition which God gave Peter in
his dream: “What God has
cleansed you must not call com
mon” (11:9). Other Christians
may worship differently, verbalize
their faith differently, and have
experiences that are beyond our
own. but we must not reject them.
It matters little if they do not do it
our way, so long as it is one of
God’s ways.
Lancaster Panning
Established 1955
Published Every Saturday
Ephrata Review Building
1 E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA 17522
by
Lancaster Farming, Inc.
A SUMwmft fifUeip*#
Robert C. Campbell General Manager
Emm R. Nwawanger Managing Editor
Copyright IMS by Lancaalar Farming