EB-Lincister Farming, Saturday, August 14,1993
Is Dairying
GEORGE F.W. HAENLEIN
Extension Dairy Specialist
University of Delaware
NEWARK, Del. Is dairying
an environmentally friendly
enterprise?
Of course, you say immediate
ly. How else could a dairy fanner
have the same cow milk big buck
ets full of milk year after year
without breakdown to herself and
the farm?
By definition, the dairy farmer
must be environmentally friendly
to accomplish this. Then you
remember the dairy farms that are
no longer around, and you pause
to reconsider your answer.
Not too many years ago, I used
to take my students on an annual
field trip to see an exemplary dairy
form that lay just outside of Prin
ceton, NJ.
They milked 1,600 cows on a
SO-staU rotary milking platform
produced certified raw milk. In
addition, they mixed their manure
with cocoa shells to deodorize it
and processed it through a dehy
drator into commercially sold gar
den compost
The operation was an excellent
example of management efficien
cy, progressive dairying and
environmental friendliness!
A few years ago, however, new
housing developments surround
ing the farm took it to court based
on New Jersey clean air statutes.
The developments won. Just like
that, the farm was out of the dairy
business!
When you visit some of Cali
fornia dairy operations and you
see so many cows in a small area,
you begin ,to wonder. Can any
environment take such congestion
45th ANNUAL THRBSHERMAN’S REUNION
Lots A Lots of
Good Food
Crafts, Models and their
makers, Flea Market,
Quilt Auction, Saturday
Environmentally Friendly?
or are neighbors sufficiently far
away?
Is the presence of a lot of sur
rounding pasture a cushion of
safety for air and water regula
tions and other environmental
concerns?
Maybe so at least enough for
holding off lawsuit-happy neigh
bors. But does it answer the
question?
working as a student on a
dairy farm in Switzerland in the
19505, I became aware of the
Swiss farmers’ concerns about the
environment.
Back then, the appearance of
the pasture revealed whether the
farmer used environmentally
friendly practices. When the pas
ture looked white from an abun
dance of blooming wild carrots
and other nitrogen-loving plants,
the concern was that too much
manure had been put on the same
field too often.
And for making Swiss cheese,
the farmers voluntarily agreed to
not feed their cows large amounts
of concentrates that could influ
ence the quality of their cheese.
The self-restraint of Swiss dairy
formers and their concern for the
environment and their products
made a lasting impression on me.
No matter where we turn today,
we are confronted by more and
more environmental controversy.
Aren’t we making progress in that
direction? After all, it’s our envi
ronment too.
We have an environmental U.S.
vice president now, and the chem
ical industry is in a fight for its
survival because of environmental
lawsuits.
How can dairy farming remain
Rough & Tumble Engineers
THE MOST COMPLETE STEAM & GAS SHOW EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
AUGUST 18,19, 20 ft 21, 1993
ON DISPLAY
• Steam Traction Engine*
• Antique Tiacton
• Threshing Machine*
• Hit & Mias Caa Engine*
• Two Steam Railroad*
• Onlatanding Di*pl*y of
Large Gas Engine*
• Stationary Steam Engine
Museum
• Model Steem A Gu Engines
• Large Collection of Body
Home Appliances
• Steem Cone
• Antique Automobile*
• Stationary Helen
• Antique Wagon*
• Numerous Craft Display*
• Large Flea Market
• Much Much Mote!
TIME OF HARVEST:
OCTOBER 8 & 9,1993
THIS YEARS
FEATURE EXHIBIT
Antique Construction
Equipment
environmentally friendly‘and still
make the necessary net income?
On a recent visit to India, I saw
much that impressed me about the
respect for life and animals which
the Indian people incorporate into
their dairy actions. India has many
cows, buffaloes and goats produc
ing milk so that Indians can feed
themselves. They also have plenty
of pasture land.
What they seem to lack is an
equal respect for parts of their
environment.
India is crowded with people
who need firewood for cooking.
This puts great stress on their
trees, and trees are already in short
supply. Great efforts have been
made to encourage the use of dry
cow manure bricks as an alterna
tive burning source.
So in India, it is apparently the
people rather than dairying that
causes environmental problems.
Among our dairy colleagues we
see similar examples of concern
and lack of concern, a popular top
ic of many conferences in recent
years.
I just found a dissertation from
the German National Research
Institute for Dairying at Kiel deal
ing with what happens when dairy
farmers are asked to change from
their traditional way of feeding
and managing to a new system of
environmentally oriented ecologi
cal farming.
Europeans are already ahead of
us in their environmental concerns
and what to do about it. Their
choices are limited because Eur
ope has a greater number of peo
ple on fewer acres than we have in
the United States.
In the eyes of many there, high
R & T BOX 9, KINZERS, PA 17535
(717) 442-4249
Between Lancarter aad
CoalesvfUe on RL 30
milk production progress is not a
blessing economically, politically
or socially.
This so-called advancement,
which has occurred over the last
40 years because of A. 1., more
feeding, more fertilizer and
imported U.S. Holstein bulls, has
caused surpluses and put stress on
the environment The result is an
upsurge of interest in more natural
taming methods ecological or
organic farming versus traditional
farming.
The 1993 dissertation of Ste
phan H. Weber examined data of
the University Kiel dairy research
herd. The herd was split into
halves of 30 cows each; for five
years, from 1987 to 1992, one was
managed ecologically and the
other traditionally.
Ecological management was
based on the guidelines of the
International Federation of Organ
ic Agriculture Movement
(FOAM), which prescribe that:
* a farm must be managed
holistically;
* there should be no intensive
soil management;
* diversified crop rotation
should be used to ensure soil fer
tility, control of weeds, insects,
other pests and diseases;
* manure should be used
instead of easily soluble fertilizer;
* no pesticides nor herbicides
should be used, allowing instead
for the natural resistance forces of
soil and plants; and
* dairy cattle should be fed
mainly farm-grown feeds at a ratio
of no more than 1.1 large animal
units (1,100 pounds) per acre,
with commercial feeds making up
no more than 20 percent of the
daily nutrient requirements (dry
matter basis) for dairy cattle and
without any not natural
supplements.
engineers
CIAT/ON
tr ,
BUS GROUPS WELCOME
AMPLE FREE PARKING
‘TROLLEY” SHUTTLE SERVICE
EVENING
entertainment
AND EVENTS
Starling at «:30 P.M.
'These guidelines are interesting
to contemplate, especially if they
are what’s in our future. They
woe followed for the study at
Kid. in addition to many chemi
cal, nutritional and economical
tests to determine effects on qual
ity and composition of milk and
milk fat, milk protein, somatic
cells, reproductive efficiency,
nutritional sufficiency for the
cows „ and economics for the
farmer.
The results of the study were;
* reduced fertilizer manage
ment decreased detrimental con
tents in groundwater and runoff;
* an absence of mycotoxins in
milk of the ecologically handled
herd, while the traditionally fed
cattle produced milk with low
amounts of mycotoxins;
* Holsteins in the ecological
group averaged 11,740 pounds
milk in 305 days with only 4
pounds concentrates per cow per
day. Average milk yield of the
traditional group was 14,040
pounds milk with IS pounds con
centrates per cow per day;
* farm-grown forages needed
0.4 acres per large animal unit for
the ecological group, while the
traditional group required 0.2
acres;
* indications of energy shor
tage in the feeding of the ecologi
cal group, but no differences in
reproductive efficiency, mastitis,
milk composition, cheese yield
and taste of milk between the
groups; and
* ecologically fed cows had
lower feed costs; however, the
bottom line was that the change to
ecological management of the
dairy cows produced $2OO less per
lactation and $415 less per acre in
net income.
DAILY
• Nude of Power
• Pageant of Thicohio(
• Saw MU A Shingla MUI
in Operation
• Baiar Fan
• Slone Cniehar
• Two Railrotda
• Animal Power
• Country Store A*
Hard ware Exhibit
• Much Much Moral
Ask stmssns who’s
bom htr* • Wo hart a
groat that rain or skins
Bring a frintd and
hav* loti of funl