SYRACUSE, N.Y, As part of an effort to better serve Dairy lea’s growing milk marketing and insurance businesses in Pennsyl vania, the cooperative has opened a Southern Division office in To wanda. Pa. The office, located at the junc ture of Routes 6 and 220, now serves as the center of operations for the new Southern Division. Created at the beginning of the year, the Southern Division in cludes the Pennsylvania, New Jer sey and Southern New York mem bership areas. Dairylea’s new and expanded milk sales tin the Pennsylvania re gion have warranted a major in crease in the cooperative’s pre sence in that area. “Pennsylvania is a highly im portant milk producing and pro cessing region vital to the Northeast dairy industry,” said Rick Smith, chief executive offi cer for the cooperative. “In a little more than a year, Dairylca has increased its milk sales in Pennsylvania by an aston ishing 120 percent! As a result, we are focusing on the opportunities to expand our membership in the region, as well as enhance services SYRACUSE, N.Y. Paying additional premiums for the pro duction of high quality milk has become somewhat of a norm in the dairy industry. At Dairylea Cooperative, milk quality is a lop priority yet the approach it takes is a little differ ent. Not only does Dairylea offer its members a lucrative premium program for quality milk, it goes one step further by bringing well trained resource people to its members’ farms to assist them in pursuit of quality milk production. In some cases, producing quali ty milk is like solving a puzzle. All the pieces must fit together in just the right way. When Erick and Dixie Cool idgc, of Wcllsboro, decided to concentrate on earning additional income through Dairylea’s quality premium program, they drew upon the expertise of their Co operative’s quality control person nel. “Our goal was to enhance our bottom line, but we had to become educated about new ways of doing things. Dairy farmers have to be educated about improved milking practices and quality control mea sures, and 1 commend Dairylca for working to increase member awareness in this area,” Erick said. Knowing that help was just a phone call away, he contacted Bob Manning, Dairylca manager of field quality control, and Anne Czymmek, Dairylca area supervi sor, for some personal assistance on their Dairy of Distinction farm. Although the Coolidges had used approved practices and man agement tools on their 150-cow larm, the quality premium re quirements had been just beyond their grasp. They figured that one or two changes needed to be made on their dairy operation, Lc-Ma- Rc Farm, to finally cam the quali ty premium. They have made seven changes since beginning this endeavor. “The Coolidges were commit ted to doing everything necessary to qualify for the quality premium program,” said Manning. “They worked hard and smart to achieve their goal.” Dairylea Opens to our members and customers.” Additionally, the Towanda of fice provides logistical and other support, as needed, for insurance and financial operations, and other corporate dealings. In particular, the Southern Divi sion operation is assisting Agri- Service Agencies Dairylea Co operative’s wholly owned insur ance subsidiary in promoting the new Agri-Service Farm Safety Group in Pennsylvania, which al lows farmers to purchase worker’s compensation insurance at sub stantial savings. Thad Woodward, Dairylea’s general manager of the Southern Division, is based at the Towanda office and will oversee its opera tion. Donna Kerrick, a recent ad dition to the Dairylea team, will staff the office. Initially, business hours for the Towanda office will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. The office telephone num ber is (717) 265-4521. Dairylea, a Syracuse-based dairy cooperative with approxi mately 2,300 member farms throughout the Northeast, markets approximately 3.1 billion pounds Premiums Paid For Quality The first change on the Cool idge farm resulted from a Public Health Rating. Although the farm scored 96, the inspector found a small amount of residue inside the receiver jar. The Coolidges and their employees tried several methods to eliminate the residue, but nothing worked. Manning, determined to find an answer to this problem, arrived on a Saturday with various chemical solutions. “I appreciate the way Bob handled my situation,” Erick said. “He really works with mem bers.” Ultimately, the milking equipment company was called in to test the residue in the receiver Jar and the Coolidges’ water sup ply to determine what course of action was needed. The company now periodically monitors the wa ter supply for any changes. Elim inating the residue in the receiver jar helped lower the bacteria count. Second, the pipeline Tiller me chanism was changed. After pull ing the filter over a 24-mch steel spring, a tapered gasket is fitted over the open end. The gasket nar rows the diameter of the filler, which slows down the speed, and therefore the force, of the milk flowing through the filter. Rather than forcing small particles through the filter, the slower speed allows the filler to remove smaller particles from the milk. Third, a routine check of the va cuum pump and system showed inadequate vacuum for proper cow milk-out. “We were finding that some quarters didn’t milk out properly,” Erick said. So, a more powerful vacuum pump was in stalled on the milking system, which has helped increase milk production through belter cow milk-out. Fourtlr, responding to Man ning’s recommendation, they dis covered that changing inflations every six weeks aids in complete milk-out and leads to better udder health. Manning pointed out that the rubber of the inflation is de signed for a specific number of milkings. Overuse of the infla tions causes the rubber to become porous, leading to incomplete milk-out. When this happens, the New Southern Division Office The new office of Dairylea was opened to serve growing milk marketing efforts in Pennsylvania. of milk annually. Dairylea panici- marketing network stretching For information on membership in pates and is invested in a milk from Maine to Maryland to Ohio. Dairylea, call 1-800-654-8838. cows are more likely to develop mastitis. In addition, the harshness and frequency of cleaning acids, sani tizers and hot water break down rubber inflations, which causes the inflations to crack and develop porous areas in which bacteria can grow. Complete cleaning of the inflations becomes impossible be cause of these porous areas. Plus, the pulsating process and the num ber of milkings affect the lifetime and durability of inflations. Fifth, Manning suggested that the Coolidges change their bed ding materials, because sawdust bedding, their original choice, wasn’t keeping the cows clean. “1 really like the appearance of saw dust, and dry sawdust is great,” 41st Annual Cecil County Fair Ag Showcase Day August 2, 1994 9:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. (Lunch is Noon @ $4.00/person) Alternative Summer Forages • Mower plus conditioners • Rakes & Tedders • Round Baling (High moisture forage & dry hay) • Alternative Forages (baled, chopped & wrapped) • Tillage Demonstrations Come to the fair grounds at the intersection of Route 213 and Route 273 and follow the Ag Showcase signs to the field. Supplies and Equipment Sponsors: ♦Southern States, ♦Hoffman Seed, *Agway Seed, ♦Ag Industrial, ♦Biggs, Inc., ♦Cooper Enterprises, ♦Benjamin Haines Equipment, ♦C.B. Hoober & Sons, ♦Mid-Atlantic Agrisystems ♦Delgate Ethel Murray - sodas Supportive Sponsors include: ♦Cecil County Fair Board ♦Coop. Extension Service, U of MD College Park/Eastem Shore ♦Cecil Soil Conservation Service/District ♦Central MD Farm Credit Service ♦Maryland Dept of Natural Resources Fair Hill said Erick. “But, we were unable to keep the sawdust dry, which caused high somatic cell counts (SCCs). We’ve switched to hay bedding from round bales, which is more cumbersome to maneuver, but it has been worth the effort.” The SCCs decreased after they moved to hay bedding. Sixth, the Coolidges selected the Pennsylvania Dairy Herd Im provement Association’s (DHlA’s) SCC results option, in addition to their basic tests for milk weight and butterfat. Penn sylvania DHIA offers a package of recordkeeping options that farmers can receive for a nominal fee. With the SCC option, Penn sylvania DHIA provides monthly records that include; the SCC range for each animal; the amount of lost income per animal, per day and per month due to SCC levels; and the frequency of high SCCs over the cow’s lactation. “These reports indicate the high SCC con tributors in the herd, which we have found useful for culling pur poses,” he said.' Seventh, at the urging of Man ning and Czymmek, they switched their milking preparation tech niques. Before, they used a bucket of hot water and a towel. Now, they only use individual towels and include pre- and post-dipping. Erick admits this change was the most difficult. No one, includ ing himself, liked it at first, be cause it changed a traditional (Turn to Pago A 39)
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