asUmcmim 1 Fanning, Saturday, August 26, iWs
FAR HILLS. NJ.—A crowd
estimated at 250 turned out for
Dunwalke Farm’s Beef Field Day,
billed as “Beef Breeding Basics—
Commercial/Seedstock/Youth,”
recently at the farm’s headquar
ters.
Visitors took in some outstand
ing educational presentations
offered as practical helps to young
and adult cattlemen in their pro
duction and marketing of beef
catde. They also had the opportun
ity to see breeding stock from
Dunwalke Farm’s nationally
recognized Pqlled Hereford and
Gelbvieh herds.
The afternoon program started
with a “Youth Rracticum” seg
ment with over 40 youth partici
pating. Dan Wunderlich, sales
representative for Brown’s Feeds,
kicked off the youth activities
with a presentation and handout
about the fundamentals of balanc
ing rations for specific beef pro
jects and providing adequate
water and sanitary conditions.
Dunwalke Farm staff member
Danny Ogle gave a demonstration
of grooming techniques to make
slick and longer-haired beef pro
jects look their best for exhibition.
Dr. Jon Higgins, VMD of
Acorn Embryo Services, Inc.
shared some reasons why health
certificates are required for animal
exhibitions—how to plan to have
the proper test(s)/inspection com
pleted before the event
Les Middleton, American
Polled Hereford Association field
representative for the Northeast
enlisted junior volunteers for a
hands-on demonstration of show
ing practices to help youth be
more confident courteous, and
competitive.
Dunwalke Farm provided each
junior with a folder of informa
tional fact sheets for beef projects
as well as a complimentary nylon
show halter for attending the field
day.
The adult program which fol
lowed began with marketing pre
sentations by Dr. John Hough,
vice president-education and
research with the American Polled
Hereford Association (APHA)
and Dr. Jim Gibb, executive direc
tor of the American Gelbvieh
Association (AGA). Hough dis
cussed the new Certified Hereford
Beef (CHB) program. It is an
alliance between breeders, feed
ers, packers, and retailers to pro
vide a consistent, leaner, highly
palatable branded beef product to
consumers. The program grew out
of research indicating that straight
and half-Hereford cattle are highly
desirable for palatability when
compared with other cattle slaugh
tered under USDA supervision. In
the CHB program’s first year of
operation there is already a
demand for an estimated 100,000
head of slaughtered cattle for the
branded beef product markets.
Hough will be heading up the
performance testing and sire eva
luation programs of the American
Hereford Association which is in
the process of merging with the
American Polled Hereford Asso
ciation. Both memberships
approved the merger in June of
this year with plans to make the
new consolidated association,
which will keep the AHA name,
operable by Sept 1, 1995.
The two groups have joined
together to provide members with
more effective promotional efforts
in programs such as CHB and to
realize cost savings through eco
nomies of size in performing ser
vices currently duplicated by each
organization. The merger will also
Dunwalke Farm Hosts Beef Field Day
make it easier for members to util
ize the total gene pool of regis
tered Polled and Homed Hereford
breeding stock.
Gibb discussed some innova
tive programs established by the
AGA to add value to catde with
Gelbvieh genetics. As a newer
beef breed in the U.S., and less
well-known in the Northeast, he
told about the breed’s origins.
Starting in 1850 in Germany, it
was developed as a composite
breed and then subjected to rigor
ous culling standards for maternal,
calving, growth, and carcass traits.
Gelbvieh semen was first
imported to the U.S. in 1969 with
the breed developing through a
breeding-up program and addi
tional semen/catde importation. It
has become one of the fastest
growing beef breeds in the U.S.
with over 70,000 active, registered
Gelbvieh cows. It is also one of
only a few breeds to require per
formance data for registration.
The breed’s increase in popularity
received a boost when data from
the U.S. Meat Animal Research
Center (MARC) in 1993 indicated
that Gelbvieh-sired crossbred
females ranked #1 among the 24
beef breeds evaluated for pounds
of calf weaned per cow exposed.
Gibb discussed AGA’s Com
mercial Marketing Program. Spe
cial video calf sales have been
established for commercial cattle
men’s Gelbvieh cross calves
resulting in value added because
of the demand for the breed’s lean
growth, feed efficiency, and car
cass yield qualities. AGA has also
sponsored a rapidly growing num
ber of replacement heifer sales
due to the Gelbvieh-cross
females’ production efficiency.
AGA has developed responsive
networks with commercial Gelb
vieh producers and feeder-buyers
to help producers sell feeders
directly to feedlots. In 1993,
AGA, was approached by
Monfort-Con Agra, Inc. to assist
in developing a pricing formula
for Gelbvieh-sired finished steers
for its close trim retail market in
order to create a dependable beef
product source. In addition, AGA
works closely with commercial
Gelbvieh breeders on various
options for retaining ownership of
their calves through finishing
which has resulted in increased
profitability 8 out of 10 years
based on AGA studies.
After the presentations by
Hough and Gibb, the field day
crowd was divided into three
groups that rotated among three
sessions for three presentations
that were repeated.
Dr. Lowell Wilson, Penn State,
discussed storage and utilization
of round bales in beef feeding
programs. Research indicates out
side storage of round bales can
result in dry matter loss of 5-40
percent. In the Northeast when
bales are stored outside for several
months forage loss is seldom
below 15 percent. Wilson dis
cussed cost-effective methods of
in-bam storage, bale stacking, and
outside bale covering to retain
feeding value in hay. He also
shared information about feeding
circumstances where round bale
silage and tubed silage may be
utilized effectively in a balanced
nutritional program. Materials on
these topics are available by writ
ing The Pennsylvania State Uni
versity, Department of Dairy and
Animal Science, 324 William L.
Henning Building, University
Park, PA 16802-3503 and request
ing fact sheet #l-112—“Round
Hay Bale Storage” and
APHA field representative Les Middleton discusses showmanship practices dur
ing the youth practlcum segment of the Dunwaike Farm Beef Field Day.
#l-109—“Round Bale Silage.”
Dunwalke Farm farm manager
Howard Hoffman conducted a
session on calving techniques. He
used pelvic bones and a stuffed
cloth calf to illustrate normal/
abnormal presentations as well as
a calf-puller, snare, and oxygen
apparatus for use in assisting with
calving problems. He stressed that
bull ami cow selection can signif
icantly reduce calving difficulty.
Dunwalke Farm takes pelvic mea
surements of its yearling heifers
each year and uses these as a tool
in the selection of herd replace
ments. He emphasized the need to
also use the expertise of local
veterinarians.
In his breeding session, Dun
walke Farm herdsman Nelson
Gerlach shared some practices to
increase conception rates, save
time, and avoid breeding prob-
Hinish Farm Hosts
HOLLIDAYSBURG (Blair
Co.) More than 130 area farm
ers, agricultural dealers, and sup
port agencies visited the Rod and
Trudy Hinish farm outside Wil
liamsburg on Clover Creek recent
ly for the Milkhouse Waste Water
Handling Field Day and Farm
Tour. Rod Hinish welcomed the
group to the family’s 335-head
dairy operation and to the field
day, which was made possible
through a grant from the Pennsyl-
Rod and Trudy Hlnlsh hosted a recent mllkhouse waste
water handling field day.
lems. He discussed the farm’s
conditioning of natural service
sires which includes grass as the
primary feedstuff so that bulls are
gaining weight but adapted to pas
ture conditions before being
turned in with the cow herd.
Females are put in a high quality
pasture three weeks before the
breeding season begins and then
in a new pasture when the breed
ing season starts to stimulate
estrus. He compared the effective
ness of younger and older bulls in
pasture in servicing females. He
covered the usefulness of bull
reproductive evaluations, semen
testing, and breeding guarantees
for purchased bulls. With the use
of reproductive tracts from
slaughtered cows, Gerlach
demonstrated how semen is depo
sited by the bull and by A.I. in the
Waste Water Day
vania Association of Sustainable
Agriculture (PASA) and the Blair
County Conservation District.
Lyn Carling, coordinator for
PASA, introduced the various
dealers which were on hand
throughout the tour to display
agricultural commodities.
Two presentations were made
on farm waste water handling and
the regulations and handling op
tions. Zeke Brehm, operations
chief for the Water Management
tract to cause fertilization. He sug
gested that only early-calvers
should be artificially inseminated
since a fertile bull remains the
most effective way to breed cows
for earlier calves.
The Dunwalke Farm Polled
Hereford and Gelbvieh herds con
tain more than 400 head of
purebred stock with a commercial
herd maintained for the farm’s
embryo transfer program. The
Polled Hereford herd includes a
number of sires with Gold Trophy,
Gold Performance, and Trait
Leader status as well as several
national champions of both sexes.
The newer Gelbvieh herd includes
several Dams of Merit as well as
the 1993 and 1994 national
champion female. Dunwalke
Farm has been breeding registered
cattle for more than 60 years.
Program of the Department of En
vironmental Protection (previous
ly DER), explained the DEP view
point. Current law grandfathers
old underground milkhouse sys
tems but no longer permits
anaerobic treatment of milkhouse
water or underground disposal.
Once a system malfunctions or
when a new system is installed, all
waste water must be treated aero
bically through surface applica
tion.
Paul Hoge from the Pennsylva
nia Department of Agriculture
(PDA) explained the regulations
that milk inspectors follow when
making farm visits. PDA follows
DEP standards and Paul explained
several inexpensive methods of
treatment that are acceptable to
both agencies.
Grassed filters and daily appli
cations by hauling with the man
ure are common ways of handling
the waste water aerobically. Add
ing the waste water to liquid man
ure storage is also a good way to
handle the effluent
A display provided by the Na
tural Resources Conservation Ser
vice was also exhibited and ex
plained by Robert Clauto, field
conservationist and Harold Ware
ham, technician, who presented
two experimental alternatives to
waste water treatment via a man
made wetlands or a bark bed.
Following the presentations
(Turn to Pago A3l)