The Sinan
(Continued from Pago A 1)
a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Between the
milkings there are young cows to
care for and 600 acres of cropland
and acres of oats.
The Sinans don’t just produce
milk. They deliver it, too. Milos
and sons Mevlan, 27, and Milos,
Jr., 2S, take turns driving two tank
trucks that pick up milk from 45
other dairy farms in Indiana, Arm
strong arid Westmoreland coun
ties. Collecting the milk and deliv
ering it to Turner Dairy in subur
ban Pittsburgh can mean up to 300
miles of driving on some days.
Daughter Marlane, 24, also
helps on the farm.
With the men busy in the fields
and on the road so many hours
each day, Sandy spends the most
time with the cows, and she cred
its that attention with making
them award-winners.
The cows receive veterinary
visits twice monthly, mostly to
check for pregnancy. Hoof aim
ing is performed every other
month, and the herd’s silage is
evaluated frequently to adjust the
nutritional levels of their rations.
The attention to details and ex
tra care has paid off. According to
DHIA, the Sinan cows produced
an average of 29,910 pounds of
milk each in the past year, a
The Sinan family received the top state DHIA herd management award
the cow barn, from left, Milos, Jr.; Milos; Sandy; and Mevlan.
Herd Wins Top State DHIA Management Award
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The Sinan’s 105 Holsteinshave been handled in a stall barn, but a new tree-stall barn and a new milking parlor add capacity
and convenience to the existing facilities.
4.101-pound-per-cow improve- topped the county’s fat improve
ment over the previous year. (The ment list, recording a 154-pound-
Indiana County average is 18,160 per-cow increase (1,062 lbs. per
pounds of milk per cow per year.) cow compared to a county average
The Sinans’ Holsteins also of 703 lbs. per cow), and also led
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all Indiana County Holsteins in
protein improvement, posting a
131-pound-per-cow gain (928 lbs.
per cow compared to a county
average of 588 lbs. per cow.)
The top 10 protein-producing
Holsteins in Indiana County are in
the Sinan herd, according to the
DHIA statistics.
Several cows in the herd each
produce more than 30,000 pounds
of milk per year and the lop cow is
making nearly 39,000 pounds per
year. Other cows are in the
mid-20,000 range, Sandy said, but
are kept in the herd because their
high-protein content helps boost
the herd average.
The most frequent reason for
removing cows from the herd is
failure to get bred, Milos said.
The Sinans now milk 30S cows,
but plan to increase the milking
string to more than 200 animals.
A 180-by-l 12-foot free-stall
bam for the larger herd should be
completed by Christmas. Cow
comfort means increased milk
production, so the 234-stall struc
ture will have rubber-filled mat
tresses for the cows to lay on and
sides made of heavy curtains that
can be raised in summer to pro
vide plenty of cool ventilation.
For the dairyman’s comfort the
;V * ✓
'
new building also has automated
alley-scrapers built into the ce
ment floor to pull manure away to
a pipeline and pump it to a nearby
storage system installed a few
years ago.
“We’re going for more cows,
not more labor,” Milos noted. .
Efficiency is also the watch
word in a new 42-by-l 15-foot
milking parlor being built nearby.
Two rows of 12 cows each will be
milked simultaneously by a dairy
man working from a level below
the cows. A hydraulic floor can be
raised or lowered to position the
farmer at the most comfortable
level to reach the cows.
Three people now handle the
milking chores. Milos said when
the improvements are completed
two and sometimes only one per
son will do the milking.
“We expect to milk 200 in
about the same amount of time”
that it now takes to milk 10S, he
said.
The Sinans said the goal of all
the changes on their farm wasn’t
to make their dairy operation big
ger, but to make it better. And
while getting better, they ex
plained, it seemed logical to let it
grow as well.
Earning Our Way
On More
Of Your Acres.
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