A26-Uhc««t»r Farming 1 , Saturday, May 4,199$ ' Dutch Belted (Continued from Page A 1) lures and efficiently convert grass and hay into milk and meat even in hot weather, breed back quickly each year, and have a long life time average. Enter the Dutch Belled cows, nicknamed Oreo cookies because of their distinctive markings of white middles and black front and rear ends. This dairy breed, highly prized for milking and fattening abilities, began to flourish in Hol land around 1750. According to the records of the Dutch Belted Cattle Association of America, published in June, 1923, the first importation was by Consul D. H. Height in 1838. P.T. Bamum, the great showman, brought more Dutch Belts in 1840 for exhibition in his circus. Later these animals were placed on a farm and became the foundation of the herd in America. Winifred Hoffman, a prominant breeder from Illinois, reported in the breed’s February, 1994, nation al newsletter that Dutch Belted Cattle were found in 1908 at the California State Fair where the cow, Julia Marlow, made the most butterfat at each milking for five Just fresh two year-old Dutch Belted heifer milking 80 pound with a very nice udder owned by Carey and Kathy Christ, located east of the Octorara High School In Chester County. Cattle Make Comeback On Rotational Grazing Farms consecutive days over all breeds. Again in 1909 Julia was second to another Dutch Belt, Lady Fresno. These performances were the more remarkable because in 1909 there were only 18 Dutch Belled females of milking age in the state of California. Passing on to the year 1914, the best four cows in milk over all breeds at the Arizona State Fair were Dutch Belts, and in 1920 Femdcll was the champion dairy cow in the state of Florida. The Dutch Belted breed flour ished in the U.S. as a dairy breed from around 1815 to 1940. Pen nsylvania had one of the largest state herds of Dutch Belted cattle at the time. The national herdbook was established in 1886, and Kris tie Kobosky, a senior at Penn State and daughter of the current presi dent of the national breed associa tion, has found this first Dutch Belted herd book and all the suc ceeding year herd books up to 1925 in the Penn State College of Agri cultural Sciences library. This is the oldest continuously registering herd book for belted cattle in the Heads up! cookies! A herd of Dutch Belted yearlings along with a few Ayrshires. lutlful Dutch Betted calves on pasture at Elvln Seiler's caster County. world. Even in Holland there has not been a continuous herdbook, with their current herdbook restarted in 1979. Since 1940 the Dutch Belted cattle have declined in numbers around the world so that now The American Livestock Breeds Con servancy, headquartered in Pitts boro, North Carolina/lists Dutch Belted cattle as one of the critically rare breeds of livestock with fewer than 200 registered cattle in the country. One major herd with a good pool of genetics was assembled by a prominent Florida physician. But his heirs had little interest in the cattle and put the herd into the government dairy buy-out program several years ago, causing even greater concern about the breed’s eventual extinction. But the trend toward rotational grazing and batch'calving may be the lifesaver for the Dutch Belted breed. Along with their distinctive color marking that is transmitted to the crossbred calves 90 percent of the time, the Dutch Belts are espe cially efficient in turning pasture into milk and meat, and they breed back quickly and without problems. That’s why Roman Stoltzfoos on Gap Road, to Christiana, in Lan caster County started breeding his Holsteins to registered Dutch Belted bulls. He and his family at Sunnydale Farms have been on a low input, rotational grazing farm ing program since 1992. “We are not promoting it to others, but I’m interested in doing an extensive expirement,” Roman said. ‘The advantages of the Dutch Belts are increased conception rates even when the cow is-in top production. And they are ‘grazing machines’ that convert grass and hay to milk and meat much more efficiently than cows bred to stay in the bam and eat lush forage and a lot of grain. Even in hot weather you will see the Dutch Belts out grazing the meadows. “You don’t have to have 20,000 pounds of milk from a cow to make a decent profit if you drop your inputs like grain and keep flesh on the cows with grass and hay. We irm, also want to raise all our bull calves for beef. And records show that Dutch Belted steers will gain three to four pourtds per day on grass alone. They are also known for their longevity, staying in the herd for many lactations.” Stoltzfoos also belives the hybrid vigor that is inherent in crossbreeding will increase the profit potential of the Dutch Belt/ Holstein cross. And a newly released study in Canada seems to lend credibility to this belief. As reported in the April issue of The Red Bloodlines, the official publication of the National Red and White Dairy Cattle Associa tion. a revolutionary crossbreeding study done from 1972 until 1989 involving over 3,000 cattle in five locations across Canada, showed a definite increase in profitability of crossbreeding. In this study it was shown that lifetime milk yield pro fitability, milk value, fat yield and protein yield increased from 10 to 12 percent in the crossbreds. But for Arvid Kobosky, the cur rent president of the Dutch Belted Cattle Association of America. Inc., and dairyman from North Alexandria in Westmoreland County, the reason for Dutch Belts in his conventional milking and dairy operation is their smaller size and fantastic conception rate. “I have also liked the looks of Dutch Belts,” Kobosky said. “But they need to milk if they stay in our herd. In addition. I like that they are not as big and do not tear up the stalls as much. And we have found that a small cow will outmilk a large cow almost every time.” And Kobosky’s experience with milking Dutch Belts has proven him right. Starting with one Dutch Belted cow bought at an auction even before he knew where to find a breeding bull, Kobosky now has milking animals with DHIA records to back up his demand for production—l9,ooom, 4.2 f, and (Turn to Pago A 27) .an*
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