DlO-Lancaster Fanring, Saturday, May 18, 1996 PRINCETON, N J. The po tential to increase litter sizes and improve animal health is leading animal scientists to advise pork producers to double-check the vitamin E content in their sow ra tions. Currently, the National Re search Council (NRC) lists the vitamin E requirement for adult swine as 20,000 international Units IU) per ton of feed. Over the past few years, however, studies by Ohio State University scientists have indicated that when sows' ra tions provided vitamin E at double or triple that levle, litter size in creased by an average of one pig and the incidence of costly masti tis-metritis-agalactia (MMA) in Science Olympiad Announces Winners DOYLESTOWN (Bucks Co.) Delaware Valley College hosted the Southeastern Regional Science Olympiad recently on its Doyles town campus. First in the middle school divi sion was Unami Middle School. First in the high school division was Harriton High School. The teams competed in 23 sci entific and technical events throughout campus and received points based on their successes compared to other schools in their division. The 11 highest ranked teams in the middle school divi- sion and the nine highest ranked teams in the high school division will attend the Pennsylvania Sci- ence Olympiad in April at Juniata College. Advancing teams in the middle school division, listed from first to CABLE SCRAPER SYSTEM FOR FREE STALL BARN Tired of scraping manure? If so, take a look at Houle Alley Scraper! BEI INCLUDI • No manpower to operate • Frees tractor or skidsteer for other jobs • Reduces stress on cows Drive unit with SS Cable (H.D. Drive unit with chain also available) scraper is controlled by a multi-function^ "v clock which allows you to clean the barn continuously ) at preset Intervals — K Call us todayl We will be glad to show you a recent installation and quote you on a system for your barn. *We will design & install - Serving all the Mid-Atlantic* MW farm equwk nr manufacturer Vitamin E: Triple Duty For Sows, Pigs newly farrowed sows decreased significantly compared to con trols. Meanwhile, other research has shown that when the lactating sow’s diet included higher levels of vitamin E, her nursing piglets had a boost in their developing im mune systems. The discrepancy between NRC requirements and recent research isn’t all that surprising, said Dr. Donald Mahan, who led the Ohio research team. For one thing, the NRC itself has emphasized that its requirements are minimums, de signed to prevent classic deficien cy signs rather than promote opti mum health and performance. Ad ditionally. the current NRC requirement for vitamin E. which llth place, were Unami Middle School, Bala Cynwyd Middle School. Haverford Middle School, Governor Mifflin Middle School, Stetson Middle School, New Hope-Solebury Middle School. Welsh Valley Middle School. Fleetwood Middle School, Fugett Middle School, Abington Junior High School, and E.T. Richardson Middle School. Advancing teams in the high school division, listed from first to ninth place, were Harriton High School, Haverfofd Senior High School, B. Reed Henderson High School, Central Bucks West High School, Abington High School, Wilson High School, German town Friends School. Lower Mer ion High School, and Central Bucks East High School. • Allows alleys to be scraped more often • Lowers maintenance & repair costs 16 _ -Pt.. ends (others available) Mid-Atlantic Agrisystems Oxford, PA 19363 800-222-2948 was published in 1988, is based on studies that were done a decade or longer ago and that used grow ing/finishing hogs rather than sows. “The bottom line is that if a pro ducer is trying to keep a sow in the herd for a longer period which is what many producers are trying to do I would probably recom mend a minimum 0f60,000 IU per ton of ration to meet that require ment for reproduction and enhanc ing the immune response,” Mahan said. MMA presents an especially common problem in newly far rowed sows, Mahan said, “be cause the birth process disrupts a lot of tissue. And with the expos ure of what are basically open wounds or sores, there’s a greater opportunity for pathogenic bacter ia to cause disease.” It’s long been known that a strong immune response requires adequate vitamin E stores. The connection still isn’t fully under stood, but in experiments with swine and other livestock, re searchers studying increased sup plementation have reported bene fits ranging from increased survi val rates in newborn pigs and lambs to fewer, less severe out breaks of mastitis in dairy cows. “If the sow is in a good vitamin E status at the time of farrowing, she can have a lower incidence of MMA. In addition, her milk pro duction and the subsequent repro ductive effects appear to be en hanced,” Mahan said. Scientists have also conducted studies sug gesting that increased levels of vitamin E can play another role in reproductive performance (affect ing litter size) through the forma tion of prostaglandins involved in mKEm MFG. CORP. reproduction, he notes. However, research in this area is continuing. Producers’ goals will largely determine how much vitamin sup plementation proves optimum, Mahan said. “If your goal is simp ly to maximize reproductive ef fects, you can probably see results at around 36,000 to 54,000 IU per ton of feed.” he said, based on his studies. “But the immune re sponse seems to require a higher level of vitamin E in the diet If you’re interested in reducing MMA, vitamin E is apparently ef fective at 60,000 to 80,000 lU.” In balancing rations to optimize vitamin E intake, Mahan cautions against relying too much on the levels found in feedstuffs. “Grain, Sheep, Wool Festival (Continued from Pago D 9) but they do need to make a high quality wool and focus on the types of wool that are returning the most money. Marketing is the final area Pope sees as vital to the success of the operation. He said wool is the only industry where the buyer tells the seller what it is that he is trying to sell. By knowing exactly what it is you’re producing, which requires becoming familiar with your wool the diameter, fiber length, and other factors you can most ef fectively market it He suggests coring die wool clip and selling it on the core. “Several pools core their wool and want a price on the core. Some even want a clean price,” he said. “Put it into vol umes you can objectively mea sure.” Communication between the seller and customer is important ZIMMERMAN HEAVY DUTY HAY TEDDER - 790 SERIES Increase hay crop value with faster drying time... 2 Sizes: T & 9 ' Raking Width PTO Drive This is A Rugged Igh Speed Ear Corn, ilk Feeds, ’, Manure or Bales A FULL LINE OF FANS Including Efficient Belt-Drive Exhaust Fans and Portable Circulating Fans for instance, is a very good source of vitamin E, but once the kernel is cracked or the grain is heated or exposed to minerals, the vitamin H will be destroyed,” he said. University of Kentucky swine nutritionist Dr. Merlin Lindemann estimates that it will probably cost about $1.50 per sow per year to supplement sow rations at these levels of vitamin E. “It’s not going to take much more than a tenth of a pig per sow per year for that in creased level of vitamin E to pay off,” Lindemann said. “Or looking at it another way, you won’t need more than one or two sows to con ceive that might have had to be re bred to pay for that higher supple mentation level.” whether you arc niche marketing to die cottage industry, or pooling your wool. Pope said. On the small scale, a handspinner may be interested in the life story of a par ticular sheep. Turn that informa tion into a marketing tool. The same holds true when talk ing about larger quantities. Com mercial processors need volume, approximately 150,000-250,000 pounds to process at one time. They don’t buy one lot that size— they blend: American with Aus tralian, Eastern with Western do mestic, in many different com binations. They don’t mix wide varieties or fiber diameters, but the blending that they do allows them to produce a cheaper product that still has the value they need. Information that the grower pro vides is valuable to than. They cap then utilizp the information to their advantage in Mending. 125 King Court/ Hollander Rd. New Holland, PA 17557 (717) 354-9611 880 SERIES PORTABLE BALE ELEVATOR & MOW CONVEYOR SYSTEM ZIMMERMAN WAGON GEAR Rugged, Heavy Duty Models 6, 8,10 • 12,14.5 Tandem (. Uni ■)' i I s I or I Hi r;i(ui i ()r I lu‘ l)i ;ikr iNiarcsl Non.’
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers