More than 10 different pieces of machinery were demonstrated in the forage cutting demonstrations.
(Continued from Page A 24)
half.
Mary Whittier, Whittier Farms, Sutton,
MA, reported they were fed up with rising
hauling costs, low milk prices and unfair
demands of their handler. They became milk
haulers, processors, and retailers of their own
milk. Year-round demand for their bottled
milk prompted the construction of their own
farm store.
Warren Facey, Peter and Faith Williams,
and Leyden and Shelburne worked together to
form an innovative, low-cost way to market
their milk.
On Wednesday, Dave Gallon moderated
the topic of how to use sand bedding in your
dairy.
Velmar Green, Green Meadows FArm,
Elsie, MI, has been using sand bedding for
eight years. They have installed a new sand
separator to remove manure.
Slade Cox, Spruce Haven Dairy, Union
Springs, NY, operates a 1,000 cow dairy and
research facility. They have compared sand
bedding to conventional bedding and shown a
big advantage for sand.
Eric Clifford, Starksboro, VT, has made
cow confort a priority. He has experimented
with stall size, style, and bedding, and remod
eled facilities to improve air quality.
Chuck Guard, Cornell University medical
clinic, reminded dairy fanners to keep cows in
the production string longer you must take
care of their feet
On Thursday, Corwin Holtz was the mod
erator. The discussion centered around the
storage, shrink, loading, mixing, and monitor
ing true dry matter intakes of feed.
Dave Sumrall, general manager of the
Aurora Dairy Group, Longmont, Colorado,
has developed an elaborate management
spreadsheet that allows him to track and
monitor true feed intake and costs every day.
Dan Titus, Barfoland Farms, Fabius, NY,
knew feed was being wasted so he began to
track feed by ingredient. This reduced on
farm feed losses.
Gerry Kuhl, extension feedlot specialist,
Kansas State University, showed how the
beef feedlot industry can provide some valu
able tips to the dairy producer. These are base
d on feed bunk management and feed inputs.
Joanne Sicilliano-Jones, Sicilliano Dairy,
Homer, NY, evaluated digestability and
rations in a practical on-farm setting.
Mark Gardner, Western NY Agway Ag
Products, talked about cowside treatments
related to nutrition.
As in the past, the full-tent of dairy fanners
especially appreciated hearing from other
dairy producers who talked about different
technology and management practices
they’ve implemented on their farms. Of
course the discussion parts of the program
were well-received.
On Tuesday, a special three-day tour of
vegetable and fruit farms and processing
plants that was in progress simultaneously
with Empire Farm Days stopped in for a lunc
heon and press conference.
Empire Farm Days Play In Seneca Falls Last Week
The Post Office again offered a
special Empire Farm Days hand
cancelled stamp.
A special cattle handling
demonstration was performed by
Martha Wright, Cornell coopera
tive extension. Northwest team.
Wright said they wanted to intro
duce and enforce the idea that folks
need to think about a handling sys
tem for livestock that need not be
elaborate but uses the animals’
natural instincts of movement.
“Safety of the handler and the
animal is important,” Wright said.
“We want the system to allow the
animals to be quiet Not so much
what I will make them do, but I will
let them do what I want. We want
to work easier, not harder.”