QUESTION; We keep'our
feeding program the same
throughout the year, but come late
summer our butterfat hits a yearly
low why?
ANSWER: This is currently the
most asked question that has cone
in since the establishment of the
DHIA hotline here in
Pennsylvania.
More payment emphasis has
been on fat than at any other time
in history. At current prices, a
1-point change in butterfat is worth
YOU’RE MVIIED!
miLL€R PRO
FIELD OPERATION OF FOLLOWING E
LONGEST,
STRONGEST
WARRANTY
Over 6’ Crop Clearance
17” Leg Profile Width
Lowest Ground Compaction
45’ Boom
Joystick Controls
Load Sensing Hydraulics
Insta-Response Monitoring
about 25 cents per hundred pounds
of milk.
Many of the dairymen who I talk
to feel that their cows have
dropped no less than 5 points in the
last couple' of months.
Those same dairymen ate look
ing at fall and winter production of
past and know that these same fat
pices during those limes can rep
resent quite a bit of extra income.
Will these prices hold? Your
guess is as j>ood as mine.
The average herd in Pennsylva
nia with a 5-point drop in percent
Power, capacity, superior traction up-lront boom and precision control
maans more accurate spraying and more acres per day l
SERVING TWO LOCATIONS
Rheems Exit - Route 283
Elizabethtown, PA 17022
717-367-1319 717-653-8867
Customize A Sprayer For Your Own Application,
SPRING SPECIAL
MESSICK’S
RD 1, Box 22SA, Abbottstown, PA 17301
West of York, PA On Route 30
717-259-6617
buttcrfat during June, July, August
and September lost about $5,550
in potential income.
This is not exactly correct,
because the fact is that die reasons
for the drop in buttcrfat during
these months are the same reasons
we get slightly higher milk yields.
Let us discuss the causes for this
and decide if we have a reasonable
trade-off.
First, we need to examine the
statement made about this particu
lar herd and its non-changing feed
program.
With the information that was
gathered we indeed see that these
cows are being fed the same this
summer as last winter. Com silage,
hay silage, high moisture com,
protein concentrate and hay make
____ RAIN Oil SHINE
FIELD DAYS
up the diet year-round.
Careful consideration is given to
macro- and micro-nutrient
balance,
This indeed looks like a diet that
is well-balanced and derserving to
be put in front of cows.
There is a reason that we should
look at what the cows tdl us and
not what the ration spreadsheet
says. In this case. I’m quite certain
we are looking at one of the most
common mistakes made in trying
to feed our herds the on-paper
diet is not the one the cows are
consuming.
Further study into what this herd
is eating tells us pretty much why
there is a buttcrfat problem.
Cows ate housed in the bam at
night and are fed cafeteria style,
according to the formulated ration.
During the day they ate turned
out to their haylage feeding which
happens to be round-bale silage.
The mistake made was to
assume the dry matter intake
remained the same during die past
few months.
UIPMENT
UNMATCHED
VISABILITY
1200 Gallon Tank
90760’ Boom
200 H.P. Cummins
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, October 17, 1998-A29
With no known way to measure
Hi Mag (Ag Lime Spreading) Hi-Cal
Also in bags, pulverized, pelletized
and feed grade
FREE
SEMINAR ON
PAYROLL SERVICES
• Tax Laws
• Legal Issues
• Employee benefit plans
for small employers
TUESDAY
OCTOBER 27, 1998
7:00 PM
GREIDER'S
iMpT SERVICE
2733 Willow Street Pike
Willow Street, PA 17584
HHHH Fax (717|
Susan Greider
the haylagc consumed outside, and
the cows eating inside at night to
eat all their grain and cornsilage,
there can be a large shift in the
amount of liber consumed from
forage.
Add the knowledge that inside
the bam the cows cat everything
except a portion of their long hay,
and the problem becomes
compounded.
How do we conect the problem?
First of all, when conditions
become hot, we need to adjust the
diets to account for lower dry mat
ter intakes.
In my experience, it is better to
guess the DMI too low than too
high.
Rumen health will suffer and
lead to other problems associated
with it when diets get out of
balance, from a fiber-standpoint,
for more than just a short time.
When we can't measure what
the cows arresting, we must make
educated guesses about DMI. I for
one like to start with the notion that
cows will drop DMI about 10 per
cent when heat and humidity rise
over a combined total of ISO (80
degrees and 70 percent humidity).
Making this adjustment has
served me well in the past, but you
need to make that determination
according to how well you manage
for cow comfort during these
times. Of course, as temperature
and humidity increase, so will the
drop in DMI.
Your cows will tell you when
you feed them right. Use your
DHIA reoerds, along with on-the
farm indicators, such as manure
scoring, body condition scoring,
and DMI to adjust diets that will
maintain proper rumen health.
New Holland, PA
(717) 354-4996 (717) 445-7561