Progressive Dairymen’s Cooperative Reports Good Year
TROY (Bradford Co.) 1998
was a good year for members of
Progressive Dairymen's Coopera
tive, according to a recent news
release about the cooperative's
recent annual meeting, at Edgcw
ood Restaurant in Troy.
About SO members and their
families attended the banquet/
meeting to review the coopera
tive’s business and outlook, elect
directors, and recognize member
achievements.
The board reorganized during a
meeting that followed the annual
meeting.
James Pastes, of United Ag Ser
vices, discussed the dairy situa
tion, market conditions and his
opinion on the future.
Progressive Dairymen’s
Cooperative is affiliated with
United Ag Services, of Seneca
Falls, N.Y. United provides man
agement, accounting, quality con
trol, and employee and producer
payroll services for small to
medium-sized cooperatives, as
well as for individual farming
operations.
Pastes said that dairy farmers
have enjoyed the best prices ever,
the past few months, and they
would continue through the winter
months. He said the price would
drop in spring and summer.
He said that season price
increases would occur in late sum
mer and fall.
Overall, he said 1999 milk
prices will average slightly below
1998 (record pyear) but not be as
low as 1997.
He said he wanted to strongly
urge members to catch up on pay
ing their bills and to refrain from
purchasing new equipment, until
the outlook for dairy prices
became more certain.
He also said that members
should contact their state legisla
tors and ask that they pass neccs
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Lititz, PA 17543
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to join the Northeast Interstate
Dairy Compact.
Pastes also announced a new
service program being offered by
United Ag Services, Dairy Impact
Dairy Impact is a group buying
program designed to arable pro
ducers to purchase inputs at dis
count prices. Through the Dai
ry Impact program, dairy farmers
ate expected to have an opportuni
ty to improve their bottom line, he
said.
Presiding at the meeting was
Vice President Don Hamilton,
who was taking over for Douglas
Stewart unable to attend for medi
cal reasons.
Also present were Tioga County
Dairy Princess Christina Baker,
and Bradford County Alternate
Dairy Princess Malissa Croft. The
dairy royalty served milk punch
and cheese and talked about their
roles promoting the use of milk
and dairy products.
Sandy Hamilton offered a
blessing.
In cooperative business, re
elected to serve as cooperative
directors were Verna Talmon of
Ulster, and Jeffrey Ammerman of
Athens.
Elected to the board were
Donald Chamberlain of
Mansfield.
The minutes and financial state
ments were approved as read, and
patronage was disbursed at the end
of the meeting.
J.W. Welch, secrctary/treasurer,
offered his opinion on the benefits
of membership in the cooperative.
He said that the cooperative has
always paid a patronage dividend,
ever since the co-op was founded
10 years ago. He also said that a
study into premium programs of
cooperatives showed that Progres
sive Dairymen’s and sister co-op
Scenic Mountain both enjoyed the
et long-life and best value with
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maximum net return, compared to
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same time, he said Progressive and
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Verna Talmon recommended
that the cooperative send each
member two copies of the pre
mium program information
one to keep and one to pass on to a
neighbor, in an effort to encourage
quality producers to join the co-op.
Forage Helps Best Cows
Produce More
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.
Dairy cows already producing
just over 110 pounds of milk per
day increased production by an
average of 11.5 pounds of milk
when fed Full Time™ forage in a
Michigan State University
(MSU) study. Dry-matter intake
increased an average 5.8 pounds
per day for the high-producing
cows.
“The more milk the cow is
capable of producing in the first
place, the higher the response to
Full Time forage,” said Ed
Nimtz, Cargill Hybrid Seeds
Full Time forage product manag
er.
“Improvements in milk pro
duction, dry-matter intake, and
body condition scores of high
producing dairy cows resulted
from enhanced neutral deter
gent fiber (NDF) digestibility of
the forage.
Evaluating thb effect of NDF
digestibility on dairy cow perfor
mance has proven difficult
because it is hard to find two for
ages that differ only in that
trait. But Michigan State
University researchers succeed-
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In recognitions. Pastes pre
sented the cooperative’s top qual
ity awards. First place were John
and Bonnie Kendrick of Maines
burg, who received a plaque and a
cash prize.
Others high quality producers
recognized were Jeffrey Ammcr
man; Richard Carnright of
Mainesbutg; Victor and Vema
Talmon; and Paul Allen of Gran
ville Summit. Each received a
ed last year by comparing con
ventional corn silage and
Full Time forage, both from
Cargill Hybrid Seeds.
“Increasing dry-matter
intake is especially important
for cows in early lactation to pre
vent excessive loss of body con
dition and to increase peak milk
yield,” said Dr. Mike Allen, MSU
extension forage specialist
“Improved NDF digestibility
does not necessarily increase the
energy density of a cow’s diet. It
does reduce physical rumen fill
and allows greater feed intake,”
Allen said.
The MSU trials involved 32
Holstein cows fed rations con
taining corn silage made from
either a conventional Cargill
corn hybrid or a Full Time forage
hybrid identical to the control
except for the gene affecting low
lignin content.
The two com hybrids were
planted in adjacent fields on the
MSU campus research farm.
Both hybrids were chopped at 30
percent dry matter, fermented,
and stored in adjacent bunker
silos.
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qualilty certificate and a cash
prize.
During the reorganizational
meeting, Douglas Stewart was re
elected president, Don Hamilton
was re-elected vice president, and
J.W. Welch was re-elected
secretaiy/treasurer.
For more information about the
cooperative call Douglas Stewart
at (570) 744-2064, or J.W. Welch
at (570) 549-7281.
The cows were grouped
according to days in milk, body
weight, milk yield, and body
condition score. Each group of
cows was assigned to one of the
rations for 28 days after which
the rations were switched
between groups so that all cows
were offered a ration containing
each hybrid for a period of 28
days.
Tests showed the silage made
from Full Time forage was 0.8
units lower in lignin that the
conventional silage. Diets were
formulated for 19.6 percent
crude protein, 31 percent NDF,
and a forage to concentrate ratio
of 56 to 44 percent.
1
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