A34-LincMtef Farming, Saturday, June 5, 1999
On Dairy Tour, Teachers Learn Importance Of Foot Health
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.)
Standing in front of a headlock
gate, lim Kulick held up a rubber
cow slip, used to protect the hoofs
of somewhat “downtrodden" dairy
animals.
Kulick told a few school teach
ers from the Cumberland County
area that cows’ feet sometimes
pose major health problems on the
farm.
“Foot problems would include
foot rot and warts, which can be
very contagious," he said during
the first annual Cumberland Coun
ty Ag in the Classroom teacher
tour, conducted late in April at the
John and Julia Stover dairy farm
near Carlisle.
Kulick spoke to the teachets
To replace the greenhouse plastic, it cost
Kulick told the tour group. The total cost of the structure
was $8,500, which Includes 1A crushed limestone. The
building measures 32 by 100 feet A new milk room was
under construction near the entrance.
A recently constructed calf greenhouse provides good vet. ion and “really helps
knock down bacteria and viruses that can hit calves,” said Kulick. The calves are
moved to the open structure, with a crushed limestone floor, from when they are born
to about four months. At the time of the tour, 30 calves were housed in the green
house, including some bull calves. There is room for 44 in all.
about what dairy farmers learn to
do to maintain optimum herd
health.
The few that attended ques
tioned the dairy farmers about the
use of antibiotics and hormones.
They asked him what the steel
structure was that stood in back of
him, near a gate leading into the
frees tall bam. The bam is curtain
sided with fans. A mister will be
installed this summer, to douse the
cows with water, cooling them.
Kulick demonstrated the head
lock gate, using belts, to keep the
cows in place while they are
treated. He told them they arc
steadied easily that way.
He showed them the footpath
that leads around the freestall area,
where the cows walk through a
puddle of copper sulfate.
“Foot problems would Include foot ret and warts, which can be very contagious,”
Jim Kulik, center, said during the first annual Cumberland County Ag in the Class*
room teachertour, conducted lata in April at the John and Julia Stover dairy farm near
Carlisle.
Gradually, the Stover Dairy, which includes about 1,100 acres, Is moving toward
becoming all-registered, which takes time, according to Jim Kulick, center. From left,
Mandy Lehman, Cumberland County 4-H extension agent; Becky Davis, third grade
teacher from Grace Baptist, Carlisle; Nancy Bauman, third grade teacher from Upper
Allen Elementary, Mechaniesburg; Ann KuHk; Jim Kulik; John Stover; Julie Stover;
and Sallie Gregory, Cumberland County extension agent. Photo by Andy Andnwo
A double-8 milking parlor
(which can someday expand to a
double-10, Kulick noted) was
installed on the dairy farm, owned
by John and Julia Stover, and
Ronald Stover, in 1995. Jim
Kulick, son-in-law, helps manage
the 196 head of registered and
grade Holsteins, with about the
same number of replacements.
Gradually, the Stover Dairy,
which includes about 1,100 acres,
is moving toward becoming all
registered, which takes time,
according to Kulick.
The Stovers began a small herd
on their home farm nearby in 1959.
They expanded mindly three years
ago, from 60 to 200 head, building
a new facility on the site, incorpor
ating a frecstall, a milking parlor,
and a new calf greenhouse facility.
The herd on Pennsylvania
DHIA records 22,300 pounds of
milk, using BST. Feed is all TMR,
constantly available to the cows.
The milk is sold through the Mount
Joy Cooperative. The Stovers arc
Class I shipper through Federal
Order IV. Milking is twice a day,
4:30 a.tn. and 4:30 p.m. to a
3,000-pound tank, emptied every
other day.
Most of the cattle arc homebred.
Kulick is now buying all registered
cattle to increase die quality and
quantity of the Holstein herd.
The oldest cow is Sandy, about
nine years old. The big milker is
Monica, a 5-ycar-old who pro
duces 40,000 pounds.
Kulick noted that using AI on
the heifers has increased the qual
ity of the herd.
“We’ve seen a big difference
between those heifers and those
bred using a bull," said Kulick.
The udders ate high, the feet and
legs ate in better shape, and the
overall health is a step above what
it used to be.
Somatic cell count is kept “as
low as possible,” he explained to
the teachers. “The milk tastes bet
ter and cows will milk mote.”
Mount Joy pays a premiutp
when SCC is kept below 300,000.
The farm records about a 200,000
SCC, though it has gone as low as
160,000, Kulick said.
The bam is in need of new frces-
(Turn to Pago ASS)