DIMA QUESTION: What would be an effective choice for stall bed ding in our new frees tall facility? ANSWER: Giving a direct answer to this question would make some people happy and others very mad. I really do not think there is an answer that will fit all situations. Cow comfort, cost, availability, disease control, and handling ate all issues that must be addressed before the “tight** choice is made. To complicate the issue even further, dairymen have had suc cess with just about every choice of bedding material. What one will condemn, others will lout as the best There is one common link that can help us determine if our choice rfs aQi ’ - *-/ - ♦ SN»f.J * s * „ >i' /ofßSn*B4>* DIVISION OFGSI “The Standard in Grain Drying” Combination Dryer One of the Most Modern Dryers on the Market • Farm Bins • Hopper Bottom Tanks • Commerical Flat Bottom Check Our Prices Before You Buy has been or will continue to be the correct one for us. That link is cow language and our ability to deci pher it. I recently visited two different farms and came across a similar type of problem. Let’s talk about die two and see the common link that both share. The first farm milks near 200 cows in a frecstall facility, and two different stall bases are used. A post-fresh group lies on rub ber filled mattresses that are bed ded with sand. The test of the herd rests in stalls with asphalt in the bottom, covered with generous portions of sand. Going from sawdust to sand a couple of years ago was viewed as the right decision because of reduced somatic cell counts with their Pa.DHIA records. They also experience less coli fotm initiated mastitis cases. Cow comfort was reported to be at a vety high level and no one has second-guessed the decision to move to sand bedding. Upon my arrival, we proceeded to the bam to view the cows and I saw something that made me look at the cows’ feet and legs. The sand automatic farm systems 606 Evergreen Rd., Lebanon, PA 17042 (717) 274-5333 * > if s* <■ Y * W,>„ S ♦ I thought that I was sure to see damage at the hock area, but it was just tte contrary. The hocks were probably the best that I have encountered in a free stall bam. What I did see was bald front knees. Yes, bald. Apparently due to the sand grinding off the hair when the cows got up. As we walked further, a cow was laying in the alley and the dairyman said that rarely occurred. I bent down to see that her knees I also saw some cows laying with front knees extended and the abrasive appearance. We talked and apparently the sand supplier bad changed sand for use at this farm a short time ago. We needed to change this sand back to a finer grade, before we had some major problems with these cows. The second farm I had in mind was on my schedule the next day. I had been at this dairy a month ago to help celebrate the building of a new facility with an open house. During that time, something was brought to my attention stall acceptance for standing was great, but only a small percentage of the cows would lie down. Unlike the other farm, the hock area was showing a lot of damage. When I returned to work with the dairyman a month later, the damage had spread to the front knee. The bam was built with rubber mats on top of a concrete cow bed. The thought was to use sparing amounts of sawdust to keep the cows clean. ON FARM STORAGE FOR MAXIMUM PROFITS • Flex Flo Feed Systems • Safety Access Equipment was very white and coarse in appearance. were red, sore, and hot in the bald area when I touched her. <Hg) STORAGE BINS This thought is quickly turning into a disaster with many cows struggling to get up due to soreness in their legs. Some have gone to lying on the crossover alleys as the automatic alley scrapers stop them from lying in the frees tall alleys. The problem here is similar to the first farm, except that culprit here is the shallow sawdust that the cows lay cm. When looking at sawdust from a circular saw, we see that the dust is in small chips that act like an abra sive compound when a thin layer covets the rubber mats. Changing to a finer dust from a band mill or to shavings is one alternative. This will probably not be the answer, because the stall design is fra - easy cleaning and not for bedding retention. Using a bedding saver at the end of the stall to allow for a thick cushion of sawdust should help. The point of these two stories is to show that each farm made stall improvements in the eye of the dairyman. We do need to go to the cows, to sec if our ideas are correct. What is most important is that new facilities and new manage ment practices meet the approval of the cows. It is too bad that some quantita tive measure, like our DHIA records, cannot tell us these kinds of things. Sometimes we really have to go all the way back to bas ics and ask the cows. Where's your mustache? “ ' Hauls Everything From Tools to 10-Pointers. The new Polaris RANGER takes you where your pickup can’t Whether you’re on the farm, the construction site or deep in the woods, RANGER gets the job done with outstanding power, easy handling and a • Liquid-cooled 4-stroke 500 engine • Automatic transmission with hi/lo range and reverse • True 6-wheel drive at the push of a dash-mounted switch • All-shaft drive front, center and rear POLRRIS W * H Call For “SPECIAL FINANCING” 520 North Reading Road, Ephrata, PA 17522 717-733-4151 1 -800-522-3714 (PA Only) The Polaris RANGER, genera purpose off-road utility vehicle, is not intended and may not be registered for on-road use © 1998 Polaris Industries Inc Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 10, 1999-A27 Average Farm Feed Costs For Handy Reference To help fanners across the state to have handy reference of com modity input costs in their feeding operations for DHIA record sheets or to develop livestock feed cost data, here’s last week’s average costs of various ingredients as compiled from regional reports across the state of Pennsylvania. Remember, these ate averages, so you wih need to adjust your fig ures up or down according to your location and the quality of your crop. Com, No.2y 2.42 bu., 4.34 cwt Wheat, No. 2 2.42 bu., 4.04 CWt Barley, No. 3 1.35 bu., 2.88 cwt Oats, No. 2 cwt Soybeans, No. 1 4.25 bu., 7.10 cwt Ear Com 73.40 ton, 3.67 cwt. Alfalfa Hay 90.00 ton, 4.5 cwt Mixed Hay 90.75 ton, 4.54 cwt Timothy Hay 92.50 ton, 4.6 cwt MILK • Side-by-side seating, steering wheel • Hydraulic disc brakes, front and rear • 1,5001 b towing capacity • Accessories include winch, blade, electric box assist and more 1.42 bu., 4.42
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