A24-L>nca«ter Farming, Saturday, July 31, 1999
Ayrshire/Brown Swiss Quiz Bowl
Holstein Foundation Sponsors
BRATTLEBORO. VL This
year the National Ayrshire and
Brown Swiss associations held a
joint convention in Bllicott City,
Maryland. The National Ayrshire/
Brown Swiss Dairy Quiz Bowl
competition was held in conjunc
tion with the convention. Five
junior teams and eight senior
teams competed for top honors.
In the junior division, Florida
took home those honors. Team
members included captain Han
nah Huggins, Brady Revels, Ties
sie Brown and Bryan Rees. The
winning team was coached by
Mary Sowerby. Maryland #2’s
junior team members were captain
Catherine Perdue, Robert Doody,
and Suzanne Perdue from Mary
land and William Coleman of
Beef Producers Should Take Steps To Deal With Drought
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.)
Many areas of Pennsylvania are experienc
ing drought or near-drought conditions.
While dry conditions can make humans
uncomfortable, they can pose a more seri
ous threat to livestock on farms.
“Beef herds can be severely affected by
drought at this time of year,” said John
Comerford, associate professor of animal
science in Penn State’s College of
Agricultural Sciences. “Beef producers
need to consider certain management prac
tices during periods of drought and short
feed supply.”
Comerford offers the following sugges
tions for producers concerned about the
impact of drought of their animals and
their farm profitability.
• Be sure plenty of fresh water is avail
able to the herd at all times.
• Be sure there are enough bulls avail
able to service the cow herd. “Droughts can
hamper a herd’s reproductive management
because of the combination of high temper
atures and lack of rainfall during the
prime breeding season for spring-calving
cows,” Comerford said. “In fact, it wouldn’t
hurt if there were a few extra bulls on
hand.”
Yearling bulls could become overtaxed
with more than 15 cows in the breeding
group under drought conditions, he said.
“The figure rises to 25 cows for a two-year
old bull and 30 to 35 cows for a mature
bull.” Semen content and quality can be
affected by this kind of weather, which may
mean extended calving seasons and
delayed rebreeding.
• Provide correct mineral supplementa
tion for the cow herd. “Salt, calcium and
phosphorus will be most important,”
Comerford said.
' • Consider weaning the oldest calves
immediately. “Weaning calves takes the
pressure off of depleted pastures,”
Comerford said. About 1 pound of soybean
meal-equivalent protein supplement will
be needed for calves of this age. Cows with
weaned calves also will need energy and a
little protein at this time. “Their lactation
is about over, but they need energy to cycle
in time to be rebred next year,” Comerford
said.
“Determine the amount of energy sup
plement needed by the availability of pas
ture or the energy value of stored forages,”
Comerford said. “Com is relatively cheap
right now as a source of energy for both
cows and calves. Supplementing poor qual
ity forages with corn may not be the most
economical feed for cows whose calves have
been weaned, or for calves that have no
pasture available.” Calves can be removed
from the pasture, but will need about 1
percent of their body weight daily of a
grain mix plus hay to maintain comparable
growth rates to nursing cows on pasture.
• Check the cow herd for pregnancy 60
to 75 days after the breeding season to
determine how severely the weather affect
ed breeding “It’s possible that fewer cows
than normal will be bred, so you’ll have to
decide early whether to winter non-produc
tive cows” Comerford said
Missouri. They were coached by
John Perdue.
After a close competition in the
senior division, the Brunettes
were named the senior Ayrshire/
Brown Swiss Quiz Bowl cham
pions. Team members of the
Brunettes were captain Sarah
VanOrden of New York, Katrina
Olson of Minnesota, Travis Tay
lor of Texas and Tarn Mower of
Washington. The Blondes’ team
included captain J.R. Fisher of
Texas, Terri Lawton of Massachu
setts, Kylie Quesnel of Vermont
and Kelsey Olson of Minnesota.
The contest kicked off on Wed
nesday, July 14 with a written ex
am to determine the seating of the
teams. The exam was followed by
a single elimination competition.
• When it does rain, rotate
the cows on the pastures as
much as possible to take advan
tage of available grass.
Ov&i 600
E xkibUm!
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WASHINGTON, D.C. The
National Fanners Union (NFU)
said it was pleased with the Justice
Department’s (DOJ) decision to
not allow a merger between grain
giants Cargill, Inc. and Continent
al Grain Company to proceed as
originally proposed.
DOJ announced it would re
quire divestitures in various states
in order for the merger to win
regulatory approval. NFU has
voiced strong concerns about the
merger since it ws announced last
November.
“We commend the Justice De
partment’s recognition that this
merger, as originally proposed,
would have gone too far,” said
NFU President Leland Swenson.
“The department’s careful con
sideration of the merger and its
pire
“JC angeal Tam Skim
August 10,11.
Rodman Lott & Son Farm • Rte. 414 • Seneca Falls, NY
Tuesday & Wednesday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Thursday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
NFU Pleased With Divestiture
Requirements For Merger
For more information about
livestock management during a
drought, contact the Penn State
Cooperative Extension office in
your county.
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impact on farm income sends a
strong signal to the industry that
they can’t just go into the country
side and buy up markets. It is im
portant to know that the adminis
tration is watching the situation in
rural America and won’t stand
idly by when farmers face anti
competitive prices.”
Swenson added that NFU will
continue to press the administra
tion to closely examine the greater
trend of concentration in agricul -
lure. A recent wave of mergers
across all sectors of the industry
has greatly reduced competition in
many markets.
NFU said the DOJ’s decision
will help maintain competition in
the major grain and livestock pro
ducing regions of the Midwest
There had been concerns that
EXIT
SYRACUSE ►
luburn
RT.2I
Dairy Profit Seminars
Beginning daily at 11 a.m in the Dairy Seminar Center
Sponsored by Agway, Alltech, Diamond V Mills, Land O’Lakes
Westway Trading, Roche Vitamins and Zinpro Corp.
Coordinated by Dairyßusiness Communications,
publisher of Northeast Dairyßusiness.
Tues., Aug. 10 Parlor Perfection
Moderator, Dave Gallon, Cornell University
Wed., Aug. 11 Hit The Mark With Heifers
Moderator, Dave Gallon, Cornell University
Thurs., Aug. 12 Consistency With Cows
Moderator, Corwin Holtz, Western NY Agway Ag Products
Empire Farm Days • PO Box 566 • Stanley New
York 14561 • (716) 526-5356 • FAX (716) 526-6576
Continental would use the merger
as a springboard into livestock
production in those areas. NFU is
also pleased that divestitures will
be required of facilities on key Illi
nois River ports that serve as de
livery points for settlement of fu
tures contracts.
Under the deal, Cargill w‘U be
required to make divestitures in
the Pacific Northwest, central
California, the Texas Gulf, and
Chicago and to restrict ownership
of facilities in several areas of the
Midwest
“We will carefully monitor the
affected regions to ensure markets
remain fair and competitive,” said
Swenson.
Details of the proposed settle
ment will be published in the
Federal Register to solicit public
comment, which will be reviewed
by the judge overseeing the deal.
ibe
12. 1999
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