bout Dairying
capital expenses, like another
piece of equipment,” said Ligo.
Ligo tends not to borrow
money on a short-term basis.
However, since he has never ex
pected milk prices to be as low
as long as they are now, he did
apply for a line of credit in No
vember. It’s mainly for assur
ance.
“More than anything, I
wanted the line of credit to take
advantage of the opportunities
that come up during low milk
price periods,” said Ligo. “I also
wanted to assure my employees
that we didn’t have to worry
about what we were going to do
when the milk price drops.”
Ligo relies heavily on his em
ployees to maintain profitability
and production on his dairy
farm. Five full-time employees
help Ligo on the farm, where
they milk three times a day.
Working as a region credit
manager for Telemark, Inc., his
wife Judy also takes care of the
calves on the farm. The Ligos
have a 23,800-pound herd aver
age, with 890 pounds of fat and
785 pounds of protein.
Ligo attributes his low
somatic cell counts, which aver
age around 150,000, and his suc
cess in the milking parlor to
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Employed off the farm as region
Telemark, Inc., Judy also helps John
credit manager for
on their dairy farm.
EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST AN INSECTICIDE
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 5, 2000-A2l
Each year John carefully prepares an annual budget
for his dairy. That way he can better manage cash flow
throughout the coming year.
“excellent communications
among milkers on different
shifts.”
The Ligos pre- and post-dip,
use individual paper towels, and
milk infected cows last. They
also keep a permanent record of
everything that happens during
each shift.
‘Every day is another page in
the book,” said Ligo. “Employ
ees are expected to write down
everything that happened
during that milking what
time they started, when they fin
ished, and any problems with
the cows. Then the person who
milks the next shift can review
the book and know what hap
pened during the last shift.”
The Ligos also employ some
non-traditional practices in their
dairy that have been successful
for them. The first is that they
never treat mastitis with antibi
otics. Instead they use what Ligo
terms as “supportive therapy.”
The milkers massage udders,
rub liniment on the udders, use
oxytocin, hydrate the cows
through hypertonic saline solu
tion given intravenously, and
give cows aspirin and antihista
mines.
Another non-traditional practice that the
Ligos employ is extending the cows’ lacta
tions to 480 days instead of the traditional
320 days in milk. Cows aren’t bred back until
at least 180 days in lactation. Ligo does this
because he believes it creates less stress for
their cows.
“Cull-inducing instances in a cow’s life are
calving, getting use to being back in the milk
ing string, breeding, and during the dry-off
and transition period,” said Ligo. “If we can
stretch those events over 16 months instead of
12 months, we have less forced-cull instances.
Cows don’t get sick just milking and eating.”
The herd’s daily average milk production
remains at 75 pounds, and the conception
rate is 1.6 services per conception. They use
BST per the label instructions, beginning
usage at about seven weeks into the lactation.
“A lot of farmers believe that extending the
lactation just puts days on at the end of the
lactation,” said Ligo. “But it doesn’t. We
always dry cows off two months before
freshening. We’re extending the days between
peak milk and breeding.”
By breeding the cows later in lactation,
Ligo encounters fewer conception problems.
“The cow’s past peak production. The uterus
is in good shape, and she is under less stress.
Therefore the animals breed really well. Heat
detection is pretty easy, too, because we have
a fair number of cow's in heat at one time.”
John and Judy returned to farming in
1990. John grew up on a dairy farm and ran
his father’s dairy for about five years, before
taking a job with Meadville Farm Credit.
Since 1990, John has been very active in ag
riculture on both the local and state level. He
is chairman of the county agriculture preser
vation board and serves on the Pennsylvania
Dairy Promotion Program board. He has also
been recognized as a Master Farmer in 1998
and as the 1993 Outstanding Young Farmer
for Pennsylvania.
Both Judy and John serve on the county ag
education board and belong to Ebenzer Pres
byterian Church. Judy also serves on both the
county ag development board and county ex
tension board. The Ligos are members of the
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.
In addition to their Holsteins, the Ligos
own 40 head of Scottish Highlands, from
which they sell breeding stock.
“They’re for fun mostly,” said Ligo, who
enjoys dairying both for the pleasure and
profit of it.
Ligo’s Profitable Tips For
Other Dairy Farmers
1) Maintain profitability. It allows you to
keep your word and be responsible to your
self, your employees, and your suppliers.