A2B-L«nca«tef Farming, Saturday, April 15, 2000
New Heifer Facility Opens To Provide Service To Customers
JAYNE SEBRIGHT
Lancaster Farming Staff
NEWBURG (Cumberland Co.)
As part of Agways initiative to
enhance Northeast dairy profita
bility, a new TSPF heifer facility
will open just outside of Shippens
burg early next month.
The 47-acre operation is de
signed to raise 3,600 heifers from
three days old to 21 months old at
a cost of $1,134 per animal.
Agway has built the facility as a
service to its dairy customers in
the Cumberland Valley and sur
rounding areas. This is one of four
heifer-raising facilities that the
company has or will soon open in
the Northeast. The facility touts
guaranteed growth and perform
ance through rigid health proto
cols. TSPF stands for a test specif
ic pathogen free heifer raising
facility.
We have 14 farmers, ranging in
herd size from 50 to 400 cows, al
ready subscribing to use the facili
ty, said Scott Davenport, who is
the project manager for the TSPF
Heifer Service. Its currently at 65
to 70 percent of capacity.
According to Davenport,
Agway built the facility to take
the burden of quality heifer rais
ing off the farmer. Theres nothing
we are doing that is that different
from what any nutritionist or
dairy consultant would encourage
any farmer to do, said Davenport.
Were just specializing and giving
it the attention it deserves.
Since quality heifer raising be
gins in the maternity pen, the
Agway staff will work closely with
farmers to maintain high stan
dards in the maternity and early
calfhood stages. Dr. Charles
Gardner is Agways director of an
imal health and herd economics.
One of my responsibilities will
To build the bams that will house calves for the first three months of their stay,
Agway borrowed a building design from Mason Dixon farms in Gettysburg. According to
Davenport, the buildings are designed with labor efficiency in mind.
Robert Rumler Named 2000 Dairy Science Distinguished Alumnus
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre dairy cow population. His desig-
Co.) Robert Rumler, chairman nation as chairman emeritus upon
emeritus of the Holstein Associa- retirement in 1982 was the first in
tion USA Inc., is the recipient of the organizations history.
the 2000 Distinguished Dairy Sci- In the 19505, Rumler led the as
ence Alumnus Award from Penn sociation into international ex-
States department of dairy and ports, helping the organization es
animal science in the College of tablish a subsidiary to provide
Agricultural Sciences. export services for both buyers
Rumlers 34-year association and sellers of genetic resources,
with the Holstein Association He coordinated a technical assist-
USA Inc. is marked by its pro- ance program that resulted in
found impact on the Holstein Hungarys purchase of 23,000 Hol
breed and the dairy industry, steins, mostly from the United
Under his leadership, the Ameri- States, lifting the Eastern Europe
can Holstein breed became the an nation from a milk deficit to
dominant breed in the world, in- self-sufficiency.
creasing from 45 percent of the Rumler represented the U.S.
national dairy herd to 85 percent, livestock industry on the first ag
and to 90 percent of the registered ricultural trade mission to China
be to oversee health care protocols
and disease testing, both at the
source farm and at the heifer fa
cility, said Gardner. 11l be working
with farmers on how they manage
their dry cows and baby calves.
Agway requires that farmers
keep cows in individual, well-bed
ded pens to freshen. The dams are
also required to go through testing
for both Johnes and Leukosis.
The farmer should feed the calf
two quarts of colostrum within the
first 30 minutes and another two
quarts within the first 12 hours of
the calfs life. The farmer is also re
quired to get the calf away from
the cow immediately.
Agway will pick up the calf at
around three days of age. On the
day prior to the pick up, they will
take a blood sample from the calf.
Based on the blood protein levels,
Agway will determine who is re
sponsible for disease treatments
and death losses that occur in the
first six weeks of the calfs life.
A calf with a low blood protein
level may be rejected from the fa
cility, while Agway will fully war
ranty a calf with high total pro
teins in the blood. Two middle
ranges of blood protein levels cor
respond with the farmer being 100
percent responsible within the first
six weeks and Agway sharing 50
percent of that responsibility with
the farmer. After six weeks of age,
Agway takes full responsibility for
any death losses, major injuries, or
treatments.
Agway plans to hire eight full
time employees on the facility.
Currently four positions are al
ready in place, including a farm
manager, assistant farm manager,
and two calf care technicians. One
person will have the full-time job
of picking up and delivering the
calves, scheduling loads, taking
blood samples at the source farms,
and sanitizing the truck and trail
er between each use.
Our goal is to pick up 40 calves
a week, said Davenport. We need
to sign up enough cows to meet
that goal. We plan to work with
farms within an hours distance
from the facility.
Biosecurity is a big issue on the
heifer facility. Visitors will be al
lowed in only by appointment
once were opened, said Daven
port. Our employees will also be
required to shower in and shower
out when they come to work.
After the calves arrive at the fa
cility, they are put in individual
calf pens and fed a milk replacer
diet for the first six weeks of their
stay. A high quality calf starter is
introduced during that time.
Borrowing a design from Mason
Dixon farms in Gettysburg,
Agway made the calf pens about
three foot off the ground. The
front part of the pen has a slotted
floor so that the manure and
moisture can fall away from the
pen and be cleaned out regularly.
The back part is a cement slab
that will be well bedded with
shavings and straw.
After they are weaned at six
weeks, the calves then move into
groups of eight and have hay in
troduced into their diet. At nine
weeks, they are placed in groups
of 40. Then, at 12 weeks of age,
they are moved into groups of 120
in a freestall facility and fed a
total mixed ration.
The calf feeds and concentrates
that were feeding these animals
are the same feeds that are avail
able to every farmer through
Agway, said Davenport.
Agway plans to purchase for
ages from area growers on a day
to-day basis in the beginning
in 1979 and made eight trips to
the former Soviet Union on mis
sions of agricultural cooperation
and trade. He has served on sever
al federal trade advisory panels.
Rumler received the 1999 Dis
tinguished Service to Agriculture
award from the Pennsylvania
Farm Bureau. He was honored as
a Penn State Distinguished Alum
nus and a College of Agricultural
Sciences Distinguished Alumnus.
Rumler has received distin
guished service awards from the
National Dairy Herd Improve
ment Association, the American
Dairy Science Association, the
Holstein Friesian Association of
America and the Pennsylvania
Farm Bureau. He is the recipient
Scott Davenport is the project manager for the new
TSPF Heifer Service facility located in Cumberland
County. The facility will be opened sometime in early May
and is equipped to raise 3,600 heifers from three days to
21 months old for area farmers.
phase find then move to long-term
storage as they get more animals.
We already have several farmers
in Cumberland and Franklin
counties signed on to provide us
with forages.
The $1,134 cost for each heifer
includes shelter, feeding, transpor
tation, normal health mainte
nance, a rigorous vaccination and
vitamin program, hoof trimming,
dehoming, optional tail docking,
and up to three attempts of artifi
cial insemination, llie farmer
owner will determine what sires
the heifers are bred to.
We will also provide monthly
progress reports to the farmer as
part of our service, said Daven
port. We will be weighing and
measuring the animals on a six
week cycle.
Agway chose Cumberland Val
ley as the area for this new heifer
facility because of its closeness to
so many dairy herds. There are
more than 80,000 cows within an
hour from the facility, said Da
venport. We considered going
more into southeast Pennsylvania,
but land costs are higher and the
land base is smaller.
Including the cost of the prop
erty, permitting, design, and actu
al facility, Agway has invested
around five and a half million dol
lars into the TSPF heifer facility.
We built it with labor efficiency
in mind, said Davenport We may
have invested more up front on
certain things, but it will save
labor costs down the road.
Along with designing a quality
heifer care facility, they also had
to develop a comprehensive nutri
ent management plan.
Were planning to export the
manure to 1,200 acres of local
farmland, said Davenport Al
though 1,200 acres may sound like
a lot, we need 1,800 acres just to
supply the forages for the facility.
of the International Person of the
Year award from the World Dairy
Expo, was recognized by the Na
tional Dairy Shrine as a Guest of
Honor and was inducted into the
International Livestock Hall of
Fame.
A native of Chambersburg, Pa.,
Rumler received his bachelors de
gree in dairy science with honors
from Penn State in 1936. After
graduating from Penn State, he
worked for the University of Mis
souri as an assistant county agent
In 1937 he joined Penn State Co
operative Extension as an exten
sion agent in Lycoming County, a
position he held until 1945.
In 1945, Rumler became assist
ant manager and editor in the Ag
The facility is the first that
Agway has developed on its own.
Agway has partnered with exist
ing farms for the other facilities.
Even though this one isnt an offi
cial partnership, we will still be
partnering with area fanners to
supply feeds and use the manure,
said Davenport.
Agway also hopes to work with
other feed companies in utilizing
the facility.
About 50 to 60 percent of the
farmers currently subscribing to
our service are Agway feed cus
tomers, said Davenport. We want
the facility to be a team approach.
Whether the farmer is an Agway
customer or another feed compa
nys account, we want the salesper
son to be part of the process.
According to Davenport,
Agway has received overwhelming
positive support from the local ag
riculture community. Weve in
vested a lot of time in building
good relations with our neighbors.
We have had some negative
complaints from farmers who
view us as the competitor in heifer
raising and see the operation as
commercial farming, said Daven
port. But the majority of the farm
ers subscribing so far currently
raise their own heifers. They look
ing to us to take some of the re
sponsibility off their backs.
Davenport also admits to re
ceiving some flack from anti-agri
culture groups about the large fa
cility. But, once he was able to
answer their questions, they
backed down.
Overall we have had a very
good response, both from the peo
ple who have subscribed to the
service and from other dairymen
who see us as a low cost alterna
tive for raising high quality heif
ers, said Davenport. One thing
that helps is the economies of
scale in raising 3,600 heifers.
Promotion Division of E.I. Du-
Pont de Nemours & Co., a posi
tion that he held until 1948.
Rumler then joined the Holstein-
Friesian Association of America,
now called the Holstein Associa
tion USA Inc., where he remained
until retirement.
Rumler will be presented with
the Dairy Science Distinguished
Alumnus Award as part of Penn
States 75 th Annual Dairy Exposi
tion Recognition and Awards
Banquet, to be held this Saturday,
April 15.
As part of being the Distin
guished Alumnus, Rumler pres
ented a talk, titled Looking Back
ward at Looking Forward,
yesterday.