A42-L«nc«»tef Farming, Saturday, April 15, 2000
Question: My cows are not
milking very well. What might
be the problem?
This commonly asked question
came about three weeks ago.
Rather than answer it, I will use it
as an illustration for the
importance of cooperation
between DHIA technician and
dairyman in the effort to generate
good management information.
When I first heard from this
dairyman, I pulled a copy of his
last two PA DHIA MUN and
Herd Summary II reports. His
herd did indicate some nutritional
problems as seen by his MUN
values, but other factors just did
not line up To be honest, I was
wondenng what this guy
expected Now I know all .dairy
produceis desne to make more
milk, all the time, but we need to
he teahstic This heid is averaging
60 plus pounds of milk at 216
SITE EXCAVATION
Installation of H.D.P.E. Liner Systems for:
economical Manure Storage
Seals manure in, subsurface water out
Concrete ramp for manure agitation and pumping
1942 Camp Swatara Road • Myerstown, PA 17067
Ph; (717)933-8853 » Fax: (717)933-8078
days in milk. It would be nice to
get more, but this herd has a
rolling herd average over 17,000.
It should also be noted that the
150 day adjusted average has
ranged from 55 pounds to 60
pounds over the course of a year.
Lastly, daily test period average
was 60 pounds at the highest
point for the last year. My
conclusion was that considering
these factors, this herd was
performing as we would expect.
MUN testing had just started,
therefore I could not determine if
past production was suppressed
due to improperly balanced diets,
other management considerations,
or genetics. I felt that something
could be done now with MUN at
I paid a visit to the farm. To
make a long story short, we were
both surprised by each other’s
milk pound evaluation This
Dairyma.
Dairyma
GEORGE Cl
PA DHL
Consultii
Dairying
dairyman based his evaluation on
milk from the bulk tank, while I
used what the cows told me
through their records. These
should be the same; why aren’t
they 7 I will start out by saying
that any form of records is only as
good as we make it. The input
side of the milk calculation for
AM-PM tested herds needs to be
very accurate. The first thing that
absolutely must be noted correctly
is what happened before the
DHIA technician arrived for the
testing procedures.
A-P testing, as it is commonly
referred to, involves collecting
milk samples and milk weights
that will be used to estimate daily
output of the cow. This requires
establishing what time the cow
had in which to produce this milk.
We need to know when she was
milked last. Here is what can
happen when we are not precise
about that one piece of data.
Morning milking weighed average per cow = 32#
Daily-calculated milk pounds at different milk intervals
4 50pm 6.15 pm 5 30am 7 45am 1562# am.
4 35pm 6.00 pm 5.30 am 7 45am 1562# am.
4 20pm 5:45 pm s;3oam 7.45 am 1562# am
4.05 pm 530 pm 5 30am 7 45am 1562# am.
3:sopm 5.15 pm 5 30am 7 45am • 1562# am.
3 35pm 5.00 pm s:3oam 7 45am 1562# am
LANCASTER DHIA
and PCPART
If you have a computer and want a Dairy Records Program
Consider the PCDART Advantage
• A proven program used by 2300 Dairymen across the U. 5.
• Low cost rental available
• Free set-up and support
• Free upgrades
Lancaster DHIA serves Southeastern and Southcentral Pennsylvania
And Northern Maryland
We can easily see that even 15
minutes can change calculations
substantially for daily milk
calculations. Now apply this to
smaller herds and the milk pounds
per cow can change dramatically.
A herd with 40 cows will be 4 to
5 pounds different in daily
average between calculated and
shipments out of the bulk tank. To
successfully use any records we
need to start at the very basics and
not assume anything. Comparing
cow total weights against bulk
tank weights is done every month.
This comparison is found on the
backside of PA DHIA Herd
Summary I at the bottom, in the
middle. It can also be found on
PA DHIA Herd Summary II on
the back left side on the bottom.
We see that information about
what we did before the technician
arrives can be as important as the
accurate recording of milk
weights. Also, take care that you
know what the bulk tank weights
really are. Is there home or calf
use? Is there discarded milk from
the tank for mastitis or any other
reason? When these issues are
addressed, the use of the
information becomes so much
more valuable. By teaming with
your DHIA technician, you can be
sure that you are using the correct
information. When a situation like
this happens, I visit the farm to
Lancaster Dairy Herd Improvement Association
1592 Old Line Road, Manheim, PA 17545-8222
Telephone (717) 665-5960 FAX (717) 664-2911
1 -888-202-DHIA (3442)
Web Site - LancasterDHlA.com
EMAIL -
A Winning Combination
1562# am.
2890.74 daily
2842 99 daily
2796 79 daily
2752 07 daily
2708 75 daily
2666.78 daily
Flower Washing
Painting - Sandblasting
Specializing In Farm
Buildings, Fences, Roof.'
Feed Mills, Etc .
Aerial Equipment
AMOS FISHE
5269 Paes Rd., New Holland, PA 17!
717-354-9856 717-951-2527 Mo]
Lancaster
work with the dairyman and to
make certain we are reading from
the same page. By the way, in this
case adjustments were made from
MUN analysis and we saw a milk
response, with less grain in the
diet. What a bonus to using good
records!
Average Farm Feed
Costs for Handy
Reference
To help farmers across the state to
have handy reference of commodity
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 ingred
ients as compiled from regional reports
across the state of Pennsylvania.
Remember, these are averages, so you
will need to adjust your figures up or
down according to your location and the
quality of your crop.
Corn, No.2y 2.51 bu., 4.49 cwt.
Wheat, N 0.2 2.33 bu., 3.90 cwt.
Barley, N 0.3 —1.77 bu., 3.78 cwt.
Oats, N 0.2 —1.55 bu., 4.83 cwt.
Soybeans, No.l 5.02 bu., 8.39 cwt.
Ear Com 76.75 ton, 3.84 cwt.
Alfalfa Hay —128.00 ton, 6.4 cwt.
Mixed Hay —121.75 ton, 6.09 cwt.
Timothy Hay —121.25 ton, 6.06 cwt.
557
ftile