Berks County Dairy Farmer Crossbreeds To Prepare For Changes (Continued from Page Al) milk through her system,” he said. “We need cows who con vert forage into milk effi ciently.” Stoltzfiis feeds his herd mainly high-quality forages, in cluding round bale baleage. The cows are fed grain through a computerized feeder system. Although Stoltzfiis’ Nor mandy crosses are still calves, he can already see some benefits of having them. “The first thing you notice is that these calves eat hay,” he said. “A calf is born with two things in mind get ting on their feet and finding something to eat. The Nor mandy calves are very hardy.” Stoltzfus first found out about the Normandy dairy breed when his son visited a booth at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. “There were a lot of reasons I liked the breed,” said Stoltzfus. “They average 4.5 percent fat and 4.0 percent protein. 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He only knows of one other farmer in the area who owns any Normandy animals, and those are also calves. “The only Normandys milk ing in the states are beef and Normandy crosses,” said Stoltzfus. “The dairy strand is still relatively new.” This is the first time that Stoltzfiis has experimented with crossbreeding and with non traditional dairy breeds. “The Normandy breed has a terrific young sire program,” said Stoltzfus. “They have a good sampling of young sires with better records than we do here in the states.” So far Stoltzfus is pleased with his Normandy calves. How ever, he said he can’t be sure how much they will benefit the Bale Wagons, Round Bale Carriers, & Wagon Gears. 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So you just have to go with your instincts.” Stoltzfiis is hoping that his Normandy crossbreeds will help increase his component levels so that he is prepared for compo nent pricing. “It used to be that people didn’t want high component levels and that the dairies took a lot of the components out of the milk,” said Stoltzfiis. “But now that trend is changing.” In Stoltzfiis’ opinion, fluid milk consumption has dropped during the past 20 years because the components that flavor the milk just weren’t there any more. “When we had all Guernsey, we used to have people come to our farm to get milk because it tasted better than store-bought milk,” said Stoltzfus’ wife Ruth. “Milk just doesn’t taste as good with lower components.” Stoltzfus also believes that milk made with forage is more healthful than milk made by hitch. Longeneckers, Inc Williamsburg. PA • 814/793-3731 Marshall Machinery Honesdale, PA • 717/729-7117 Newswanger Machinery Kutztown, PA • 610/683-5970 Retffs Farm Service Shippensburg, PA • 717/532-8601 Romberg er Farm Supply Klingerstown, PA • 717/646-2081 Rovendale Ag & Bam Watsontown, PA • 717/536-9564 cows that are fed a lot of concen trates. “A few weeks ago I read that conjugated linolenic acids or CLAs (fatty acids that are found in milk) can prevent against cancer, and that those CLAs are more prevalent in milk made with forage,” said Stoltzfiis. “I also heard that European butter (which is made from milk pro duced by cows fed primarily forage) has less saturated fats than butter made in America. Milk made with forage can be almost pharmaceutical.” Reading this information started Stoltzfiis thinking. “I always knew that too much grain led to too many prob lems,” said Stoltzfiis, who claims he has very few twisted stomachs in his herd because of feeding forage. “A cow wasn’t met to consume high levels of grain. She is a forage con verter.” According to Stoltzfiis, pro- Looking like an overly-speckled Holstein, the Normandy dairy cow originated from France and touts longevity, high milkci Lancaster Fuming, Saturday, May 20, 2000-A25 ducing milk with forage is defi nitely to the average-sized farmer’s advantage. “The larger dairies have trou ble raising enough forage to feed high amounts of it to their herd,” said Stoitzfus. “But the smaller dairies can raise it on their own ground.” Stoitzfus predicts that some day the component levels in mUk will be a major issue. “I didn’t see any significant changes in my milk check when they converted to the new pric ing system,” said Stoitzfus. “But I do think they’re moving in that direction (of paying more for high component levels.)” Stoitzfus claims that too many consumers believe milk is fat. “If we want to increase per capita consumption, we’re going to have to put the components back into the milk and sell the consumer on the idea that milk is protein.”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers