A4O-Lancastef Farmlnfl, Saturday, June 3, 2000
DHIA
Question: What are some
early signs that the diet fed to
our cows will cause laminitis?
Will feeding bi-carb alleviate
the problem?
There are some definite
indicators that our cows are
willing to share with us
concerning diets that may lead to
rumen acidosis and eventually to
laminitis These can be grouped
into two types, measurements and
physical observations
The physical observations are
the earlier signs that we can see
when the diet is wrong The
problem here is that these
observations are mostly not taken
seriously enough and often times
are not recorded to make them a
management tool that we can rely
on
For those dairymen that look at
their cows with that special
critical eye, cud chewing will tell
us mostly what we need to know
about the diet and the rumen
heath maintained by it You
should make these observations
away from feeding, milking, and
any other time that encourages
cow movement A good time
would be the time that you use for
heat detection As a rule ot
thumb, 50% or more of the cows
should be chewing their cud
during this observation A bit
easier evaluation can be done on
only the cows that are lying
down These cows that are resting
should be chewing at a rate ot
about 3 out of 4 cows or 75%
When a problem is suspected, you
should increase the frequency of
observation This will force us to
icalize the severity of the problem
and not discount it to bad timing
Dairy producers that do not use
this form ot physical observation
due to time constraint or some
other reason can rely on measured
information that we collect at
intervals on the farm The obvious
indicator that is easy to recognize
is when we see milk fat
depression Butterfat test that is
substantially below normal levels
tor the breed is only one indicator
ot butter fat depression Using
DHIA tecoids to count the
KIDS GULP MORE MILK
While youths
(18 & under)
represent only
of the populate
they drink 46%
of all milk
consumed
in the U.S.
Source Dairy Management Inc
number of cows below 30%
butterfat m a Holstein herd will
allow us to recognize nutrition
problems in the herd This
number should not be greater that
2 out of every 10 cows or 20%
Most often these will be cows
with fat-protein inversions and
indicate diets that do not promote
good rumen health The ratio of
butterfat to protein can be
calculated for the herd prior to
this by dividing the %protem by
the % butterfat of the herd For
example, a herd with a 3 0 %
protein and 3 6% butterfat would
have a ratio of 83% ((3 0 / 3 6) x
100) The expected ratio for
Holstein herds would be 78 to
85% (true protein used) Herds
that fall out of this range should
recognize that a problem may
exist and investigate further by
counting cows with inversions or
extremely low fat tests (below
3 0%)
Feeding bi-carb is a practice
used by many dairies This should
be used to help intakes in high
producing herds especially during
early lactation. The correct level
to use is 75% of the ration dry
matter Per cow that equates to
35# bi-carb fed per cow per day
when the intake is 47# dry matter
(( 47 x 75) / 100 = 35)
Unfortunately people look for bi
carb to solve poor diet related
problems If you have the signs as
we talked about above, then you
need to do more than make
“ARM and Hammer" rich by
feeding bi-carb Look at your
cows. evaluate the DHIA
measurements, and then react by
feeding diets that encourage good
rumen function.
SMfi
STYLES AND OPTIONS OF
DAIRY FARMING
PART 2: ALTERNATIVES TO
LARGE-SCALE DAIRYING
Timothy J. Fritz
Penn State Farm
Management Extension
Chester and Lancaster Counties
The more I work with both
successful and struggling dair
ies, the more I realize there are
many ways to make a dairy
work.
It is difficult to really know if
a dairy is successful by just look
ing at surface issues such as pro
duction statistics and the size of
the dairy. Successful farms,
whether they are small or large,
have some things in common.
Successful dairies:
•Meet the goals of the man
agement.
•Have a good working envi
ronment for all involved.
•Are financially sound in re
spect to the goals of the owner.
•Look forward in their plan
ning.
Also keep in mind most com
petitive businesses:
•Keep capital and overhead
costs low.
•Focus on the things that they
are good at and make them prof
its.
•Stop doing the things they
are weak at and are not making
money on.
Part 1 of this series focused on
large-scale expansion. If you
have decided that a large expan
sion is not in your future for one
reason or another, what options
are available for you to remain
competitive.
Sometimes you get to a point
where there is not much more
you can cut or improve upon.
The system in combination with
your circumstances just is not
competitive enough to make a
living. Sometimes an infrastruc
ture change or a change in style
of dairying can work. Possibly
you could also focus on a speci
ality business supporting an
other dairy or just focus strictly
on dairy and not even grow any
crops at all.
The following are components
or styles of dairying that could
help your farm as a “small
dairy” remain competitive and
keep on milking cows but at the
same time limit the amount of
“people” issues. Remember, a
large-scale dairy involves being
a “people person”. Please note
that “small dairy” is in quota
tions because “small” is a rela
tive term and the ideas listed
below allow or enable expansion.
As with everything, you still
need to ask very critical ques
tions, including profitability and
long-term survival issues, in
cluding transferring the farm to
your successor. Goals are critical
into shaping the future of your
farm.
The components include:
•Grazing systems.
•Efficient low-cost milking
systems and robotic milking
(This has possibilities but still
not on the market yet).
•Focusing on managing and
milking cows. TMR is pur
chased, and manure is marketed
or managed in environmentally
sound manner.
G RAZING
I have worked with mana
gement-intensive grazing sys
terns (moving the cows to fresh
pasture daily) for nine years and
have seen its strengths and
weaknesses. This system works
great if the manager is commit
ted to making it work.
The major benefits to the
system are that capital costs are
reduced by having the cows do
much of the harvesting when
forage quality is excellent. Har
vest risk is reduced greatly. The
pastures also serve as a great
housing system that keeps the
cows clean and healthy.
Typical cull rates for well
managed grazing herds are 15 to
20 percent. The combination of
lower capital costs, high forage
quality, and low cull rates make
this system very competitive. In
addition, expansion is possible
with little or no changes to feed
and manure storage and possi
bly housing.
Milk production on this
system as with any other system
is dependent on the goal of the
farmer. What does it take to
make grazing work:
•Positive attitude to learn the
system.
•Good fence and water
system (you want a simple effec
tive fence, not Fort Knox).
•A minimum of one third of
an acre per cow (Supplemental
feeding would be required at this
high of a stocking rate).
•Time to observe pastures and
cattle.
•Time to set up paddocks.
•Time to think about where
the cattle will be tomorrow, next
week, etc.
•A support or management
team that believes in you and in
your goals.
The major negatives of graz
ing:
•Time to learn a new system
•The cows need to be moved
constantly, which requires time
and dedication
•Hot weather is difficult to
have cows actively grazing
•A backup housing system is
still a good idea for extreme
weather.
LOW-COST MILKING
SYSTEMS AND ROBOTIC
It may seem odd that I
lumped both low cost milking
systems with robotic milking to
gether, but the two really can be
thought of in the same light in
that they both have potential to
improve the efficiency of the
farm. Milking facilities and
labor associated with milking
are one of the major limiting fac
tors on most dairies.
The low-cost systems include
various flat bam parlors, swing
parlors, and possibly other “no
thrills, bells and whistles par
lors” focus on keeping capital
costs low while achieving good
cow flow. These parlors just get
the cows milked and no more.
Robotic milking when available
may be high in initial capital
cost but will cut labor costs con
siderably and quite possibly in
crease milk production per cow.
Both the low-cost parlors and
the robotic systems free up labor
to allow more cows to be milked,
thus allowing a family to in
crease its herd size or cut its
labor cost. Of course, when ex
panding herd size, all related
pertinent questions must be
asked. Grazing in combination
with low-cost milking systems in
my opinion have great potential,
MILKING
since the grazing system will
provide low-cost housing and a
partial manure system (the cows
take the manure to the pasture).
FOCUSING ON MANAGING
AND MILKING COWS
Again one key to surviving in
a competitive industry is keep
ing the capita] or overhead costs
low. What I mean by focusing
on managing and milking cows
is giving up the crops or at least
the activities associated with
growing the crops and spending
your time on either doing a
better job on the herd that you
have and/or getting a little
larger.
By giving up the tasks associ
ated with growing crops, you
reduce your equipment needs
greatly. The surplus equipment
can be sold and overhead is re
duced: You can even take this
idea as far as having a TMR de
livered to the feed manager.
If you facilities are set up, you
could potentially have a farm
with practically no equipment
needs beyond cattle equipment.
Of course you give up control of
many items and you now rely on
many service providers.
Working with the service pro
viders will be critical to your
success. Hopefully they can op
erate at a better economy of
scale than you can and the cost
would be lower than you doing
everything.
Manure management or pro
cessing obviously would also
nefed to be worked out. I can im
agine feed companies expanding
into TMR companies and those
enjoy crop work more than the
cows expanding their crop acre
age to make high quality forages
for the dairy producer or TMR
provider.
The ideas mentioned above
need an improved dairy infras
tructure for it to happen, but we
have been moving slowly in this
direction for years and I am con
fident that farming will continue
further down the road of spe
cialization.
OTHER ISSUES
If you are just plain tired of
milking cows and are looking
for a change, you could possibly
change the focus of your busi
ness into a dairy support busi
ness.
The following are examples of
specialty strategies:
•Custom calf and heifer rais
ing
•Dry cow boarding and care
•Custom TMRs (maybe in
conjunction with a feed com
pany)
•Forage production
•Specialty grain production
•Manure and nutrient man
agement.
If you don’t like any of these
options and you can’t seem to
think of any other alternatives
to keep you in business, maybe it
is simply time to sell the business
and work for someone else. If
you are still connected to the
land and the farm, there are
plenty of other dairymen and
crop farmers looking for some
one with your work ethic and ex
perience. You have nothing to be
ashamed of and lots to be proud
of.
For more information and
guidance, contact your dairy
and farm management exten
sion agent. We can help you in
charting your future.