A2B-Uncaster Farming, Saturday, June 24, 2000
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Question: What is the proper
time when cows should reach
peak production? Ours peak at
30 to 40 days and then go down.
This does not seem right but we
do not know what to do.
Normally we see cows peak
between 55. and 65 days in milk.
It is okay to alter from these
numbers such as in herds that use
Bst very early in lactation. Cows
that peak very early in lactation
tell us that the diet following
calving is out of balance or the
prefresh period of the cows is not
conducive to good performance.
Some statistics are found in a
DHIA program that can help
pinpoint where we should look to
solve your problem. Let us first
look at what information can help
locate the trouble and then maybe
we can find some changes needed
to correct your peaking problems.
The thing that is most
noticeable about your herd is the
extremely high butterfat test in
mature cows from zero to 40 days
in milk. First lactation animals
average 4.0% butterfat during this
period and appear to have normal
fat tests as lactation proceeds.
Second and higher lactation cows
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on the other hand show fat levels
averaging over 4.6% during this
same period. Some cows exhibit
fat test as high as 6.5% in early
lactation. The normal range of fat
test for Holsteins in early
lactation should be somewhere
from 3.8% to 4.2%. Your cows
are significantly higher than this
and often times we see severe
weight loss associated with the
high fat test. You indicate that
many cows are getting thin and
seem to lag in appetite. These
factors would make us think that
there should be the telltale
“sweetbreath” sign in your cows.
Your cows are mobilizing fat
stores extremely fast and will
result in sub-clinical if not full
blown ketosis. You need to talk
with your vet for suggestions on
treatment of the severe cows.
Making some diet changes will
aid the less severe cows. The fact
that most of your mature cows
show this same tendency toward
very high fat levels in early
lactation suggests that your
problem starts in the dry cow
period. If a few cows were
showing the high fat levels then
we would need to look at factors
that affect individual cows such
’A
as illness, injury, obesity, or
anything that could suppress feed
intake of individuals versus the
whole herd. Your heifers do not
show high fat tests but are fed the
same prefresh diet as the older
cows. This could suggest that the
problem actually starts during the
dry cow period since your heifers
were not part of that management
group.
This is what I would do to
correct this problem.
1. Look at cows as they near dry
off and adjust diets to
maintain body scores
between 3.5 and 4.5.
2. Maintain some grain feeding
to dry cows and provide a
balanced diet.
3. Provide balanced diet to
close-up cows 21 days before
calving using much of the
same feeds she will eat when
milking.
4. Pay attention to dry matter
intakes especially one week
before and take all necessary
steps to keep her eating.
This may seem to sound too
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easy, but paying attention to
details during the pre-calving
period has the potential for huge
economic return. As always, work
together with your vet and
nutritionist to attack these sorts of
problems. Using your DHIA
records can be a challenge but the
result will always be profitable.
Looking forward to hearing from
more of you.
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
Field Day Examines Ways
To Market Your Knowledge,
Sustainable Lifestyle
BROOKVILLE (Jefferson
Co.) Saturday, July 8, Quiet
Creek Herb Farm and School of
Country Living will host a Field
Day here, “Marketing Your
Knowledge and Sustainable
Lifestyle,’’ from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m.
In collaboration with Pennsyl
vania Association for Sustain
able Agriculture (PASA) and
North Central Cooperative Ex
tension, owners of Quiet Creek,
PASA members Claire and
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their experience in transforming
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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 2.5 bu., 4.4851 cwt.
Wheat, N 0.2 2.31 bu., 3.86 cwt.
Barley, N 0.3 —1.5963 bu., 3.39 cwt.
Oats, N 0.2 —1.53 bu., 4.77 cwt.
Soybeans, No.l 4.84 bu., 8.08 cwt.
Ear Corn—77.oo ton, 3.85 cwt.
Alfalfa Hay —108.75 ton, 5.44 cwt.
Mixed Hay—lll.2s ton, 5.56 cwt.
Timothy Hay—lll.2s ton, 5.56 cwt.
their farm into an educational
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For more than four years, the
Orner’s have offered more than
70 courses year-round to stu
dents, peers, tourists, families,
and many others. From “Gar
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vant to farm business and life.
Most of the materials (herbs,
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workshops come from the farm.
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18.4R38 1* $499.00
20.8R38 1 ★ $645.00
18.4R42 2* $625.00
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