Dairy Day Draws 450
(Continued from Page A 42)
cow’s environment should also
include adequate space for that
cow to receive much needed nu
trition. His talk focused mainly
on controlling postpartum disor
ders through sound nutritional
practices, especially in the dry
period.
“It’s the dry period that sets
this whole system up,” said Van
Saun. “Colostrum quality and
quantity is influenced by the diet
of the dry cow. Viability of that
calf is impacted by the dry cow
diet. How much milk the cow
makes for you and what the
composition of that cow’s milk
is dependent on the dry cow
diet. Fertility of that cow is im
pacted by what happens to that
cow two months prior to her
even calving. Periparturient dis
eases, like milk fever and
ketosis, are also influenced by
her diet as a dry cow. We really
need to think of this late gesta
tion period, not as a rest period,
but as a critical preparation
period.”
Van Saun showed that the
amount of nutrients required to
support a cow in late pregnancy
compared to the amount of nu
trients required to support a
milking cow increases very
quickly.
“These cows went from being
dry and pregnant to making 65
pounds of milk at four percent
fat within seven days postpar
tum,” he said.
This translates to a tripling of
her glucose output, doubling her
amino acid output, and a seven
fold increase in her fatty acid
output. If she can’t make this
change, she ends up with some
variation of metabolic disease.
Van Saun noted that peripar-
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turient diseases not only cause
extra management concerns, but
also cost the farmer in real and
opportunity costs. An estimated
costs of milk fever per incidence
is $334. There are also uncalcu
lated amounts of money lost in
cows with subclinical signs of
disease.
“We recognize the clinical
down cow, we recognize the cow
that we’ve got to have surgery
done on, but the biggest problem
we have with these diseases is
what we call subclinical disease
the marginal cow, the cow
that just doesn’t take off very
well, the cow that doesn’t get to
peak fill.”
He outlined five critical con
trol points that need to be dealt
with, including maximizing dry
matter intake, stimulation of
rumen papillae, minimizing
negative energy balance and
protein balance, maintaining
calcium homeostasis, and min
imizing immune system dys
function.
“Improving nutrition during
transition can help the girls fight
off problems,” said Van Saun.
He stated you need to balance
the rations for what the cow is
eating, monitor forage quality,
and separate feeding groups. He
also suggests that environmental
stressors should be minimized
and regular body condition scor
ing should be done.
“You never know where you
can go if you don’t know where
you started,” he said.
Afternoon sessions included
programs on corn weed control
by Bradford County Agronomy
Agent Mark Madden, a Johne’s
Disease question and answer
session conducted by Van Saun
and Jayarao, and a program on
the costs of raising heifers and
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USDA Announces Pork Checkoff
Program To Continue
WASHINGTON, D.C. Re
cently, the USDA announced a
settlement with the National
Pork Producers Council (NPPC)
and the Michigan Pork Pro
ducer Association that will con
tinue the Pork Checkoff
Program. Under the settlement,
certain program restructuring is
required.
The changes, effective imme
diately, will ensure the separa
tion of the National Pork Board
and the NPPC and make the
program more responsive to
concerns of pork producers.
contract raising of dairy heifers
presented by Dr. Peter Tozer of
Penn State University.
Tozer highlighted the cost of
raising replacements and gave
examples of various methods of
contract heifer raising. One ar
rangement is when the producer
relinquishes control of the
animal to someone else, who
agrees to raise it to maturity.
The other arrangement is when
the heifers are sold to a person
who agrees to raise them giving
the seller the first rights to pur
chase the animal back at matu
rity.
Regardless of which method
is used, Tozer cautioned that all
the details should be spelled out
in the contract from perform
ance standards to obligations of
each party, including breeding
decisions and health manage
ment.
More information on each
dairy day presentation is avail
able through local cooperative
extension services.
Parts Stores: East Earl —717-354-0584 • Quarryville —717-7
The restructuring requires the
National Pork Board to:
• Employ its own manage
ment and staff, including the
chief executive officer and chief
financial officer.
• Manage separate contracts
for promotion, research, and
consumer information projects.
• Maintain separate office
operations from the NPPC.
• Maintain separate commu
nications from the NPPC.
Under the agreement, state
pork producer associations will
continue to operate independ
ently and be accountable for
checkoff funds but may cooper
ate on projects and communica
tions with state affiliate
organizations of the National
Pork Producers Council.
Chester County Holstein Tour
(Continued from Page A2O)
Emory. This herd has four Ex.
cows and has several high index
cows which result in a lot of con
tracts already filled and more to
fill.
For reservations, call by
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Lancaster Farming
Cow Cam
Visit our Website
at www.lancasterfarming.com
800-646-66
717-86
339 King Street, Myerstown PA
The Pork Board will have ap
proximately two years to dem
onstrate to producers and
importers the value of the
checkoff program to the indus
try. USDA will conduct a survey
by June 2003 to determine
whether 15 percent of producers
and importers are in favor of
conducting a referendum to
decide continuation of the
checkoff program. If the re
quired number of producers and
importers request a referendum,
the referendum would then be
held within one year.
Additional information about
the settlement and related issues
is available at: (http://
www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/mpb/
pork.htm).
March 10: Bob Hewitt (610) 495-
7927, Glenn Ranck (610) 998-
0672, or Dick Hostetler (610)
857-2780. When calling for res
ervations, please mention where
you would like to meet the bus.
See