New Dairy Thrives (Continued from Page 22) manage the hog operation and also help with milking. The Hornings erected a 40X80-feet 80-cow tiestall tunnel-ventilated barn. They moved their original herd of 45 cows and purchased an addition 32 cows placed on a three-times-a-day milking schedule. According to Beth Trachte, who takes care of the veterinarian work for the Hornings, the family at tained a proven track record while renting their former farm, and have experienced remarkable suc cess within a short period of time at their new place. The 32 cows that they had purchased locally had only been averaging 74 pounds, but increased to 96-pound average within 60 days. In fact, the rolling herd average is 31,076 pounds and climbing. “They are self-started people, highly motivated, and pay attention to detail and consistency, and still manage to keep things simple,” Trachte said of the Hornings. Nevin said that adapting to a new setup took some time, changes are still being made, and obstacles are being worked out. One of the problems they faced at the new facility was that it was more difficult to detect heat because the herd has been kept in the barn. But recently a Destinee Horning would rather be in the barn than any other place. dry lot was completed, and Nevin expects it to be much easier to detect cows in heat. The calving inter- (Turn to Page 24)
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