Manager Shares Breeding, Calving, Weaning Expertise (Continued from Page A 29) November,” he said. Four herd bulls sire half of the calf crop, while the other half are Al-sired. Three of the four bulls are homebred. “We’ve been operating more and more as a dosed herd for the last several years,” said Living ston. “The health status is just simplified by not bringing in any thing from outside.” “We keep so many records, so we know more about a bull that we raised in our own program,” he said. Since the farm has a cow’s pedigree, plus information on carcasses and ultrasound, they can measure more traits more ef I"TICO/FERBO HOSE REELS" Now, a new generation of automat ic hard hose reels that feature variable travel speed selection with automatic constant compensation to provide uniform irrigation over entire length of pass, and operate at low input pressure to easily, efficiently, economi cally irrigate or spread liquid manure. TICO, a leader in irrigation systems for over 30 years, also offers these other types: •WHEEL ROW •GIANT SPRINKLER • HAND MOVE 'TRICKLE •LIQUID MANURE AND WASTE WATER DISPOSAL Also virtually all makes of couplers, fit tings and gaskets, plus pumps, pipe, diesel, gas, and electric motors. fectively about each of the South Branch animals, said Livingston. He prefers that the farm sample and prove their own bulls. “There would be nothing more gratifying than to raise and prove out a bull to be put into stud serv ice and put into significant use across the industry,” he said. “A lot of the work that we do is gear ed toward that, with all the data we collect.” Calving Time Approximately two-thirds of the cows calve in the spring and the remaining third in the fall. 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Our computer con trolled speed regulation JR ensures 99% accuracy to w meet Federal/State design criteria while our simple yet efficient engme/gearbox drive ensures low maintenance. Plus: We manufacture and market a complete line of: Slurry pumps, pump fittings, irrigation pumps, wheel row, giant sprinklers, hand mr ' trickle center pivots. marketing opportunities for the calves. Two calf crops spread the mar keting out over more of the year, which helps with cash flow, according to Livingston. “The marketing opportunity for the fall calves are almost always greater than for the spring pro gram,” he said. “The cattle have an age advantage over spring bom calves.” As feeder calves, they are at weaning age for when grass is greening, so the price is at a pre mium for the calves. They also seem to hit a hole in the market to command a premium as fin ished cattle, according to Living ston. Rovatti TL slurry pumps are high-pressure slurry pumps with a unique “bolt on” chopper system The standard pump features a high efficiency open-vane impeller with an interchangeable wear ring and fixed cutting blade to handle all but the very toughest of straw, hay or othei difficult residuals. For these conditions, the chopper unit can be simply bolted to the pump where it is driven by the existing pump shaft, enabling it to handle virtually any waste products requiring chopping. A number of additional features make these the most versatile and reliable units on the market; • Special permanently lubricated mechanical seal for longer life • Over-sized bearings • Lubricated chopper shaft bearings • Chopper shaft shear-pin to reduce risk of damage to the shaft and impeller • A range of four tractor pto pumps and four hare-shaft pumps with flows from 105-1000 gpm • Replaceable wear ring • 540 rpm or 1000 rpm speeds /*£„ • Finest <:ast iron^ The pump is mounted on a heavy-duty wheeled cart with pto shaft, 6” quick-action suction fittings and 4” discharge fittings as standard. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 9, 2002-A39 One challenge facing fall-bom calves is the winter mud. “Mud gets to be cumbersome with young calves nursing,” he said. “Cattle handle cold temperatures well, but mud gets to be pretty devastating.” The cattle calving in the fall me checked morning and eve ning. The spring calvers are checked more often, however, since there are more cows calving and more environmental condi tions. Twins and bad weather are some of the biggest concerns dur ing calving season, he said. This coming calving season will begin about January 29. However, the biggest month is in February, and “they’ll trickle on into March and the first part of April,” he said. “One change we’re going to try this winter is pregnancy testing by ultrasound instead of strictly by palpation for a more accurate estimate of when cows are due,” said Livingston. This allows them to sift off the bottom 25 of the last cows and have them winter ed separately. This arrangement, said Livingston, should cut feed costs. The later-calving cows will be the last animals off the com stalk grazing area, and will be given the lower-quality hay since they will be calving in the last part of March or early April, when the pastures begin to green up. The cows are separated into several groups designated by when they are expected to calve Now, instead of running to three different places to calve, the animals are grouped, allow ing Livingston to do feed partition ing since the nutri- tional needs differ. “We can give the cows closest to calving higher quality orchard grass and the first cutting hay, which tests high- er in nutrients.” There are three groups: first calf heifers, early calving mature calves, and later calving mature cows. Only two groups should calve at a given time, he said. As the cows approach 2-3 weeks before their expected due date, they are sorted off of the herd in the wintering field, given a precalving vaccination, and put into the calving field, where there are 20-30 other cows that are checked several times a day. The setup also simplifies mat ters if bad weather threatens, said Livingston. “We’ll pull in six or 10 of the closest-calving cows overnight in snow or bad weath er,” he said. In fact, the system is “vitally important in the spring, with mud and more weather con cerns,” he said. The calving fields are not grazed for months before they are used, so the grass has a chance to grow to 10-12 inches. This helps keep the calves out of the mud, “almost like they’re calving on a bedded field,” he said. Also, “the cows do utilize that. They’ll eat very little hay the first couple of weeks as they graze that stockpiled forage.” Once the calf gets its feet under it, and is able to nurse for a day or two, the pair is moved to a third field. This “doesn’t allow calf manure to build up on the calving field, which I really think cuts down on the cases of scours, Designer Genes, or “DJ” is one of the four herd sires. DJ, was the top bull from a Production Angus Associates sale several years ago. Most of the herd sires, however, are homebred animals. MAYO MATS from Cow Comfort Ltd. The biggest selling stall cushion worldwide • Non slip surface • Cleaner Cows - lower somatic cell count & less mastitis • In use 18 years •10 year warranty in free stalls, 5 year warranty in tie stalls • Very reasonably priced Daniel's Farm Store 324 Glenbrook Rd, Leola, PA 717-656-6982 Also Available From Country Garden Farm Supply Mitflinburg, PA (570) 966-3944 D « J Farm Store 65 Hess Rd Quarryville, PA James Martin 8041 State Rt 13 Greenwich, OH 44837 (419) 895-1155 Weaver's Farm Store Fleetwood PA (610) 944-0593 (Turn to Page A4O) E. Kisser Mfg. 2794 Brumbaugh Rd New Enterprise, PA 16664 (814) 766-2246 tlostetter Surge Annville PA (717) 867-2896 Kidron Supply. Inc. Kidron, OH 1-866-454-3766
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