A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 7, 2003 Penn State Cooperative Extension Capitol Region Dairy Team ABORTION IN DAIRY COWS AND HEIFERS Dr. Arlen Mills Capitol Region Extension Veterinarian, Lebanon In spite of many advancements in dairy management and prac tices, pregnancy loss continues to be a problem. Studies have shown that an abortion costs an average of $6OO. Some may only count those abortions where there is obvious expulsion of fetal tis sue. Others may include those early pregnancy losses that may occur before day 45 of gestation. These cows miss a heat after breeding only to come back in heat again at 45-60 days. The better your records and heat ob servation, the better your detec tion of a problem will be. Monitoring abortion occur rences is critical to your herd. Abortions can have many causes and early detection of abortions may enable you to catch the problem that much sooner. Diag nostic labs get a diagnosis only 25 to 40 percent of the time when an aborted fetus is submitted. The lab may be most successful in coming to a diagnosis if an infec tious disease causes the abortion. Therefore, no diagnosis may indi cate that the cause is not related to an infectious disease. Because toxic, metabolic, and PSMThe (JTXVJ Lancaster [hh Chctrnher t ™ 'i of Co»m*u v »rt 6- lruiu\tr\ APPEARANCES COUNT IN PUBLIC PERCEPTION Roger Rohrer First Union Bank Representative of The Lancaster Chamber’s Agriculture Committee In any business, it is useful to step back and look at your opera tion through your neighbors’ eyes. This is especially important for agricultural producers in south central Pennsylvania, with an increasing number of neigh bors who have little or no experi ence in animal agriculture. What your neighbors see from the road We Love Odn The Cream Of The Crop * yi > fy • » h. <■» » •*. *», yi hereditary causes of abortion don’t usually cause changes in the fetal tissue, diagnosis is most difficult in these cases. At what level of fetal loss is it time to become concerned? Liter ature seems to indicate that on an annual basis, 8 percent to 16 per cent of pregnant cows will loose their pregnancy. Any changes on a monthly basis may also be meaningful. It’s interesting to note that most herds going through expansion see an in crease in pregnancy loss. If a herd has a real abortion Phone (717)397-3531 will shape their opinion of your business. What can producers do to im prove this perception while main taining a profitable operation? One area of focus is our environ mental stewardship. Many of our nonfarm neighbors are becoming much more interested in how we are managing the natural re sources within our operation, in cluding streams, flood zones, and steep slopes. There is and will be opportunities to install BMPs (best management practices) on our farms. With partial cost- 1 JS?" ~*“!* - l '-'> •<<) #V»S i I/*** It* #««**♦•/ Dr. Arlen Mills ’■*'"* Sr TVi ■gy -?8 lr id % ji > * < < Vw; problem, the next step in solving this is to determine a cause. Ev erything that can affect the cow may be a possible cause. Let’s consider some possible causes of abortion. Infectious diseases may be ruled in or out on the basis of when fetal losses are occurring, examination of aborted tissues, and blood work. Diseases to con sider include BVD, IBR, Leptos pirosis, Salmonella, and Neospo rosis. Solving the problem may involve management changes and revision of vaccination prac tices. Often these agents are brought into a herd through lack of basic biosecurity practices. Avoid buying problems by pre purchase testing and isolating purchased stock. There are other inflammatory diseases that have definite effects on reproduction and abortion lev els. Much has been written con cerning the relationship of masti tis and fetal loss. It has been shown that cows that had clinical mastitis during the first 45 days of gestation were almost three times as likely to abort within the next three months as were cows without mastitis. Severely lame cows also have a higher rate of pregnancy loss than herd mates. Lameness is a big factor in keeping cows from getting bred in the first place, but also increases the abortion risk. Nutrition should always be looked at closely when consid ering an abortion problem. Myco toxins and elevated nitrate levels can certainly lead to abortions. Acidosis is an immune suppres sor that may be involved indirect ly. With the way we feed cows, it would be very rare to see nutrient deficiency related abortions. Abortions are costly and mea sures should be taken to mini mize their occurrence. Proper feeding practices, biosecurity and sanitation practices, and ade quate vaccination programs will help to reduce the incidence of abortion. share available, out-of-pocket costs can be minimal. Most BMPs pay for themselves and the posi tive image is a bonus which sup ports our long-term compatibility with our rural community. It is difficult to commit re sources to these efforts during a challenging economic time. Per haps 2003 isn’t the year, but I be lieve, long-term, many producers will need to bring some capital to this area, or we, the ag commu nity, may lose in the public opin ion polls. Environmental stewardship will be a significant part of the strategic plan for the successful producer in years to come. Start now, one BMP at a time. Get help from the experts in your area. As you do, you will see the benefits and your neighbors will, too. In addition to moving up our environmental commitment, we also need to look at general farm appearance. I’m not suggesting freshly painted buildings and blacktop driveways. I’m talking about general roadside appear ance. Old farm machinery and equipment should be moved to the steel recycler, weeds around the buildings should be sprayed or mowed, and clutter within the sight of the public kept to a min imum. The saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words” can be said for the visual effect of your farm. Are your thousand words posi tive? Every community has farms that portray a very positive road side farm image. Your farm can become one. Start today one step at a time. v.‘(> t "Basically" Farming y Helpful hints for new [ I and existing farmers pennState PJS College of Agricultural Sciences HP Cooperative Extension - Southeast Region MAKING SENSE OF YOUR MILK CHECK Steve Dietrich Chester County Extension Agent Understanding your milk check can be a mind-boggling task. Numbers and abbreviations can blend together, making it look more like a detailed tax doc ument rather than a payment check. What do the numbers mean? Where did they come from? What parts are under your con trol? This article will give a brief ex planation of the various parts of your overall milk check. To comprehend the different parts of your check, it’s best to get a little background informa tion on the milk pricing system. If you ship milk in Southeastern Pennsylvania, eastern Maiyland, Delaware, eastern New York, or the New England states (exclud ing Maine), you are in the Feder al Milk Marketing Order #l. If you ship milk in western Penn sylvania, Ohio, and parts west, you are in Federal Milk Market ing Order #33. This information will have significant bearing on determining the numbers you see on your milk check. The first nuidber you should locate on your check is the num ber of pounds of milk shipped for this pay period. This number may show up as Grade A Pounds, or be stated in some other form. From there, the total pounds shipped are broken down into pounds of butterfat shipped, pounds of protein shipped, and pounds of other solids shipped (minerals, lactose). Obviously, if you add these numbers together, they will not equal your total pounds shipped. The rest of the “material” shipped is water. This is an area that the producer has some control over by adjusting feeding programs, using various management tools, etc. Next, you need to locate the “rate” or “price” for the various components. The prices for these components are computed each month for ail federal orders on the basis of component formulas or dairy commodity prices. For instance, if the average trading price of butter goes up, the price of butterfat paid to the producer will also increase. To get your total price for your milk compo nents, multiply the number of pounds of each component shipped by the corresponding price paid. Seems pretty easy so far but it gets harder. Next, you may see something noted as PPD. This is the Pro ducer Price Differentials. The PPD is the value derived via the federal order system from the marked price above and beyond the Class 111 (milk used for cheese) value. In affect, it is the economic benefit of the federal order system of classified pricing. These prices are announced for a base zone for the relevant order. For Federal Order 1, that base zone is in Boston, Mass., and for Federal Order 33, the base zone is in Cleveland, Ohio. The PPD adjustment you see >r.\%i I r