Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1912 — Dairy Herd Improvement Needed [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Dairy Herd Improvement Needed

By H. C. MILLS, Dairy Field Man, Purdue Experiment Station

Purdue University Agricultural Extension

The need of better dairy stock in Indiana, as well as in other states, is very evident. Recent investigation made by the dairy department of Purdue, disclosed the fact that there were herds producing $2.56 worth of dairy products for each SI.OO worth of food received, and that other herds produced only $1.20 worth of dairy products from each SI.OO worth of feed received. A difference of eight cents in the cost of producing a . pound of butterfat was also found between two herds.

When we consider that the average production of dairy cqws in the United States Is estimated at 150 pounds of butterfat, and that the best records of high producing cows is around 1,000 pounds of butterfat, we may readily see that there Is a vast amount of room for the Improvement of the dairy stock of the country. In Indiana, It has been estimated that there are 200,000 cows that are not making a profit above the cost of the feed they receive and the labor of caring for them. If each could be replaced with cows making a profit of only 85.00 (and hundreds of good cows are making a profit of $50.00 and 860.00), It would mean a million dollars to the state. There are three methods of selecting dairy animals, as follows: 1. By form or appearance. 2. By pedigree or records of ancestors. 3. By performance, keeping records of the herd’s production. For the average man, the last mentioned method is the best. If selling milk by weight or measure, a record of the amount of milk produced by the animal should be kept. If selling on the butterfat basis, the amount of butterfat should be determined by weighing and testing the milk. If the milk Is/weighed and tested for two days in each month and this result taken as an average for the month, very close results for the year may be obtained.

The first step in the improvement of a herd, is proper feed. No cow, good or poor, will produce results without proper feed and care. Equally important with proper feeding is the providing of adequate dairy barns. When the above mentioned steps have been taken, the cows not responding by increased production, should be replaced by better ones. The securing of good cows to replace the better .opes,.sometimes proves difficult. The best method of securing them Is to breed the best cows In the herd to a good, pure bred dairy sire, and raise the heifer calves. In case the herd is too small to make the owning of a male practicable, breeding associations may be formed by the dairymen of the community.

The buying of a dairy sire is an Important step. If we buy a young sire, we must depend on the pedigree of the animal. We should base our judgment of the animal upon the record of the near ancestry, the dam and granddam, rather than upon’that of some noted ancestor, several generar tlons back. The safest plan is to buy an animal old neough to have heifers In milk. We then have a means of determining the animal’s ability of producing heifers of large capacity for milk production. Many good dairy sires have been sold to the butcher. The owners of these animals could no longer use them in their herds because of relar tlonship, and their neighbor dairymen did not se the advantage of buying a tried and tested animal but preferred to purchase a young animal of unknown qualities. . A number of dairymen in the state are making no attempt to raise heifer calves, but buy cows to keep up their herds. In most cases this is a mistake. Better cows can be procured, at a less cost, if a good dairy sire is used and the heifers from the best cows saved.

Gorgeous Boy, 67767, Used in the Pur due Dairy Herd. His Daughters Are Producers.