Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 May 1915 — COW TESTING A SUCCESS. [ARTICLE]

COW TESTING A SUCCESS.

Associations Increase as Accurate Records of Milk and Rutter Fat Prove Their Usefulness. One hundred and sixty-three cooperative cow-tiesting assoclatipnu were in operation last year in the United States. This is considered to be a rapid growth when it is remembered that the first assoeiatiou in this country was organized in Fremont, Mich., in 1905, and that as late as 1908 only six associations had been formed. The next year, however, the number rose to 25:, and it has been increasing rapidly ever since.. America, is, nevertheless, in this respect still far behind Europe, where there are at, the- present time between 2,500 and 3,000 such associations, the first having been started in Denmark in 1 Sits. The principle on which these associations work is both extremely simple and yet important. Year after year many farmers milk cows that do hot pay for the feed they constimr-: in demtu Tire ‘ average - ann-mtl production of a cow in this country js: Approximately 1,000 pounds of milk, containing: deti pounds of butter fat. The best dairymen say there is no profit in such production, and of course'there are vast numbers of cows that fall far below these figures. To make his herd a success, therefore, the farmer must weed out the animals that arc costing him money and keep those that are bringing it in to him. <•

This, however, is not so easy as it may .seem. Experiments, cohtinirally: showjthat it is impossible for any man, however experienced he may be, to estimate with any accuracy the yearly production of milk from any cow. Some animals start with a very good production and then drop to a very ordinary flow, while others give a much more regular yield. The latter may at the end of the year have given the farmei much more milk, but he will probably consider the former to be the profitable ones. As a matter of fact, a man can not guess within a quart how much milk there Ts Tn a pail, ami if he is selling the product of his herd on a butter-fat basis, he knows even less of the yield from each individual animal.

The main purpose of the cow-f-'sting association is to enable its members to hire a tester to keep the records which in practice it is almost impossible for the farmer to keep for himself. The tester should, arrive at the farm in time for the afternoon milking, weigh the milk given by each epw in the herd, and take a sample of it, to test, for butter fat. At feeding time he weighs the feed given each co,w and estimates as well the amouiit of roughage. He also keeps a record of feed given to dry cows as well as those in .milk, for it is obvious that the total cost of feed for the year mttSi be taken into consideration. The following morning the individual production of the hcul is weighed ag- in and if the ration is changed the feed also is weighed. Later in the day the Babcock test is used to determine the percept ag e of blitter fat in each cow’s milk. From these figures it is possible to estimate the amouh: of milk and butter fat given in a month by a cow and set against it the amount of feed consumed. This method, of course, does not produce scientific accuracy, but careful tests have shown that the results within 2 per Cent of th? ow’s actual production. Another feature of the' tester's work is to watch the prices of various feedings and then to work out fvr the farmer the most economical ration. This, together with the weighing and testing of milk, will occupy him until the time for him to leave in order to arrive at the next farm to test the afternoon milking. Thus the tester devotes one day a month to each member in the association and this limits the number of ‘members to 25 or 2G, the number oi working days in.a month, and defines within somewhat narrow limits the expenses of conducting the association. This has been found to be about $550 a year, including the salary of the tester, the cost of the acid for the Babcock test, and miscellaneous expenses. All expenses are usually borne by the members in proportion to the number of cows they own. Where the herds are large this may be $1 a cow, but generally it is $1.50. a year for each cow. T* many farmers [t may seem unnecessary to hire a man to do work which they themselves are perfectly capable of doing. The ahswer to this is that while the farmer unquestionably could clo it, it is likely that during the pressure of other work he wobld slight his tests. As a matter of fact the number of dairymen who actually do keep records of their work for the whole year is insignificant; moreover, it is really cheaper to have it done the tester than to do it one’s self. Experience has 'made the tester rapid and accurate; he has at his finger’s ends

the strength of the acid he uses, the amount to charge for roughage and concentrates, and the analysis of all the common feeds. It would take the average farmer a long time to become familiar enough with all these details to do the work as well as the tester does.

That a cow-testing association actually does pay has been proved beyond all doubt. Since the first organization of this formed, in 1905, 76 for one reason or another have been discontinued. On the other hand the records of those in operation show excellent financial results. There are seven herds that have remained continuously in the Michigan association ever since it was formed in 1 905. In 1906 they included 50 cows and in 1913, 69 cows. In 1 906 the average yield for each cow was 5,885 pounds of milk and 231.1 pounds of butter fat ; in 1913 it was 6,123.1 of milk and 28 1.7 pounds of fat. In the meantime prices of both feed and dairy products had risen. The profit, howrwer, -to f he-dairy men in the- association rose as well. For each cow it was, in 1 906, $22.23 and in 1913 it was $51.08, or an increase of $28,85. it certainly paid these dairymen, therefore, to employ a tester even if it cost them $1.50 a year for each cow.

Not only do these records show which cows make or*lose money for their owners, but they show to what extent each is profitable, the amount of feed given to each cow, and what kinds of feed at prevailing prices produce the most satisfactory financial results.—U. S. Dept, of Agriculture News Letter.