The NORTHLAND FARMER

Northern Advocate, 24 October 1936, Page 11

The NORTHLAND FARMER

5001 b Cow Club.

In several New Zealand towns they have a Fifty Thousand Club. What about a Five Hundred Pound Cow Club in the rural districts? There is one in Illinois (U.S.A.). which, although, of course, it is much the same as a Herd-testing Association, boasts a more attractive name -said is one of the classics in herd improvement work in America. One of its outstanding features is how certain cows come back year after year and surpass the requirements for membership. Certainly this lends decided encouragement to continuous testing.

I Green Maize as Fodder.

More and more farmers are growing maize for feeding out as a green fodder to the dairy herd. Many * have adopted the practice of planting such crops as kumi kumi along with the maize, the former being fed to the pigs and the latter to the cows. In many instances the maize is fed when the crop is reaching maturity, this practice conforming with . American ■ advice to. cut when the cobs have reached the glazed condition. The feeding value of maize forage, however, depends upon the condition of the leaves and it has been demonstrated that the nutritive value of the leaves materially declines as the crop matures. Succulence and palatability • are characters essential in a forage for cows if the milk flow is. tc be maintained, hut once the ccbs appear the stems and leaves* begin to lose these two very necessary attributes. Maize is very; much like grass. No practical' farmer expects the same milk production from grass which has commenced seed production as from young grass, and so it should be in the case of maize. On the other hand, some farmers are growing maize for 'the ,sake of feeding the grain to the pigs and outstanding success has attended the efforts of many following this practice.

Composition of GAuss. Many dairy farmers are curious and there has been much speculation, ampng them in regard to the fact that the morning milk inevitably yields the smaller amount of butterfat. Why this is so has given rise to explanations, some frankly absurd, others more credible. It may come as a surprise to many that there is a difference between grass at night-time and the same grass in the day-time, and it is this difference that causes the smaller amount of fat in the morning milk. During the day-time, owing to the action of sunlight, the blades of grass (for simple explanation) may be likened to miniature factories producing starches. During the night-time, however, the blades of grass produce ferments or enzymes for the breaking down of. the starches into food available to the plant. During the hours of darkness, therefore, the grass temporarily becomes less valuable food in the matter of butter-fat production and the morning milk consequently •suffers.

What is a Proved Bull? A proved bull is not necessarily a good bull. A proved bull may transmit high, medium or low production capacity to his offspring. Saying that a bull is “proved” means only that production records of at least five of his unselected daughters have been compared with the production records of their dams. Comparisons of more than five dams and their daughters are a still better. measure of a bull’s ability to improve the milk and butterfat production of his daughters. Comparisons may prove a bull superior. They may prove him' inferior. The comments are “ taken from the first volume of dairy herd improvement association proved sire lists, which will be issued every six months by the Bureau of Dairy Industry (U.S.A.). All sire records in thesh lists are tabulated on a uniform basis, under the rules of the dairy herd improvement association programme. Production records are based on the first 305 days of the lactation period; and all records are converted to a six-year-old basis and to a twice-a-day milking basis, and averaged when a daughter or dam has more than one lactation period. Although many of the sires listed were dead when proved, they may have living sons available for breeding purposes. It has been demonstrated that sons of good proved sires, that is, sires that have

A page prepared for the purpose of helping the Northland farmer to make tile utmost use of the remarkable advantages which Nature has bestowed on Northland, and thereby < to develop the most fertile territory in New Zealand.

transmitted high-producing capacity to a large percentage of their daughters, can be used with greater assurance of success than sons of unproved sires.

The Small Field.

There still exists in seme quarters a prejudice against the adoption of smaller fields. The objection invariably raised is the inability to stand the expense that additional fencing would involve, but if the advantage of the smaller field were more fully considered the farmer would make every effort to adopt it. Fencing is as important as fertilising, and the latter cannot be fully effective if fields are too large. If there is to be increased expenditure on fertilisers then something should be done to provide the smaller fields that will give the right conditions for fertiliser efficiency, and for the improvement and maintenance of pasture. It has been said that consolidation is more important than fertilising, and proper consolidation can only be brought about by heavy stocking -on smaller fields. Then, again, there is always the question of selective grazing. Although at the Outset a large field may possess an excellent pasture, this may rapidly de-

Edited By C. E, Cuming

dine in value if the cattle are able to select their grazing and will thus eat down the most palatable grasses while neglecting the coarser grasses. Thus the good pasture grasses are discouraged while the inferior grasses are encouraged and by their ultimate preponderance . will choke out the remaining superior types and create a poorer pasture that will afford only limited grazing and will be of little nutritive value to the cattle. The small field eliminates selective grazing by forcing the cattle to graze evenly, thus encouraging the good grasses and getting rid of the weed grasses which cannot stand up to the heavy stocking. When it is considered what advantages accrue to the small paddock system, by the means it provides of rotational grazing and heavy stocking, which in turn lead to better pastures and consequently healthier and heavier producing animals, it will be realised that it is a system that must come if the best use is to be made of grass.

Balanced Feeding. V. Disease is so frequently caused by indigestion and indigestion is so frequently caused by ill-balanced feeding that the matter of providing stock —dairy cattle in particular—with properly balanced food is one that should receive the most careful consideration.' It is well-known that a certain amount of roughage, or fibrous food, is desirable to facilitate digestion even in the human, but With cattle roughage is imperative to effective digestion and if the animal is to obtain full benefit of the more valuable food. In some months, especially in the winter, cattle get a preponderance of rbughaige and in the spring, without any preparation, they are asked to subsist on food of the other extreme, absolutely non-fibrous. Not only are cows suddenly put on to rich nonfibrous grass but they are kept on it all the time, and are given no opportunity of getting some fibrous feed to provide the essential roughage. Apart from not being able to digest this' rich food when it is the sole diet, the very fact that there is no roughage given with it, in the shape of some good hay, or even some fibrous grass, the rich non-fibrous food cannot be satisfactorily dealt with by the various digestive processes. Why some farmers have found it so profitable to provide a rack of good hay for cows on spring pasture is that the hay resists the too rapid passage of the rich nonfibrous food and thereby allows the ,cow to assimilate a higher percentage of nutrient from it. For the same reason those who put their cows on to rich pastures for, say, an hour in the ’ morning and an hour in the afternoon, affording them a chance to get some more fibrous food, have given the animals a chance to balance their food, to obtain the full benefit from the good grass and also to keep their digestive organs in good condition.

More Cows Tested.

A feature of the figures released by herd-testing associations for the month 'of August is the substantial increase in the number of cows tested, figures for the New Zealand Co-operative Herd-testing Association alone showing an increase of 8000. Is the farming community as a whole at last realising that efficient dairying means consistent herd testing and that the keeping of unprofitable cows is really not worth while? Or is it because with the improving times the farmer believes that he can at last afford to test? If it is the latter reason, and

there is much evidence that it is in part responsible for the greater number of cows under test, then it is apparent that the great value of herdtesting even yet is not fully realised. No dairy farmer can afford not to test, yet during the years of depression many imagined that they were economising by cutting out herd-testing. Instead of practising the most vigorous economies by eliminating every cow that was not more than paying for its keep they kept striving and worrying to feed adequately cows that were not paying even maintenance costs. The high producing cows had to suffer at the expense of the low producing cow. Some farmers apparently believe in weeding out the unprofitable cows during times of plenty but extending charitable aid to them during times of depression when butterfat prices are low. The untesting farmer has only himself to blame if he eventually finds that he cannot pay his way and it is little use railing against misfortune to unsympathetic creditors. They will treat him with the same lack of sympathy as they would treat a bankrupt business man who had kept no books.

Establishment of Testing.

J Herd-testing has made highly satisfactory progress since its establishment on a proper basis during the 1922-23 season when a number of testing groups were operated around the Hamilton district by the South Auckland branch of the Farmers’ Union. During the first season after the New Zealand Herd-testing Association had been established, 157 herds, comprising 6900 cows, were tested. Now the same association is testing- 58,048 'cows, and this is typical of the progress that has marked the activities of other testing associations throughout the Dominion. milestone in the history of testing was reached this year when group herd-testing passed under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Dairy Board and the Dominion Federation incorporated in the Herd Recording Council of the Dairy Board which set up a Herd Recording Council. During the 1909-10 season, when testing was first actually carried out, a total of 815 cows were tested in New Zealand, this number rising to 4317 the following season. A sharp rise was recorded in the 1923-24 sea'son when the number rose from 84,825 to 151,214. Last season a total of 245,000 was tested, and it is confidently expected that'this will be eclipsed by a considerable -number this season.

Greater Milk Consumption. Adequate milk consumption—or lack of it—has recently been deemed so vital a problem that a special Health Committee of the League of Nations has been investigating milk consumption in relation to the dietary habits in several countries. Following is a part of the committee’s recommendation: “Milk should form a conspicuous element of the diet of all ages. The commission commends the tendency manifested in some countries to daily intake up to one liter (slightly over one quart) per day for pregnant and nursing women, as well as to provide an abundant supply for infants, children of all ages, and adolescents.” The League’s committee has been investigating nutritional problems since 1929, but accelerated activity in 1934 when the effects of the world depression become more acute. In line with other findings on milk consumption are those recently published in the United States. In a survey of 28,966 families on different income levels in various parts of the United States, the following results are reported: 529 families bought no milk at all; 4126 families purchased less than a quart per person weekly; more than two-thirds of the families consumed less than 2 quarts per person weekly.

The Efficient Dairy Cow. Which of our dairy cows are the most efficient converters of foodstuffs into milk, and how shall we assess efficiency? The efficiency of a motor car engine is measured by estimating the amount of work which the engine does for a given quantity of petrol

consumed. The “energy value” of the work done is stated as a percentage of the “energy value” of the petrol. One make of engine may be 25 per cent, efficient, which means that about one-quarter of the energy of the petrol is converted into work. Another engine—a different make (or breed)— may be only 20 per cent, efficient, and on this basis different makes can easily be compared. Now the cow is, from the milk producer’s point of view, not unlike an engine. It is given food and it converts some of this food into milk and some it uses to keep itself alive. The most efficient cow is, naturally, the one which can convert the largest proportion of its food into milk nutrients, and it is this type of cow which we want to breed. The food eaten has an “energy value” which can be measured, and so also has the milk produced. If we compare the energy value of the milk with the energy in the food consumed, we have a measure of the efficiency of the cow as a converter of food into milk.

Cattle Breeding Axioms. A speaker at a recent gathering of farmers remarked that “an irresponsible newspaper writer had stated that like begets like,” but the speaker declared that there was little truth in this saying. He laid great emphasis on the statement that “half the breeding goes down the mouth,” and declared that this was absolutely true. Now, as a matter of fact, there is more truth in the old saying that “like begets like” than in the equally old saying that “half the breeding goes down the mouth.” Of course, both of these trite sayings are rough and ready expressions. The term “like begets like” was first used no doubt to emphasise that if it is desired to breed a Shorthorn, then a pure Shorthorn must be mated to a pure Shorthorn, and that if a really good animal was the objective, then only the best parents must be used. The better the parents the better obviously may the progeny be expected to be. But in breeding even more than other human undertakings “the best laid plans of mice and men aft gang agley.” The blood ‘may not nick, the sire may not be as prepotent as he should be, and there are other factors unseen by man which operate to upset his plans. This we may assuredly expect, a high-class animal will seldom or never be bred from poor parents.

Importance of Strain.

We are reminded in this connection of another old saying, that “it is better to breed from a poor parent of a great strain than from a good parent of an inferior one.” Generally speaking, the statement that “like begets like” is a most valuable truism. The saying that “half the breeding goes ‘down the mouth” has much less truth in it, though properly applied it constitutes a most valuable rule to the breeder. It would be more true to say that “half the appearance goes down the mouth.” However well fed the progeny of poor parents may be, the mere feeding will not make a better animal of it, although of course it would ensure the animal having a better constitution. It is only where good animals are. being dealt with that good feeding plays such an important part. The calf of good parents will not do them justice and will never be as profitable as it should be if it is not done well from the very first. The most successful breeders are invariably the most skilled feeders, and with them it is veritably a case of half the breeding going down the mouth. Probably the greatest weakness at the present day is the failure to feed young stock well and to thereby ensure them having that constitution which the heavy production of modern milking cows demands. In aiming to secure high-class animals, strains must come first. The best results from that strain will only be obtained where the breeding is intelligently combined with good feeding.

Food Preservation.

This business of preserving feeds so they will retain their nourishment as in the pasture stage, and therefore be more palatable, is coming to a practical reality. It is just as reasonable to suppose a cow would like it better, and thrive better on it, as it is to suppose that people will appreciate and do better on butter from clean, properly preserved cream than butter made from rancid, improperly handled cream. When you tackle the task of improving on nature’s way you run up

against a big job. Preserving feeds in the natural state, as far as possible, is not an effort to supplant nature. It is merely trying to hold on to what nature has given us.

Harvest Time Shortly. Shortly the farmer will be cutting his pastures for either hay or ensilage. How much bad ensilage and bad hay will again be made this season? There was too much made last season and no small .proportion of the stock troubles during the past year was due to the feeding of innutritious hay and ensilage. It must be realised that the value cf grass varies with its stage of growth and accordingly the logical time to cut grass for hay is just when it is at its most valuable stage, or as near that stage as possible. .Many make the mistake of cutting the grass when it is long and thus obtain bulky and innutritious cattle feed. Endeavour to make the hay this season from shol-t, young grass and although, perhaps, there may not be the quantity of hay, this will be more than compensated for by the very substantial increase in quality. There are some who say that silage is worthless, but they pay no attention to the fact that the material from which their own particular silage was made was also worthless. Silage to a large extent depends on the quality of the material from which it was made and the first step in, successful silage making is good quality material.

The physicians of ancient Greece were advocates of milk, and prescribed it for many diseases. - One ancient

doctor said: “To take milk is pleasant, to drink it is easy; it is also pleasing to the eye on account of its whiteness.” * * * ♦ In the founding of Rome a temple was built by Jupiter, a furrow Was

ploughed around the temple with 1 : two milk-white cattle, and a libation *of milk as poured out to the gods. ,' .* • . * • A cheap bull of poor breeding is an expensive animal at any price.