462 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



COW TESTING ASSOCIATIONS. 



BY PEDER PEDERSON. 



What is a cow testing association? How does it work, and does it pay 

 to belong to one? 



A cow testing association generally consists of twenty-six farmers, who 

 virtually bind themselves together to get their cows tested, employ an 

 expert to come around and weigh all the feed given in the form of 

 roughage and grain, and other concentrated feeds, and put them all down 

 at their market value; the same with the pasture, charging up against 

 each cow all she consumes of any and all kinds of feed; then weighing 

 the milk of each individual cow and giving her credit for all the butter- 

 fat she produces at actual prices, as paid by the creamery to which the 

 milk is sold. No credit is given to the cow for skim milk, only the 

 butter-fat, as the milk is returned and used on the farm, when milk is 

 sent, or retained at the farm where only the cream is sent. To get this 

 testing uniform, the prices are "set" after butter-fat; if I sell my milk 

 to private customers and get 2^2 to 3 cents per pound, my cows get no 

 more credit than butter-fat prices for the butter-fat they produce, which 

 is the only way it is possible to get a fair average for everybody, the object 

 being to find out exactly what cows are the most profitable and what ones 

 are not worth keeping for milk. 



There somebody may say, as they have said here in the Benson Cow 

 Testing Association, that they do not want to have anybody else to 

 know how poor milkers their cows are. To that I shall only say, what 

 difference does that make? If I have a cow that is not paying me as a 

 milk cow, she will not pay for anybody else, but it makes no difference to 

 the butcher, as he will pay as much for a poor milker as for a good milker, 

 and that is where the poor milkers all ought to go. 



I shall now give you a few facts from the Benson Cow Testing Associa- 

 tion, but mainly from our own herd, so you can see what we have been 

 doing and judge for yourself if you think it has helped us anything and 

 been worth our while to work for it. Of course, I shall have to give you 

 the main facts from our own herd, as here I have all the details and 

 particulars on hand, but for the Benson Cow Testing Association in full, 

 I shall also give a few facts and figures. 



RECORDS IN BENSON COW TESTING ASSOCIATION. 



First year's highest cow in the association made 323 pounds of butter- 

 fat, and a net profit of $63.50. Second year's highest cow made 418 pounds 

 of butter-fat, and a net profit of $90.50. Third year's highest cow made 

 439.9 pounds of butter-fat, and a net profit of $106.30. 



I shall here explain that by net profit is to be understood the amount 

 of money left from price paid for butter-fat produced by the cow after 

 pasture, roughage, and feed of all kinds are deducted. 



