EXERCISE 76 



THE PRODUCTION RECORD OF A DAIRY HERD 



Statement. Some dairy cows return a substantial profit to their owners. Others, receiving the 

 same care, are kept at a loss. The one is a success, the other a failure. As we have already learned, we ' 

 may judge the producing power of cows with considerable accuracy by their physical characteristics. 

 However, it is not sufficiently accurate to discover to the owner which of his cows are most successful 

 and which are failures. It is only by weighing and testing the milk of each cow for three days in the 

 middle of each month for a year that this information can be obtained. This record may be kept by j 

 the farmer himself, by the agricultural student of the high school, or through the cow-testing associa- 

 tion of which the farmer may be a member. 



Object. To ascertain by means of an accurate milk, butter fat, and feed record the dairy value of 

 each cow. . j 



Materials. Cows to be tested ; Babcock tester ; scales ; blank on opposite page. 



Directions. A farmer had his herd tested by the high-school students, and the records of two of his 

 cows were as follows : 



One cow produced 16,355 pounds of milk, which contained 691.7 pounds of butter fat in a year. 

 She consumed during the year 6590 pounds of silage, 1760 pounds of clover hay, and 2428 pounds of 

 mixed grain. She was on pasture six months. Another cow produced in the same year 2466 pounds of 

 milk, which contained 83.3 pounds of butter fat. She consumed in the year 5040 pounds of silage, 

 1494 pounds of clover hay, and 1328 pounds of mixed grain. She was also on pasture six months. 



Compute, at the local market prices, the cost of the feed consumed by each animal, and the 

 value of the milk and butter fat produced. Compute the return each cow made for each dollar invested 

 in her feed. Compare the gross returns and gross profit from a herd of twenty such cows as the first 

 one ; from twenty such cows as the second one. 



Questions. Is there a wide difference in the efficiency of the two cows tested as regards their 

 ability to convert feed consumed into milk and butter fat ? What did cow No. 1 do with a part of her 

 feed that cow No. 2 did not do ? How did cow No. 2 use the feed which did not go for milk production ? 

 Which of the two cows, No. 1 or No. 2, would you select as the better beef type of animal? Which 

 is the better type of dairy animal ? 



Reference. Eckles, C. H. Dairy Cattle and Milk Production, pp. 132-149. The Macmillan Company. 



Fig. 1 20. The patriot and the slacker cow 



The cow whose picture is shown at the left produced 6gi pounds of butter fat in a year ; the one whose picture is shown at the right, in the 

 same herd and given the same care as the others, produced only 83 pounds of butter fat in one year. (Courtesy College of Agriculture, Uni- < 



versity of Wisconsin) 



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