HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



THE WAY COWS ARE BEING FED 



Big Opportunity Por lmpro\ed Feeding of Medium Producing Cows 

 Shown in Summary of March Dairy Records 



Number of Cows 



Lbs. of Milk Per Day 



106 cows were dry or giving less than 10 lbs. per day. 

 406 taken as 1007f in figuring percentages. 



This table brings out the following 

 facts : 



(1) 175 cows or 32.9 per cent are giv- 

 ing less than 3 pounds of milk for one 

 pound of grain. There is no evidence 

 which justifies this heavy feeding of 

 grain especially with milk at the present 

 low price. There may be 3 reasons for 

 this: — (a) Using grain to replace hay 

 and silage; (b) Feeding a grain mixture 

 too low in protein to medium and low 

 producing cows; (c) Graining to condi- 

 tion cows for next lactation period. 

 There is nothing that can be done about 

 (a) now except to sell cows and that 

 offers little or no attraction. Early 

 planting of silage and the top-dressing 

 of good mowings will help for next winter. 

 Regarding (b) : As far as milk produc- 

 tion is concerned, the less milk a cow 

 gives the higher the per cent of protein 

 in the ration. High Protein grain MUST 

 be fed in the proportion of 1 pound to 4 

 -or more pounds of milk. As regards (c) : 

 Graining to get cows in condition for the 

 next lactation period should start 5 

 months before calving. Advantages are: 

 Requii-es smallest amount of grain ; Gives 

 less udder and digestive troubles than 

 -when fed later. 



(2) The following is the percentage of 

 ■cows in each class giving over 3.5 pounds 

 of milk for 1 pound grain: (10-20) 15 

 percent; (20-30) 31.8 per cent; (30-40) 

 60 per cent; (40-50) 58.3 per cent; (over 

 50) 100 per cent. All high producers, 

 most medium producers and a few cows 

 ■giving a small amount of milk are giving 

 a profitable return on the grain fed. 

 Every dairi/ cow in the lot CAN do it if 

 given the opportunity. (Exception has 

 been noted in 1 c). 



Past Efforts 

 A few years ago this county had a 

 cow testing association. It took the full 

 time of a cow tester and a good share of 

 the County Agent's time to keep it going. 

 Finally it died! Gone are the cows of 

 this association! Most of their records 

 are forgotten ! That the association per- 

 :fornied a real service is shown by the fact 



that some of the men who were members 

 still live and know more about feeding 

 cows than they did before. There seems 

 to be little enthusiasm for such an as- 

 sociation now. One tester can only serve 

 about twenty-five farms and these cannot 

 be scattered over too wide a territory. 

 Then too, it is hard work to get good 

 testers because they can make more in 

 other lines of work. 



Present Needs 



There is greater need to-day for effi- 

 cient feeding than there was in the days 

 of the old association. In fact, dairymen 

 must feed efficiently if they are to even 

 stay in the business. We know of only 

 one way of doing it. The dairyman must 

 know: (1) How much milk each cow is 

 giving; (2) How much hay and silage 

 each cow eats per day. This means that 

 milk scales must be used. Then otiltj 

 enough grain should be fed to furnish the 

 nutrients not supplied in the home grown 

 feeds. This is efficient feeding! Too 

 few dairymen ai-e familiar with this sys- 

 tem. 



Our Service 



We will furnish milk record sheets on 

 which to record three day's milk and the 

 weight of hay, silage and grain for each 

 cow for one day in the month. We 

 send an instruction sheet, showing how to 

 fill out the milk and feed records and an 

 envelope in which the record sheet may 

 be returned. This material goes out the 

 first of each month. As soon as the rec- 

 ords are returned, the milk for the month 

 for each cow is figured and a statement 

 showing how many pounds of milk each 

 cow is retuining per pound of grain is 

 made. This report is returned to those 

 cooperating. From the reports a table is 

 made as shown above so that each dairy- 

 man may see how he compares with the 

 others in the group. Further than this 

 we will be glad to get milk scales for 

 you at cost! What more can we do? 



Your Part 



If you milk by hand, weigh each cow's 

 milk the first three davs in the month 



and record on the daily record sheet. If 

 a milking machine is used, weigh the milk 

 for one day. This comes nearer than 

 guessing. Find out how much your feed 

 dippei- holds by weighing several times 

 and then taking an average. Know how 

 much your silage ba.sket holds in the same 

 way. Then estimate how much silage 

 each cow gets per day and set that down. 

 In most herds there are cows that are 

 large, medium and small. Select cows 

 typical of each group and, after forking 

 the amount of hay you are to feed into 

 the manger, take it out and weigh it. 

 Then estimate the amount for each cow 

 for one day. When you have these 

 figures on the record sheet, send it in 

 piomptly. 



This service was offered to every dairy- 

 man at the Dairy Farmers' Schools. 

 Sixty agreed to send in records. Some 

 have since had "cold feet". The work 

 that most men would do in making these 

 records would pay them $10 an hour if 

 they use the information. The only 

 trouble is they do not have to spend hours 

 enough at it ! You can start now by 

 writing to the County Agent, 59 Main 

 Street, Northampton. When we get so 

 many in this project that we cannot 

 handle it, we will hire more help! Ask 

 for Your Dairy Record Sheet To-day! 



FEEDING SUGGESTIONS 



FOR APRIL 



Dr. G. F. Wai-ren says, "The idle horse 

 in the barn is a more frequent source 

 of loss than is the bad bargain in buying 

 him." 



Reports of production and feeding 

 from .several scores of daily cows in 

 this county, would indicate that there 

 may be some "idle" ones in the barn, that 

 is, some which are making such use 

 of their feed as to .show more loss than 

 may have been represented by buying or 

 raising a poor cow, or by the purchase 

 I of high priced grain. It costs money to 

 [ buy high grade feed, but it costs more to 

 feed it so that only about two pounds 

 of milk are returned for one pound of 

 grain. This is especially true with milk 

 at five or six cents a quart. 



I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to 

 get some more cows into the "working" 

 class, or among those which return four 

 or five pounds milk for each pound of 

 grain. Some of the twelve quart cows 

 are doing it. Naturally, these cows are 

 eating liberally of roughage, just as they 

 should when the roughage is in the barn. 



The present milk market will not justi- 

 fy feeding a twenty-five pound cow a 

 large amount of grain. A cow of this 

 production and of medium size should 

 eat 15 pounds of hay and 30 pounds of 

 silage or 10 pounds of hay and 40 pounds 

 of silage daily. If the hay contains but 

 little clover she wili need in addition 



< 'on I i nu'-d 



S. columtl 2 



