The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1916-08-16
WINTER DAIRYING PAYS.
Significant Facts Revealed by Records
of Cow-Testing Association in
Northwestern States.

northwestern state said positively
that winter dairying did not pay in
that section. The agent of the cow
testing association, therefore, investi-
gated q number of farms to determine
whether it was the best practice in
that region to have cows frcshen in
the spring because there is then plcn-
ty Of grass and grass is a cheap feed.
He found that the spring freshened
cows gave milk for time while the
pasture was good, but as hot weather
and flies came on, the flow gradual
ly decreased until by fall they usually
were dry. As the owners thought ii
did not pay to feed a dry cow, the cows
were allowed to browse around ell the
fall, picking up what food they could,
and in many cases they were forced to
rustic" around the straw pile all
winter. AS a result, in the spring
many cows emerged with ribs showing
and were considerably weakened by
the time they frcshened. They there
fore got a poor start in the season,
and in many cases their milk records
the following year were still lower.
1t was not surprising the agent points
out, that the average COW, so mis-
handled, could produce only about $50
pounds of butter fat . year.
Many so-calied scrub cows, the
agent points out, if freshened in the
fall and given the right kind of feed
and treatment during the winter be
fore coming on grass for the latter
part of their lactntion period would
prove to be money makers. This
opinion seems to be supported fully
by the records of the cow-testing as
ISOLATION in the same general licality.
These records show that the average
farm COW that freshcns in the fall not
only produces more milk and fat, but
also is more profitable to keep. In
one county many cows which freshen-
ed in the fall won place on the assO-
cations honor list for January and
continued to produce heavily during
the winter. When grass came in the
spring these same cows picked up
their naturally waning milk flow and
finished up with good yearly produc-
tion before going dry late in summer.
What is still more important, however,
from the profit point Of view, is that
the fall-freshened cows produced the
larger part of their records while
milk prices were best. With the COM
mon idea that grass is a cheap feed"
therefore, this agent would couple the
fact that butter fat is usually cheap
at the same time"
The highest January record Of this
association was made by COW which
produced 1.730 pounds of milk, or ap-
proximately 200 gallons, 81 per cent
test, or 81 pounds Of butter fat. Her
milk, however, was sold on a city milk
route and brough 20 cents gallon, or
approximately $40 for the month. On
the other hand, If the owner had sold
his product on a butter-fat basis he
still would have received 1920. AS
it cost him S5.37 to feed the cow, his
profit on a butter-fat basis would
have been 1888.
On this farm the cows get prac-
tically all the alfalf, hay and corn
silagc that they will eat up clean,
and in addition grain mixture Of
equal parts of rolled oats, bran, and
shorts. Each of the heavier producers
gets about ten pounds Of this mixture
daily. In addition to being well fed,
the cows stand comfortably sheltered
in Z warm barn most Of the time and
have access to plenty of good water
During the month six cows in this
herd averaged 54.S pounds of butter
fat worth more than SIC, while the
feed cost was approximately s5.37
apiece. The records kept by the cow
tester gave the dairyman exact
knowledge Of the cost Of feed and
production in the case of each animal,
and thus enabled him to Gull out
"boarders" and regulate his feed in
proportion to the milk production of
each COW. The association record for
the farmer, however, seemed to estab-
fish the fact that, in the region men
toned, winter dairying can be made to
pPy