The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-02-05
PEOPLES FORUM
"WHY IS A cow TESTING ASSO-
CIATION?"

ClAIlON!
Editor The Tribune:
Since the organization of the Bis
marck Holstein-Friesian Breeders
Association in the early spring Of
last year, a considerable interest
has been manifested in the Bismarck
Association in particular and in Cow
Test Associations in general. Be
lieving that the majority of dairy
farmers of Burleigh county are
perhaps somewhat familiar with the
purpose and Modus Operandi Of
Cow Test Association the writer
will endeavor to present the gener-
ally accepted purpose and method
of operation. Ipf =
The purposes of Cow Testing
Association are numerous and vary
somewhat, in detail however, it is
unnecessary to enter into a detail
discussion, but rather broad COM
prehensive view of association work
IS desirable.
i. The primary purpose of Cow
Test Association is of course to
furnish reliable data on the pro-
duction of each COW in the herd in
terms of pounds of milk and butter
fat. Each cows milk is tested for
butterfat, two milkings per month
by the official Association Tester
or Superintendent, and from the
milk sheet kept by the owner and
| the test cf the two milkingS, the
pounds Of butterfat the COW pro-
auced during the month is computed
and together with cost of produc-
ton data, entered in the owners
Herd Record Book"
1t is entirely possible for any
| dairyman to arrive at the milk pro
| duction of each COW in his herd
without the aid of tester" but
the important part of the milk, the
| butterfat cannot be determined sat
isfactorily without the aid of the
! Babcock test and a trained operator.
To illustrate this point Rose, grade
Holstein, 1905 pounds milk in one
month while Grace, another grade
Holstein produced only BAT pounds
of milk during the same month.
Without knowing what per cent but
terfat each cow tested we would ma
turally conclude that Rose was the
higher producer, however, Roses
milk tested 3.1% that month and
Grace's milk tested 4.3%. Multiply
! ing 1905 by 3.115 we find that Rose
produced 31.2 pounds butterfat for
the month and by the same process
We will see that Grace produced 1894
pounds fat, emitting her to high
place for that months production
Cost of production figures are
usually the greatest surprise that
the new member gets, he invariable
finds that "poor" or Improbable
cows are eating just as much as his
best producers-and usually he
finds that there are cows in :1is
herd who fail to pay for their feed
| In the example noted in the pre-
ceding paragraph, Rose actually con
sumed more feed than Grace-ant
returned less money from the sale
of butterfat. The figures on bott
of these cows by the way are takeI
from the records Of the Lake Coun
ty Association No. 1, Lake County
! Illinois and are not imaginary b!
any means.
1t is usual to find in addition t,
overlooking light producers ant
undertaking heavy ones, that tn
j, cows are being fed an unbalanced
ration that is much more expensiv.
. in respect to the results obtained
!, than balanced one would hav,
, been. Bear in mind however, tina
members are not bound to adop
. practices that seem unreasonable
: to them such is not the spirit o
association work, the Superintend
, ent's duty is to talk matters owe
!, with the owner and advise sucl
!, practices as he deems advisable
$ and the owner may or may not TAX
advantage of this advice, as he see
fit. The Superintendent being al
, ways an educational agent-neve
an executive in. the full sense Q
the word.
In improving methods Of care an
management, the owners heightar
!, ed interest in taking care Of hi
cows in such o. way as to produc
the best results under his particula
copditions, is the primary facto,
the tester can consult, with him an