Tulare County

Milk Lines (January 2000)

In This Issue

• Year 2000
  
• ESSC
  
• Bulls
  
• Dairy Day
  

Year 2000

The much talked about Y2K circus did not materialize, at least as much as some predicted. This in large part was due to the preparation of the industry, allied service companies, and public agencies to anticipate problems. Many surveys have been made as to the most notable happenings in the past 2000 years. Some profound statements have been made. One noteworthy comment was from Freeman Dyson, professor of physics at Princeton University, that concerned hay (baled or otherwise).

"In the classical world of Greece and Rome and in earlier times, there was no hay. Civilization could only exist in warm climates where horses could stay alive through the winter by grazing. Without grass in the winter you could not have horses, and without horses you could not have urban civilization. Sometime during the so-called Dark Ages, some unknown genius invented hay, forests were turned into meadows, hay was reaped and stored, and civilization moved north over the Alps. So hay gave birth to Vienna and Paris and London and Berlin, and later Moscow and New York."

What would be your selection as the most significant happening in the dairy industry? Agreeing with the professor, alfalfa hay is a candidate. Along with the milking machine, pasteurization, A.I., and many other important discoveries, the list can certainly be a long one. It is also interesting to think of the happenings in more recent years and the potential effects on the industry in the near future. Yes, environmental issues can be mentioned. The fast changing and controversial science of transgenic crops and animals will affect dairying. Cows that produce a protein to combat hepatitis and a compound from goats to control clotting in open heart surgery are just a couple of items.

ESSC

Another series of the Environmental Stewardship Short Course will be offered locally in March and April for those of you that need make-up classes or the entire series. The dates for classes #1, #2, and #3 are March 15th, March 29th, and April 12th, respectively. All classes will be at the Edison AgTAC building on S. Laspina St. across from the Farm Equipment Show grounds, south of Tulare. All sessions will be from 10 until noon. Call the Cooperative Extension office at 733-6363 to make reservations. These classes are for dairy producers only and free of charge. If you are making up missing classes, please bring your workbook binder and other take-home materials in order to keep costs down.

Additionally, there will be ESSC classes offered in Stockton, Modesto, Los Banos and Riverdale during March and April, and in Chino in May. Riverdale classes #1, #2, and #3 are on March 15th, March 29th and April 12th, all from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Riverdale Memorial Hall on 3085 W. Mt. Whitney Avenue. For reservations call the Fresno UCCE office, 456-7558. Los Banos class #1 is from 3 to 5 p.m. on March 14th, while #2 and #3 are from noon to 2 p.m. on March 28th and April 11th, all at the Merced Community College, Rm. #11, 16570 S. Mercy Springs Road. Call 209-525- 6800 for reservations. For details of classes in Modesto call the previously mentioned number, for Stockton call 209-468-9492, and in Chino call 909-387-3318.

Allied industry ESSC single session classes will be offered in Modesto April 4th from noon to 5 p.m. and Fresno on April 5th from 8 a.m. to noon. Call 209-525-6800 in Modesto and 559-456-7558 in Fresno for reservations. These classes are not the same as those for dairy producers and do not count toward dairy certification. Allied industry pre-registration (one week before class) is $125 or cost at door is $200. No credit cards are accepted, and checks should be made payable to UC Regents. Pre-registration checks should be sent to Dr. Deanne Meyer, Animal Science Department, UC Davis, CA 95616-8521, along with meeting date, location, name, address, e-mail and telephone.

A consultant "certification" course will be offered at UC Davis from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 6th and details can be obtained from Dr. Meyer or Gary Veserat at 530-798-7825. Consultants need to attend an allied industry meeting and pass an exam for certification.

Bulls

The following are guidelines set by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners to help measure natural service breeding efficiency. The cow to bull ratio recommended is 20 to 30 cows per bull and a formula for this is: Number of open cows not confirmed pregnant exposed to bulls divided by number of bulls with access to open cows. This calculation is useful in ruling out insufficient bull power in herd fertility problems.

A calculation useful to estimate natural service contribution in herds using both natural service and artificial insemination is: Natural service pregnancies X 100 divided by total pregnancies. This requires that conception dates be estimated by palpation so that pregnancies from natural service and AI can be differentiated. High values may indicate problems with some part of the AI program, such as semen handling, estrus detection, and/or personnel.

Between 40 to 50 is the recommended average days open with a bull and can be calculated by: Sum of days between "date turned with bull" and "estimated conception date" divided by total number of cows confirmed to bull breeding. High values indicate an infertility problem in the natural service program but does not differentiate a problem between a specific bull or cow.

A formula for cows confirmed pregnant to a bull during a specified period of time is: Average of (conception date - (turned with bull + 10) ) divided by 21. An estimation of conception rates to the bull can be had from the reciprocal of this figure. This number can then be used to compare conception rates between AI breeding and natural service in the herd. The "specified period" can be monthly and/or yearly. The reproductive indices reference is from the 1990 J. Dairy Sci. 73:78.