Growers improves Dairy Health

John Amstutz of Wadsworth, Ohio, and his two sons, Daniel and Merlin, operate a dairy and have been using Growers Nutritional Solutions on their field crops for over twenty years.  They are very particular about their operation, which is evident in the neatness of the buildings and yard.  They have attempted to keep their herd average production up near 29,000 and to accomplish this, prior to feeding the cows Growers, they were using many purchased dry minerals (phosphorus and lime).  

Slowly they began seeing changes in the herd they didn't like.  Their cull rate was increasing, cows were dying and the vet could not give them answers.  John remembered those days, "Going out to the barn knowing you have cows to treat, cows that aren't going to get up, and you have to check two more and see if they are on the right track.  The vet invariably needed to be here two to three times a week, but he was not really giving us a lot of help.  We are not downgrading him, because he actually said he didn't know what it all was, but that's the way it went. 

"Finally we decided we had had enough and my son said, 'We've got to do something different.'  We'd been reading some of the articles in the (Growers Solution) newsletter, and it was too costly the other way.  I talked to Dr. Swerczek a few times.  I talked to John Sensenig, a nutritionist, for a couple of months about what minerals to pull out and what to keep in our ration.  

"It was hard for us to make up our minds to do it!  It's like I told a dairyman from Georgia, some people think you are jumping off the deep end, but actually it's not too uncomfortable down there!  I pity the other farmers who don't know what the benefits can be.  Now we don't always have cows that look so haggard and wasted.  Actually, this summer the vet commented about their slick, silky look."

The Amstutz's nutritionist didn't think they should make the change.  John remembers, "I said, 'Well, we just have to do something.' and told him to balance the fiber, protein and carbohydrates.  I told him what dry minerals to take out and to replace them with 5 oz of GNS and 5 oz of fine lime."  

In April of 2001, they made the change.  Ted Rohrer, the Amstutz's Growers District Manager, recalls, "When he started this thing, John got a fair amount of criticism from all of the people who think they know everything."  They replaced the dry minerals and began force feeding 5 ounces of Growers Nutritional Solutions and 5 ounces of a very fine, high calcium limestone per cow per day.  The cows also had free choice access to the same high calcium limestone, white granular salt and GNS in lick wheels.

John thought back, "When we changed we had six cows with mycroplasma in the joints which is a very painful thing for the cow.  Some of them were actually down.  But since we changed, it hasn't come back.  We haven't had a lot of opportunistic diseases, like Dr. Swerczek calls them, things that were showing up that we couldn't put our finger on. We haven't had much of that trouble since.   Growers is not a cure all, but it does make it more livable and not always so frustrating.

"As far as herd health goes, they seem to be doing real well." John continued, "Before when we had cows that would run a fever, they would not respond to Excenel or penicillin, but two months after we were on the Growers, we noticed a change in that right away.  They responded to Excenel if they had a fever right after calving, and it's been that way ever since.  We used to force feed 6-8 oz. of soda per cow per day, and they would crave so much more besides.  Now we only feed 2/10ths a pound (3.2 oz.) of soda and they don't crave any extra.   It seems like the new ration has made it so their stomachs are not so sour.

"Our somatic cell count did drop significantly.  On the Herd Summary for July of 2000, we had a 384 yearly average, with 78% having a low count.  July 2001 it was a 290 average with 81% having a low count.  September of 2002 showed we had a 230 yearly average and 85% with a low count, making us an average of 85% versus the previous 78%.  Our nutritionist said he hardly ever sees these kinds of numbers in a free stall barn where there is no sand."  

The cull rate numbers for the Amstutz's Herd Summary is impressive, too.  John points out, "In 1998 we had a cull rate of 36%.   A year later we had a 46% cull rate.  July of 2000 is when we had so many cows die.  We just did not know what was happening.  Fourteen cows died in a year's time.  At the time we started on the Growers Program in 2001, we had a cull rate of 46%.  Now, September 24, 2002, our cull rate is 22% which allows us to have 30 extra cows to stay in the herd instead of going to the beef pen.  The 24% drop in cull rate is very beneficial.

"It's more of a relaxed atmosphere as far as looking after the cattle.  Cost wise, we haven't trimmed our feed bill a whole lot.  We took out the dry mineral, but we are pretty much spending it on the Growers and the fine lime.  To get this kind of production, we can't drop too many things.  Now we have the vet here for herd check twice a month, we don't have a lot of late hour calls and the day calls are not very common.  Our vet bills have decreased because most of the time the cows respond to our treatment.  

"We have lowered our herd average a little bit, basically because of the younger herd.   Breeding has been good.  We have our heifers on it, too.  They are coming into the milking line and responding well. It's definitely helped the dry cows through the transition period.  Our heifer grower said they are out there laying on the hill in the hot sun on hot summer days.  They are not looking for shade.  In the past they were always crowded in the corner under the shade.  They can handle the heat stress better. 

When asked about the future, John replied, "We want to keep fine-tuning the ration.  The now evident stronger immune system in the cows eliminates a lot of stress.  Again, it is not a cure-all, but I recommend the Growers Program to anyone who wants healthier cows."