The Rural Voice, 1998-05, Page 35all the power to the feed room. The
milking parlour was not damaged so
about 1:00 a.m. with the help "of
about a hundred neighbours" they
moved the cattle back and put them
through the parlour. Since they didn't
know which had been milked, they
had to milk all the cows again.
In the following days, production
dropped, cows were sick and the
somatic cell count in the milk soared
— and at the same time the final bills
for the construction of the new barn
were still coming in. "It's very hard
on the nerves," Fisher says.
Unable to meet their quota
requirements, they decided
they had to buy more cows.
They turned to David Carson who
told Tom that if the cattle selling at
the auction that day were too
expensive, he'd see that they got
some cattle to help out, even on loan
if necessary, to get them through the
crisis.
But now the snowball was rolling.
With extra cows to feed, they
With more cows, the feed
supply wasn't enough
realized their feed supply wouldn't
last the winter. They turned to Bob
Johnston from B and L Feeds who
offered the assistance of dairy
nutritionist Janet KleinscnmicIt.
"There's help available out there if
you ask for it," Fisher says, "but the
old thing was if you asked for it, you
were a failure. You're not."
Kleinschmidt came up from
Toronto and looked at the situation
and recommended he get involved in
alternative feeds like distillers grains,
soy hulls or beet pulp, a totally new
area for the Fishers. She took home a
sample of the corn silage and hay and
all the feed supplies. She returned
with the sad news that their ration
was basically only providing enough
nutrition for dry cows.
"It was kind of an insult and yet
you've got to learn from it that
you've got a problem," Fisher says.
Kleinschmidt designed a new
ration to improve the cattle's diet.
Shortly thereafter Johnston called to
say low cost apple pomace, (the
residue when apples are pressed for
juice) was available in nearby
,GB
GREY -BRUCE CONSTRUCTION LTD.
R.R. 5 MILDMAY, ONTARIO
Phone (519) 367-2372
Circular Tanks Fax (519) 367-2172
• Sandwich Walls
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• Crane Rental
• Excavation •
JIM POECHMAN
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LARRY HOFFARTH
(519) 364-4523
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CONTRACTING
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• PIPELINES • COOLERS
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AgriMetal HLmETRI
HOULE
(519) 934-2343
Fax: 934-3179
RR #2, Tara, Ont. NOH 2N0
Ben & Sheri Rier - Owners
Bob Nicholson - Sales
Ernie Schopf - Sales
MAY 1998 31