HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-17, Page 34fled up
Bruce Schmidt of RR 3, Blyth stores his corn distillers
outdoors on a cement pad, barricaded by wooden walls.
The wet by-product isn't easy to work with but Mr. Schmidt
has achieved dramatic results in his milking herd's
production.
Pasturing profitable way
to use land, says farmer
This spring come to Thompsons for your
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Call your nearest branch of W.G. Thompson & Sons Ltd.
Seaforth Hensall Mitchell Ailsa Craig Granton Port Albert
345-2545 262-2527 348-8433 293-3223 225-2360 529-7901
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1 John Mc Kic ha n
tured numerous Perth-Huron Jersey Not bad for a farming family
Club production awards and the who've only been in the business
Most Improved Herd for 1992. for 13 years.
A14. FARMING '93, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1993.
By-product feeding cheap, says dairyman
John Hoonaard felt pasturing
could be a profitable way to use his
land, and treat it well at the same
time and he has proven it so, the
Morris township farmer told the
Progressive Farming Workshop
held in Brussels March 10.
Mr. Hoonaard told farmers at the
workshop, sponsored by the Mait-
land Valley Conservation Authority
that he averages a return of $156
per acre from custom pasturing cat-
tle on his farm just east of Blyth.
On top of that, the health of his soil
means earthworm picking compan-
ies pay him $2000-$5000 a year to
pick the plentiful worms from his
fields.
After reading a magazine article
in 1985 he began to experiment
with intensive pasturing, dividing a
pasture into many smaller paddocks
that are pastured for a few days
each by cattle, leaving plenty of
time for them to regenerate growth.
Until recently, he said, pasture
management was the "back 40's
syndrome: dump the cattle in in the
spring and pick up the survivors in
the fall."
After his experiment he moved,
by 1988 into intensive pasturing of
his entire farm, using an electric
fencing system to divide the farm
into 12 paddocks. In the early
spring some of the paddocks will
be used for an early hay crop while
the rest are grazed in a quick rota-
tion so the cattle will nip the seed
heads off the plants and keep them
growing instead of going to seed
and going dormant.
Later in summer, when growth
slows, all 12 paddocks will be used
for pasture with cattle spending
Continued on page A23
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Proprietor: Bob Szusz
Continued from page A13
"It's not much fun to handle,"
admits Mr. Schmidt.
At his operation, there's a special
cement pad bordered with four foot
walls where the product is dumped
by the delivery truck. Then, Mr.
Schmidt uses a uni-loader (skid
steer) to scoop up the product and
dump it into a feed bunk in the
free-stall barn. Lastly, he has to go
into the bunk with a fork and
spread the product around_
"It adds about 15-20 minutes of
work to every feeding," he says.
Mr. Schmidt continues to fine-
tune his ration. Recently, he started
feeding fish meal, meat meal and
corn gluten meal to supply the cat-
tle with more by-pass protein and
animal fat.
His goal is to reach an average of
250 BCA which is the average of
the top Jersey herd in Ontario.
He's well on the way having cap-