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Fourth annual report, St. Croix Co. Agricultural Extension Service: Nov. 1, 1940--Oct. 31, 1941
(1941)
Dairy cattle improvement, pp. 8-12
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Page 9
9 and rams on the farms and a better distribution of them, we worked in cooperation with the Bull sale and put on the Boar and Ram sale. Artificial Insemination We have been working towards an artificial insemination set- up for the county. Several plans have been considered; the one we would like best would be the plan whereby our organization can be set up in the county for servicing the needs of the farmers, working in cooperation with an adjoining county. This plan would mean we would not have to buy our own bulls nor set up our own breeding stalls. Many farmers are now for the first time realizing the harm that has been done to their herds through the use of scrub bulls. During the past six months there has been a very favorable milk and butterfat price. The natural tendency is to crowd these cows a little harder at this time to secure a maximum production of milk. Many of our farmers are finding that their cows do not respond to heavier feeding. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that the cows now in production in their herds are off-springs of the cross between good cows and poor bulls. As a result of this there is a very active demand for good bulls at the present time. This certainly was a favorable situation and we hope the interest in better bulls continues through the coming years. County-Wide Bang's Test Last November the Agricultural Committee met and recommended that we start a county-wide signup for compulsory Bang's test for all cattle in the county. As a result of mailing out individual petitions to all the farmers in the county, 950 signed petitions were returned by mail. Farmer committeemen have solicited 450 farmers so that at the present time we have a total of 1400 signers for the eounty-wide test. 'While the going is slow we are still keeping at it and hope that the test might be made within the com- ing year. It is a generally recognized fact that Bang's disease local- izes in one of three places. The disease can settle in the pro- ductive system of a cow which will generall cause abortion; the disease may settle in the udder of a cow making conditions favor- able for the development of mastitis or other garget troubles; or the disease may localize in the joints of the knees causing swollen knees which many times result in a stiffening of the joints and general loss of milk production as a result of it. While there may be some question in the minds of some farmers as to the accuracy of the test in Bang's disease, it is generally recognized as being an accurate test. While there have been hopes for the development of the vaccination of calves as a means of preventing loss due to Bang's disease, thus far the vaccine has not proved as satisfactory as had been hoped for. Dairy Cattle Sale Many carloads of dairy cattle have been shipped out of the county the past year. A large part of those shipments have gone to eastern herds. Some of the cattle, of course, have gone to
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