February 26, 2011

I was very excited when I checked my email this afternoon to have recieved a response from Bill Taylor, the man I emailed from Cedar Lane Farm. I thought and was hoping that he was the man I sat next to at the Ag. Dinner earlier this month, however he was not. He works for a farm in Hunderton County that I am very familiar with and said he is a judge and has judged across the East Coast but had never judged at the World Dairy Expo. Although he is not the man I was looking for I still think he would be a very good contact to have and he said he would be willing to help me whenever I needed.

February 25, 2011

Today was our FFA chapter's annual petting zoo to celebrate FFA Week. I spent my entire day there and by the time I came home I was exhausted so I did not work on my WISE project.

February 24, 2011

Mr. Reising and I had our second mentor meeting today. I printed the email I recieved back in December from Dr. Pat Hoffman, a professor at the University of Wisconsin. In the email Dr. Hoffman state that protein is often wasted and urinated out. Mr. Reising suggested that I talk to my dad and see if he recommends keeping an eye on my animals urine. We spent most of the period working on a equation to figure out how many pounds of soybean meal is needed for an 18% protein diet. I am going to keep working on the equation and try to figure out the proper amount before next week. My dad wants to grind feed for my heifers because buying it is too expensive so this will be beneficial to myself as well as other dairy farmers.

February 23, 2011

Yesterday I was talking to one of my friends who shows dairy cattle in Hunderton County so I thought I would ask her about the mystery man from the Ag. Dinner. She was not certain but she said there is a man named Bill Taylor, the herdsman for Cedar Lane Farm, that she knows is a judge but she's not sure if he's ever judged at the World Dairy Expo. I was able to find the Mr. Taylor's email address that she's talking about and emailed him to find out if he is the man I met at the Ag. Dinner. I am also hoping to develop a series of questions to ask various dairy farmers about what ingrediants they use for their feeds and if they are happy with the results because I need to visit one of the local dairy farmers on Saturday to breed a few heifers. Since the petting zoo for FFA is Friday I'm not sure I'll be able to get interview questions ready within a day so if not I will talk to Clint about what I want to do and try to set up another day to meet with him. Clint is a very good family friend of us so I'm sure he'll be willing to help me out and work with me.

February 22, 2011

We spent our class period in the computer lab again doing more research. I found an article published my the Virginia Cooperative Extension through Virginia Tech. The headline of the article read "Feeding Protein to Meet Dairy Cow Nutrient Requirements Can Result in Cheaper, Environmentally Friendly Rations" so I figured it would be a good article to take a look at. Mr. Reising suggested that in my project I incorporate the aspect of whether or not feeding the dairy animals this high protein feed is worth it and whether their production pays off. Just like the previous articles I've found however this one also has very confusing charts. I'm thinking it may be a good time to contact Mr. Hlubik's brother and see if I may be able to meet with him one day and he can help me read them. Maybe he'll even be able to help me develop a feed ration for my own heifers!

February 21,2011

Today I didn't do much with my project as I am still not feeling very well. Since I already have some research printed out I went through and highlighted important information that I thought would be relevant to my project. I am still not sure though whether I want to focus my project completely on dairy cows or whether I want to open it to heifers and calves as well, just general dairy nutrition.

February 20,2011

Although I swore I was not going to make my journal a blog, I decided it might be easier this way. Today I transfered all my blog entries from pen and paper to computer today.
I also did some more research today and found an article similar to the University of Wisconsin one on the University of Mississippi website. The Mississippi article does not have confusing charts but gives you exact amounts in pounds of what ingrediants to put into a 14% protein feed.
This afternoon the vet came to examine one of my sick cows and I asked him what percentage of protein he recommended. Going against the heifer specialist at the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Pettit swears that heifers need an 18-20% protein diet in order to assure maximum growth. Both men are very well educated in their field so I am curious to do more research so I can determine who is right.

February 19, 2011

One of our farm employees helped me clean out calf pens today and I mentioned to him how I was having trouble understanding the University of Wisconsin chart. He told me that a local dairy farmer, Charlie Davis, is very good at reading those sort of charts and he might be willing to help me. Clint Shontz, another local dairy farmer, who I do more buisness with and am more friendly with also grinds his own feed so he may be able to help me read the chart. I decided to text Clint but did not get a response.

February 18,2011

Today should have been my weekly meeting with my mentor but since I was sick all week and accomplished very little we decided the meeting could wait until next week. During class we spent the period in the computer lab researching our projects. I found a very informative article on the University of Wisconsin website. It lays out the feeding necessities for dairy cattle from just after weaning the calves to right before calving. Some of the tables are confusing to me but since I've been in contact with the heifer specialist at the University of Wisconsin I may ask him for help.

February 17, 2011

For the third day in a row I stayed home sick, feeling even worse than the previous two days. Once again I did not work on my WISE project so I will have alot of work to do when I'm feeling better.

February 16, 2011

Again, I stayed home from school not feeling well and did not work on my project. Hopefully tomorrow I'm feeling better and have the energy to do some research.

February 15, 2011

I stayed home from school today not feeling well. Majority of my day was spent sleeping and I did not work on my project.

February 14, 2011

We began to watch Julie and Julia in class today. I'm sure once we get farther into the movie it will be good but as now I'm not a huge fan. Although I was excited when I noticed that the main character, Julie, uses the same blog website we used in my economics class and that I am currently using.
When I went home from school I felt very sick and went right to bed so I did not work on my project at all.

February 13, 2011

I found my previous email from the heifer specialist at the University of Wisconsin, Professor Patrick Hoffman. When I talked to him originally it was about what percentage of protein should be in heifer feed in order for them to grow to win shows. He told me the percentage of protein was not as important as keeping them on milk longer when they're young. His response confused me a bit because I have always heard that the higher the amount of protein in their feed, the faster the animal grows. I'm now extremely interested in getting farther into my research so I know whether or not I'm wasting my money by buying high protein feed.

February 12, 2011

I had to go up to North Jersey to bring a sick cow home this morning. The man who owns the farm where I board my milking cows, Bob, was one of the farmers that the Ag. Dinner "mystery man" mentioned knowing so I was really excited to finally find out who he is. Well, unforunately Bob was out hunting and was not around the farm for me to ask so I will have to call him tomorrow.
Also, yesterday I found out that one of Mr. Hlubik's brothers graduated from Penn State with a degree in dairy nutrition. That's perfect! I have previously been in contact with a professor at the University of Wisconsin regarding his recommendation for heifer feed so I will contact him again this week.

February 11, 2011

I didn't go to WISE class today because I had a meeting with my mentor Mr. Reising. We got alot accomplished during our meeting and he helped me make some goals, both long term and short term. We were able to contact a representative from the Holstein Association and found a phone number of the NJ Holstein Assoc. President, Bernie Beaty. I'm hoping that Bernie will know who the mystery man from the Ag. Dinner is because they're both from Hunterdon County and there are only so many dairy farmers in that county. On a side note, I was very excited to find the New Jersey Holstein Assoc. scholarshiop while we were searching for Bernie's contact info.

Mentor Meeting #1:
Goal-Study dairy nutrition and determine how to feed you're dairy cows so they grow to meet the dairy judging scorecard.

What to Look At:
-Dairy Judging Scorecard
-Added Expenses vs. Milk Produced (Is it worth it?)
-Various University's Dairy Science websites

Need to Do:
-Call Bernie
-Contact Sandy McCauley (NJ Holstein Assoc. Rep)

Next Week's Goal:
-Call Bernie to find out Ag. Dinner "mystery man"

February 10, 2011

Today is my first day keeping a journal because yesterday I was giving my speech at the New Jersey State Agricultural Convention. At the dinner Tuesday night I met a man who happened to be involved in the dairy industry. He told me about how he was a judge at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin and how he had bred some previous Expo champions! Since I'm still not 100% sure exactly where I want to go with my project but I know I defintely want the dairy industry to be the focus I figured he would be a good contact.
Unforunately, he left immediately following the din ner and I was not able to catch his name. My dad and I both looked for him throughout the sessions yesterday but he was no where to be found. I was really bummed when I couldn't find him but my mentor, Mr. Reising's, idea is that we'll contact the state Ag. Board President and ask for his assistance in finding him. I think he'd be the perfect contact to have even after this project because my life goal is to one day judge the World Dairy Expo.