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RE: Sailing War (was: Re: (TFT) Hirst Arts Melee/Wizard Arena)



Encyclopedia says;

A good Dairy cow may weigh up to 1700lbs (770kg) and produce 2,300 gallons (8,700 liters) or more of milk during the year. (modern production)
To do this, the cows eat large amounts of concentrates (grain and by-product feeds) and forages.

And there's the rub.
The idea is that, depending on how "good" your pasture is you supplement what's lacking with concentrates.
I'll type out some stuff on gauging the "quality" of land next.

Okay again, this is a early/mid 80's World Book, so we're talking Junior High stuff here.
However, this is somewhat significant I think.

Joe Average Dairy farmer invests an average of $804,000 for a farm with 52 cows (milking herd?).
Each cow must produce about 1,600 gallons (6,100 liters) of milk per year to meet costs.
The U.S. average yearly production per cow was 1,515 gallons (5,735 liters)
The better herds hit that 2,300 gallon figure I mentioned above.
Beecher Arlinda Ellen (Holstien 1975) produced 6,472 gallons, a world record.
DHI (Dairy Herd Improvement associations) average yealds of 1,800 gallons (6,800 liters)

Also, from "The Strength of the Hills";
The book focuses on "a day in the life" and this is the part where they talk about one of the kids getting a new calf to raise and be shown at 4-H and fairs, etc.
"The business and hardship of farming have always been softened by mornings like this one. Judy's calf will not be spared from the work of producing milk and calves for this farm when she is grown, nor will she escape the slaughterhouse at the end of her usefulness to this farm, (The Majors speech in Animal Farm) but the joy and hope that surround a special calf's birth...
Such is the rhythm of production on a dairy farm that all the cows are never lactating, or producing milk, at the same time. Tomorrow morning Judy will rejoin the herd of milkers she left six weeks ago when her calving date drew near. During that month and a half, her milk dried up and she gained strength for calving.
Giving birth has started her milk production again.
...
Two months from now Judy will be "bred back", or bred again, and nine months from then she will have another calf, after first drying off again. This pattern of  breeding, drying off, and giving birth is repeated each year among the one hundred and thirty cows on the Nelson farm, and keeps milk production high. (THERE it is! Pulling data from some of this stuff is like eye teeth...) "

Calf - bottle fed till about 6 weeks old

Heifer - too old for bottle, must be watched till about a year old when the urge to suck passes.
A heifer can then be left to wander until she is bread around two years old, after which she joins the milk herd.

Bull and twin heifer calves are sold to the cattle dealer for veal.
(modern farms use artificial insemination, I'm not so sure an older farm would ditch so many bulls.)

The six most important modern breeds in the U.S. are, Holstein-Friesian (85%), Jersey, Guernsey, Ayshire, Brown, Swiss, and Milking Shorthorn.
Other important milk animals include Goats, Sheep, Camels, Water Buffalo, Llama, Reindeer and Mare's.



Ad from the Washington Whatcom Independent
"Wanted - men to take care of cows that do not smoke or drink..."


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