UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 
 
 COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE BENJ . |DE Wheeler , President 
 
 BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA Thomas Forsyth Hunt, Dean and Director 
 
 CIRCULAR No. 95. 
 
 DETECTING DAIRY LOSSES. 
 
 By L. M. Davis. 
 
 A conservative estimate of the butterfat production of the average 
 dairy cow in California would place the amount at about 150 pounds, 
 but calculations made from statistics for 1912, which are available, 
 show that the production is still lower than this, being nearer 125 
 pounds. Under prevailing conditions in California no dairyman can 
 afford to feed and care for those cows whose records approach such a 
 mark as either of these and even where cheap pastures are available 
 there is a limit below which a cow does not pay for her keep. For the 
 year ending March 1, 1913, the average price paid for butterfat in 
 California, if based upon a two cent margin, San Francisco quotations, 
 was thirty- three (33) cents, and during the same time the price of 
 alfalfa hay hovered around the $12 mark. If an ordinary cow is fed 
 alfalfa alone, which is common though probably not the best practice, 
 she will consume annually an amount near to five tons, and there will 
 be other additional expense in the nature of labor to milk and care for 
 her. Using the two sets of figures mentioned, those relating to ex- 
 pense and those relating to profit, a pencil and paper will quickly 
 show that there must be a great number of cows in this State which 
 are a dead expense to their owners. How many dairymen know 
 whether or not they have cows which are in this class ? 
 
 Profitable dairying is an established possibility. Regardless of the 
 low average production cited, this condition is not a problem incapable 
 of being solved, as facts and figures even here in California have al- 
 ready shown. The solution lies through the use of milk scales and 
 the Babcock test. Periodic and systematic herd testing is the means 
 of turning loss into profit, and is a matter deserving of the attention 
 of dairymen, for it forms the true basis from which the cow's actual 
 performance may be determined. High cost of production demands 
 economy, and dairymen are compelled to eliminate from their herds 
 the poor producers. 
 
 Many dairymen own Babcock testers, but too few use them. The 
 value of the test is lost unless regularly made. Where dairymen find 
 it impossible to make periodic and regular tests, one of the most satis- 
 factory means of conducting the same is through the form of a cow 
 testing association. The nature of these associations is co-operative, 
 each dairyman paying in proportion to the number of cows owned. 
 In the Ferndale Association the cost per year is eighty cents (80#) 
 
 (1) 
 
— 2 — 
 
 for each cow in herds of fifty or more, and one dollar ($1.00) in 
 smaller herds. The present year this association has 2,600 cows under 
 test, and two testers are maintained. In the Stanislaus Association 
 the cost is one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) per cow, and in the Tulare 
 Association one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1.25) per cow. These 
 amounts vary according to the number of cows entered, and in no case 
 are they prohibitive when the value received is considered. The re- 
 sults in one herd, which has been tested regularly for three years, show 
 that the average butter fat production was 256 pounds for the first 
 year, 290 pounds for the second year, and 335 pounds for the third 
 year. While the first year's average is higher than the annual pro- 
 duction of the common dairy cow in the State, the great increase dur- 
 ing the two succeeding years simply serves to show the possibilities 
 through periodic testing for butter fat production. 
 
 In testing dairy herds for annual butter fat yield, system and regu- 
 larity are essential points. The plan of testing an evening and morn- 
 ing milking once each month has been found very satisfactory, as this 
 gives a close estimate of a cow's ability if carried on regularly 
 throughout an entire year. When testing periods occur at regular in- 
 tervals, the figures thus obtained can be used to estimate the yield for 
 the month, or for the fifteen days before and after test day. In the 
 association the tester visits each dairy once each month. The milk of 
 each individual cow is weighed night and morning, a composite sample 
 taken, and a test for butter fat made. Owners of cows are provided 
 with record sheets for each cow, and on these the tester enters the 
 monthly calculations, making it an easy matter for the dairyman to 
 pick out the unprofitable producers. Procedure, such as this, elimi- 
 nates guesswork, and puts the whole matter on a logical basis. Every 
 dairyman could test his own cows, but too often he fails to do this, 
 and it is for such a reason that a co-operative movement proves its 
 value. Where it is impossible to maintain a community enterprise, 
 individual owners must take the work upon themselves, for through 
 the use of milk scales and the Babcock test lies the true means of de- 
 termining a dairy cow's worth. In these days, when the cost of feed 
 is universally high, cows must deliver the goods.