Dairy farmers across the province will be keeping a sharp eye on green fields this spring as they plan when to cut the forages that will form the basis for cow rations for the coming year.

Some will be looking to growing degree days (GDDs) as a scientific calculation of when to cut. Top protein and fibre are worth thousands of dollars to dairy farmers who want to keep down protein costs and provide the right kind of fibre to cows to maintain feed intake.

The magic GDD number that should provide the best feed is around 650. But the calculation that is used to get there remains imperfect.

"We're working on it," says Beth Wheeler, Brighton-based dairy adviser for the Ontario agriculture ministry. Growing degree days, a calculation of heat units that involves maximum and minimum temperatures starting April 1, and performing wet chemistry analysis on samples through the season, is considered to be the best way of calculating when to cut forage. The trouble with growing degree days, Wheeler says, is that it applies to alfalfa, something that is almost never grown by itself. Nearly every field has some grass in it, which can skew the results because grasses don't mature at the same time as alfalfa.

There's a host of forage maturity measuring systems being examined in cool-season growing areas ranging from New York state to Minnesota. They all involve scissors cuts, harvesting the forage at regular intervals from a one-foot- square area. But not one of them seems to work well for Ontario.

"We are trying to refine some of these measures or combine them and come up with a prediction equation that will work here in Ontario," Wheeler says.

The goal is to predict when forage should be cut so that it comes out of the silo at 20-30-40: 20 per cent protein, 30 per cent acid detergent fibre, and 40 per cent neutral detergent fibre, which is considered ideal for feeding dairy cows. There's already good information on what kind of forage has to go from the haylage wagon into the blower to get that mixture out after it ensiles, Wheeler says. The key is to know the right time to harvest it.

This spring, crop advisers Chris Brown at Woodstock, Peter Johnston in Middlesex county and Paul Sullivan at Ottawa will test forage at two sites, and both pure and mixed stand samples will be taken.

"We aren't using it as an extension project this year," Wheeler says. "We are trying to validate several different methods to discover which one is best for Ontario." There are four or five scissor cut methods to predict quality. The problem is that they all deal with pure alfalfa and most farmers grow mixed stands. "We have to find a way to bridge that gap," Wheeler says.

Wheeler says that the University of Guelph is working on predicting the quality of pure grass stands and pure alfalfa stands. She hopes the project will marry the two groups. Extensionist specialists will be studying several variables:
- Straight growing degree days. This involves calculating accumulated heat units by recording minimum and maximum daily temperatures at Environment Canada weather stations and predicting when alfalfa will be at the optimum cutting stage by sampling forage taken from farmers' fields;
- Mean stage by weight. Alfalfa and grass are scissors cut from a one-foot-square area and split up. The number of plants at each of the stages of growth are calculated and weighed "so that you get a weighted average." This has been done mostly for alfalfa, and little work has been done with grasses, Wheeler says;
- Predicted Equations for Alfalfa Quality (PEAQ). The height of the tallest stem and the maturity of the most mature stem are determined to predict the NDF content;
- Cornell sample. In New York last year, scientists sampled alfalfa when it was four to six inches tall and took another sample a week later to determine the changes in NDF based on the growing degree days during that week.

Every sampling method has its shortfalls. Straight growing degree days has its shortcomings in cold springs such as last year and this year.

The mean-stage-by-weight project from Minnesota has been used on alfalfa but hasn't been tested in mixed stands, Wheeler says. She hopes these samples can be linked up with research at the University of Guelph studying quality in pure alfalfa and pure grass stands this summer in Elora and New Liskeard. The PEAQ system, developed in Wisconsin, works on straight alfalfa but not on mixed samples, and "it doesn't predict protein very well," Wheeler says.

Her greatest optimism lies with the Cornell system, which involves both NDF and growing degree days. A sample is taken at mid-May and another one a week later and the differences in protein and fibre are determined. "That is quite a bit more accurate, from what I got from Cornell, than just collecting growing degree days because it gives you a place to start from."

But Wheeler is keeping her options open. In these systems, she thinks there are bits and pieces that can be used to put together a solid system that will predict forage maturity consistently in Ontario.

1996 is another challenging year for forage growers. At press-time, fields were still soggy, few crops had been planted across the province, and forage growth was minimal. "This year, soil temperatures are very cold. We haven't accumulated very many growing degree days. But if we get a week of heat, things are going to go bananas," Wheeler says.

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AI Act still kicking

By ROBERT IRWIN

Reports of the death of Ontario's Artificial Insemination Act may have been exaggerated, says Pierre Saumure, newly-elected president of Eastern Breeders Incorporated (EBI) at Kemptville. Earlier this month, Saumure met with Agriculture Minister Noble Villeneuve about the government's controversial plan to abolish the act. "The Minister didn't say that the AI act was over. First he said it, then he retracted," Saumure insists.

At press-time Villeneuve was in a cabinet meeting but a spokesperson in his office confirmed there has been no announcement yet on future regulation.

The future of EBI, a financially troubled breeding co-operative, could hinge on a provision of the act which guarantees EBI the exclusive right to breed cows in eastern Ontario. Elmira-based St. Jacobs ABC has failed during several hearings over the past few years to get government approval to operate in EBI territory.

Many assumed that St. Jacobs would begin breeding cattle once the act was repealed as specified in Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs press releases. Saumure says Villeneuve has asked the industry for a new proposal on self- regulation which might be used to keep competition out. "Maybe it [competition] will come, maybe not, it depends on how the minister is going to work with us," Saumure says. "We're working to give the best service that we can to our customers so that if competition comes to our region we'll be able to face it."

EBI customers in less frequently-travelled regions could face higher costs if competition does come, according to Saumure. "Right now they're entitled to the same service as everyone else, but we're not sure about the future."

EBI first services were down about four per cent last year, contributing to a $3-million loss. This is in sharp contrast with lucrative earlier years which allowed the co-op to accumulate about $10 million in capital assets along with $2 million in investments.

"The good news," says Saumure, "is in first quarter of this year we were able to bring the expenses down by $500,000." However, he notes income is down as well.

The Embryo Shop, EBI's embryo transplant program launched earlier this year, is enjoying record sales. Staff working at capacity, according to Saumure, house donor cows in a barn near the bull stud.

Export sales, an important revenue source, haven't recovered from a $2.6-million drop last year, triggered when second round proofs on top-ranked sire, Prelude, plummeted. "We aren't selling any semen to SEMEX right now. The U.K. is our best customer. With the Mad Cow Disease, everything is on hold," Saumure explains.

On the other hand, any British efforts to replace herds in the aftermath of the current slaughter program could be a windfall for EBI. Saumure predicts semen and embryo sales could take off "in the near future, but you never know".

In April, 1995, EBI delegates rejected a proposal to reduce costs by amalgamating with Western Ontario Breeders and United Breeders. Saumure insists the mandate from EBI membership was clear, and, despite subsequent hard times, amalgamation hasn't been reconsidered.

Instead, he hopes a new alliance between AI units across Canada, which should get underway in July, will pool some semen revenues and cut costs. "Before we had SEMEX doing overseas marketing and we had the local units doing some kind of promotion overseas too. If one unit is not well equipped for financial services they could contract with one of the others in the alliance for computer work."

Saumure is a fourth-generation farmer from Clarence Creek, east of Ottawa. He milks 60 cows on 350 acres in partnership with his brother, Jules. This month, the brothers achieved their first excellent cow.

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Cheese caper concludes

Criminal charges arising from last summer's ill-fated raid on the Skotidakis cheese factory at St. Eugene, east of Ottawa, were resolved earlier this month. Peter Skotidakis, father of the factory's owner John Skotidakis, pleaded guilty to one charge of common assault. He paid a $250 fine.

All other charges against Peter and his wife Maria have been dropped. The aborted raid was carried out by Dairy Farmers of Ontario fieldman Alex Hamilton, provincial milk quality inspector Roger Pommainville and provincial investigator Peter Dnistrianskyj, who were attempting to gather evidence of illegal milk purchases from area farmers. A farmer who was identified during the raid was later charged with illegal milk sales.

"It's been very stressful for our family," says John Skotidakis. During the past year, the family also faced an endless series of licensing hearings and appeals which now appear to have ended.

Earlier this year, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs turned down Skotidakis' request to purchase cow's milk from Dairy Farmers of Ontario. They were, however, permitted to continue purchasing cow's milk from a Quebec processor and goat's milk from area farmers.

John Skotidakis says in the past few months his family has enjoyed an upsurge in sales of yogurt and feta cheese in the Toronto area. They already hold a major share of the Montreal feta market. Their feta is made from a blend of goat and cow's milk.

The family milks more than 1,000 goats on their own farm. They have also been the major buyers of goat's milk for eastern Ontario goat farmers. - RI