OCR Text |
Show Blackhnrsts raise prize winning stock - I By CINDY LLOYD Dean Blackhursts' four-year-old Jersey Cow, Blackhurst Advocate DoUy took the title of Grand Champion at the Utah State Fair this year. 1 Dean had several other heifers and cows place first in their various age groups. The animals are judged (or confirmation and physical traits as well as functional type traits which are defined as traits that prolong life and prolong milking age. Mr. Blackhurst was very pleased when he won his first Grand Champion in 1979 after showing for twenty years. He now has a total of three Grand Champion wins. Dean started out in the 4-H when he was nine-years-old and has competed in 4-H events and fair events ever since. His eight children now show in 4-H and fair compeitions. His two oldest daughters rise in the morning at five a.m. to help with the milking operation as well as the afternoon milking. Mr. Blackhurst prefers the twelve-hour interval because he feels an increase in-crease in milking volume per day will decrease fat and protein con tent which is so important to his market. Dean's father started the dairy farm, which Dean now runs in Pleasant Grove, with Jersey cattle. Dean likes the Jersey breed and feels they are really efficient cattle. Dean likes the Jersey breed and feels they are really efficient cattle. They convert feed to profitable product and have the high fat and protein content that gives it a good market for cheese products. Dairy cows usually have an average milking span of three or four years, and are then sold for meat. Bull calves are usually sold for meat, although a few are kept for breeding, but are not necessary since artificial insemination is very popular. When a cow has twin calves, a male and a female, both must be sold as the female becomes a 'free marten,' meaning the male hormones override the female hormones and the calf will never be able to reproduce and therefore never produce milk. Presently the Blackhursts have 120 milk cows. Usually fifteen to twenty are dry, so that about one hundred are milked each day. The average production per cow per years, he was responsible for annual an-nual meetings, award banquets, picnics and board meetings. He is a member of the Cache Valley Dairy Assoc. a dairy cooperative. In the past Dean was president of the Dairy Herd Improvement Assoc. and is presently on the board. The DHIA has a testing program which measures protein, fat and milk and is then recorded on a computer. Dean also has one hundred fifty acres that he farms. He raises such crops as alfalfa, barley and silage corn to use for feed. Mr. Blackhurst says for most Dairy farmers the last two years have been hard, with depressed year is 12,000 pounds ot milk, fa50 pounds of butterfat and 500 pounds of protein. Dean has an older cow that he has been milking for ten years which has produced 13,000 pounds of milk in her lifetime. Dean has a twelve-year-old cow that was the family's favorite and also a Grand Champion winner. She is quiet and friendly and the children like to play with her. The last four years Dean has been awarded plaques for the highest herd average in the state and also has two cows that won the Jersey Highest Individual Yield honor. Dean has been President of the Utah Jersey Cattle Club for four prices of milk caused by a surplus of milk. The government is buying the surplus and storing it, then taxing the dairymen to pay for buying the surplus. In a way Mr. Blackhurst feels the farmers have done such a good job and are now being penalized for it. Dean Blackhurst likes his life on his farm in Pleasant Grove, but is afraid that with the residential development of the area, he will be forced to relocate. Dean says if he sells within the next fifteen years he will purchase another farm and develop a larger dairy. 'V' I i I .' . j, ... n -:r ;-. ' K ? I ' ; I I , . 1 "- - -;4 w- r-- , . V I 1 or 7 ii. 1 " '1 1 I " v , . l : r ! J ( I v . i :.'. ... . , J " 4 ' ' ' n,:.1 , ' j f . '; - ' . . ' v : . - -.,. ; ,. . . it '.. i'-' :-' a .. .. . v . . ' 1 :s , r '' .. - , ' ' . . . f ': 1 ' ,.. , , F s j '., i v I- J ' v ','- '' ' - ' . a v V- " . -jf : v- - w ;.:; ' ' , . . - . . - ' ?ea Blackhurst's dairy cow "Blackhurst-Advocate Dolly" with his daughter, Sheila. U( is the Utah State Fair 1984 Grand Champion. |