Four-year-old Tom and 8-year-old Steve
Bingham share in the pride of having earned
many bright, new, inspiring trophies in the
show ring with their dairy cattle in 1962.
Eight-year-old Steve is starting to get on-the-job training for the
day when he'll be taking purebred cattle of his own into the ring.
Sometimes ring technique contributes as much toward winning as
the fine points of the animal.
He sprays buildings and premises periodically during hot
months. Each cow is individually sprayed morning and night.
The program was most effective. Says Jack, "I think we had
more flies in the house than in the bam last summer. It pays
to keep dairy animals as comfortable as possible. I just know
that in bad years like this one was for flies, that a man could
lose about 20 percent of his milk production. Flies can pester a
cow almost to death.”
'Individual cow care and good sanitation pay off in another
way too,” remarked Bingham. “It costs me less in animal health
products and veterinarian service. Don’t misunderstand me . . .
I buy biologicals and medications when I need them, and I
dont waste any time calling my vet when I run into trouble. I
simply mean that a man can minimize his costly herd health
problems by keeping a close eye on every animal in the herd
and by caring for them properly.”
Bingham believes a woman’s place is in the home . . . not
in the bam. He handles the entire milking-cleanup operation
alone. I’m sure Charlotte Bingham has no objections. Never let
it be said that she doesn’t know his cows, though. She keeps
records and helps with registration and production data. She
fills her role of a dairyman’s wife well.
What about the physical facts of the farm? Well, we could
sum it up by calling it 192 acres of just about everything in
the book. It contains sloughs . . . some drained, some undrain
able. There are woods . . . some on scenic high ground, some
in low areas. There are hills . . . some gently rolling and tillable,
some that are kept in permanent pasture for good reason. There
are good grain-growing fields . . . some jet black peat soil, some
which heave up a good crop of glacier rocks every spring.
There’s even a good sized swamp in which nothing grows but
Reed Canary Grass. How the young heifers go for it for a few
weeks early in the season when the growth is new and tender.
Despite the variables, the farm can still produce 100 bushel
com, enough forage com to fill a silo, a big bin of oats and 7
thousand or more bales of good hay. There is also plenty of pas
ture. Nearly every pound of crop produced is increased in net
value by converting it into milk and saleable calves.
When asked if he would like to offer a little good advice
to aspiring young would-be dairymen with very little cash, Jack
replied, “Probably nothing new. But, first and foremost, utilize
to the fullest a limited amount of carefully selected machinery
and equipment. Start just big enough to get by. You’ll prob
ably be using your back more than you like, but things can
look up fast in this business ” Then, with a half smile on his
lips, he added, “Oh, and you might make a point of throwing
in with a good landlord like mine. It helps a lot.”
