SF 201 U6 1922 Copy 1 YOUR FUTURE HERD U. S. Department of Agriculture IX, O. Bureau of Animal Industry Dairy Division V D. D. E. 10—2-18-22—50,000. THE HERD TO-MORROW Y OUR HERD— will it grow better or poorer as the years pass by ? Your herd bull will largely determine this matter. Poor bulls decrease production. Good purebred bulls may double or even treble the production of the future herd. The value of such bulls is recognized, but the greatest difficulty has been for the farmer with a small herd to obtain one. The cooperative bull association is solving this problem for others. Why not for you ? In your own case, for instance, you may use a neighbor's bull or may own one yourself. Why not take the money that you and four or five of your neighbors spend for bull service or that you now have invested in several ordinary bulls and buy one good purebred bull capable of increasing the production of your herd? Would not this be a good investment ? Such a group or block of farmers to- gether with three to five similar blocks form the foundation of a cooperative bull association. * LtBfTARY OF CONGrttSS RECEIVED .♦AUG 151922 QOfSC/MENTS DIVISION The association thus organized buys a bull for each block and at the end of every two years the bulls are moved from one block to another until all the bulls have been used two years in each block. The bull association provides the large and small dairy herds with the use of a high-class purebred bull for a period of six to twelve years at an average cost below that of a cheap scrub. Figures from three typical associations show this. In one association four $276 bulls were purchased at an average cost of $42 per farmer. In another association it cost $53 per member for six $276 bulls. In a third association, at a cost of $240 per farmer, four $ 1 ,200 bulls were purchased. In belonging to a bull association, farmers pay a certain amount per cow. With 60 cows in a block, for instance, $10 per cow will raise $600 for a bull; and in a typical association of five blocks the farmer has for a period of ten years the use of five $600 bulls for the original investment of $ 1 per cow. The members in the entire association limit the amount assessed per cow, but those in each block select the place for keeping the bull and arrange the block according to their own convenience. PERTINENT FACTS REGARDING BULL ASSOCIATIONS THE cooperative bull association is * designed for a particular purpose, just as a machine is designed to do a particular kind of work. Owning a good dairy bull jointly with a number of your neighbors does not give you the full benefits of a bull as- sociation, because you have efficient bull service for about two years only. A bull association is made up of three or more blocks, all united in an organi- zation which provides at a low cost for the cooperative ownership, use, and exchange of superior bulls, and many other advantages not obtained by mem- bers of single independent blocks. The bull association gives each mem- ber bull service for six or more years for his share of the initial cost of one good bull. All the members together make the rules (the constitution and by-laws), and elect the officers, including a board of directors. One member from each block is elected director. The business of the association is handled by the directors. They select and buy bulls, arrange for a man in each block as keeper, provide a safe and satisfactory place for keeping the bull in each block, and are responsible for keeping the bulls in vigorous breeding condition. All the bulls belong to the association as a whole and not to any separate block. The directors may sell any bull that becomes unsatisfactory and replace him with a satisfactory one. All bulls must be of the same breed, uniform in type and conformation, and descended from ancestors with average butterfat records of at least 400 pounds a year. THE BULL ASSOCIATION- Gives you an exchange of three or more bulls for the first small investment. Offers an opportunity to try bulls, and retain the best. Makes the dairy cattle in a com- munity uniform, helps to sell them, and may also assist in buying. Provides good purebred bulls for the farmer with a small herd, even down to one cow. Is useful to all breeders of dairy stock, but most useful to the one with so few cows that he alone can not afford to buy a good bull. Helps the ambitious dairyman, strengthens his hopes, and arouses his enthusiasm. Permanently establishes in a com- munity one breed of cattle, and a systematic means of continuous dairy herd improvement by making the maxi- mum use of prepotent sires and by re- ducing losses caused by undesirable bulls. A bull association DOES NOT neces- sarily contribute to the spread of abortion or tuberculosis. IS THE BULL ASSOCIATION PRACTICABLE ? Judge for yourself. There were 1 58 associations in active operation in the United States on July 1 , 1 92 1 . and they NTY SHOWING ONE fLL ASSOCIATION 50 dairymen grouped into 5 breeding of a breed, which are shifted from ? BLOCK No. 5 7 Members I 12 Members 6 o cows Cows W \ *t . J*0*» ie man from each block, elected annually, jement of bulls and all business of the iV f SKETCH OF A COl COOPERATIVE B The association is composed c blocks, owning 5 of the better bul one block to another every two y BLOCIC No.l 8 Members 6C Cows BLOCIC N' A board of directors, composed of directs the purchase, shifting, and mai association. are steadily increasing in number each year. Here is what some of the mem- bers of associations and others say about their value: Everybody is more than satisfied with the bull association because each member has from 2 to 12 heifers milking that are a big improve- ment over their dams from a standpoint of production as well as uniformity. — Ray Holstein Breeders' Association, Washington, Mich. The members who have been in the associa- tion 7 years have expended only $143 each for bull service. The records of the daughters show considerable improvement over the dams. — New Windsor Guernsey Breeders' Com- pany, New Windsor, Md. Organizing two cooperative bull associations was the biggest thing the Farm Bureau of Susquehanna County undertook and finished in 1918. If it had accomplished nothing else the Farm Bureau would have been a success. — R. E. Wakeley, Susquehanna County, Pa. Our three meetings resulted in the Rowan County Cooperative Guernsey Bull Associa- tion, the good effect of which is so great that there is little danger of overestimating its value.— S. S. Stabler, Agricultural Agent, Rowan County, N. C. When you want a bull association, plan a block with your neighbors (or be a whole block by yourself if you have no neighbors); then go to your county agent and arrange for two or more other communities to form blocks. When they have become interested, call a general meeting and organize. Get your State dairy extension man to be present at this meeting to assist. Farmers' Bulletin 993, published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, gives constitution and by-laws and detailed information about organizing cooperative bull as- sociations. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 475 000 4 .