Cows Accorded Tender Care By
Mindi Dairy Personnel
The Panama Canal Review: Vol. I, No. 2 - August 4, 1950
If cleanliness is next to godliness, as the old proverb
says, all the cows at Mindi Dairy are slated for heavenly pastures when they die. Without
taking the comparison further, it can be fairly stated that no debutante is more carefully
scrubbed and groomed for her round of the night spots than Mrs. Moo at Mindi Dairy when
she is ready on her twice-a-day schedule to furnish you with the bottle of milk you
sleepily take in from the back porch the next morning.
Not only has bossy been thoroughly scrubbed from head to foot and horns to switching tail,
but her milk manufacturing parts have been sterilized with chlorine solution and her
attendants, milker and feeder, have bathed and changed their clothes to attend her.
Even before she enters the milking barn Mrs. Moo has been given a thorough and
expert inspection to see that she feels completely up to snuff.
Such tender care must be deserved and Dr. C.C. Clay, Manager of Mindi Dairy Farm, says it
is.
To his way of thinking, the manufacture of a bottle of milk is no less a delicate and
painstaking job than the making of a fine watch. The process is different and the
manufacturing machine appears clumsier but only a fine craftsman, he says, can make you a
precision timepiece or deliver a bottle of fresh milk to your door every morning which is
free of impurities and rich in butter fat and food value.
A Commissary Unit
Mindi Dairy, one of the many and diversified units of the Commissary Division, with its
present cattle population of 1,600 Holsteins, Guernseys, Jerseys, and Brown Swiss, has a
proud 33-year record. Presently, it supplies more than a half million gallons of
milk, enough for every Canal Zone man, woman, and child to have ten gallons a year.
The importance of this ready supply of fresh, pure milk was made highly apparent during
World War II when the supply lines to the Isthmus were almost severed by submarine
warfare. During the precarious four-year period when ships were needed for something
other than transporting cows and milk to the Isthmus, infants, hospital patients and
others needing fresh milk for health purposes were assured of a steady supply at uniform
prices even though the supply was not then enough to meet the demand of the greatly
increased Zone population.
The dairying industry in the Canal Zone has a much longer history than that at Mindi.
From the beginning of the Canal construction period in 1904, a herd of cattle was
maintained by Ancon (now Gorgas) Hospital on the slopes of Ancon Hill. The pasture
extended from where the Governor's house now stands to San Juan Place and between what is
now Gorgas Road and Ancon Boulevard. The only remaining evidence of this dairy farm
is a huge concrete watering tank near the intersection of Ancon Boulevard and Cascadas
Road.
This herd was kept solely to supply hospital needs and was moved to Corozal after a few
years. The Corozal dairy farm was abandoned not long after Mindi Dairy was
established in 1917 near the old Mindi Dock with a herd of about 100 Colombian cattle.
The farm was moved to its present site the following year and the herd was
increased to about 2,000 Colombian cattle and 200 registered cattle imported from
Michigan.
Years of Experience
By many years of experience in handling pure bred cattle in the tropics, the herd has been
gradually evolved to its present size without the necessity of cross breeding with native
cattle which produce less milk but have more stamina in withstanding the tropical heat and
rains. Dr. Clay says there is little difference in the health of the various breeds in the
health of the various breeds in the tropics and none of the pure breds withstand the
extreme heat and excessive rain too well. Mindi Dairy stocks more Holsteins because
of the high volume of milk produced. The present census shows 864 Holsteins, 141
Guernseys, 30 Jerseys, and 28 Brown Swiss among the milk producers. The Brown Swiss
have only recently been stocked at the farm but they are already favorites with Dr. Clay
who says they are high producers of fine quality milk. They are comparable in size
to the Holsteins and Guernseys. Jerseys, long a favorite among dairymen in the
United States, produce less volume but milk of high butter fat content.
The extra care Dr. Clay and his assistants give to cleanliness of the cows, the barns,
personnel assigned to milking and utensils used at the dairy shows in the revealing
figures on bacteria count of Mindi Dairy milk. During the past year Board of Health
Laboratory reports showed an annual average bacteria count of 22,000 per cubic centimeter
of raw milk and 1,500 bacteria count per cubic centimeter of pasteurized milk from Mindi.
Minimum standards set by the United States Public Health Service are 200,000 bacteria
count for Grade A raw milk and 30,000 for pasteurized milk. The Health Department
demands minimum requirements of 500,000 and 50,000 for Grade A raw and pasteurized milk.
Both agencies call for not less than 3.25 percent butter fat content and Mindi
Dairy milk more than meets this standard with an annual average past year of 3.6 percent.
Solicitous Care Given
The solicitous care which the cows receive does not begin and end in the milking barn.
It starts when a cow or calf is first listed in the cattle census and does not end
until they are dropped from the rolls. An individual history and record of every
cow, bull, and calf is kept which would do justice to the personnel records of a
Government agency. When a calf is born at the farm, which occurs about ten times every
week, it is given a metal check, a system long since abandoned by the Canal for its paid
employees. Meanwhile, and index card is prepared showing the calf's genealogy, sex,
breed, weight, and any other data of importance. This begins a running record which
continues throughout the animal's stay on the farm.
Napier grass, brought to the Canal Zone from Africa about 22 years ago, forms a staple
item of diet for Mindi cows, and each cow eats about 25 pounds a day. The local
grass, however, merely supplements the basic diet which consists of feeds procured in the
United States or other world markets and shipped to the Isthmus at full commercial
transportation rates which are an important factor in keeping production costs high in
relation to those in the States. These feeds include alfalfa hay, corn meal, hominy
feed, malt sprouts, salt, bone meal, ground oats, mineral concentrates, soybean meal,
wheat bran, wheat middlings, glutten meal and feed, and linseed meal. This
impressive menu is topped off with molasses and brewers grain, bought locally, as a kind
of dessert, and the favorite part of the meal.
Imported Feed High
Illustrating the costs involved in importing feed, alfalfa hay, of which 1,773 tons were
purchased last year, cost an average of $24.50 a ton in the United States. Freight
costs were greater than the value of the hay, with the result that the landed cost on the
Isthmus was from $51.00 to $54.00 a ton.
Like most men of long experience in handling animals, the Manager of Mindi Dairy has a
quiet and kindly air about him. He moves without haste and speaks in modulated
tones. He thinks kindly of the animals and requires the men on the farm to treat
them so. They are not permitted to strike or frighten the cows at any time and
non-violent methods are used to quiet a frightened or unruly cow. This pays good
dividends in milk for, despite their placid appearance, many cows are high-strung and
particularly nervous at milking hour.
Dr. Clay had several years experience in veterinary practice and dairying in his home
state of Iowa before joining the Canal service in 1924. All of his service has been
at Mindi Dairy and he became Manager of the farm four years ago after the retirement of
Dr. T.L. Casserly.
Dr. Clay's chief assistants are Dr. P.H. Dowell, graduate veterinarian, Frank Fynan,
Foreman of the farm, and Charles Thompson, Night Foreman. In all, Mindi Dairy
provides employment for about 150 men, all but four of whom are local-rate employees.
CZBrats
May 23, 2000
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