As the cold-weather months approach, there are a few things we can do to prepare our operation for those cold snaps.

One opportunity producers and nutritionists can leverage today is to improve feed efficiency through precise forage management and strategic nutritional technologies. By making thoughtful small changes like optimizing forage use and incorporating intelligent feed solutions, dairy operations can stretch existing feed supplies further without compromising milk production or herd health.

The global dairy sector made unexpectedly strong gains, growing by 3.2%. Robust consumer demand, favorable milk prices and a shift toward more intensive farming practices largely fueled this expansion, with Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa and Latin America all displaying growth. While dairy feed production remained stable in North America, Oceania’s reliance on abundant pasture led to a slight dip in its feed tonnage.

Silage can be difficult to introduce into an animal’s diet, but once it is established, moving from one crop to the next produces a new set of challenges. When changing types of silage, or from crop to crop, here are some things to consider.

Hay is a major component of winter feeding programs for many cow-calf operations. Reducing hay losses during storage is critical to reduce overall winter feeding costs.

Just as feed handling and management has evolved greatly over the last 50 years, the same will be true about data management as we move into the future. Identifying all of the data silos on farms and working to integrate them into a singular dataset will empower dairies to make more informed decisions that yield more substantial results quicker.