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As we look ahead to the upcoming silage harvest and these volatile grain and commodity markets, how can we take our harvest, storage and feedout practices and improve our efficiencies to improve our bottom lines?
Every year, fermentation shrink, or forage dry matter (DM) loss, robs farms’ feed inventory without leaving a trace. Poof, tonnage fed comes out short of tonnage stored. Maintaining valuable nutrient content for feedout is a constant battle with the variables that lay waste to ensiled feeds.
It’s well known that some loss of dry matter (DM) and nutrients during the ensiling process is unavoidable. However, during the process of harvesting and ensiling, there are choices to make and management practices to utilize that may minimize those losses.
Automated feeding is not necessarily a new concept. Tiestall barns utilized automated versions of concentrate feeders as far back as the 1970s and ’80s.
Corn silage is the go-to homegrown forage for supplying digestible starch and fiber high-producing cows require. Often, however, shortcuts and oversights during the growing, harvest and storage processes can limit its resulting feed value.
The harvest has come and gone, taking much of the opportunity to prevent shrink in your feed storage, but these winter shrink tips from three nutritionists across the U.S. can help your operation save money and protect your herd’s health no matter what kind of weather winter throws your way.
