Discover how selecting weed-competitive varieties, testing soil and irrigation water, adjusting soil pH, monitoring plants, controlling weeds and timing your harvest can have a significant impact on forage quality.

Weak calf syndrome is exactly as it sounds; newborn calves are born weak, fail to thrive and often never get up to nurse. This is not a new phenomenon, and the industry has been combating it for decades.

Well-managed forage programs are a key aspect of any dairy operation, and tools such as MILK2024 are valuable metrics to help make decisions on both the quality and quantity of feed harvested. As technology implementation increases, it is critical to assess what works for an operation and what doesn’t. Understanding the potential impact of these decisions on milk production can help producers do just that. 

Most of what we read and talk about when it comes to improving forage quality is increasing protein, decreasing fiber and improving digestibility. However, this season, I have been observing more samples with high ash content bringing down RFQ values in comparison to RFV.

Smaller producers often simply accept as fact that their production costs are going to be higher than their larger counterparts. However, there are ways to become more cost-effective and profitable.

As the calendar has turned to autumn and the hay harvest season continues in full swing across the country, forage analysis labs expect to be hit by a tidal wave of samples from clients.