Three dairy building contractors provided Progressive Dairyman with an across-the-country cross-section of trends in their respective regions.

Dairies know that by keeping a close eye on the expenses, you can set up a lean operation that is well insulated against changes in the market. It used to be that many of us would see energy costs as a standard monthly expense we couldn’t do much to alter. Today, however, more and more dairies recognize that energy costs are within the control of the farm, and upgrading to more energy-efficient equipment makes good business sense.

People expect cows to graze. Pastoral scenes of cows at pasture are used by many marketing groups to sell milk products. Yet the reality of our dairy industry in North America and many other parts of the globe is very different, with a shift toward larger herds, housing and more intensive management.

It’s that time of the year. The leaves have colored and fallen, football season is in full swing, and we’re coming to grips with what kind of forage quality we have to feed deep into 2015. Hay and haylage crops are in storage and corn silage is being harvested throughout the Upper Midwest. While some were interested in my Halloween costume, more importantly and not jokingly, more people are asking about this year’s crop quality. How is our 2014 forage shaping up?

It should be obvious that nutrient requirements of dairy cattle are the same as they have always been; we are the ones slowly advancing our understanding of those requirements. The purpose of the various editions of the National Academy of Science/National Research Council publication on the nutrient requirements of dairy cattle is simple. Users of that system must be able to predict how cattle will perform for a given set of inputs and able to predict what those inputs should be for a given output.

Dairy producers and nutritionists understand the value of highly digestible forages and their importance in helping drive high milk production in dairy cows. With corn silage becoming more important to dairy rations and the dairy farm enterprise, it is critical to maximize energy from this crop. Highly digestible brown midrib (BMR) corn silage offers one tool to help maximize milk production on the dairy farm.

The goal of any trace mineral program is to provide adequate but non-toxic amounts of each trace mineral required by the animal. Even marginal deficiencies of certain trace minerals can reduce feed intake and milk production, impair reproduction and reduce the immune response, leading to increased disease susceptibility.