Many of us use references to help us make decisions, confirm our beliefs or for inspiration. Books (or online versions) like the Statistical Abstract of the United States, the Merck Veterinary Manual, the Bible, the Angus Herd Sire Registry or the Congressional Directory.

(Click here to listen to the podcast of this column.) Last November, my niece, Annette, lost her son in an unforeseen accident. He went to bed one night and choked on a piece of candy. A shock like that is hard to get over. One day, he is alive full of mischief and teenage emotion, and the next day he is gone.

In this article, we discuss the intricate relationships between milk production, dry matter (DM) intake and bodyweight, and how your animals’ nutritional needs are determined by stage of lactation and level of production. The first part of the article will describe the lactation cycle, followed by an example of how feeding your animals properly will keep your animals healthy and keep money in your pocket.

Putting up high-quality forage is essential to a profitable dairy operation. The high protein potential, and savings, you can gain from producing high-quality alfalfa forages make it well worth the extra effort to do it right.

No one has to tell dairy producers and their advisers we are facing some very challenging times. Managing dairies in good times is tough; managing dairies in these economic conditions is extremely trying. Producers and their advisers who can best implement strategies that maximize efficiencies (feed and management) will be best prepared to weather the current economic storm. However, we must keep in mind that the things we do today can have an effect down the road and we must consider any negative effects those changes might have on future production and profitability.

Adverse weather conditions like drought present the dairy producer with some major challenges. The largest problem is having enough forage available to feed all animal groups. The second significant problem is forage quality. The obvious questions to ask during drought situations are:

Triticale (trit-e-kay-le) has been a commercial crop for 42 years. At first, most varieties were dual purpose for grain and forage, and the original intent was to develop triticale as a food crop. However, the realities of the difficulties and expense of changing our food culture soon dawned on us. While bread and other wheat-like products are still a goal, it soon became apparent that to survive, we needed to develop triticale as a forage.

Supplementation of dairy cattle diets with chromium propionate has considerable potential to improve glucose and NEFA (non-esterified fatty acid) metabolism, dry matter intakes and milk yields, particularly in transition cows (Figure 1).

What determines the value of ingredients? When do ingredients no longer contribute value to your ration? What exactly are “value” ingredients? Dairy ration ingredients are a major operating expense for dairy producers. Using opportunity ingredients and on-farm feedstuffs helps keep your ration costs down. But ingredients need to provide true benefit, whether it’s in the end cost or in the nutritional value of your ration.