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I envision young farmers as a sea of eager agricultural entrepreneurs looking for new ways to improve themselves and their businesses. Recently, I spoke at the London Swine Conference about “Managing the Generations.”
Just like many other industries, agriculture has transformed over the past few decades. Not only is it changing, but it is changing at a very rapid pace.
Talk to most dairy producers about what the future holds for them in the industry, and you get the sense that navigating the policies and following the trade negotiations has become thorny, complex and makes strategic planning very difficult.
Farmers wear a number of hats on any given day – from milker and feeder to mechanic and accountant. It takes a variety of skill sets to get milk in the tank. A growing number of farmers are adding another hat: that of processor.
Much has been said about the importance of maintaining adequate levels of effective fibre in lactating dairy rations in order to support normal chewing behaviour and rumen function and maximize dry matter intake and milk production.
North American dairy operations are highly dependent on corn in the diets of their dairy cows. Corn silage is a staple ingredient, as is corn grain. In addition to its role on dairy farms, vast amounts of corn go to human consumption and ethanol production.
Oxygen: Humans can’t live without it while optimal silage fermentation can’t proceed with it. In fact, oxygen is so detrimental to anyone looking to put up quality silage that years of study and scores of management protocols have given rise to an industry that has a sole purpose of preventing oxygen from degrading silage.
Editor’s note: This is the first article in a series.
Silage’s drive from point A to point B: This probably sounds like a bad agriculture cartoon, as silage clearly does not sit down in a car and drive; however, forage preservation can be compared to a situation we have all encountered when driving to a new destination.
“Mycotoxin” is a general term used for secondary metabolites which have been shown to have some associated toxicity issues and are produced quite naturally by some fungi (molds). Mycotoxin production is sometimes stimulated by certain stressors.
