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The dairy industry has become increasingly precise in identifying and meeting the protein requirements of dairy cattle.Most notably, the industry has moved from focusing on the diet’s content of crude protein to metabolizable protein and now to individual amino acids.
Dairy producers and nutritionists understand the importance of providing adequate levels of nutrients in dairy cow rations. However, it is possible to provide too much of a good thing, which can lead to some undesirable consequences.
The ties between dairy calf growth and adult performance are strong and circular. The first 45 to 50 days of a heifer calf’s life are critical for success, setting the stage for future health status, milk production, reproduction, and ultimately, longevity in the herd.
Feed represents more than half of a typical dairy farm’s operating costs. When milk prices decline, cutting feed costs is often a tempting first strategy for producers and their nutrition consultants.
Advances in seed and precision-farming technologies are continuing to drive higher productivity and crop yields. Farmers are looking for any edge they can gain, and that’s especially true for dairy producers during times of lower milk prices.
Several research studies say that for every extra hour our lactating cows lie down in a 24-hour cycle, they produce about 3 extra pounds of milk with similar dry matter intakes. This milk is basically free or at least results in mostly income with very little expense.
Alfalfa haylage is a staple in the diets of high-producing dairy cows across the nation primarily due to its significant contributions of crude protein and physically effective fiber (peNDF) in most TMRs.
Still, alfalfa remains one of the most difficult and challenging forages to ensile properly. The vast majority of alfalfa is harvested correctly and ferments properly, but we still see about 5 to 10 percent that goes “butyric” due to clostridic fermentation.
For many dairy farmers, having milk cows that spend a good deal of their lives grazing on well-managed and productive pastures is an environmentally friendly and profitable way to dairy.
Every inoculant comes with a salesperson who professes how great their product works and how much their inoculant will save the producer money by reducing shrink and preserving feed quality.
In response, the producer mutters, “I wish there was a way to tell if it’s really working. How do I know if your inoculant, or anyone else’s, is doing anything?”
Last month I shared an article I had written several years ago. The crux of the article was taken from the words of Jeremiah, an Old Testament prophet, who spoke of broken cisterns.In the early days, a cistern was a place capturing and storing rainwater.
