In most areas of the country, corn silage makes up a large percentage of a dairy cow’s diet. Producing high-quality corn silage is a process that involves several important steps. It starts with planting the right varieties that combine yield potential with ideal traits related to nutrient concentrations and digestibility.

It comes as a surprise when some of your herd’s top performers drop off in milk. Nothing has changed regarding cow management, and you verify the diet is still high quality.

When following a recipe, it's often necessary to grab the correct ingredients at the store in order to get the optimal desired outcome. Similar to whipping up a cake or mixing your favorite dry rub, creating a dairy ration requires specific ingredients.

Rising feed and transportation costs have dairy farmers looking for ways to save on raising replacement heifers. A free spreadsheet planning tool called the Heifer Grazing Compass allows farmers to evaluate whether their operation can reduce cost and labor needs by creating a rotational grazing program.

Organic dairy producers must follow many rules that seem to heighten the struggles every dairy faces. One of these regulations requires all organic dairy cattle to spend a minimum of 120 days each year on pasture, which in some areas can be the entire grazing season.

To counter escalating input costs, Herrington Farms Inc. focuses on three things: wringing every possible ounce of milk from their dairy herd, cost-conscious management decisions and diversifying their income stream. 

It is an accepted concept in dairy nutrition that fiber is important to the dairy cow because of its effect on rumen fermentation and animal health. But what really is fiber?