Each unexpected weather event, drought, heat wave, cold snap or any other knee-buckling pitch has an impact on your crop. Yields, nutritive value and feed hygiene can all be impacted, making the product you get out of the field unique from past years.

One very important management practice that may be the least expensive with the greatest potential return is proper feedbunk management.

Feed efficiency is a topic that’s been kicked around nutrition circles for some time. For decades, producers and nutritionists have focused on getting more milk from each pound of feed.

“You don’t mess around with winter here in Alaska,” Scott Plagerman says. “You have to have your act together.”

Since 1944, the National Research Council has established basic nutritional guidelines and recommendations for dairy cows. Over the subsequent 75-plus years, this organization has generated eight sets of these reports, the last one being in 2001, so 20 years ago. Needless to say, a lot has changed in those 20 years. 

Most dairy farms feed carefully balanced diets that are formulated to meet the dietary needs of their cows, depending on their age and stage of lactation.

As a dairy producer, you know low milkfat in your herd can take money out of your pocket. Additionally, it can be an extremely frustrating problem with no clear and simple solution.