Often when nutritionists think of fatty acid nutrition, our minds turn to fat supplements. However, the area is much broader than dairy cattle diet fat supplements and should be recognized as such.

Direct-fed microbials (DFMs) are defined as products that contain live (viable), naturally occurring micro-organisms such as bacteria and yeast. The term “probiotic” is commonly used to describe DFMs.

Fiber is a key component of the ruminant diet and can frequently account for over 50 percent dry matter intake through the inclusion of silage, hay and fibrous co-products.

Quality silage is a critical component for many dairy operations. The industry has long recognized how valuable high-quality forage, in general, is in the diet of dairy animals, particularly lactating cows.

Reason 1: Cows are naturally adapted to high-sugar diets. High-starch diets (greater than 28 percent) or high starch fermentability may depress ruminal fiber digestion, but high-sugar diets (6.5 to 8.5 percent) do not.

As an industry there has rightly been a tremendous focus on the pre-fresh, post-fresh and on the first 90 days of lactation. This critical time period sets the pace for the whole lactation, and as a result, we’ve made significant improvements in fresh cow management, welfare, nutrition and performance, all of which combined have pushed peak milk to new heights.

Due to greater reproductive efficiency, gendered semen and improvements in heifer rearing, heifers make up a larger proportion of our milking herds today. As a result, the milking herd could see better performance if its heifers are well grown and “ready to get to work” when they freshen.

Last year, overall harvested forage acres were significantly reduced throughout the Midwest, according to Progressive Forage, leaving forage inventories lower than usual in 2018. As we look to this year’s alfalfa harvest, it may be more critical than ever to do the little things right to ensure you harvest as much dry matter (DM) per acre as possible.

Have you ever played jazz or listened to it? If so, you know that great jazz musicians play their instruments in all sorts of creative ways, and they are very good at using different techniques to get the same wild musical riff.

When a crop is harvested to be ensiled, it’s a race against time to minimize losses and preserve a majority of dry matter and nutrients in the form of digestible fiber, protein and energy. In order to have a successful preservation, there needs to be an absence of oxygen in the forage mass, along with sufficient production of organic (lactic) acids by lactic acid bacteria population.