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Pete Maslyn Dairy Manager, Hemdale Farms Seneca Castle, New York
Robots may be the method of milking cows at Hemdale Farms, but technology has not replaced old-fashioned creativity and ingenuity. The dairy’s manager, Pete Maslyn, has cleverly crafted an alley scraper into a dual-purpose feed pusher.
In layman’s terms,what does EAA mean?
Essential amino acids (EAAs) are the amino acids that need to be supplemented in the dairy diet. Dairy cows cannot synthesize enough of these amino acids to maintain their body functions at peak levels.
Properly formulated transition cow rations are an integral part of transition period success. Producers and nutritionists often spend a good deal of attention to getting these diets just right and then adjusting as necessary.
However, the best ration in the world does no good if animals do not receive it. When troubleshooting rations, it’s not uncommon to find that transition cows and first-calf heifers do not receive the rations as nutritionists and managers intended.
There are two main classes of fungi that can be observed during the harvest, storage and feedout of ensiled forages: single cell yeasts and multicellular filamentous colonies of molds. In the field, fungal diseases of corn are characterized by yield and quality loss, and mycotoxin contamination.
Editor’s note: Kirt Lindley will be part of a video farm tour at World Ag Expo on February 11 at 1:30 p.m.
The first week after dairyman Kirt Lindley installed his fodder growing system, he checked on the barley seeds growing in his new building every day, multiple times. The $120,000 investment for his 65-cow dairy had to work. He needed it to save him money on his feed bills.
In layman’s terms, what does metabolizable protein (MP) mean?
Metabolizable protein (MP) is the total amount of amino acid absorbed in the small intestine. The main sources of amino acid to the intestine are rumen-undegradable protein (RUP), microbial crude protein (MCP), and to a lesser extent, endogenous crude protein (ECP).
The costs to produce milk continue to increase. Feed is the largest cost on the dairy, so it is important for dairy employees and individuals in industries that support dairies to have at least a basic understanding of nutritional terminology.
Why didn’t it ferment? This question arises more often than you may think.
Having reviewed and shared the results of several thousand forage samples in the past few years, when the fermentation profile does not conform to the dairyman’s expectation, invariably the question is asked, “Why didn’t it ferment?”
Feed accounts for more than 50 percent of the costs of milk production. There are numerous causes associated with feed shrinkage on a dairy. There can be losses of feed weight related to harvesting, delivery, storage, handling, mixing and delivering.
Most dairy nutritionists report that they balance the amino acid levels in their dairy rations to bolster income over feed cost (IOFC). Typically, this includes the use of supplemental methionine and lysine, the first two limiting amino acids.
They are limiting because, when in short supply, they can limit herd performance. Supplementation is required as they do not naturally occur in high enough levels in feedstuffs to meet dairy cow needs.
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