What determines the value of ingredients? When do ingredients no longer contribute value to your ration? What exactly are “value” ingredients? Dairy ration ingredients are a major operating expense for dairy producers. Using opportunity ingredients and on-farm feedstuffs helps keep your ration costs down. But ingredients need to provide true benefit, whether it’s in the end cost or in the nutritional value of your ration.

Supplementation of dairy cattle diets with chromium propionate has considerable potential to improve glucose and NEFA (non-esterified fatty acid) metabolism, dry matter intakes and milk yields, particularly in transition cows (Figure 1).

Triticale (trit-e-kay-le) has been a commercial crop for 42 years. At first, most varieties were dual purpose for grain and forage, and the original intent was to develop triticale as a food crop. However, the realities of the difficulties and expense of changing our food culture soon dawned on us. While bread and other wheat-like products are still a goal, it soon became apparent that to survive, we needed to develop triticale as a forage.

Adverse weather conditions like drought present the dairy producer with some major challenges. The largest problem is having enough forage available to feed all animal groups. The second significant problem is forage quality. The obvious questions to ask during drought situations are:

No one has to tell dairy producers and their advisers we are facing some very challenging times. Managing dairies in good times is tough; managing dairies in these economic conditions is extremely trying. Producers and their advisers who can best implement strategies that maximize efficiencies (feed and management) will be best prepared to weather the current economic storm. However, we must keep in mind that the things we do today can have an effect down the road and we must consider any negative effects those changes might have on future production and profitability.

Putting up high-quality forage is essential to a profitable dairy operation. The high protein potential, and savings, you can gain from producing high-quality alfalfa forages make it well worth the extra effort to do it right.

In this article, we discuss the intricate relationships between milk production, dry matter (DM) intake and bodyweight, and how your animals’ nutritional needs are determined by stage of lactation and level of production. The first part of the article will describe the lactation cycle, followed by an example of how feeding your animals properly will keep your animals healthy and keep money in your pocket.

Silage represents a large portion of the typical cow’s diet, so its quality largely affects what other ingredients and the amount of those ingredients that must be added to the diet. Three major challenges associated with silage are shrink (dry matter loss), quality (retaining important nutrients) and palatability.

The harvest season is upon us, and one question that often comes up is the proper balance between forage quality and forage quantity. In this article I would like to explore a few of the issues that can go into making the right decision for your operation.

Looking to fine-tune your corn silage production process? A fermentation analysis can unlock clues. When you open a new bag or bunker, running a fermentation analysis will provide a “report card” on your harvest and storage, identifying potential areas for improvement.