From a young age, Dean Swager has been an innovative farmer, thinking of ways to make improvements both large and small for the benefit of his cattle, his time and the milk and meat he produces.

Forage may be in short supply this year, and one way to respond is to feed fewer mouths on the farm. Frankly, whether forage is short or not, it is always best to allocate your forage to the cattle that will return the most: the animals that are most productive. It is time to cull the animals most likely to be the least productive.

Many dairy producers are facing a critical forage shortage to feed their herds. Forage stands were damaged across Ohio this past winter, and the wet spring has further deteriorated the few stands that initially appeared they might recover from winter damage.

Near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy has been used to evaluate forage quality since the early 1980s.

Farming is ever-changing and improvements to perform timely field operations can impact soil health. Larger, road-ready trucks and equipment with higher tire pressures and larger axle loads made to spread manure, plant, spray and harvest quicker can cause severe soil compaction.

Part of a nutritionist’s job is to give recommendations for the target level of refusals needed for maximum profitability. A typical goal is 2 to 5 percent, but this varies a lot from farm to farm, with a few farms even having a goal of zero refusals.

High-producing dairy cows are more susceptible to negative impact from stressors in their feed and in their environment. But what matters for performance and efficiency is how the cows respond. Feeding the right natural bioactive substances can help the animal adapt its response in a way that helps maintain milk quality and component yields. This article focuses on how to adapt to the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) for profitability.

This 2018 forage season was again a challenging one for producers across North America. In some areas, there were weeks of heavy precipitation, leading to saturated soils and even flooding. Other parts of the region had an uncharacteristically cool spring, with some sown crops needing replanting, which in turn led to a late harvest.

Findings from studies conducted by leading research universities and pioneers in trace mineral nutrition suggest sulfate trace minerals may actually cause more harm than good when it comes to animal performance and producer economics.

A cow feeding program is only as good as the as-fed ration. No matter how good things look on paper, the reality of the cow diet is determined, day in and day out, when feeders prepare and deliver the actual rations. If that as-fed ration deviates from the formulated one, the cows aren’t receiving the optimal nutrition you think you’re providing them.