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Many of the protein sources used in dairy rations are byproducts of the production of oil for food and industrial uses: soybean meal, sesame seed meal, linseed meal and canola meal, for example.
While most oilseeds have been available since ancient times, canola was developed relatively recently.
Producers share best practices for quality corn silage
Quality corn silage is essential to efficient milk production and overall herd health. Three dairy producers who rely on corn silage in their operations discuss their strategies for managing the feed that directly affects their bottom line.
There are many benefits to feeding high-forage rations to dairy cows.
Doing so successfully takes planning and forethought. In review of our own feeding trials along with work conducted by Dr. Larry Chase of Cornell University, here are some points to consider and reference guidelines of forage quality and ration parameters.
The quality of TMR may vary between days (in relation to inputs and mixing), within days (due to sorting by cows or environmental exposure) and along the feedbunk (due to improper mixing or uneven feed distribution and usage). Recent research at UBC has shown that this variability can have profound effects on dairy cattle feeding behavior.
With rising feed costs and unstable milk prices becoming more and more normal in today’s dairying scene, what do producers have to do to help protect themselves from these seemingly increasing gaps?
New advancements in NIR (near infrared) technology are allowing dairy producers to precisely measure forage dry matter, fiber, starch and protein in real time right on the farm.
In turn, dairy producers now have the opportunity to improve the way they feed cows.
The balancing of amino acid (AA) levels in dairy rations has been in the news, useful commercial products have been introduced and formulation software has been updated. What are realistic expectations today for AA balancing? The answer rests with research results, what is measured on-farm and transition considerations.
Dairy producers have been experimenting with harvesting corn as shredlage and snaplage. At the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Randy Shaver has been conducting feeding trials of these feedstuffs to see how they perform in the cow. He shared his results at the Vita Plus Dairy Summit, Dec. 5 in Merrillville, Indiana.
Shredlage Currently shredlage processing rolls are only available on Claas choppers. These provide a longer theoretical length of cut of 1-¼ inches versus an average ¾-inch length of cut with a kernel processor.
Colorful infrared images of bunk faces have become all the rage with consultants and sales people wanting to promote forage quality and silage additives. One company claims that infrared cameras can show the value of inoculants.
Another may state that an infrared image can reveal how well a bunker is packed and covered. Someone else may suggest that infrared images tell only a fraction of the silage quality story.
Have you heard of anyone rushing in to become a custom heifer raiser? Didn’t think so.
Custom heifer raisers and dairy producers with replacements know there is little wiggle room in heifer raising for profit. Higher milk prices generally don’t help the enterprise. There isn’t a lot of room for improved efficiency on well-run operations.
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