Despite producers’ best efforts, sometimes silage will succumb to yeasts, molds and other microbes that can cause spoilage. Heating, mold growth or mustiness are all signs the silage is aerobically unstable. The losses due to unstable silage can be huge: The most highly digestible nutrients go first, and then the tonnage of feed available starts to really drop.

It’s late summer, we’ve experienced a wet spring and moderate rainfall in the summer, grass finally seems to be adequate, and we have plenty of pasture space available for our pairs. I’ll be taking my pairs to stalks late fall based on how this weather pattern looks, and I’m sitting horseback wondering if I really need to creep feed this year.

Mycotoxin contamination, caused by molds and fungi that appear in feed, is an urgent concern in dairy rations across the country this year. A recent mycotoxin report warns that contamination levels in the 2018 crop present a medium-to-high risk to livestock.