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On-farm variation is a hot topic. Forages, commodities or grains, TMR mixing and delivery, and cow level sorting are sources of variation that change the diet cows eat from that directed by a nutrition consultant. There are many opportunities to improve and gain in each of these areas.
Focusing on forages alone, it’s been long understood that dry matter varies, and hopefully measures are taken to control the variation.
When is a pasture walk more than a pasture walk? When the farmers and ranchers in a discussion group help each other in unexpected ways. When a meeting about forages leads to decisions far larger than the conditions of that pasture. I want to share with you one of those meetings.
Last spring, the monthly meeting of our local forage discussion group was held on a member dairy farm. The farm was located south of Portland, Oregon, in the emerald green fields of the Willamette Valley. It was a clear, cool evening, not a cloud in the sky. We met on a leased property 15 miles from the home place.
The inclusion of buffers in dairy rations is a well-researched and successful strategy. But buffers seem to have become a forgotten tool – or at the very least, one that’s taken for granted on many dairies today.
This is the third article I have written comparing marriage to Hernán Cortés’ conquest of an impregnable Aztec city. His battle plan was unique: “burn the boats,” not giving himself or his army a path for retreat. It was a matter of win or die. They would conquer and return home in their enemies’ boats or they would be carrion for the buzzards.
What is the most important tool on the farm? A friend of mine answered that question at a local school career day by saying his pencil was his most important tool. A great answer in a time when agricultural literacy among the general public is so low and respect for our food producers follows suit.
I beg to differ to some extent. To me, the mind is the more important. The pencil simply records the thoughts of the person holding it. Case in point, my last submission to this column had an egregious math error on my sprayer calibrations.
Recently, I went to the alumni banquet of Canaseraga Central School, the high school I, my father and my grandfather attended. Currently, the district only has 250 students enrolled from kindergarten to 12th grade.
I was talking to my accountant the other day, and she said the cookie jar was almost empty. “Crumbs” in the bottom of the jar was what she should have said.Now, I never really had a plan for my “future earnings,” as they say. When asked by my accountant what I would do with my future earnings, I replied I would pay my future bills.
Every stage of an animal’s life matters in order for her to reach her full potential as a cow. Newborn calves rely on the farmer to assist them in building their immune system. As a calf’s caretaker, it is important to take a course in “Feeding Colostrum 101” to avoid having to “dial 911” on your calf’s health.
The news out of Iraq is not good. There is much discussion today about the history of our U.S. government involvement in the Middle Eastern country.The discussion includes the military costs of lives and material, the civilian costs of lives and planning effort and the infrastructure costs, and finally the hundreds of thousands of hours spent working with the host national government in Baghdad and the provinces.
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