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The full impact of the 2012 drought continues to be calculated and reports of hay and forage shortages persist. Forages that are available are generally expensive.
Not surprisingly, dairy producers are concerned about feed cost, quality and availability – and with good reason.
The recent hike in feed ingredient prices, at a time of moderate milk prices, has dairy producers and their consultant teams focused on ways to protect their income over feed cost (IOFC).
With dairy farms utilizing more corn silage as the majority of their forage base in milk cow rations, the increases in market prices for the key protein ingredients have assumed greater significance in dairy farm feed budgets.
It used to be so easy. We didn’t decide whether fields would be harvested for corn grain or silage until the end of the season. Usually the worst-looking corn was taken for silage.
In the past, there was very little data on corn silage quality or performance, and hybrids were chosen based on grain yield.
Until recently, we ignored the nutrient qualities of our corn silage hybrids.
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.
Greenchopping potentially decreases feed costs through the incorporation of locally grown forages into the dairy ration. It provides a highly palatable, fresh forage source to dairy cattle.
The high palatability stimulates feed intake of lactating cows, potentially increasing milk production.
Due to the high palatability, greenchop minimizes declines in intake associated with heat stress.
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?
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