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Silage represents a large portion of the typical cow’s diet, so its quality largely affects what other ingredients and the amount of those ingredients that must be added to the diet. Three major challenges associated with silage are shrink (dry matter loss), quality (retaining important nutrients) and palatability.
The harvest season is upon us, and one question that often comes up is the proper balance between forage quality and forage quantity. In this article I would like to explore a few of the issues that can go into making the right decision for your operation.
Looking to fine-tune your corn silage production process? A fermentation analysis can unlock clues. When you open a new bag or bunker, running a fermentation analysis will provide a “report card” on your harvest and storage, identifying potential areas for improvement.
Most independent advisers concur that proven, quality forage inoculants are a key part of the overall management package required to produce high-quality silages. Traditionally inoculants have contained various species of homolactic acid bacteria (e.g., Lactobacillus plantarum, Pediococcus pentosaceus) to get fast, efficient production of lactic acid to shut down plant enzymes and prevent growth of undesirable microorganisms (e.g., clostridia, enterobacteria). However, silage produced this way may heat and spoil during feedout, since lactic acid does not have strong antimicrobial properties.
This article was #2 in PDmag's Top 5 most-well read New Technology articles in 2010.
Summary: The Walkease hoof block, created by Shoof International, is made from ethylene vinyl acetate, or EVA foam. The new foam hoof block sticks to a hoof with a one-step “super glue” for anywhere from one week to 14 days. It was designed to give producers and veterinarians an option for an early intervention hoof care treatment.
Because this article was so popular, we asked Katie Klessig of ANIMART Inc. some follow-up questions:
Due to the global spread of digital dermatitis (hairy heel wart or strawberry heel) over the last 25 years, the prevention of lameness in dairy herds now ranks alongside fertility and mastitis as one of the top three farm management issues that have the most negative economic impact on a dairy.
In the same time period, it has been widely accepted that once digital dermatitis is present on a given farm, it cannot be eradicated and so a regular footbathing regime must be implemented on-farm in order to control the background levels of causative organisms and to stop the spread of infection.
The other day Reg, my husband, and I were traveling across the Navajo Reservation near Many Farms, Arizona. We saw hundreds of motorcyclists in black suits and masks driving towards us. My heart leaped to my throat as we pulled to a stop at the man-made road block.
Fuel and fuel efficiency are important factors in improving your margin. Storage of that fuel can have a devastating impact on performance and longevity of your engine. Make sure your engine is running as efficiently as possible with turbo chargers. I think every piece of equipment should have a turbo charger on it and be fuel-injected.
Fuel
Diesel fuel isn’t gas at all, it’s oil. It’s a slow-burning fuel that contains more energy than gasoline does – 147,000 BTUs in diesel compared to 125,000 BTUs in gasoline.Diesel engines must provide higher temperatures to ignite diesel fuel, but the slower burn gives diesel engines more torque and longer power strokes than gas engines.
Ensiling forages – usually cereal, grasses or legume crops – is a very practical and cost-effective way for dairy farms to preserve and store feeds. Even though the process of ensiling has been utilized for many centuries, and modern research abounds on the proper ways to ensile forages, it’s amazing how many dairy farmers carelessly or ignorantly wreck a crop of corn or haylage through an improper ensiling process.
One reason small businesses often experience personnel problems is the assumption that a family operation does not need to use formal hiring practices. But any business operation, no matter what its size, can benefit from developing and implementing a personnel policy that includes a carefully considered set of hiring procedures.
Personnel decisions are too important to be left to chance. Good managers, regardless of the size of their operations, use foresight and planning when assigning and hiring personnel.
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