We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
Every four or five years, our company surveys the herds we consult that are averaging over 100 pounds of milk to see what can be learned from this elite group of producers and how this information can be applied to other farms.
If I have been on your farm in the past three decades, you most likely heard me quote my grandfather on my mother’s side. He was the cow guy in my life: my mentor, my sounding board, my guiding light and my kicker-of-butts when I needed it. He was the king of one-liners, storytelling and the keeper of every corny joke ever told in the history of mankind.
No two days in my life are the same. I work with a very diverse group of nutritionists and dairy producers so that no two days repeat themselves. Let me give you a grand overview.
What makes modern corn silage such a great lactation cow forage? This feed is incredibly consistent, taking some of the variability out of the daily ration, and cows respond favorably to boredom in the ration.
This and last year’s cool, wet springs added to the challenge of making high-quality forage. With higher moistures than desired, low sugar content and higher ash levels sometimes resulted in poor fermentation and the production of butyric acid. Butyric acid is a strong acid that overrides the production of the preferred lactic acid, which gives good fermented silage that well-preserved smell.
Several research studies say that for every extra hour our lactating cows lie down in a 24-hour cycle, they produce about 3 extra pounds of milk with similar dry matter intakes. This milk is basically free or at least results in mostly income with very little expense.
The nightmare is over. Many U.S. dairy farms have finally run out of their 2013 corn silage and have begun to feed the 2014 corn silage, and they are seeing much better results with this new harvest.
So much so that many farms with 2013 corn silage inventory left have started blending the 2014 corn silage into their feeding programs and are seeing better production and improved components.
The 2013 corn crop continues to limit milk production in many parts of the country, mainly because of its heavy bushel test weight. Reports of 60-pound bushel weights are commonplace this year.
The starch content of this heavy test-weight corn is slow to ferment in the rumen, which lowers the amount of the volatile fatty acid (VFA) propionate produced as compared to a more typical corn starch year.
The 2013 weather continued the forage woes of U.S. dairy producers. The late-March warm-up in the upper Midwest, followed by freezing rain and then a major cold snap in early April, led to winterkill of alfalfa and ryegrass across large sections of central Iowa, through southern Minnesota, central Wisconsin and into central Michigan.
