Your best employee should be in charge of feeding your herd, including weighing, mixing, delivery and monitoring rations. This individual can make or break the feeding program, rumen health and profitability.

Forage particle size is a “hot” topic on dairy farms. Nutritionists, veterinarians and dairy farmers are asking how long forage fiber needs to be. What it the impact of the fiber source?

A co-worker raised interesting questions: As dairy farms consolidate (fewer dairy farms with more cows on each farm), what changes in forage production need to be considered?

With current low milk prices and negative profit margins, dairy farmers and bankers are asking nutritionists to reduce feed costs. On some farms, all feed additives have been removed, which may save 30 to 40 cents a day, but leads to reduced fertility, lower milk yield and components, and poorer health status.

Lameness continues to increase on dairy farms as more tools are available to monitor and evaluate, consumer groups raise lameness as an animal welfare issue, and cost of treatment can be $498.

Dairy farmers are interested in producing higher levels of milk solids, as most U.S. markets are valued or priced based on pounds of milkfat, pounds of true protein (does not include milk urea nitrogen contributions) and other solids (lactose and minerals).

Cover crops are “hot topics” in crop systems. Beef producers have used cover crops for fall, winter and spring pasture sources. Dairy producers need to consider adding this system on their dairy farms.

Your fresh cow program can make or break the economic success and health of each cow’s lactation. It is important to get these transitioning cows off to a solid start.

Get ready: corn silage in 2017 is not going to be typical corn silage. Illinois growing and harvesting conditions may reflect your situation and corn silage quality. Test, test and retest will be a common theme.