Low milk prices can have a real impact on dairy farmers. When this occurs, cash becomes short and farmers have to make some tough decisions. They start to look for ways to reduce expenses while also maintaining milk production.

Nutritionists are moving beyond evaluating feed sources by crude protein or the quantity of protein. Protein is being evaluated based upon the quality of the protein. The amount and quality of protein available varies by feed source.

All nutritionists look for ways to reduce risks. This is done by keeping a close eye on sources of variation in the diet, from changes in forage dry matter (DM) to managing consistency in the TMR. The rationale for reducing these risks is to ensure cows have adequate dietary sources of nutrients that can be reliably delivered to target tissues to consistently support optimal performance.

With feed prices high, many nutritionists and producers have become focused on reducing shrink of feed ingredients on the dairy (i.e., reducing waste of feed). However, these discussions frequently focus around the total volume of feed and do not take into account the nutrients within the feed.

Rations for close-up cows and fresh cows are arguably the most important and expensive rations on the farm. Investment in the nutrients given to these cows pays off in reduced metabolic disorders and a better transition into lactation.