Dairy Performance

Technologies play a huge role in data management and efficient practices on today’s dairies. While new technology adaptions can be challenging, utilizing new technologies and management systems can help producers enhance their bottom line.

Ease of management, ability to ensile a quality forage, and cost effectiveness make silage piles a great storage option. To ensure a successful drive-over silage pile is achieved, planning, preparation and communication are essential.

A balanced diet is crucial to a dairy farm’s success, and managing all the variables that come with feeding cows is just as important. Variation can exist within forage piles, ingredients, feed mixing and delivery, and at the feedbunk. It doesn’t matter if a ration is perfectly formulated if these other factors keep cows from eating it.

Sorting dairy cows by stage of lactation may improve farm profitability by supporting the peak production of high-producing cows and lowering feed costs for low-producing cows. Understanding your farm’s feed costs in addition to your cows’ response to pen moves and diet changes is key to capitalizing on this strategy.

A significant portion of the milk check depends on the amount of fat and protein in the milk. The obvious goal is to maximize income by boosting component yields while managing input costs.

As the newest member of my company’s youngstock nutrition team and the most recent returning member to my family dairy, here are some best practices for hiring and inspiring your calf team from the eyes of a young professional.

This is the second article in a two-part series. This article will cover pace, pellet and PMR and post-startup. The first article discussed pre-startup and the importance of preparing the team involved in integrating the automated milking system.

Each automated milking system startup can be broken into the five P’s: pre-startup, people, pace, pellets/partially mixed ration (PMR) and post-startup. Focusing on the five P’s can minimize stress and help the farm team and cows easily adapt to an automated milking system.

Much of the Midwest has seen a rise in heat and humidity in the past couple of weeks. The effects of summer heat and humidity are well-documented in lactating dairy cows as we see decreases in dry matter intake and subsequent production losses. Newer research points to the value of heat abatement and cooling practices for dry cows.

Heat stress presents many challenges for dairy farms, including diminished milk production, reduced reproductive performance and stressed cow wellbeing. Long-term impacts can be felt for years in terms of the health and productivity of offspring.

For producers in the Federal Milk Marketing Order 30 (FMMO 30) or surrounding markets, a vast majority of the milk check is dictated by volume and value of milk fat and protein. While the pay price for milk fat within the FMMO 30 for May was strong at $3.46 per pound, milk protein is coming off record low in April of $0.83 per pound. May FMMO 30 price rebounded to $1.73 per pound with projections for June and July FMMO 30 protein values expected to be closer to $2 per pound, but milk fat is still the big dollar component.

By Katelyn Goldsmith, Vita Plus | Data is abundant on today’s dairy farms.  It can serve as a powerful tool and also be overwhelming at times.  Have you looked at a spreadsheet or report and felt a little lost?  What does this data mean?  What is it telling me?  What do I do with the information?  Following are six steps to unravel your farm’s data and put it to work.

By Barry Visser, Vita Plus | High oleic soybeans have been around for more than 10 years, mostly in the eastern United States.  More recently, they have worked their way into the Midwest market, catching the attention of the dairy industry.

By Michelle Chang-Der Bedrosian, Ph.D., and Owen Mickley | Efficient, upfront fermentation is important to the nutrient profile of a forage. When forage is ensiled, bacteria ferment water soluble sugars into lactic acid. This causes a reduction in the pH of the forage mass, which prevents the growth of undesirable microorganisms during storage. These lactic acid-producing bacteria naturally occur on the plant in the field and may be applied via an inoculant. A more efficient fermentation will retain the digestible nutrients for use in the rumen.

By Jon Rasmussen, Vita Plus | While farms may “break the rules” of forage storage every now and then, the goal should always be to SAFELY store forages with nearly zero oxygen exposure.  If you find yourself frequently breaking the rules, it might be time to resize your feed pad.  Following are four rules to help you in the planning process.

By Noah Litherland, Ph.D. | Heifers have specific nutrient requirements for maintenance, growth and eventually pregnancy. Forages serve as the foundation for the heifer diet and must be selected with heifer nutrient requirements in mind.