By Ann Hoskins
Maternal colostrum is a high-value asset on your farm. Unfortunately, that asset often runs short this time of year as many farms see a slump in colostrum production between November and February. Farms need to have a “plan B” in place as they don’t want to short calves on this vital nutrition.
By Steve Maier “What do other farms pay their employees?” “What benefits do they offer?” “How do you compete for good employees?” Our team at Agri-Business Consultants, LLC is often asked these questions. To help farms benchmark their employee compensation and benefits, we conducted a survey of 50 Midwest dairy farms this summer and summarized
Many areas have experienced their first frost of the season or will in the days ahead. For cows, these cooler temperatures are welcome following a summer with near-record heat across much of the Midwest. Despite the more ideal temperatures for cows, farmers find themselves disappointed with milk production this time of year.
All the settings of an autofeeder work together and one change can affect the others. Program the machine so that milk volume, minimum and maximum limitations, and concentration match your calf-feeding strategy.
You’ve likely been told “variety A will produce more milk than variety B” when choosing your forage crop varieties. However, it usually doesn’t work exactly that way in the real world.
By Dr. Michelle Chang-Der Bedrosian
High purchased feed costs mean farms must get as much nutritional value as possible from their homegrown forages. These six steps can help you put up high-quality feed while limiting your potential for shrink and spoilage.
By Steve Murty
Foliar feeding – applying nutrients to the leaves of plants – can provide the next level of forage production with enhanced yield and quality benefits. However, before you invest in a foliar feeding system, consider the following factors that may impact success. Data-driven decisions will deliver a higher return on investment (ROI).
By Dr. Michelle Chang-Der Bedrosian
Not all bacterial strains with the same name behave the same, and not all inoculants will provide the same level of quality and effectiveness. Price will always be a consideration when purchasing a forage inoculant, but, before you purchase inoculant based on price alone, take a moment to understand the amount of research and money that goes into creating and marketing a viable forage inoculant.
By Dr. Lucas Mitchell
I am often asked, “How should forages be introduced to youngstock?” My answer: "It depends."
When we are raising calves, I think it is important to recognize this as a two-step process. Step 1: Turn them into ruminants. Step 2: Let them be ruminants. Forages may play a role in step 1 and they certainly play a role in step 2.
By Marin Western
It’s no surprise to anyone that supplemental fat prices have followed all other feed prices and continue to jump. We can target ratios of individual fatty acids for specific groups of cows, save some money where possible and limit potential loss caused by eliminating fat from all diets. The ultimate question then becomes: Who gets the fat I am willing to buy? Here's how I rank importance of supplementation.
By Wyatt Smith
In the last few years, we’ve taken a more critical look at the relationship between forage fiber particle size and forage digestibility. Researchers at the Miner Institute in New York have explored the concept of reducing particle size of forages with lower fiber digestibility to improve animal performance.
By Steve Murty
Feed prices have increased substantially in recent months. Further complicating the cost situation, the winter storm that blew through Texas froze water pipes and natural gas lines, which created a short-term deficiency of feed-grade urea. These two unpredictable incidents emphasize how important it is to double down on forage management practices to preserve homegrown protein yields and save out-of-pocket expenses.
By Dr. Zach Sawall and Pat Hoffman
“What else can we fit into our crop rotation to get more tonnage from the acres we have to work?” Italian ryegrass can be an effective forage option whether you’re looking to rescue a winterkilled alfalfa field or wanting to put up a grass forage.
By Nathan Hrnicek
Forage moisture is tested daily on some farms while other farms wait for a nutritionist visit. Farms tend to focus on it more during harvest, but harvest testing strategies also vary farm-to-farm. However, an accurate reading of moisture content is absolutely necessary at several points throughout the year on a dairy farm.
By Dr. Lucas Mitchell
Similar to how we rely on the lactating herd’s performance to indicate if something is working or not, if we pay attention to how the calves are performing, they will show us if they are receiving too much, too little, or just the right amount of milk.
By Mark Case
Every dairy farm has opportunities to improve efficiency and profitability. One way to do this is to harness and make sense of your farm’s data. By diving into the data behind each of these six factors, we can determine what management steps can have the biggest effects on efficiency and profitability.