Forage Foundations

Originally acquired by the Jones family in the 1980s as a hobby farm, Trillium Hill Dairy in Berlin, Wisconsin, has been expanding since 2008 and will milk 5,000 cows by the end of the year. The farm is managed with a spirit of innovation and a solution-driven attitude.

Seed companies have announced plans to phase out brown midrib (BMR) corn silage hybrids and stop selling seed within the next few years. Dairy producers have a few options to support dairy cow productivity and farm profitability as they look to replace BMR hybrids.

Fall harvest is when most farms hit double-time speed. It is also when safety risks climb fast. Whether you are chopping silage, combining, or cutting hay, the days are long and the pressure is real. Tight schedules, uncertain weather, and long hours create a hazardous mix.

Dairy producers put a lot of resources, effort and focus into mitigating heat stress on their herds during the long, hot days of summer. But you might be overlooking some other organisms on your farm:  the bacteria in your silage inoculant. Make sure your inoculant bugs are resilient enough to stand up to the dog days of summer.

A herd’s potential for milk production is greatly influenced by the quality of forages we put in storage and how well we preserve them. One of the most important things we can do to achieve these goals is to drive a rapid and efficient drop in pH once we put the feed in the silo, bunker or pile.

Producing high-quality small-grain silage presents challenges related to moisture management and the maintenance of anaerobic conditions for optimal fermentation. Ensuring the correct moisture content - 60% to 65% moisture or 35% to 40% dry matter (DM) - is crucial.

The reality of harvesting forage fields is that we must drive over them. However, wheel traffic causes both surface and deep-soil compaction, damage to the field and the forage stand, and crop yield reductions. To reduce damage, producers should implement several practices.

When it comes time to assess your harvest success, a critical factor is the economics of your crops. A tool developed by Vita Plus can help you compare the value of the crop you harvested to the potential value of other crops you could harvest on the same acreage, such as high moisture corn (HMC), earlage or corn silage.

“My neighbor is selling haylage.  What is it worth?” This question has been posed to dairy and forage consultants countless times.  The answer depends on numerous factors - both subjective and objective.  When broken down, the process isn’t as daunting as it may initially seem.

Feed inventories can make up as much as 50% of a producer’s current assets, depending on the time of year that inventories are measured. Bankers often look at metrics that take current assets into account, such as current ratios (current assets divided by current debt) and working capital per cow (current assets minus current debt, divided by total cows).

Fermentation is the anaerobic (absence of oxygen) conversion of sugars into acids (i.e., lactic acid). The sooner oxygen is eliminated from the silage storage unit, the sooner fermentation begins and the pH can drop. A slow pH drop can result in greater dry matter loss.

What is the most cost-effective way to store ensiled feeds? When considering storage options for ensiled forages and grains, this question inevitably comes up. Let’s go through some generic comparisons.

To ensure a successful drive-over silage pile is achieved, planning, preparation and communication are essential. These success areas and many more are showcased in the Vita Plus Building Safe and Successful Silage Piles video.

Feed makes up more than half of the costs on a dairy farm. In recent years, more attention has been given to the cost of feed shrink. More indoor feeding centers are being constructed in the Upper Midwest.

As this year’s crop plans and seed hybrids are finalized, some producers are considering pairing reduced-lignin alfalfa with brown midrib corn silage. The question arises, can pairing these technologies result in too much digestible fiber?

The challenges to establishing a healthier and diverse soil environment can be overcome by breaking the big picture into small, manageable, bite-size steps.