Business and economics

By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist
Nutritionists sometimes use RFV and RFQ to describe how a certain forage is feeding.  However, these two values mean more when you compare the relative dollar value of different forages in the market.

By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist
Several times a year, a member of the Vita Plus forage team gets a call that starts like this: “I’ve got a chance to buy some haylage from a neighbor, what should I pay for it?”

With wide variation in quality, moisture, and point of delivery, the answer can be a little daunting as it depends on a number of objective and subjective factors.  Let’s tackle the objective ones first because they’re fairly easy. 

By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist
When we consider a technology that promises better forage quality, we often ask, “What does it cost?” 

In reality, a better question would be “How much does it save?”

Weighing the option to use oxygen barrier plastic under conventional plastic is a great example of that scenario.

By Gary Sipiorski, Vita Plus dairy development manager
If you compare all the milking cows in the world by volume per cow, nobody can beat the U.S. dairy herd.  In fact, the U.S. dairy cow is one of the most productive and efficient milk producers in the world, and this has only increased with time. 

Alfalfa is the fourth most valuable field crop in the United States, and it’s also a key component of sustainable agricultural systems.  Despite these advantages, planted acres have decreased for more than two decades.  Beth Nelson, president of the National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance (NAFA), believes this decrease can, in part, be attributed to the lack of public policy and research into alfalfa.

The picture of the dairy industry is changing fast with new technology, consolidation and volatile global markets.  Gary Sipiorski, Vita Plus dairy development manager, said this will have big impacts for custom harvesters too.

For starters, it means the financial clock is ticking, Sipiorski said during his presentation at the Vita Plus Custom Harvester Meeting.  He challenged attendees to develop an action plan to beat the clock.

David Krekeler, partner in Krekeler Strothers, S.C., said many of the principles in The Art of War by Sun Tzu can be applied to custom harvesting.  Just as Sun Tzu said, “The art of war is of vital importance to the state,” Krekeler said getting paid for your work is of vital importance to stay in business.

“All it takes is one or two people to not pay you and then you’re in debt,” Krekeler told Vita Plus Custom Harvester Meeting attendees.

By Jenny Kilpatrick, Premier Insurance Solutions, LLC insurance agent
As a crop insurance agent in Wisconsin, each year I talk with producers about which crops they want to insure.  Corn, soybeans, wheat, oats and established hay are most frequently mentioned, but producers often forget about their valuable forage seeding crop. 

A dumpster on a dairy farm wouldn’t normally turn heads, but a new type of dumpster is doing that very thing.

This dumpster’s sole purpose is to recycle used ag and silage plastics. Revolution Plastics, headquartered in Stuttgard, Arkansas, offers producers an environmentally friendly option to dispose of the plastics on their farms.

By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist
Wildlife pests found around bunkers, piles and bags are not only an unsightly nuisance, but can also wreak havoc by spreading serious disease threats to livestock and even humans.

By Randall Greenfield, Vita Plus dairy specialist

Question:  What makes the most financial sense?  Building a bunker or drive-over pile to store my forages?

Answer:  This question inevitably comes up when considering storage options for ensiled forages and grains. The answer, of course, is always “it depends.” For any specific situation, the ultimate solution could be different than the next. For the purpose of this article, however, I’ll make some generic comparisons.