Equipment

Click here to download Colby's PowerPoint presentation. With Chad Colby, AgTechTalk.com A hot topic in the industry seems to be drones, also called ships and unmanned aerial systems. Chad Colby of AgTechTalk.com explained the importance of this rapidly changing technology at the Vita Plus Custom Harvester Meeting. “At the end of the day, understanding how

Click here to download Taysom's PowerPoint presentation.  Click here to download Goeser's PowerPoint presentation. With Dave Taysom, Dairyland Laboratories, Inc., and Dr. John Goeser, Rock River Laboratory, Inc. Dairyland Laboratories, Inc. was established in 1958 and currently has four locations, serving more than 20 countries. Dave Taysom, Dairyland Laboratories director, explained the company’s role with

Click here to download Windle's PowerPoint presentation. By Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical service specialist Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was first discovered in the 19th century, with the first industrial applications in the 1950s.  This technology is used today in agriculture, physics, physiology and medicine.  The potential it holds for

By Jon Rasmussen, Vita Plus technology specialist Trying to get a handle on corn silage processing while the choppers are moving has gained a great deal of interest in the recent years. A few considerations can help make the evaluation a little less subjective. Start by gathering a fresh corn silage sample in a 32-ounce

By Chris Wacek-Driver, Vita Plus forage program manager, with Kyle Taysom, Dairyland Laboratories, Inc. The trend of feeding greater levels of corn silage to dairy cows and an influx of new processor designs has heightened dairy industry interest in determining optimal kernel processing.  While it's certainly not the sole factor that determines optimal dietary digestibility

By Emily Templeton, Vita Plus forage summer intern If it’s not one thing, it’s another when it comes to the up-keep on machinery around the farm.  It’s essential that we take good care of our equipment so it can last longer and we can save a few dollars down the road.  But are we looking

Vita Plus Forage Team Winter 2014 seemed like it would never end.  Inevitably, that means that the upcoming planting and haylage season will fly by all too quickly.  As you wait out the last days of cool temperatures and wet fields, take a few minutes to clean up your applicators and review inoculant mixing procedures. 

Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist At every Vita Plus training session, meeting or other opportunity, we remind folks that, to achieve the best chance of a good silage fermentation, we need to start with a crop that is harvested at the proper moisture, maturity and particle size, then pack that feed to achieve

When it comes to the latest technology in corn silage processing, Shredlage® has dominated the headlines in the farm papers. This new approach to processing corn silage - which emphasizes not only the kernel portion of corn silage but also the stover portion - shows a lot of promise. A number of dairy producers from

 A half-hour in the shop on a cold winter day could prevent big trouble and delay next summer when you’ve got trucks lined up, packing tractors fueled, and forage that’s ready to harvest…NOW! Many forage chopper owners take advantage of the inoculant applicator technology offered by Dohrmann Enterprises, Inc., specifically the DE-1000 and DE-1010

By Jerry Ruetten, Vita Plus Dodgeville dairy nutritionist In southwest Wisconsin, despite a lack of rain in August, soybean and corn grain production were about average to a little above average.  This fall, corn silage ran about 25 tons per acre and starch has varied between 25 and 42 percent, with the average being in

   Click to download presentation In its third year, the U.S. Custom Harvester Chopper Challenge continues to pit self-propelled harvesters against one another in the same field. For the 2012 challenge, five choppers cut down a 1/4-mile field length. The corn was planted in 38-inch rows; the choppers made two rounds and covered about

   Click to download presentation Applicators are a critical tool for anyone looking to apply inoculants at harvest. At the Vita Plus Custom Harvester Meeting, Dan Dohrmann of Dohrmann Enterprises, Inc. shared advancements in applicator technology and general equipment maintenance. There are three basic types of applicators, he said, granular, conventional and low volume/concentrate.

  Click to download presentation Custom harvesters know that a high corn silage processing score (CSPS) is a top goal for dairy producers as they’re looking to get the most energy value out of today’s expensive feeds.  The catch is that estimating CSPS in the field is not an easy or consistent task. Dr. Brian

   Photo: (left to right) Bruce Dankers, Dankers Enterprises, Inc., Chuck Fahey, Prairieland Dairy, LLC, and Aaron Kutz, Kutz Dairy, LLC Harvesting corn as Shredlage™ is so new that there hasn’t been time for a lot of research to be conducted. Dr. Randy Shaver, with the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has done a few trials,

  Click to download presentation Roger Olson of Shredlage, LLC has extensive experience in nutrition consulting with dairy herds.  According to Olson, anytime something was going wrong with a farm’s nutrition program, he observed “cigarette butts” in the manure.  That is, he noticed the round, blunt chunks associated with conventional corn silage. A few years