Forage harvesting

One way to control costs on your dairy is to retain as much of your homegrown forages as possible.  Learn about our line of Crop-N-Rich forage inoculants and Silostop oxygen barrier plastic.

By Becky Arnold, Lallemand Animal Nutrition territory business manager
Packing density is the most important factor influencing silage quality once the crop has been delivered to the silo. The more densely packed, the quicker oxygen is depleted, stopping plant respiration and the rapid growth of aerobic spoilage organisms.

By Dr. Kevin Shinners, University of Wisconsin-Madison Biological Systems Engineering Department
In addition to the cost of baling, hay and straw costs include those for gathering, transporting, storing, and feeding.  Long-distance trucking may be another cost.  The number of bales handled as well as their density and weight are important factors in these costs. 

By Stacy Nichols, Vita Plus dairy technical specialist
Producers are often enticed to take a late-season alfalfa harvest after a freeze or frost because it helps boost forage inventories, does little harm to the plant, and often has high crude protein levels and low fiber content. Despite these benefits, this alfalfa rarely feeds well, and we have some theories.

By Dr. Zach Sawall, Vita Plus dairy nutritionist and technical services specialist, and Pat Hoffman, Vita Plus dairy technical support specialist
“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.

With Glen Jantzen, Raph Jolliffe and Jon Orr
The 2020 harvest season was a year unlike any other, but many U.S. custom harvesters adapted and chopped quality forages for their customers. We caught up with three U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. board members to get their reflections on this year’s harvest.

By Dr. Luiz Ferraretto, University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor and extension specialist
Recent corn silage field studies have addressed whether fermentation can make up for inadequate processing at harvest.

By Mark Case, Vita Plus dairy specialist
Depending on who you ask, you can get drastically different answers regarding how to tell if high moisture shelled corn and snaplage are ready for harvest, so we consulted the experts to make sure we get it right.

By Dr. Matt Digman and Dr. Kevin Shinners, University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Biological Systems Engineering
Corn residue, or stover, is often harvested as dry bales for roughage feed or bedding. However, the window of opportunity for drying is limited at this time of year. An alternative harvest option is to chop and ensile it as stalklage.

Stephanie Jens, Lallemand Animal Nutrition, joins Dr. Michelle Chang-Der Bedrosian, Vita Plus, to provide high moisture corn management tips to store and prevent spoilage in the silo, as well as feed it.

Across most of the Midwest, corn silage harvest is complete. Vita Plus staff across the area provide a quick recap of this year's corn silage harvest and a preliminary quality assessment.

By Dr. Luis Ferraretto, University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor and extension specialist
As you make final preparations to harvest this year's corn crop, make sure you are using the best inoculant for the crop you are harvesting, this includes corn silage and other fractionated corn silages, such as earlage.

Part of a successful corn silage season is having a fine-tuned kernel processor. To help you get prepared for this year's harvest, we walk you through how to check if your kernel processor is ready to hit the fields.

The 2020 corn crop looks good in much of the Midwest.  Vita Plus staff across the area provide a quick recap of this growing season and estimated corn silage harvest start dates.

Stephanie Jens, Lallemand Animal Nutrition, joins Michelle Chang-Der Bedrosian, Vita Plus, to offer a few tips to harvest and store high moisture corn, including choosing the right inoculant, keeping inoculant lines from freezing, and grinding the corn to optimize starch digestibility.

By Stacy Nichols, Vita Plus dairy technical specialist
The goal of managing alfalfa through harvest should not be to maximize relative feed quality (RFQ). Instead, it should be to achieve a balance between digestible fiber content and effective fiber.