Every dairy farmer knows high-quality forage is essential on a successful dairy farm. The milk dairy cows produce is dependent on the nutrients the cow receives, making high-quality forage a key consideration in a dairy operation.
Plan your silage production from seed selection to harvest and packing the pile with tips from these ag professionals.
Every dairy farmer knows high-quality forage is essential on a successful dairy farm. The milk dairy cows produce is dependent on the nutrients the cow receives, making high-quality forage a key consideration in a dairy operation.
As feed prices continue to rise, dairy farmers face increased difficulties in providing their herds with nutritious, cost-effective food. A possible remedy for this situation is shredlage, a new way for harvesting and processing corn.
The quality of silage has a direct impact on animal performance and cost of production; therefore, it is important to know how to diagnose silage problems to apply the correct treatment. Here’s what you need to know to self-diagnose silage problems:
Fermentation is loosely defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic). Natural fermentation happens in all aspects of nature and even in the gastrointestinal tracts of animals and humans.
Where climate is adequate for its growth, corn silage is the main forage in intensive cattle production systems.
Every year, fermentation shrink, or forage dry matter (DM) loss, robs farms’ feed inventory without leaving a trace. Poof, tonnage fed comes out short of tonnage stored. Maintaining valuable nutrient content for feedout is a constant battle with the variables that lay waste to ensiled feeds.