Short Forage...What to Do? Options Available Using an Example Herd

With the dry conditions this past summer, several farmers have been left with tight or short forage supplies. The question then becomes, how does one design a feeding program to compensate for these shortages of quality forages at the same time making sure the feeding program is both economical and profitable. In past articles, I have described several of the decisions and options available to compensate for shortfalls in home-grown forages. Here, I would like to use an example herd and walk through the decision-making process involved when deciding what changes to make in the feeding program for the milking herd. When evaluating the various options available, one needs to keep in mind not only the economics of each option, but also whether an option will fit the farm and its management scheme. Please remember that the option best suited for your operation may not be the best solution for your neighbor. Although prices will change from year to year, this article illustrates the process used to determine the best option for your dairy operation.

Description of Herd and Feeding Program

In this example, my Holstein herd consists of 110 milking cows, on average 16 dry cows, and 130 heifers. My cows are averaging 60 lbs of milk and 40% of my cows have freshened within the last 90 days. My cows are fed corn silage, limited amounts of alfalfa hay, whole cottonseed, and a commercially-supplied grain mix which also contains the minerals and vitamins needed by my cows. After heifers are 4 months of age, they are housed on a separate farm five miles from the home farm. Dry cows, until they are within 3 weeks of calving, are also housed on the second farm. These heifers along with the dry cows are fed wheat silage, orchard grass hay, and a grain mix formulated to complement the forages fed.

Starting Point- Determine Amount of Each Forage on Hand

Alfalfa Hay: In this example herd, I have 1500 bales of alfalfa hay to feed the milking cows. To simplify this example, all of this hay contains 39% acid detergent fiber (ADF), 55% neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and has a relative feed value of 105. In order for this hay to last until the middle of May, I can feed 9 bales of hay per day. Assuming my bales weigh 50 lbs each, I can feed 4 lbs of hay daily per cow when I am feeding 110 cows and 4.5 lbs of hay per cow if I decide to decrease the number of milking cows to 100

.

Corn Silage: In an upright silo, I have 500 tons of good-quality corn silage. If my corn silage only needs to last until the middle of May, I would have enough silage to feed 54 lbs per cow for 110 cows or 60 lbs per cow if I only feed 100 cows. However, my cropping program is such that I need the small acreage of wheat sown this fall to feed my heifers and dry cows next winter. I have not planted any additional forages to feed the milking herd this summer so I must make my corn silage supply last until September when I normally chop corn silage. Thus, I can only feed 33 lbs of corn silage per cow with 110 cows or 36 lbs if I reduce my herd size to 100 milking cows.

Wheat silage: The wheat silage will be reserved for the heifers and dry cows. The distance from the other farm and also the lower forage quality preclude using it in the milking herd ration.

Take-home points:

• Determine amount of forage on hand
• Allocate forage so that you do not run out before the end of the feeding season
• Incorporate your spring-summer feeding program into your current decision

Feed the Best ... Cull the Least Productive Cows

After evaluating the production and management records for my herd, I have decided to cull ten milking cows. Of the ten cows culled, four cows were culled for high somatic cell count; three stale cows were culled with breeding problems; another two cows with low milk production; and the last cow because of “an attitude”. Thus, on average I will have 100 cows in the milking string over the next nine months. In addition, I have decided I can sell 10 extra bred heifers to help provide cash to pay for some of the purchased forage needs up-front. I have selected those heifers which have the lowest potential to produce milk. Thus, I am retaining the heifers with the best genetics and selling those from the lower end.

Take-home points:

• Review your production and management records to see if your cows are “paying their keep”
• Cull those cows with problems
• Feed the best
• Evaluate the number of heifers you are feeding - The costs associated with raising heifers can account for 15-20% of the costs of producing milk. Reducing the number to those needed as herd replacements decreases feed needs and total costs.

Evaluate Options Available

In this example, we are short corn silage. The remainder of the article looks at some of the options available and the pros and cons of each option.

In this example, I will illustrate five possible options to compensate for the shortage of home-grown corn silage in the milking cow diet.

For this example, the prices listed in the accompanying table were used for economical comparison. I realize that these prices may not totally reflect the cost of these commodities in your counties, however this exercise is to illustrate the thought process involved when making these types of decisions

.

Choosing which option to feed: In the scenario described here, a large percentage of the cows have calved within the last 90 days. Therefore, I would look strongly at options 4 or 5 to get me through the winter.

(Please remember that this example is meant to illustrate the thought process needed to make a decision of what to do when you are short forages.)

Steps Involved in Making a Decision of What to Do If You Are Short Forage:

• Determine where you are by taking an inventory of forages on hand and testing these forages to determine their quality
• Feed the best money makers
• With the help of your nutritionist, look at the economics of various feeding scenarios and find one which fits your farm and is the most economical. When reviewing your options REMEMBER to look at profitability or the amount of milk this ration can potentially support in relation to feed costs not just the cost of the purchased feed.

Author: Donna Amaral-Phillips

Printable version