FEED & NUTRITION

The initiative of raising replacement heifers from birth to their first lactation is a major, yet often overlooked, component of a profitable dairy operation.

As temperatures rise starting in April and May, humidity can follow. This combination of temperature and humidity can impact your dairy herd. The temperature-humidity index (THI) is an indicator of when heat stress may occur.

It always pays to plan ahead for the next crop season. Steven Hines, University of Idaho extension educator for Jerome County, says things a producer needs to think about during winter include maintaining machinery, such as the corn planter.

Research shows marginal land could be converted back to perennial forages, and existing native grasslands could be rejuvenated with the adoption of different grazing management, resulting in significant carbon sequestration.

This month, we’ll talk about the new alphabet of fibre: a, pe, om and ICP. Don’t worry, you haven’t wandered into an academic spelling bee. But seriously, have you recently submitted a forage sample to a laboratory?

Over the past couple of decades, advances in forage genetics, forage agronomics, forage harvesting and ensiling have enabled dairy farms to feed progressively more forages as a percentage of their total lactation ration.