FEED & NUTRITION

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:

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Vector automated feeding system, Lely North America held a roundtable webinar with four dairy producers from the U.S. and Canada.

Over the last 25 years, animal production has improved significantly to have more milk and meat production per animal. To support our ability to feed and manage modern animals, technology to better analyze feed ingredients has also changed to keep up with production.

In the last decade, there has been a trend toward adding straw to nutritional programs as a strategy to manage energy density, increase rumen fill, slow the rate of passage of feed from the rumen or increase the level of effective fibre for enhanced rumination.

When evaluating the influencers of profitability on dairy farms, the cost of feed is typically at the top of the list for large expenditures. However, when evaluating feed costs, it is important to not overlook feed losses, which are often termed “shrink.”

What started as a time-saving decision about five years ago has led to a journey of soil health improvement and more flexible ways to produce forage for a dairy and feedlot.