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Dairy forage benchmarks

An animal science professor has some advice for feeding dairy cattle while milk prices remain low.

Mike Hutjens with the University of Illinois recommends using forage benchmarking tools like quality indices for alfalfa, grasses, and corn silage.

“Where were you on that list?  In other words, can you beat the averages?”

He says fermentation profiles are another good forage quality indicator.

“Did you do a good job as far as packing it, cutting it, inoculating, and getting it stored properly?”

There’s also a tool Hutjens refers to as the “Penn State box.”

“Where we would shape the feed and as a result (ask ourselves) if we chopped it properly.  Did you have the right length for optimal digestibility and ruminant health of the cow?”

Kernel processing scores and fecal starch are other measurements he says can help dairy farmers become more efficient.

Hutjens was the keynote speaker at the Carver County Dairy Expo in south-central Minnesota Monday.

 

*Audio courtesy of Brownfield affiliate KNUJ in New Ulm, Minnesota*