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Hopefully corn silage harvest is finished or proceeding smoothly. Transitioning new corn silage into the diet can impact milk production and cow health. The following are three tips to help make the transition a smooth one.

More and more dairies are using drone technology to measure the size of their forage piles and more accurately estimate the amount of feed they have in inventory for the next year. The technology is enabling dairies to get within just a few days of predicting when they may run out of feed. That could be particularly helpful to others this year in drought-stricken areas where forage tonnage has been lighter than usual. A drone and cloud-computed data calculations for forage pile measurement is replacing previous estimation methods. That includes measurement wheels, surveying equipment, hand calculations or just broad percentage reductions from the total forage tonnage harvested.

High-quality forage is the essential foundation upon which every good dairy diet is built. Missing a step or cutting corners will ultimately increase shrink, decrease quality and negatively affect cattle performance. We depend on bacteria, both naturally occurring and supplemented, to ferment and preserve forage and high-moisture grains. Virtually all these bacteria need a low-oxygen environment to efficiently do their job. The final step of harvest – and one of the most critical steps – is to effectively cover and seal our bunkers and piles to limit oxygen and protect the forages.

Picture movie-goers walking into a theater. Those people entering the theater were initially expecting to see a documentary film, but instead, an action movie begins, with surprises, constantly moving targets, and unpredictable scenes. The unexpecting viewers who just made way into the theater may or may not even recognize what hit them. Your corn harvest for silage could play out similarly if your agronomy and harvest crew move slowly this year, like in a drama movie.

When it comes to silages and drive-over pile building, Peter Robinson, a UC – Davis extension specialist, believes there is a preference for dairy producers to leave silage oversight to the custom operators who come in and build the piles.

A dairy operation’s ability to deliver a quality and consistent diet, day after day, has become an increasingly important goal for many nutritionists and producers. Why? Because the consistency of the ration, and feed and nutrition management, have influential impacts on the health of your herd and the operation’s bottom line.

Just as more is less, bigger is not always better when it comes to the growth and development of dairy heifers. The nature and growth of dairy cattle has vastly changed from decade to decade, and as traits have been genomically bred out of cattle, often the idea of “bigger equals better,” has become a misjudged trend.

Because feed costs can represent 50 percent of the total cost to produce milk, dairy farmers are trying to reduce feed costs. However, with the wrong feed choices, farmers could save 10 cents a day while losing 50 cents of income. Several “Golden Rules” are listed below; do not break these rules.

Increasing ingredient costs have wreaked havoc across the dairy industry, leading to elevated ration costs not seen in many years. Feed costs per pound of dry matter (DM) are rising as much as 20% or more as corn and soybean meal prices climb, minimizing farmers’ profit margins.

Undigested starch is useless to the dairy cow. Especially when corn prices are high, one goal should be to minimize starch losses in manure. The first step usually taken to reduce starch loss is to evaluate corn grain particle size and most likely, to grind it finer. But, for greater success, more changes may need to be made.

Optimal output requires optimal input when it comes to milk production and feeding dairy cows. Well-balanced rations are often what separate the top-producing herds from the rest.

COVID-19 has had an impact on nearly every aspect of day-to-day life, and the dairy industry is no exception. Where and how consumers shop, eat, work, and live has shifted amid an acceleration of technology adoption among companies and consumers. For example, a 2020 McKinsey survey found that, compared with prepandemic levels, there was a 163 percent increase in US dairy consumers who report shopping for dairy “mostly online”.