Dl6-Lancaster Farming Saturday, May 18,1985
Brockett’s tig Advice
For years I have been writing
that the key to economical milk
production is forage quality. For
years top money managers among
dairymen have been aiming at
forages in their goal to produce
milk at a cost that is less than the
price received. Today I would ’;ke
to take an excerpt from a ten-year
study done at Wisconsin.
RESULTS
RESULT NO. ONE - Milk per ton
of forage:
• Low quality forage (under 56%
TDN under 13% Crude Protein)
1340 lb. of milk per ton of hay-type
forage.
• Average quality forage (58%
TDN and 16% Crude Protein) 1735
lb of milk per ton of hay-type
forage.
• High quality forage (over 62%
TDN and over 19% Crude Protein)
2031 lb of milk per ton of hay-type
forage.
RESULT NO. TWO - They found
that it was not possible to feed
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Farm Management Agent
Lewistown Extension Office
enough grain to fully compensate
for the poor quality forage.
RESULT NO. THREE - Using
the cost of maintaining a 1200-lb
cow producing 16,000 lb of milk per
year,the researchers found that an
acre of low-quality forage actually
lost $2OO. They also found that an
acre of average quality forage
made nearly $lOO and an acre of
high quality forage made over
$220.
Raising Forage
Raising high quality forage
starts with a sound fertility
program. This means soil testing
so nutrients are in balance and the
pH is adequate. It means ap
plication of the right mix of
nutrients at seeding time and as a
top dress on established stands.
A second step is recognizing
when hay forage crop fields need to
be rejuvenated by tearing them up
and going into another type of
crop. Or when all that is required is
a good maintenance lime and
In 1985
BRIJNING
tei
rejuvenation.
A third step is the selection of the
proper mixture of legume and
grass for the soil, the area, and
your needs (sale crop, beef, dairy).
You may be able to sacrifice some
yield in favor of more quality by
the way you select the grass to go
with your alfalfa. Or you may use
trefoil in some of the northern
counties in place or or along with
alfalfa.
Producing Forage
A lot of farmers can raise high
quality forage. Where many fall by
the wayside is in following through
on the producing end.
Early cutting does two things. It
improves quality - no one disputes
that. It also may increase the
overall yield by providing you with
one more cutting.
However, as you can see from
the Wisconsin results above,
quality is far more important than
yield. There is no way the cow can
eat through low quality forage to
offset the milk production from
higher quality forage.
If the cow did have an unlimited
capacity for forage it would take a
yield of 52% more per acre on low
quality forage than on high quality
forage. Example: It would take 4.5
' tons of low quality hay per acre to
equal 3 tons of high quality hay.
In fact we usually find that cows
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will eat more of the high quality
material than the lower quality
material.
Just as you use soil tests to
determine the balance of nutrients
for your crops, use forage tests to
determine the balance of nutrients
for vour
Assistant agent appointed in York
YORK - John E. Rowehl has
been named assistant extension
agent in York County, following an
announcement by W. Wayne
Hinish, associate director and
associate dean of Penn State’s
Cooperative Extension Service.
Rowehl will be responsible for
developing and conducting
educational programs in
agronomy, potato farming, water
quality and soil management. He
will also develop agricultural and
4-H programs in agronomic crops
and tractor safety.
One of Rowehl’s major projects
involves the Chesapeake Bay. We
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servation techniques and how they
apply to farm practices like
manure management,” he says
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Using Forage
It will last a lifetime.
Forage testing does 2 things;
• It monitors the quality of your
forage - an important step in the
production of high quality forage.
• It saves on the feed bill by
showing you how to balance
nutrients - not over feed .protein m
relation to energy or visa versa.
•‘Basically, we want to know how
we can reduce's agriculture’s
share of the problem. ’'
Fowehl earned his bachelor’s
degree in agronomy from Cornell
University in 1982. Before at
tending Cornell, he obtained an
associate degree from the State
University of New York’s
Agricultural and Technical
program.
Since March of 1984, Rowehl
acted as assistant county super
visor for farm and rural credit
with the U.S. Department ot
Agriculture in Lockport, N Y
Earlier, he was self-employed as a
vegetable crops production
manager in Mattituck, N.Y
Howehl has a New York State
pesticide applicator’s license
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