BY DR. GEORGE F.W.
HAENLEIN
Extension Dairy Specialist
University of Delaware
NEWARK, Del. - Now that your
first and second cuttings of hay
and, or haylage are in, how can you
use them to maximize net income
from milk production?
Alfalfa is rightly called the
queen of all dairy feeds, while com
silage is usually considered king.
The two reign supreme in feeding
our best cows the best way. But
just how should you incorporate
them into your feeding program
especially alfalfa?
When com silage is fed as the
only forage, high milking cows
may eat up to 65 pounds per day,
but they need additional grain
supplementation to meet their
nutrient needs. A satisfactory 22
percent erode protein mixture
would include 1,075 pounds shelled
com, 805 pounds soybean oil meal,
and 120 pounds of a mineral
mixture (% dical and limestone
and V« each buffers and trace
mineralized salt).
When feeding both corn silage
and alfalfa-a preferred practice in
this area and in our University of
Delaware dairy herd-high milking
cows will eat approximately 43
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Pay
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Unlike milking rations, Purina’s®
Freshstart D&H brand dry cow
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(717)768-3301
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Alfalfa Compliments Dairy Grain Rations
pounds of com silage and 10
pounds of alfalfa hay per day. On
this diet a satisfactory grain
supplement must contain only 18
percent crude protein and can
consist of 1,405 pounds shelled
com, 525 pounds soybean oil meal
and 70 pounds of a mineral mixture
(% dical and limestone, % trace
mineralized salt, including 4
pounds of magnesium oxide).
Some top dairymen prefer to use
alfalfa as the only forage
especially if it contains both alfalfa
haylage and green chop. This is
another excellent feeding
program. On this ration, high
milking cows will eat ap
proximately 24 pounds of alfalfa
per day on a dry basis. To provide
for their energy needs, they
require a grain mixture containing
only 9 percent crude protein. This
supplement can consist of 1,950
pounds shelled com and SO pounds
of a mineral mixture (Vfc dical and
% trace mineralized salt, including
2 pounds of magnesium oxide).
The supplements in these three
feeding programs get simpler and
cheaper as less proteins and
buffers are needed and more
alfalfa replaces the com silage.
Thus, at current prices the sup
plement for the all-corn silage
kssMhis
■—■l#
[PURINA CHOWS]
system in the above example costs
$l4l a ton, while that under the all
alfalfa system costs $lOl, and the
mixed system supplement costs
about halfway between them.
Does the cheaper supplement
make up for a possibly higher cost
per cow per day when you replace
all-corn silage with all-alfalfa? Or
does it even leave you with a net
income advantage? It should,
when the costs of growing, har
vesting and feeding alfalfa are
considered.
Obviously, alfalfa cannot
replace com and com silage as a
total source of energy, but it can
usually provide our high milking
cows with better and cheaper feed.
Growing, harvesting and feeding
alfalfa without making the most of
its unique advantages doesn’t
make sense. But if you’re going to
cash in on the benefits of this crop,
it must be harvested in the pro- or
early-bloom stages at the latest.
That’s when protein is the highest.
Just remember, that protein is in
the leaves, not the stems. This
being the case, baling alfalfa
stems after extensive leaf loss due
to shattering, rain, excessive
dryness and repeat raking doesn’t
make sense. That’s why alfalfa
haylage or, even better, alfalfa
Rt.B2
Unionville, PA 18375
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green chop are such popular
replacements for alfalfa hay.
Pre-bloom alfalfa contains
approximately 22 percent crude
protein, not counting leaf losses,
compared to 14 percent at the full
bloom stage. As the crop matures,
fiber content increases from 30
percent to 46 percent ADF (acid
detergent fiber). Palatability
usually decreases with maturity.
Alfalfa alone can support high
milk production. Recent Kentucky
studies showed cows fed 39 pounds
of high quality alfalfa haylage and
10 pounds of a simple energy
supplement produced 87 pounds of
milk per day for eight weeks.
High quality-young-alfalfa has
an economic advantage in all
forage feeding systems, but its
fiber content becomes more im
portant as less and less is included
in the daily cow ration.
Cash Bonus Available
To Eastern Dairy Farmers
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Eastern
Milk Producers Dairy Cooperative
will start offering a new quality
bonus to dairy farmers, effective
this month.
Eastern President Earl For
wood, a dairy farmer from Hop
Bottom, Pa., said the bonus would
amount to five cents per hundred
pounds of milk shipped, and could
mean an extra $4OO a year in the
average member’s pocket.
“This is a new bonus available to
nearly all of Eastern’s 4,000 dairy
farmers,” said Michael Donovan,
General Manager of the
Cooperative, which has its
headquarters in Syracuse, and
other facilities in Delaware,
Pennsylvania, New York and
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More mature alfalfa hay,
because of its higher fiber content,
may even be important for cows
that arp on very high grain rations
and eat less than half of their daily
dry matter in the form of long
forages. Finely chopped com
silage is deficient in long forage
fiber. Sufficient high fiber alfalfa
intake can prevent displaced
abomasum in dairy cows.
Alfalfa is also the best and most
easily absorbed source of calcium
(about 2 percent in the dry matter)
for high milking cows. But, for
economical or physiological (to
prevent milk fever) reasons,
growing heifers and dry cows or
close-up heifers should not be fed
much alfalfa.
As you can see, when properly
handled, alfalfa can really im
prove your milk production net
income.
Vermont,
“Previously,” he added, “the
bonuses were available only to
members who shipped to certain
cheese customers who paid in
centives. Now the cooperative, in
the wake of a very positive fiscal
year, is offering die 5-cent in
centive to membership in
general.”
To qualify for the bonus, fanners
must meet higher quality stan
dards for raw milk. Although the
quality of member milk is already
high, Donovan said, the program is
intended to encourage even better
results for production reasons.
In the case of cheese
manufacturing, he said, higher
quality milk will result in greater
cheese yields.