A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 31, 1999
Drought Shortages
Stretching Forages
QUESTION; What can we do to stretch forage
supplies since our farm is in an extreme drought
area?
ANSWER: Finding alternative sources of forage
for a dairy herd takes some planning and prepara
tion. Now is the time to address the needs of the
dairy animals on the farm until feed harvesting
season next year.
Step one is to estimate the total feed inventory
that you will have on hand going into the fall and
winter.
Next examine the total feed needs for the cur
rent and projected number of animals in that same
period. Most dairymen already know what these
figures are, by needs of the past
For those that do not, Penn State Extension can
provide worksheets and assistance in establishing
this estimate.
The focus of this column will be on the milk
cows only and some feeds and concerns that have
cropped up in similar circumstances over the past
few years in at least some parts of Pennsylvania.
Com silage shortage can be overcome most
effectively and safely by purchase agreements
with growers of shelled com.
With grain prices at levels as low as they are, the
dollars generated from selling com silage may be
greater than that of the grain.
As an example, silage yields of 20-ton per acre
and a selling price os $25 per ton would gross
$5OO per acre.
The same acres at yields of 120 bushels grain
per acre would have to sold at $4.16 per bushel to
gross the same.
Yields of 150 bushels per acre would gross out
the same, at $3.33 per bushel.
The question of how dry grain harvesting and
drying compares to silage chopping and transport
needs to be answered farm to farm.
Low grain prices currently make this look like a
possible option for both the dairyman and the
grain grower. Those plans and agreements need to
be initiated now.
Hay crop shortages can be addressed by con
tracting hay from areas where weather risk is
minimized with irrigation. If this is to be your
plan, then do so early enough to lock in quality at
the best possible price.
Another reason to start this plan immediately is
the concern with your designed feeding
management.
You need to aske questions concerning your
current equipment and your capabilities of hand
ling a feed in a much different form.
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Can your equipment process
long hay adequately?
Will more dry feeds in the diet
encourage or allow separation?
If so, what changes would avoid
this?
Depending on how you answer
these, you may want to start feed
changes now and avoid complete
restructuring of your feed manage
ment once normal feed sources are
exhausted.
Some substitution of by-product
type feeds may be the answer.
Cottonseed, soyhulls, beet pulp,
or brewers' grains have been util
ized during past similar times.
Feeding these types of feed
should cany this caution; Effective
fiber is needed to maintain proper
rumen function.
These feeds, although high in
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nuetral detergent fiber (NDF), are
not high in scratch value that keeps
cows healthy in the gut.
When using these feeds as a
replacement for some of the forage
we need to adjust some of the
starch grains or we will comprom
ise rumen health. Cows that drop
significantly in butterfat percent
will tell us that this is happening.
Straw is one forgotten alterna
tive to forage shortages. When for
age supply is low and we change
diets to include more grain or
byproducts in the following
months, straw can supply the
needed long fiber to maintain milk
production and component
makeup.
The nice thing about straw is
that we can process it very
uniformly.
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This reduces sorting and does a
good job of stimulating rumen
activity.
The addition of liquid molasses
to straw can go a long way in mini
mizing our feeding woes during
times of inadequate forage supply.
There are things that we can do
to stretch normal forage supplies.
Our priority should always
remain focused on diets that are
rumen healthy. This is the time to
seek some outside help to solve
current forage supply dilemmas.
Extension service, nutrition
advisors, and veterinarians can
help plan to overcome this
problem.
Look to the cows as changes to
feeding management is necessary.
They are the only ones that we
need to please.
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RD 2 Box 271
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