Average Farm Feed
Costs For Handy
Reference
To help fanners across the stnt*
to have handy reference of com
modity input costs in their feeding
operations forDHIA record sheets
or to develop livestock feed cost
data, here’s last week’s average
costs of various ingredients as
compiled from regional reports
across die state of Pennsylvania.
Remember, these are averages,
so you will need to adjust your fig
ures up or down according to your
location and the quality of your
crop.
Com, No 2y 2.35 bu., 4.21
CWL
Wheat, No. 2 2.35 bu., 3.93
CWL
Barley, No. 3 - 1.60 bu., 3.42
cwL
Oats, No. 2 1.49 bu., 4.65
cwL
Soybeans, No. 1 4.38 bu..
7.31 cwL
Ear C0m—76.10 ton, 3.81 cwL
Alfalfa Hay 148.00 ton, 7.4
cwL
Mixed Hay 132.50 lon, 6.63
cwt.
Timothy Hay 136.00 too, 6.8
cwt
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Question: Our milk average
dropped severely when we start
ed a new high moisture corn last
month and we cannot turn it
around. Is there something you
could suggest to help us?
The DHIA reports told the same
story as the dairyman produc
tion was off by close to 20 pounds.
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Herd summary H shows that the
herd normally drops from the May
and June highs during this time of
year. This year’s drop was more
severe. Past records indicate that
the cows should be milking SO to
SS pounds although the dairyman
would like 60 to 65 pounds, simi
lar to production in early summer.
Casual observations were made
as we toured the bam. The cows
were in very good condition and
many were standing while chew-
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ing their cud. Air quality was de
cent. Cow comfort was above
average as noted by blemishes on
hocks, and several cows were able
to get up easily.
One thing that bothered me
was, upon watching several cows
drop manure, the large amounts of
yellow com specks that were seen.
When we looked at the high mois
ture com it was apparent that this
was the source of the specks. The
new com was put in very dry and
had little fermented smell. It had
been processed by a roller mill af
ter coming out of the silo and con
tained a fair amount of cob, which
was retained by the combine. The
first change we discussed was to
tighten down the rolls as much as
possible so the com would be
come feed instead of manure forti
fier. This physical change should
make more feed available for
milk.
Next, we looked at the MUN re
port The average was ll.lmg/dl.
This is in the middle of the accept
able range and could be easily
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 15, 2000-A29
BENERAC'II
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EDER
J
JJJJ
overlooked as being OK. I like to
look further at this report and see
what makes that average. A poten
tial problem was noted in that
most cows in early lactation made
up the lowest MUN values that
were part of that average. We also
saw that the very highest MUN
value was 14.2mg/dl. Sometimes
in low producing cows, we have
this very narrow MUN range.
During early lactation, it is rare to
not have any cows with MUN val
ues at 16 to 20 mg/dl. The ques
tion was raised about adequate
protein in early lactation cows.
We looked at other parameters
dealing with this question and saw
that cows were not peaking at all.
Herd summary II showed 41 days
to peak. In other words, the first
test day is the highest and then it
goes down from there. Again, we
think of protein in early lactation.
The nutritionist will be asked
about increasing the ratio of de
gradable protein to carbohydrates
especially in those early cows.
We then talked about
the feed with emphasis
on the forage portion.
The family is aware of
the low quality of die
haylage that is currently
being fed and we talked
about plans to help
overcome this problem.
Substituting a small
quantity of good forage
for poor will pay big
dividends.
22*/ Ci
Time will tell if we
have been successful at
raising production. It is
essential to remember
that we used DHIA re
cords in several capaci
ties. Number one, we
looked at past perform
ance to set realistic
goals. Number two, we
got past blaming the
feed man and moved
onto solving the prob
lem. Number three, we
pinpointed some areas
of concern in our feed
ing program. Number
four, the best approach
at problem solving is
level thinking by all
members of the team.
Q*o/t
WUI wc get to the
60-pound average of a
few months ago? Can
wc make some low cost
changes to increase pro
duction? I feel certain
that we can and I be
lieve the best way to
reach higher production
goals is to plan now to
eliminate the factors
leading to low produc
tion. We need to ad
dress the physical form
of the com first. Next,
we need to balance the
rumen available protein
with the carbohydrates
especially for the early
lactation cows. Lastly
we need to be patient
until we rid the ration of
the poor quality forage.
You can see that
feeding cows Is a bal
ancing act balancing
suitable physical char
acteristics of the in
gredients, the chemical
properties of the diet,
and most importantly,
balancing our expecta
tions and potential. This
may prove to be the
most challenging.