A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 8, 2000
DHIA
Question: What can we do to
prevent separation of grain and
forage in our TMR? If we do
nothing will our cows perform,
as they should?
FUTURES MARKETS
(Continued from page Al 6)
cheese followed a similar trend.
Despite a 2-3 week delay, this
price trend is showing up in the
NASS survey prices for cheese.
For 40-pound blocks, the NASS
survey cheese price rose from
$1.0887 per pound for the week
ending May 27 to $1.1296 for the
week ending June 24. This price
survey should continue to show
price strength for the next few
weeks.
The good news about higher
cheese prices is that it will
increase the monthly average
component values for protein, and
that will improve milk prices.
The bad news is that USDA
found more butter. There was a
large adjustment (over 30 percent)
in the CME weekly reported
warehouse butter stocks, and that
lowered butter prices about 10-15
cents per pound. Grade AA
butter at the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange was trading at $1.32
per pound on Monday, June 12.
In fact, 4 carloads were traded
that day. After USDA released
the adjusted stocks report, butter
fell to a low of $1.1575 by Friday,
June 23. It has since strengthened
to $1 2325 by Friday, June 30.
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Certain feeding situations
make this a very good question. A
TMR made up of dry hay and
grain is the extreme example of
two ingredients that are so
different in physical nature that
maintaining a homogeneous blend
of feed is almost impossible
without using some sort of
binding agent like molasses,
liquid fat, wet byproducts like
brewers, or even water.
I made a visit to this farm
because only experience can
determine whether separation of
feeds as seen by the dairyman is a
USDA released class and
component prices for June 2000.
The Class II price was $13.08 per
cwt, the Class 111 price was $9.46
per cwt, and the Class IV price
was $12.38 per cwt. These prices
are based on the following
component prices: protein
$1.4278 per pound, butterfat
$1.4128 per pound, and other
solids $0.0438 per pound. Daify
farmers that market their milk
into federal orders that pay on the
basis of components should see
these component prices on their
upcoming milk checks.
Finally, commercial
disappearance of dairy products
during the period January - April
2000 totaled 54.1 billion pounds,
up 3.8 percent from the same
period a year ago. The
disappearance of dairy
commodities during this same
period -was as follows; butter up
1.4 percent, American cheese up
4.2 percent, other cheese up 7.6
percent, and nonfat dry milk
down 26.7 percent.
For more information on dairy
markets, see my website at:
http://www.aers.psu.edu/dairyoutl
ook/
legitimate concern. Before
arriving, I had requested that a
sample of feed be kept as it was
discharged from the mixer. I
arrived at the tail end of the
feeding period with feed left over
from the morning feeding. The
amount looked to be adequate and
the feeder reported that total
leftovers for the day were a bit
less than what I saw at the end of
the daytime feed period. I advised
them that feeding for an 8%
refusal was important and that
this should be checked
periodically with the scales on the
wagon so that the eyeball method
can be a bit more accurate.
Comparing the mixed feed
with the refusal, it was apparent
that indeed the cows were sorting.
The most accurate way to
measure the severity of the
separation is to lab analyze both
of the samples. Another way to
tell if some feed management
changes are in order is to look at
the performance of the cows since
starting this particular diet. Milk
pounds have risen steadily since
the TMR ration was fed (54 to
58.5). Butterfat percent has
remained identical (3.8%), which
tells me that rumen health has not
been compromised. Percent
protein has gone up slightly but
still looks normal for Holsteins
(3.2 to 3.3%). MUN, has gone
down to 10 from 13 and indicates
that the balance of carbohydrates
to protein has increased.
My recommendation in this
case is to monitor the above
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blended Fertilizers. Try our blends with
calcium, sulfur & boron added
measurements and if no major
change occurs, do not change
anything. The cows have told us
through DHIA information that
although they are sorting and
thereby not eating the diet
prepared for them; they are able
to perform well. The dairyman
asked about the addition of water
to help keep the feed together and
I said that cheap ideas are often
the most underestimated. I also
suggested that adding liquid
molasses would be the most to my
liking but he should work with his
nutritionists to look at all his
options. If molasses were to be
added then the other carbohydrate
sources should be adjusted
because of what we saw already
in MUN.
The real concept here is to not
just be satisfied with good rations
on paper, but more importantly,
make sure that you know what
your cows are really eating. Let
PA DHIA records tell you about
your cows and if you cannot hear
what they are saying, maybe I can
help.
Average Farm Feed
Costs for Handy
Reference
To help farmers across the state to
have handy reference of commodity
input costs in their feeding operations
for DHIA record sheets or to develop
livestock feed cost data, here’s last
week’s average costs of various ingred
ients as compiled from regional reports
across the state of Pennsylvania.
Remember, these are averages, so you
will need to adjust your figures up or
down according to your location and the
quality of your crop.
Com, No.2y 2.41 bu., 4.31 cwt.
Wheat, N 0.2—2.32 bu., 3.87 cwt.
Barley, N 0.3 —1.44 bu., 3.08 cwt.
Oats, N 0.2 —1.51 bu., 4.70 cwt.
Soybeans, No.l 4.67 bu., 7.80 cwt.
Ear Corn —75.33 ton, 3.77 cwt.
Alfalfa Hay —108.75 ton, 5.44 cwt.
Mixed Hay —103.75 ton, 5.19 cwt.
Timothy Hay —llO.OO ton, 5.5 cwt.
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