“Climate change, greenhouse gases (GHG) and methane are a few topics we are hearing more and more about in the news today. There has been a global push to reduce methane on farms to minimize GHG effects on the Earth, but it is also a push toward more-efficient animals.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 18% of all GHG emissions are the result of livestock production with 37% of the emissions coming from methane alone. Over 20% of a farm’s methane contribution comes from ruminants, so what can you do to diminish methane production?”

“Every four or five years, our company surveys the herds we consult that are averaging over 100 pounds of milk to see what can be learned from this elite group of producers and how this information can be applied to other farms.

It is an interesting exercise, and I am amazed by all the different ways to feed cows and still make lots of milk. While there are exceptions to every rule, there are several factors very common among this group of producers, and I will spell them out here.”

“At first glance, the 2019 corn crop looks very similar to the 2018 corn crop.

Based on over 1,600 samples from a commercial feed lab, the crude protein (CP), soluble protein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), sugar, starch, starch digestibility, starch digestion rates, total fatty acids and ash content are all very similar (Table 1)..”

“If I have been on your farm in the past three decades, you most likely heard me quote my grandfather on my mother’s side. He was the cow guy in my life: my mentor, my sounding board, my guiding light and my kicker-of-butts when I needed it. He was the king of oneliners, storytelling and the keeper of every corny joke ever told in the history of mankind.

He was why I got into cows in the first place. He loved it all his life, and I wanted to love it as much as he did. It has been a good choice, for I love what I do every day walking cows, balancing rations and teaching the next generation of nutritionists what I have learned and what the old man taught me in those early days. Recently, one of my customers told me I should write all those quotes down from my grandfather and share them because most of us need a refresher every now and then. So I did just that.”

“No two days in my life are the same. I work with a very diverse group of nutritionists and dairy producers so that no two days repeat themselves. Let me give you a grand overview.

I routinely support 45 field nutritionists from roughly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Osaka, Japan. I help them troubleshoot nutritional, management, financial, facility and health issues in their current customers’ and their potential herds. I am also head of the nutrition department at Renaissance Nutrition, which means I try to keep the rest of the technical staff pointed in the right direction (think herding cats), look at potential new products and services, and am involved in marketing decisions and quality control.”

“What makes modern corn silage such a great lactation cow forage? This feed is incredibly consistent, taking some of the variability out of the daily ration, and cows respond favorably to boredom in the ration.

Corn silage is one of the highest-tonnage forages available, topping 20 tons per acre with natural rainfall and upward of 30 tons per acre on irrigated ground (approximately 7 to 10.5 tons of dry matter per acre). Corn silage is high in neutral detergent fiber digestibility (60 percent), and in a ton of wet corn silage there are 185 pounds of neutral detergent fiber digestibility assuming 44 percent neutral detergent fiber and 35 percent dry matter (DM).”

“Gas and brakes.” Have you ever imagined, as you are feeding forage to your dairy cattle, that you are pressing a “gas pedal” or a “brake pedal”? Kurt Cotanch, “the lab guy” at the Miner Institute in Chazy, New York, likes to metaphorically compare the fast pool of fermentable fiber to the gas pedal, speeding up passage through the rumen, and the pool of slow and indigestible fiber as the brakes.”

“This and last year’s cool, wet springs added to the challenge of making high-quality forage. With higher moistures than desired, low sugar content and higher ash levels sometimes resulted in poor fermentation and the production of butyric acid. Butyric acid is a strong acid that overrides the production of the preferred lactic acid, which gives good fermented silage that well-preserved smell.”

“Over the years I’ve had the privilege of working with and visiting a number of herds across the country that were producing 100 pounds of milk or more per cow per day.

What are the secrets of these herds with a bulk tank average that mirrors high-group production levels for many herds? The author’s recurring observations, similar to those recently reported by Dr. Nigel Cook for some elite Wisconsin herds, are discussed below.”