The grass cow: Don’t fall for promises of breeding shortcuts

By Greg Palen

The numbers game in dairy genetic selection began when the AI industry switched to frozen, storable semen in the 1960s, thus providing a true choice of sires. This was the beginning of the genetic horse race for the best sires, and the long battle to define the word “best.”

Fads came and went. Genetic ranking shifted from pounds of butterfat to pounds of milk (and later protein). Universities partnered with feed companies to figure out how much grain a dairy cow would eat without getting sick, then studied “type” to determine traits most responsive to making milk in volume at younger ages. Breed type classification became a tool for bull evaluation. Ultimately, we accepted the idea of ranking bulls on a composite of milk yield and type traits. PD for each trait gave way to Net Merit, TPI and other data formulas that we could treat as a “single trait selection” process. Continue reading “The grass cow: Don’t fall for promises of breeding shortcuts”

August 1, 2013April 18, 2020

Breeding within for no-grain dairy success

Van Amburghs happy with what a single bull has done for them

By Tracy Frisch

Sharon Springs, New York — After starting with a bunch of sick and undistinguished cows, organic dairy farmers Paul and Phyllis Van Amburgh are bucking conventional wisdom in their breeding and heifer-rearing programs to create a more efficient, uniform and closely related herd that thrives in their no-grain system.

As students of Gearld Fry, a controversial cattle breeding consultant from Arkansas, Paul and Phyllis have worked hard to realize their notion of an ideal cow through linear measurement, prepotent bulls and rigorous selection. And at their Dharma Lea farm, replacement heifer calves are kept with their mothers for an entire 10-month lactation. Continue reading “Breeding within for no-grain dairy success”

May 1, 2013April 18, 2020

The profit key: working within your farm

By Jon Bansen

Monmouth, Oregon—At the latest American Forage and Grasslands Council meeting, the buzz was about increasing profitability by extending the grazing season. Although one piece of the puzzle, it’s also true that increased days on pasture can come at a high price if soils and plant health are degraded.

In reality, the true profits lie with optimizing a farm’s total feed production, with an eye on putting as much forage as possible into the animal through managed grazing. There are no instructions for putting this puzzle together, as each of our farms is unique in its soil types, weather patterns, topography, irrigation potential and land base. Continue reading “The profit key: working within your farm”

March 1, 2013April 18, 2020

A report from our return trip to no grain

Goal: grain feeding as punishment

by Nathan Weaver

Canastota, NY—We have long hoped to have a no-grain milking herd, and we have geared the herd and our farm toward that conclusion. We stopped our original no-grain effort shortly after moving to this farm several years ago, as the land was not yet able to produce enough quality feed to allow for success.

But we decided to try again in 2012. We have not fed grain to our spring-seasonally calved dairy herd since mid-May of last year. I will try to write about our experiences. Continue reading “A report from our return trip to no grain”

February 1, 2013April 18, 2020

As weather changes, so must we

Riskier weather requires spreading risk

by Dan Vosberg

South Wayne, WI—Scientists are showing some pretty strong evidence that the climate is changing here in Wisconsin. According to their data, we will experience hotter summers, longer growing seasons, warmer winters and more dry spells and droughts. Storms will be more violent, with more downpours and fewer gentle rains. It’s hard to argue against their predictions when the weather we’ve been receiving lately seems to support them.

2012 is over, thank goodness, but it will probably be remembered as the year that forced us to look at doing some things differently. Continue reading “As weather changes, so must we”

January 1, 2013July 24, 2020

Fodder interest sprouting all over

But sprouting carries plenty of costs, complications and labor

Whitesville, NY—For centuries farmers around the world have been sprouting grains and feeding the green material to their stock, usually with spotty success. The 1959 edition of Frank B. Morrison’s venerable publication Feeds and Feeding referred to “clever promoters” making “extravagant claims” about the benefits of various hydroponic systems for growing green fodder from seeds. U.S. livestock nutrition experts are generally skeptical about the potential benefits of sprouted fodder, although most withhold official judgment because almost no studies have been done here due to its rarity.

Mat of sprouted barley. — Photos: A. Fay Benson. A mat of sprouted barley, ready to be tossed in a mixer or torn up for feeding.

Or at least until now it was rare. The onset of high grain and forage prices and growing interest in no-grain feeding programs has produced at least a mini-boom of interest in producing green fodder from the seeds of small grains. Articles about farmers employing fodder systems to produce greenery for everything from chickens and geese to beef steers and dairy cows are showing up in alternative agricultural outlets — often with accompanying advertising from companies selling such systems. Some farmers have reported spending a few hundred bucks to provide greens to their poultry, while others have paid six figures for commercial fodder production systems capable of producing much bigger volumes for larger dairy herds. Continue reading “Fodder interest sprouting all over”