Dairy Farming

Axialflow1688 · 02-22-2012, 10:29 AM

I am a dairy farmer in North Dakota. I was wondering if anyone has any good advice to get more milk out of my cows. Right now we are averaging about 45 pounds a cow and I would like to get more. We feed silage, ground alfalfa, and a mixed ration of ground corn, barley, oats, and soybean meal. Any input would be great! Thanks

tbone95 · 02-22-2012, 11:37 AM

What breed for starters?

Heegees Ag · 02-22-2012, 01:02 PM

Silage???? Corn or Grass

Heegees Ag · 02-22-2012, 01:07 PM

R u only looking for pounds or component too

sunnyview87 · 02-22-2012, 04:22 PM

feed is one side of the story and cow comfort is the other focus on what needs to be worked on more.

What feed alternatives do you have available?

bsfarms · 02-22-2012, 04:47 PM

High quality feed and a good nutritionist. We cut our 1st crop earlier than most, and the rest of the crops at 28 days or earlier if possible. Try to have haylage RFV and RFQ above 150-160. Plant BMR corn silage and harvest at 68% moisture, any wetter and it runs on us. Always feed at same time and milk at same time. Don't stress the cows. We feed cows at 1:30 am, right before milking. This way they have fresh feed when they get done milking. We grow our own haylage, corn silage, and high moisture corn. We grind corn as fine as we can with our roller mill. We like to put it up at 30-32% moisture as it is more digestible when wet.
Put up forage quickly. If a rain is coming, we wait to cut. We line bunker walls with plastic and cover with oxygen barrier film and then black plastic. Not cheap, but cuts spoilage to a minimum.
The only feed we buy is cottonseed and a protein/mineral mix. Our nutritionist is a great one. We were feeding 5 lbs cottonseed, some distillers, some sbm, some soy plus, and minerals. Now we are 40-45 wet lbs haylage (170-190 rfq) and 40-45 wet lbs corn silage, 18.5 wet lbs hmc, 5 lbs cotton seed and 7.5 lbs protein mix. We test silage frequently. We had tried many nutritionists and were at 80-85 lbs milk per cow (3x milking). He made ration much simplier and possibly cheaper. We have been over 90 lbs a cow for 2+ yrs. Currently at 94 lbs, 3.85 fat, 3.1 pro, and scc 100-130. All holstein herd. I can't complain. One of his strong selling points is he is independent. He charges so much per cow per day (not sure, but maybe $0.08). He makes no commission on feed sales, so only feeds what cows need.

Heegees Ag · 02-22-2012, 07:14 PM

bsfarms
Where are you farming ???

4840mf · 02-22-2012, 09:23 PM

as far as nutrition, find a nutritionist that works with other dairies in your area and one that they like. but nutrition is only half the battle. cow comfort is king. what kisd of set up do you have? do everything you can to keep the cows comfortable.

tbone95 · 02-23-2012, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4840mf

as far as nutrition, find a nutritionist that works with other dairies in your area and one that they like. but nutrition is only half the battle. cow comfort is king. what kisd of set up do you have? do everything you can to keep the cows comfortable.

This was my next question also. Good water, good comfort, low stress handling. . . but 45 pounds on a Jersey herd ain't bad!

Axialflow1688 · 02-23-2012, 09:44 AM

I got a mostly holstein cow heard. Thanks for all the replies.

02-22-2012, 10:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
Axialflow1688 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North Dakota Posts: 107	Dairy Farming I am a dairy farmer in North Dakota. I was wondering if anyone has any good advice to get more milk out of my cows. Right now we are averaging about 45 pounds a cow and I would like to get more. We feed silage, ground alfalfa, and a mixed ration of ground corn, barley, oats, and soybean meal. Any input would be great! Thanks

02-22-2012, 11:37 AM	#2 (permalink)
tbone95 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: N.E. Michigan Posts: 1,656	What breed for starters? __________________ Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice

02-22-2012, 01:02 PM	#3 (permalink)
Heegees Ag Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Southern Ontario Posts: 88	Silage???? Corn or Grass

02-22-2012, 01:07 PM	#4 (permalink)
Heegees Ag Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Southern Ontario Posts: 88	R u only looking for pounds or component too

02-22-2012, 04:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
sunnyview87 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 104	feed is one side of the story and cow comfort is the other focus on what needs to be worked on more. What feed alternatives do you have available?

02-22-2012, 04:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
bsfarms Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 79	High quality feed and a good nutritionist. We cut our 1st crop earlier than most, and the rest of the crops at 28 days or earlier if possible. Try to have haylage RFV and RFQ above 150-160. Plant BMR corn silage and harvest at 68% moisture, any wetter and it runs on us. Always feed at same time and milk at same time. Don't stress the cows. We feed cows at 1:30 am, right before milking. This way they have fresh feed when they get done milking. We grow our own haylage, corn silage, and high moisture corn. We grind corn as fine as we can with our roller mill. We like to put it up at 30-32% moisture as it is more digestible when wet. Put up forage quickly. If a rain is coming, we wait to cut. We line bunker walls with plastic and cover with oxygen barrier film and then black plastic. Not cheap, but cuts spoilage to a minimum. The only feed we buy is cottonseed and a protein/mineral mix. Our nutritionist is a great one. We were feeding 5 lbs cottonseed, some distillers, some sbm, some soy plus, and minerals. Now we are 40-45 wet lbs haylage (170-190 rfq) and 40-45 wet lbs corn silage, 18.5 wet lbs hmc, 5 lbs cotton seed and 7.5 lbs protein mix. We test silage frequently. We had tried many nutritionists and were at 80-85 lbs milk per cow (3x milking). He made ration much simplier and possibly cheaper. We have been over 90 lbs a cow for 2+ yrs. Currently at 94 lbs, 3.85 fat, 3.1 pro, and scc 100-130. All holstein herd. I can't complain. One of his strong selling points is he is independent. He charges so much per cow per day (not sure, but maybe $0.08). He makes no commission on feed sales, so only feeds what cows need.

02-22-2012, 07:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
Heegees Ag Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Southern Ontario Posts: 88	bsfarms Where are you farming ???

02-22-2012, 09:23 PM	#8 (permalink)
4840mf Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 89	as far as nutrition, find a nutritionist that works with other dairies in your area and one that they like. but nutrition is only half the battle. cow comfort is king. what kisd of set up do you have? do everything you can to keep the cows comfortable.

02-23-2012, 09:44 AM	#10 (permalink)
Axialflow1688 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North Dakota Posts: 107	I got a mostly holstein cow heard. Thanks for all the replies.

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