Feed costs are the highest single operating expense on dairy farms today. They are also the greatest opportunity for expense savings on a farm by focusing on the difference between milk revenue and feed costs, or your income over feed costs (IOFC). An immense amount of time and money goes into a successful planting and…(Read More)
Mike Reuter, Director of Analytical Services Mike Reuter has been a part of the Dairy One Forage Lab team for the last 34 years. As director of analytical services for the forage and soils labs, his primary role is providing leadership and oversight to those teams. An important part of that leadership is helping his…(Read More)
A key factor in getting fast and accurate results is proper sample submission. Samples that are collected properly, labeled clearly, and submitted with all of the needed information can be processed most efficiently. Missing information is one of the key reasons sample results get delayed. Samples that are submitted without paperwork, contact information, or payment…(Read More)
The first step in getting timely sample results is a timely arrival of samples to the lab. Recent USPS delays have slowed the submission process of some samples. While this does not affect the time it takes to analyze samples once they arrive, it does delay the start of that process. Luckily, there a few…(Read More)
Dr. Chris Dutton, VMD Since rolling out our new MUN report earlier this summer, we’ve had some questions on how the information provided can be applied to pasture based or grazing herds. Dr. Chris Dutton, a member of Agricultural Management Resource Support Team, was one of the team members involved with the development of…(Read More)
The transportation and courier system covers about 14 states and is comprised of 25-30 couriers who drive more than 160,000 miles per month. This is the method by which the majority of Dairy One DHIA samples and bulk tank producer payment samples end up at the Dairy One Milk Laboratory every day. Rain…(Read More)
Near Infrared Reflectance spectroscopy, or NIR, is an effective and efficient method of analysis, used most commonly in the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries. In the pharmaceutical world, NIR is used as more of a quality assurance method while in agriculture it is used to analyze the nutrients present in feed and forages. The way…(Read More)
Nestled in the back corner of the building there is a little office where any samples from hay and corn silage to eels and banana trees are entered into the Dairy One Laboratory System to begin their nutrient analysis journey. This is home to our Forage Lab Customer Support group, who would likely refer to…(Read More)
Sally Flis, Ph.D. – Feed and Crop Support Specialist It is that time of the year again, corn is almost ready for chopping. Harvesting corn silage for the maximum quality and best fermentation requires monitoring and management. The first factor to check is whole plant dry matter. Corn silage should be between 50 and 70…(Read More)
Sally A. Flis, Ph.D. – Feed and Crop Support Specialist, Dairy One When we discuss silage pile shrink, most of the time we are talking about wet weight shrink, which is measured as the difference between the amount of feed delivered to the bunk at harvest versus the amount of feed that makes it to…(Read More)
Sally A. Flis, Ph.D. – Feed and Crop Support Specialist, Dairy One – sally.flis@dairyone.com In the February blog post, I talked about the change from aNDF to aNDFom, but I forgot to talk about why the “a” was added to your NDF. Starting in January, all of the Forage Lab reports had NDF…(Read More)
We tend to only think about water intake in the summer when temperatures are increasing and increased intake is needed to help with cooling. In the winter, water intake can also increase due to increased intake to meet energy needs. Additionally, freezing water lines, water bowls, or water troughs can go unnoticed for hours…(Read More)
In last week’s blog, I discussed feed loss from the field to the bunk. This week, we will look at feed loss in the bunk and during feeding. I have identified 5 ways you could be losing feed at the bunk, but I am sure you can think of a few…(Read More)
Fall is here! Are you considering taking another cut of hay? Here are 4 Things to Think About Before Taking a 4th or 5th Cut of Hay: 1. Stand Health – Crop Rotation Plan – A late fall cutting of hay, especially alfalfa, can have a detrimental effect on the winter survival and spring regrowth…(Read More)