Posted: August 19, 2010 at 7:53 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
The ethanol co-product distillers grains offer a way to supplement bad hay being baled for winter feed this year.
During field days this month at University of Missouri Forage research centers, extension regional livestock specialist Chris Zumbrunnen told participants that distillers grains, which offer up to 30 percent protein, can pick up the slack when the hay quality falls short. “There is a tremendous amount of high quality product available,” Zumbrunnen said. There will also be plenty of poor quality hay that was harvested late and rained on during haymaking.
Zumbrunnen explained that different types of distillers grains require different handling methods.
The dried product, known as DDGs, which has only 10 percent moisture, handles and stores easily but it can draw moisture and become caked in storage. “If you put it in a bin, you might have a hard time getting it out,” Zumbrunnen said. The wet product, with 65 percent moisture, is less expensive, but needs to be used quickly. “It’s tough to store and do anything with,” he said. “You can’t stack it, as it will spread out unless contained.”
A new modified wet distillers grain offered by some ethanol plants allows more flexibility and ease in feeding. The modified product is dried down to 50 percent moisture. It retains its shape and won’t blow away like dry product. ”The modified wet product can be fed on the ground or on top of unrolled baled hay. It stays in place,” Zumbrunnen said “Those old cows love it.”
The best time for herd owners to buy distillers product is in late summer, before demand picks up from the feed yards. “You can save $30 a ton by buying in the off season,” Zumbrunnen said. “Now is the time to buy if you can store it.” A list of prices and sources for distillers grains in Missouri is updated weekly and listed on the dairy feed page of the MU AgEBB.
Posted: July 8, 2010 at 7:39 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
Last year many growers encountered a wet growing season which led to some concerns with ear molds. Bill Seglar, Pioneer nutritional sciences veterinarian, discusses conditions conducive to ear molds and the impact it has on nutritional value.
“Modifying the rumen to reduce the risk of acidosis” was the title of Prof. Sergio Calsamiglia’s presentation at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. He works in the veterinary school at Universitat AutÒnoma de Barcelona.
He says research shows that acidosis is not just a pH problem but related to the type of feed you’re using. There is evidence that although using bicarbonate helps, it doesn’t solve the problem. Conversely, there are feed additives that don’t impact pH but help the problem. He says he thinks the term acidosis may mislead people since there are products like yeast that can help the problem even though it is not a buffer. The bottom line is that good nutrition and animal care is the most important thing to work on.
Posted: June 25, 2010 at 4:24 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
The Nebraska Corn Board is giving the state’s dairy industry a well-deserved pat on the back for increasing production in a challenging year.
According to the latest state ag statistics, the Nebraska dairy industry produced more than 1.2 billion pounds of milk last year, an increase over the previous year.
“The number of dairy cows in Nebraska totaled some 61,000 head, which is an increase over the prior year. Growth in the dairy industry is something few states can show, as the dairy markets struggled nationally and many states saw their cow herd numbers decline,” said Kelsey Pope, promotion coordinator with the Nebraska Corn Board. “We’re fortunate to have gained cows, as dairy farms provide a number of good jobs and gives a boost to the local economy. With June being Dairy Month, this is something to celebrate – perhaps with a tall glass of milk. The state’s dairy receipts totaled about $172 million last year, but the sector’s total impact is considerably higher because so many dollars circulate several times through the local economy. Everything from a strong tax base, to feed, veterinary care, equipment, trucking, milk processing and more, a strong dairy sector is good for the state.”
Posted: May 27, 2010 at 9:22 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
In this edition of Forage Forum, Bill Seglar, Pioneer nutritional sciences veterinarian, addresses questions on BT corn for silage. Seglar says biotechnology traits do not impact nutritional value of the corn, but it is usually environmental factors that affect silage quality and nutritional value.
BASF Plant Science L.P. has announced the addition of T.A. Seeds as a new NutriDense® trait licensee. T.A. Seeds, headquartered in Jersey Shore, Pa., will offer NutriDense Silage traits starting this summer due to strong demand in its market area and the positive performance of NutriDense genetics.
BASF Plant Science breeding efforts have significantly improved NutriDense parent lines, and the hybrids developed from these lines have excellent agronomics, strong yield potential and outstanding nutritional performance.
“We are very excited to add T.A. Seeds to our growing list of NutriDense licensees,” said Barney Bernstein, director of trait marketing and sales for BASF Plant Science. “We have seen very positive results from NutriDense Silage hybrids in the northeast and surrounding areas, and are thrilled that T.A. Seeds can now offer NutriDense to their dairy customers.”
“We are constantly evaluating new hybrids that will increase the profitability of eastern farmers,” said Taylor Doebler, T.A. Seeds seedsman. “Based on our experience, we believe NutriDense Silage hybrids are a good fit for this geography, and we look forward to offering them to our customers.”
NutriDense is a nutritionally enhanced corn that contains a stacked set of output traits designed to improve animal feed performance. Seed companies market the product through licensing agreements with BASF Plant Science.
For dairy producers, NutriDense® Silage hybrids can increase silage tonnage while improving income over feed costs through greater feed efficiency.
In this edition of Forage Forum, Pioneer livestock information manager Steve Soderlund discusses the benefits of dual-purpose hybrids, which can allow a producer greater flexibility, depending on environmental conditions and feed needs.
The Chairman of the Egyptian Buffalo Producer’s Association is Dr. Saad Alhayani (pictured left). He also owns and operates a very new open water buffalo feedlot and dairy. The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team I recently traveled with visited. These cute, sweet, little creatures are very different than your average bovine.
Dr. Alhayani says he imports frozen semen to assist in breeding better quality animals which is something relatively new to the country. He’s raising thousands of buffalo and feeding them corn and ddgs as well as other ingredients. We saw lots of bags of ddgs at his feedlot. That looked very positive for American corn growers! He says sometimes they blend as much as 25% ddgs in the feed.
His goal is to produce a few thousand pregnant heifers for local producers and maybe even to export. He appreciates the assistance he’s received from the USGC.
You can listen to my interview with Dr. Alhayani’s below and watch a video clip of him showing us his operation as well:
Posted: November 19, 2009 at 4:07 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
Have you ever wondered where the heat comes from in silage?
This really cool infrared camera can read the temperature of a silage bunker and provide a color picture of the variations in heat levels on the face. The camera has gotten cheaper since it first came out a couple of years ago, but it still retails for several thousand dollars.
A great way to measure silage heat, but not practical for most producers, so Pioneer ruminant microbiologist Scott Dennis suggests using a thermometer to quickly and easily determine whether heat is physiological or microbial.
Dennis explains more about this topic along with management techniques to reduce heating in this edition of Forage Forum, recorded at the Pioneer Forage Media day held in September at the Livestock Nutrition Center in Johnston, IA.
Posted: October 11, 2009 at 5:29 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
Back in 2001, Dairyland Seed released the world’s first hybrid alfalfa, HybriForce-400. This year, they took that up a notch and introduced the next generation – HybriForce-2400 Gen-2.
“It’s giving us a five percent yield advantage over generation one,” said Dairyland Seed Forage Product Manager Chad Staudinger during an interview at World Dairy Expo. “Through the hybrid breeding system we are able to commercially place F1 generation with 100 percent yield potential on-farm.”
Chad says this provides a definite yield advantage for producers and the hybrid system brings with it a uniformity of crop, which ultimately means more uniformity of feed for the animals.
Dinner time last night at the Global Dairy 500 Conference featured multiple subject discussions. You picked your topic and then participated in a discussion after eating.
I attended the Silage Discussion Dinner led by Matthew Smith, Alltech. You can see Matthew getting his slides ready for the start of the discussion. He works for the company in New Zealand and has focused on silage during his career. When it comes to silage he says he encourages producers to “get excited about it.” He says the important thing to remember is how important it is as a feed ingredient. Deciding what seed to put in the ground is one of the most important decisions to make up front according to Matthew.
Here at the dinner his hope was to present silage as “good news.” He says cutting your way around the corners with silage in your operation is just not the way to go.
You can watch a portion of Matthew’s discussion dinner here.
Posted: September 17, 2009 at 8:39 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
Leo Brown, Pioneer Livestock Information manager, discusses fall alfalfa management and corn hybrid selection for silage at the 2009 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill. Brown says producers should evaluate alfalfa stands in the fall. Depending on stand quality, a producer can look to fertilize for optimum spring growth or apply a herbicide treatment to kill the crop for easier groundwork in the spring. Now is also the time to consider hybrid selection for corn – looking for good starch and fiber digestibility.
Posted: August 6, 2009 at 4:05 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
The most important thing a quality inoculant can do is maintain or retain more of the forage that is put in a bunker. Paul Porter, Pioneer dairy specialist, says that improvement in dry matter recovery can add up to some substantial dollars.
Posted: July 8, 2009 at 9:19 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
Chop height can have an impact on silage nutrient composition. Leo Brown, Pioneer livestock information manager, discusses how to determine the optimum harvest window for corn silage and how that time frame can impact its nutritional value.
Posted: June 11, 2009 at 11:07 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
Inoculating silage is a standard practice, but have you wondered why or how it works? Pioneer Hi-Bred has the world’s largest collection of lactic acid bacteria, the beneficial organisms used in silage inoculants. Scott Dennis, Pioneer ruminant microbiologist, looks at why inoculates work. Dennis says the purpose of making silage is for year-round feed, and preserving nutrients aids in accomplishing that.
Posted: May 27, 2009 at 8:04 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
Silage evaluation can be a timely process. Following harvest, a sample needs to be bagged and sent to a lab for evaluation. At Pioneer Hi-Bred, experts are using near-infrared technology (NIR) on research choppers which offers a much faster turnaround time for evaluating the nutritional value of silage hybrids. Kevin Putnam, Pioneer dairy specialist, discusses the benefits of Pioneer using NIR on their research choppers.
Posted: May 13, 2009 at 1:13 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
High moisture corn offers growers both agronomic and nutritional benefits. Fred Owens, Pioneer senior research scientist, discusses some of these benefits, including, high digestibility, earlier harvest window and increased nutritional energy value.
Posted: April 30, 2009 at 11:25 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
Growing conditions can vary from year to year and this variance can impact the nutritional value of the silage. In this edition of the Pioneer Forage Forum podcast, Pioneer livestock information manager Jim Smith explains the effects of solar radiation, moisture and heat at different stages of plant growth.
pioneer-podcast-53-wdd.mp3
Jim Smith on the Impact of Growing Conditions on Nutritional Value of Silage (5:00 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
Posted: April 16, 2009 at 11:07 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
In this edition of the Pioneer Forage Forum podcast, Bill Ramsey, Pioneer livestock information manager, discusses several ways to measure feed quality performance. Ramsey looks at three questions producers should consider when evaluating the nutritional value of their feed. Some ways to measure feed value include, NIR on choppers and the physical makeup of the silage.
Posted: April 1, 2009 at 10:36 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
Breeding corn for silage is very much like a conventional program for grain. The main difference is the equipment used to measure the end product. Bill Curran, Pioneer research scientist, discusses some of the key traits producers and breeders are looking to achieve. Some key traits include dry matter, tonnage and starch digestibility.
During field days this month at University of Missouri Forage research centers, extension regional livestock specialist Chris Zumbrunnen told participants that distillers grains, which offer up to 30 percent protein, can pick up the slack when the hay quality falls short. “There is a tremendous amount of high quality product available,” Zumbrunnen said. There will also be plenty of poor quality hay that was harvested late and rained on during haymaking.
The dried product, known as DDGs, which has only 10 percent moisture, handles and stores easily but it can draw moisture and become caked in storage. “If you put it in a bin, you might have a hard time getting it out,” Zumbrunnen said. The wet product, with 65 percent moisture, is less expensive, but needs to be used quickly. “It’s tough to store and do anything with,” he said. “You can’t stack it, as it will spread out unless contained.”
Last year many growers encountered a wet growing season which led to some concerns with ear molds. Bill Seglar, 
“Modifying the rumen to reduce the risk of acidosis” was the title of Prof. Sergio Calsamiglia’s presentation at the 
According to the latest state ag statistics, the Nebraska dairy industry produced more than 1.2 billion pounds of milk last year, an increase over the previous year.
The Chairman of the 
This really cool infrared camera can read the temperature of a silage bunker and provide a color picture of the variations in heat levels on the face. The camera has gotten cheaper since it first came out a couple of years ago, but it still retails for several thousand dollars. 
A great way to measure silage heat, but not practical for most producers, so 
Back in 2001, Dairyland Seed released the world’s first hybrid alfalfa, 
“It’s giving us a five percent yield advantage over generation one,” said Dairyland Seed Forage Product Manager Chad Staudinger during an interview at World Dairy Expo. “Through the hybrid breeding system we are able to commercially place F1 generation with 100 percent yield potential on-farm.”
Dinner time last night at the Global Dairy 500 Conference featured multiple subject discussions. You picked your topic and then participated in a discussion after eating.