Pioneer director of alfalfa research, David Miller, discusses Pioneer brand alfalfa varieties, traits and testing to help producers put the right product on the right acre.
Listen to the podcast here:
David Miller on alfalfa varieties (4:00 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
Subscribe to Forage Forum here.
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Bill Rutherford, Pioneer research coordinator, discusses in situ analysis. In situ testing allows Pioneer researchers direct analysis of inoculant performance and fiber digestibility, providing producers additional product information.
Listen to the podcast here:
Bill Rutherford on in situ testing (6:30 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
Quality forage for dairy was one of many topics addressed during the 17th annual U.S. Ag Associates Conference hosted by Stoller USA in Houston on January 25-27.
Dairy specialist Les Yoder with Homestead Nutrition works not only to help improve the nutritional value of dairy feed, but also works on crop and soil nutrition and he spoke about the benefits of good feed nutrition.
“The forage component of the rations is extremely important to how we’re able to balance that program and make that cow very productive while maintaining health and profitability,” said Yoder. The better quality the forage is, the less a farmer has to depend on other things like the purchase of additional feed (corn and soybeans). “Quality forage is extremely, extremely important in a profitable dairy nutrition’s diet,” he said.
Yoder began using Stoller’s Bio-Forge nearly 10 years ago implementing that product for corn silage for dairy rations and began seeing some benefits of improved quality, digestibility and plant health – all of which made a better ration. He also noted that it helped to make a healthier and less expensive diet.
Listen to an interview with Les conducted by reporter Joanna Schroeder who covered the conference for Agwired.
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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.
Listen to the podcast here:
Scott Dennis on Silage Heat (5:00 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
Dr. Bill Mahanna, nutritional sciences manager for Pioneer, discusses ideal moisture percentages for high moisture corn. Mahanna says high moisture corn and snaplage benefit digestion. He also comments on corn particle sizes and inoculants for high moisture corn.
This edition of Forage Forum was recorded at the Pioneer Forage Media day held in September at the Livestock Nutrition Center in Johnston, IA.
Listen to the podcast here:
Bill Mahanna (4:45 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
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.
Listen to my interview with Chad here:
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This year, many producers are seeing a delay in corn silage harvest. Bill Curran, Pioneer research scientist, discusses harvest timing factors and how the growing season impacts the nutritional value of the silage.
Curran spoke to agricultural media recently at the Pioneer Forage Media day held at the Livestock Nutrition Center in Johnston, IA.
Listen to this edition of Forage Forum here:
Bill Curran on Delayed Forage Harvest (4:00 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
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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.
2009 Global Dairy 500 Conference Photo Album
World Dairy Diary coverage of the Global Dairy 500 Conference is sponsored by 
.
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Pioneer’s introduction last week of the Pioneer® brand 11GFT inoculant was the second in a series of products in the DuPont company’s fiber technology platform.
“The fiber technology platform is a new technology that we have been working on in the forage additive area for about the last six years,” says Pioneer Senior Research Manager Bill Rutherford. “Essentially what we’re talking about is targeting a trait, fiber digestibility in plant materials, by the utilization of enzymes which are produced directly from a proprietary strain of lactobacillus buchneri in the silage inoculant.”
The fiber technology platform was launched in 2008 with 11CFT developed for corn silage and now expanded to include 11GFT for grass and cereal silage. Dairy producers will be able to find out more about the new product at World Dairy Expo next week at the Pioneer Hi-Bred booth.
Listen to an interview with Bill Rutherford here:
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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.
Listen to this edition of Forage Forum here:
Leo Brown from Farm Progress Show (5:30 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
After all the classroom presentations today we got to tour the Pioneer Livestock Nutrition Center. We couldn’t take photos inside but afterward I interviewed our tour guide, Scott Dennis, Pioneer Technical Services Manager, Forage Additives. Cindy took the photo of me interviewing Scott who is pictured on the left.
Scott says the facility was originally built in 1993 to measure differences in what makes silage more digestible. They do swine digestibility studies, sheep and beef cattle feeding. One of the things they do that you won’t find in a commercial lab is that they grind samples down to a 6 millimeter size instead of 1 millimeter. The grind they use is more closely tied to the size of what the animal is actually chewing and therefore creates more accurate results. They also do 16 tests for every sample instead of 1 and use multiple animals and take an average to get a much more meaningful result. He says you won’t find this in any other University or commercial lab.
Pioneer Forage Media Day Photo Album
You can listen to my interview with Scott below:
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The man who got us started here at the Pioneer Hi-Bred Forage Media Day is Robin Newell. Cindy spoke to him about the “long look.” He says the Pioneer long look has four components that include: “We strive to create the best products;” “We deal honestly and fairly with our constituents;” “We represent our products vigorously;” “We help our customers get the most from our products.”
He says the focus today is on the development of corn silage and alfalfa and inoculants like their new 11GFT. He also mentioned their focus on animal welfare since they keep many animals here at the Livestock Nurition Center. He says they have an animal welfare committee that even includes “local clergy.” He says that person helps provide a good moral and ethical backbone to the committee.
Pioneer Forage Media Day Photo Album
You can listen to Cindy’s interview with Robin below:
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Pioneer Hi-Bred announced a new inoculant platform this morning. The 11GFT inoculant is the second in a series of products in the Pioneer fiber technology platform. This one will offer dairy producers another avenue to enhance forage digestibility which will reduce feed costs. The product was developed exclusively for grass and cereal silage and is the first of its kind. The company says other fiber technology products are currently under development.
Cindy interviewed Kyle Whitaker, Pioneer Hi-Bred Marketing Manager, Forage Additives, about the new product. Kyle says they see three key benefits that includes good basic fermentation, aerobic stability and fiber digestibility. He says they see the product used in silage markets across the U.S. with key targests in the northeast and far west.
We also have a photo album started for the event which will be added to later today but we’ve got some photos in there for you now: Pioneer Forage Media Day Photo Album
You can listen to Cindy’s interview with Kyle below:
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The Pioneer Forage Media Day has started with class in session at their Livestock Nutrition Center near Des Moines, IA. We have a very good attendance from the ag media. Right now we’re listening to the first presentation by Bill Curran on corn silage reearch. He’s giving us a complete overview of their process for testing and evaluating genetics of various hybrids.
During our breaks Cindy and I will be conducting interviews with the presenters which we’ll post for you. We’ll also be building up some new Forage Forum podcasts as well. So it’s going to be a busy day here.
We’ll also be doing some special tweets on the World Dairy Diary Twitter feed so keep an eye on it too. Please feel free to follow if you aren’t yet.