June 15, 1998
Volume 1, Issue 7
Inside this Issue
Managing Heat Stress
Beyond the Law of Supply and Demand for Forages
15-Measures of Dairy Farm Competitiveness
A Time to Reflect
Milk Price Outlook
Hay Auction Prices
Calendar of Events
News Updates
Managing Heat Stress
Somehow, I find it hard to address this topic when the temperature in my office is bordering 60?F. I am always amazed that we can land a man on the moon but that we cannot control room temperatures at OSU better than cavemen did. It must be me…
This article is short on purpose. If you want additional details, please call us and request “A Guide to Understanding and Managing Heat Stress”. This is what you can do to manage heat stress in your herd.
1. Reduce exposure to environmental heat.
John Smith
Auglaize County, ANR Agent
Beyond the Law of Supply and Demand for Forages
M.L. Eastridge and J.L. Firkins
Department of Animal Sciences
The law of supply and demand apply to forages – large supply, low demand, low prices; low supply, high demand, high prices. On the other hand, marketability is another issue, especially with respect to silages, with proximity to market being a key point. But because of the requirement for fiber in the diet, forages can not be totally replaced in the ration with nonforage feeds, even if supply is very limited and prices are quite high. Variability in weather conditions often causes havoc with forage production, and although it is a little early to tell for this year, we need to be prepared to adjust feeding programs to the supply and quality of forages available.
Current research in the Department of Animal Sciences at OSU has shed some light on the amount of forage needed in rations for lactating dairy cows. But, before we discuss the lactating cows, let’s take a snapshot at the dry cow program. Far-off dry cows should be fed primarily forage and a small amount of grain, with the grain serving principally as a carrier of minerals and vitamins. At 21 days prepartum, cows should be switched to a ration designed to transition cows for the ration that will be fed postpartum. The transition ration should contain about 14 to 15% CP, consist of 8 to 10 lb of grain, and the forages be those that will be fed postpartum. Always preserve the highest quality forage on the farm for the close-up dry cows and the lactating cows.
Given that forages are needed to provide fiber, what is the amount of
forage needed in the diet to supply the minimum amount of effective fiber?
Oops, let’s first define effective fiber. It is the fiber in the diet that
will stimulate rumination (cud chewing) – more chewing, more saliva flow
to buffer the rumen. Effectiveness of the fiber is determined by
the source of the fiber and the particle size of the fiber source. Using
the Penn State particle size separator, the following recommendations apply
( A.J. Heinrichs, Penn State Univ., 1997 Proceedings Tri-State Dairy
Nutrition Conference):
Corn Silage
Haylage
TMR
Upper sieve 2 to 4% sole forage
10 to 15% sealed silo
6 to 10%
(>.75”)
10 to 15% chopped/rolled
15 to 25% bunker silo
Middle sieve 40 to 50%
30 to 40%
30 to 50%
(.75 to .31”)
Bottom pan 40 to 50% 40 to 50% 40 to 60%
Corn Silage
Assuming we have adequate particle size, let’s discuss some guidelines on fiber in the diet for lactating cows. Generally speaking, diets should contain a minimum of 26 to 28% NDF using traditional diets consisting of little or no high-fiber concentrate feeds. Given that we have several high-fiber concentrate feeds available today and that the effectiveness of their fiber is lower than for forages, we often express minimum fiber levels based on percentage of NDF from forage (FNDF). Assuming that 75% of the NDF should be forage, 21% FNDF would be needed in the ration. Of course the actual amount of forage in the ration will depend on its NDF content. Some of our earlier research revealed that only about 65% of the NDF was needed from forage, leading to about 18% FNDF in the diet. Combined with research from other universities, it became obvious that it is important to balance the amount of FNDF and starch in the diet and that source of the starch is of an important consideration. Based on several experiments, here are some guidelines for limiting forage to extend supply and to optimize milk yield:
1. Whole linted cottonseed (WCS) is the best concentrate sources to use as a forage extender. When feeding it, limit daily intake to 5 to 6 lb per cow because of its unsaturated fat content. Dietary FNDF may be as low as 9 to 11% of DM when WCS is in the diet if dietary starch is limited to 25 to 30%. Price of WCS sometimes gets high for northerners; prices above $180/ton should raise some questions of whether it is economical to use. High fiber concentrate feeds, such as soybean hulls, distillers grains, brewers grains, wheat middlings, corn gluten feed, etc., can be used to limit the starch content in the ration.
2. If WCS is not in the ration, the FNDF content may be limited to 16 to 18% of dietary DM when using the high-fiber concentrate feeds to limit starch to 25 to 30% of the diet.
3. The suggestions in Items 1 and 2 are made assuming that corn silage is not the sole forage in the ration. If corn silage is the sole forage, the lower limits on FDNF should be increased 3 to 5 percentage units, and adequate particle size of the forage becomes even more important. This is because corn silage has fewer long particles than haylage and the corn grain is more rapidly degraded in the rumen than dry shelled corn (see Item 4).
4. These suggestions are being made assuming that dry corn is the principal concentrate providing starch to the ration. If more rapidly fermented starch sources are used (e.g., wheat, barley, high moisture corn, and steam-flaked corn), replace no more than 50% of the dry corn or increase the amount of fiber in the ration.
5. It is not necessary to add hay to a dairy cow ration; let me repeat, hay is not required in the ration of a dairy cow. However, hay does provide a safety net when feeding low fiber diets because of its particle size – more cud chewing, denser rumen mat (feed layer in top of rumen).
6. Always add a buffer (e.g., sodium bicarbonate or sodium sesquicarbonate) to the ration at about .8% of DM when feeding low fiber diets.
7. When using these guidelines, keep in mind that a balance needs to be maintained between fiber and starch in the ration. When feeding low fiber rations without WCS, a ratio of FNDF: starch of .45 appears adequate.
So, based on new research data, we can feed less forage than what we
traditionally thought. However, management of low forage feeding programs
must be very intense. Changes in forage quality or particle size can result
in major problems with little notice. Watch for the following as indicators
of inadequate fiber intake: highly variable feed intake and milk yield,
several cows within a group with inverted milk fat and protein percentages,
increased incidence of displaced abomasum, sore feet, and loose feces.
The low fiber levels described above should never be fed to cows during
early lactation without feeding a transition ration to close-up dry cows,
and less risk will exist with feeding the low fiber levels if such rations
are introduced beyond 30 days of lactation.
15- Measures of Competitiveness
Ernest Oelker, Agriculture Agent
This month: Pounds Milk Sold per Worker
Competitive Levels:
Tie Stall or Stanchion Free Stall-Parlor
_____________________________________________________________________________
Large Breed > 600,000 > 1,000,000
Small Breed > 450,000
> 750,000
_____________________________________________________________________________
Calculation: Total pounds (lb.) milk sold/number of full time
worker equivalents (FTEs)
Example: 4,000,000 lb. milk sold
/ 4.33 (13,000 hr./3,000 hr. /FTE)
= 923,084 lb. milk sold per worker
Pounds of milk sold per worker is an important tool for evaluating the productivity of workers and cattle. It combines efficient labor utilization with good to excellent herd production. If all feed is purchased, double these benchmarks.
If pounds of milk sold per worker is below the competitive level
Evaluate herd productivity. To achieve this competitive level, cows
probably need to be above average for the breed in production per cow.
Consider using BST, milking three times per day, review your reproductive
program.
Evaluate labor efficiency. Antiquated facilities and uncomfortable working conditions reduce labor efficiency. Good labor management practices in hiring, training, motivation of employees and family members help workers to get more work done with less stress. Workers in tie stall or stanchion systems should be able to handle 30-35 cows per FTE, including raising crops. Workers in free stall-parlor systems should be able to handle 40-50 cows per worker.
A Time to Reflect…
June is dairy month, a time to reflect on our industry, and promote
this awesome product called milk coming out of our farms. There
is a good story to be told about milk and dairy products. We have
the calcium
story, so essential to healthy, strong bones. Now, we have the
CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) story, showing up as an important agent
against cancer. And best of all, we have the taste story in the form
of delicious cheese on your pizza, and tasty ice cream on a hot summer
day.
Your dairy check-off program is making an impact. You may not
like the way your dollars are used all the time, but you must agree that
the promotion of our industry and of our products is now a vital link to
our future.
Normand St-Pierre
Milk Price Outlook
Normand St-Pierre, Dairy Extension Specialist
The May Basic Formula Price (BFP) plunged to $10.88, down $1.13 from the April BFP. This BFP will place average pay prices for Ohio milk producers in the low $12 per cwt. range. The BFP drop was considerably more than what most economists were expecting. There has to be a reason for the sharpness of the drop, but I haven’t heard a very convincing one yet.
Before you get discouraged, you should also know that recent cheese prices have surged dramatically. Block cheese on the Chicago Mercantile climbed 14 ¼ cents the first week of June. So the low milk prices should be out of the picture come July 4th. BFP futures contracts are also up, with July and August contracts near $14/cwt.
Your guesses for milk prices this fall are as good as mine.
Hay Auction Prices (June 5, 1998)
Location
First
Second New
Hay
Large Round/bale
Damascus (/bale)
$.75 - 5.00
$.75 - 5.00
Ashland County (/ton) $65.00 -107.50
$90.00
$70.00 - 110.00 $20.00 -27.50
Farmerstown (/ton)
No prices
Mt. Hope (/ton)
$55.00 - 125.00
$10.00 - 25.00
Kidron
$57.50 - 200.00 $95.00 - 200.00
$22.00
Calendar of Events
7/23/98
Columbia-Mahoning Dairy Twilight
Steve Crist’s Farm.
For more information, call Dianne Shoemaker 330-4224-7291.
News Update…
Antibiotic Resistance Issue Heats Up
World Health Organization officials will meet next week in Geneva to discuss what many perceive to be a growing problem with microbial resistance to antibiotics. Use of antibiotics in agriculture, particularly at subtherapeutic levels in feed for growth promotion, is expected to come under heavy scrutiny.
Mike Osterholm, Minnesota state epidemiologist, tested 76 chicken products pulled from grocery store coolers last year. Nearly 80% of those samples were contaminted with campylobacter, and 20% of those were resistant to Fluoroquinolone. The controversy could spill over into dairy, even though there are no label-approved uses of antibiotics in feed for lactating cows.
"If we're put to the kind of scrutiny that zealots on this issue would like, I think we as an industry would fail," says Jim Cullor, a University of California veterinarian. The reason: Antibiotics are routinely used on dairies without first identifying target organisms or doing much of any kind of susceptibility screening.
The Animal Health Institute, which represents animal drug companies, is trying to stay in front of the issue, vehemently defending the use of antibiotics. To document benefits, AHI is supporting an independent risk assessment currently underway at Georgetown University. "If we have a role to play to further minimize risk, we will do it," says Alex Mathews, AHI president.
Reprinted with permission of Dairy Today.
Merger Approved
Land O'Lakes, Arden Hills, Minn., and Dairyman's Cooperative Creamery, Tulare, Calif., announced this morning their memberships overwhelmingly approved merger. The effective date of consolidation will be July 1, with "Land O'Lakes" being retained as the surviving cooperative. Combined, the new co-op will process some 12 billion lb of milk annually, solidifying its position as the second largest dairy co-op in the country behind Dairy Farmers of America.
Reprinted with permission of Dairy Today.
Better Returns. Returns over concentrate costs are projected to climb 6-8% in its most recent Dairy Situation and Outlook report. “These returns should spur herd expansions by some of the stronger producers—if a good forage base is reasonably assured and if these farmers become confident that these returns will persist, “says the report. “On the other hand, the improvement in returns probably will be insufficient to have much effect on the exit of weaker producers.”
Reprinted with permission of Dairy Today.
Two Acres/Cow? Ev Thomas at Miner Institute, Chazy, N.Y., says dairy producers would be hard-pressed to adopt animal waste management plans as proposed in Sen. Tom Harkin’s report, “Animal Pollution in America: An Emerging National Problem.” Harkin says all large livestock operations should be required to adopt plans that limit phosphorus and nitrogen applications to the amounts that can be used by crops. “On average, four tons of alfalfa and 18 tons of corn silage each remove about 60 lb. of phosphorus,” Thomas says. “The typical dairy cow produces about 72 lb. of phosphorus. Therefore, if you purchase no fertilizer, you will need 1.2 acres of cropland per milk cow, plus additional crop acreage for the manure produced by young stock.” Even with minimal use of fertilizer P, it would be tough to achieve the nutrient balance Harkin wants with fewer than two acres per milk cow, Thomas adds.
Reprinted with permission of Dairy Today.