Jersey heifer waiting for her yearly flu shot.
Cutting grass for silage or hay
Cow at the feed bunk.
Heifers on the fall pasture
Today’s dairy cow has been bred to produce large quantities of milk. To do this she must eat large quantities of feed.
Feeding for maximum production only is counter-productive unless the feeding program is designed around optimum cow health. There has been much research on how to feed dairy cows and we have to use knowledge gained to feed the herd, starting with the fact that cows, as ruminants, can digest cellulose as a primary source of nutrients. For the layman this means grass.
Dairy cattle have the ability to eat feedstuffs which humans cannot digest and convert them into a variety of nutritional foods made from milk. Historically dairy farms started in rolling hills and cool climate of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York and Minnesota where grazing cows could harvest grass on land that was marginal for other ag purposes. As cow numbers increased dairymen realized that they could feed more cows on the land they had available if they supplemented cow diets with some grain and added protein sources. Also they learned over time that winter feeding on stored feeds supported high levels of production.
Let’s diverge here a bit. Grazing cows means that when the lush green pastures of spring grew, dairymen ‘turned out’ their cows; switched from winter (stored) feed to pasture. Milk production per cow soared and the result was a huge glut of milk on the market in the spring. Prices dropped and so much milk was available that cheese and butter plants worked to capacity to clear the market. Farm prices dropped and dairy products flooded the market. At this point the government stepped in and we had the start of parity pricing, price floors, and government actually buying products and storing them to clear the market. Surplus products were butter, cheese, and dry milk powder. In essence, all milk which was not sold as fluid milk had to be made into these products in order for them to be stored. Further, dairymen who lived closer to fluid markets could get much more for their product than those who lived far out. Transportation was a major factor for a perishable product.
Thus, also, was started the Federal Milk Market Orders(FMMO), a system which has evolved into what today is a market price discovery mechanism for the industry. FMMO’s priced milk as a ‘pool’ within a designated area(orders) based on total fluid milk: manufactured milk sales ratio in the area and the price was a ‘blend’ to correct the distance problem. Processors with high fluid sales paid into the pool, those who had to make manufactured products drew from the pool. Farmers are paid a ‘pooled’ price.
If your head is about to explode from confusion at this point just read on…my experience is that even most dairymen don’t understand the pricing system. Not surprisingly, many are not pleased with it.
Back to feeding cows. Most dairies pastured cows on ‘permanent’ pastures, usually that land that was unsuitable for crops. Keep in mind that in the temperate zone there is no grass in the winter and the cows must eat. We make hay from the grass and legumes which can be stored for winter feed. As feeding research confirmed that ‘winter feed’ could support high milk production dairymen found that they could store consistently better feed at higher crop yields and have year round uniform milk production. Corn silage feeding led the feeding revolution. We chop the entire corn plant and store it in silos or bunks. In addition grasses and legumes are chopped and stored as silages and combinations of grass and corn silage make excellent rations for cows.
On my dairy I fed stored feeds year round to the milking herd and pastured my young stock on the pasture I had available. Even if I had rotationally pastured all my land I would not have had sufficient area. Plus, I had to grow enough feed for 5-6 months of fall-winter feeding and I chose to produce corn and alfalfa/grass for silage from my best crop land. The investment in equipment for growing and harvesting those feeds is considerable.
Dairymen realize the value of grazing and research has shown that rotational grazing is the most economical model for feeding dairy cows IF you have the required acreage. Even then, you must plan for stored feed in the winter. I have always had envy for the New Zealand model of dairying. In the year round grass climate they enjoy cows (mostly Jerseys) are grazed year round. In fact they synchronize their breeding so all the cows calve in a short time window allowing them to be ‘dried off’ at one time leaving a weeks long hiatus from milking chores. Great time to take a vacation! Of course, there are no people to buy their milk so it’s mostly made into butter which is exported all over the world.
In California dairy cows consume the huge volumes of byproducts that are a result of the food growing industry in the Central Valley. In Florida and California the by product of the citrus industry, citrus pulp, is a wonderful, high fiber feed for cows. Cottonseed, brewers grains, and distillers grains are in demand as dairy feed nationwide.
On my dairy a typical ration put out for the herd consisted of 40 lbs corn silage, 25 lbs alfalfa/grass silage, 8 lbs of ground corn, 4 lbs soybean meal, 2 lbs of distillers grain, and added vitamins and minerals per cow per day. The heifers got corn silage and grass hay with a small amount of grain with a vitamin/mineral mix. Calves after weaning get a high protein grain mix and good quality hay. Cows must be a least 10-12 months of age before their rumen is developed enough to handle an all grass diet.
Next up I will attempt to explain why I do not choose to dairy organically.