Extension > Agriculture > Dairy Extension > Forages
Forages
Table of contents
2013 winter injury of alfalfa
Reports of winter injury and winterkill of alfalfa continue to intensify across parts of southern Minnesota.
Forage legumes: Second edition
Clovers, birdsfoot trefoil, cicer milkvetch, crownvetch, sainfoin and alfalfa.
Species/varieties
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Early season forage supplies
What are different options to increase early forage produced on your operation?
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Fodder systems and forage supply
With the drought of 2012 impacting feed prices and feed supplies, dairy quality forage is very expensive if you have to buy it. What are you doing now to increase your forage supply in 2013?
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Got Forage? The reality of a drought situation
The reality for many livestock producers in the Midwest is that in some way, the drought will have an impact on their forage and feed supply and cost of feeding animals on their operations.
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Ongoing grass forage research
Grasses increase digestible NDF, effective fiber, and rumen mat.
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Alfalfa mixtures with orchardgrass or tall fescue outperform alfalfa alone
Alfalfa/grass mixtures may outperform alfalfa alone, including more milk production potential per acre, but considerable variation across on-farm locations exist.
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Quality assessments of alfalfa/grass mixtures
Quality data for three 2010 forage cuttings
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Alfalfa Q & A
Good quality alfalfa is the cornerstone of any dairy farm forage ration.
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Dairy-quality grass forage research update
Perennial grasses can provide good agronomic, economic, and nutritive complements to alfalfa.
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Selecting corn hybrids for profitable silages
Identify consistently top performers over multiple sites or multiple years within a region.
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BMR corn hybrids for silage: Profit/cow or profit/acre?
If done correctly, BMR corn silage will allow us to improve profit per cow and profit per acre.
Establishment
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Alfalfa/grass mixtures look promising on Minnesota farms
Experiment with grass species and varieties on a small scale on your own farm.
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Assess alfalfa stands now
It's not easy to spot reduced yield potential associated with winter injury.
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Summer-seeding perennial forages
Important: adequate soil moisture and a seedbed that maximizes seed-to-soil contact.
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Pasture renovation: refreshing a tired pasture
Over-grazed pastures usually become little more than an exercise area after midsummer.
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Seeding grasses with alfalfa: This old idea makes cents today
Recent developments in forage testing have helped restore the respect for grasses.
Harvesting
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Harvest strategies to optimize corn silage quality and yield
Harvest timing ensures that the crop is at the optimum moisture for packing and fermentation.
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Ace alfalfa harvesting
Forages are fed at a greater percentage of the diet than any other single feed ingredient.
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Taking alfalfa yield seriously
Alfalfa offers much as a feed, soil builder, and profit center within crop rotations.
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The dollars and cents of bale wrapping haylage
See costs of owning and operating the bale wrapper for 1,000 bales per year.
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Fall harvesting alfalfa
Late summer into fall usually provides favorable growing conditions for alfalfa.
Storage
Silage inoculants
Forage inoculants work in different ways. Select the proper inoculants to meet your forage type and quality goals.
Preventing corn silage shrinkage and spoilage
Dry matter loss through fermentation, wastage and spoilage. (88 K PDF)
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Bunker silo sizing and management
Proper location, construction for maximizing feed quality, quantity. (433 K PDF) – Oklahoma State University
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Feed storage tables
Silos should be sized based on a dry matter, DM, basis for each type of forage. (182 K PDF)
Forage quality for dairy rations
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Forage quality goals
Dairy producers and alfalfa growers realize the value of hay or haylage exceeding 150 Relative Feed Value.
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Could your forage win the "Super Bowl"?
More than just milk/ton needs to be evaluated to determine which forage will be best for the herd's feeding program. With higher feed costs, high quality home grown forages offer a lot of advantages; cows will eat more and milk more.
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Planning corn harvest to minimize winter feed costs
The three biggest factors that lead to feeding high quality corn silage and reduce feed cost are to harvest corn silage at the correct moisture, exclude oxygen during storage and manage feedout.
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Grass hay makes milk too
Good-quality grass hay can be a valuable feed for high-producing dairy cows. Grass and alfalfa hay have similar replacement values for corn grain and soybean.
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High quality grasses fit well in rations of high producing dairy cows
Grasses have significant nutrient management benefits, particularly with manure management.
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Effect of forage quality on heifer growth
Feeding above or below requirements can negatively impact future reproductive and lactation performance.
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Forage quality affects profitability
All feed ingredients' prices have risen considerably.
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Potential problems for livestock producers to consider in 2007
The dual effect of drought and hail created toxins that may impact crops. (22 K PDF)
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Making high corn silage diets work
Hybrid effects, harvesting, and diet formulation effects on the feeding value of corn silage. (180 K PDF)
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Evaluating corn silage quality for dairy cattle
Feed management: reduce the import of nutrients to the farm and excretion of nutrients in manure. – University of Wisconsin on eXtension.org
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Forage testing is critical when using exotic feeds
Accurate forage analysis is an essential tool for constructing diets.
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Effects of forage quality on performance and cost of feeding lactating dairy cows
Diets of 21% NDF from high quality forages will return more milk production and reduce off-farm feed costs.
Other forage resources we recommend
- Alfalfa management guide – University of Wisconsin
- Evaluating particle size of forages and TMRs (226 K PDF) – The Pennsylvania State University
- Forage identification and use guide: grasses and legumes – University of Kentucky
- Scissor cut/PEAQ – Minnesota Forage and Grassland Council
- Bunker silo density calculator (77 K XLS) – University of Wisconsin
- Silage pile density calculator (105 K XLS) – University of Wisconsin
- Milk2006 corn silage spreadsheet (937 K XLS) – University of Wisconsin
- Estimating the value of standing corn for corn silage (52 K XLS) – University of Wisconsin
Websites
- University of Minnesota Extension Forages
- U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center
- American Forage and Grassland Council
- Buying and selling hay and straw – University of Wisconsin
- Harvesting and storing forages – University of Wisconsin
- Relative forage quality – University of Wisconsin
