Great forages are the foundation for precision feed management, said Joe Lawrence during a Cornell Cooperative Extension webinar.
That’s because the quality of a farm’s homegrown forages drives the composition of the ration. When a dairy is starting with a high-quality base, they can utilize a high-forage diet that contributes to greater cow health and income over feed cost (IOFC), continued the dairy forage systems specialist with Cornell Pro-Dairy.
Maximizing IOFC is a key part of feeding cows precisely. A farm can supplement some ingredients when forage quality is lacking, but those are often more expensive, and Lawrence noted that grain can never quite make up for the nutritional gap of poor forage quality.
Feb 1, 2024
Katelyn Allen
