2009-2010 Dairy Cattle Feeding Issues with High-Moisture Corn, Snaplage and Dry Shelled Corn Paul Esker, Randy Shaver, Jim Leverich, Mike Ballweg, Pat Hoffman and Mike Rankin  

Understanding Corn Test Weight Mike Rankin, Crops & Soils Agent Fond du Lac County

High Moisture Corn Harvest and Storage Considerations Mike Rankin, Crops & Soils Agent Fond du Lac County

Sweet Corn Waste: Forage Quality and Fermentation Characteristics Paul Dyk, Dairy & Livestock Agent Fond du Lac County

Using corn silage starch to navigate high-priced grain Randy Shaver  

Also, a link to was placed under the "Links" tab to the Team Grains web site which has several new postings related to grain harvest issues this Fall including information regarding a November 6th Webinar on this topic

The registration brochure has been posted on my web site and has been attached.

The first file is an Excel spreadsheet that allows price changes of milk and feeds to find out the income over feed cost (IOFC)  and the marginal value of milk to corn grain according to weeks of lactation and current corn content in diet.

The second file is a pdf document that describes in detail the methology and the steps followed in the spreadsheet analyses. This is a working-in-progress project. This document discusses at the end the limitations and potential continued work in this area.

The third file is an interactive Flash Player  application that presents the marginal value of milk to corn (final results in spreadsheet) and allows to find out quickly and efficiently the optimal levels of corn utilization according to prices changes.

This may be a useful learning, teaching and evaluation tool as major shifts in diet formulations are considered in the face of high feed ingredient prices.

Feed ingredient prices can be varied for the simulated diets along with milk price as inputs. Feed cost and income over feed cost are calculated based on projected intake and milk yield for the simulated diets.

Tessmann et al. (1991) found that BCS at dry off was 3.5 to 3.7 for moderate to high grain diets, while for low grain diets it dropped to only 2.9--also. Also, refer to table 10 which shows that in the subsequent lactation when all cows were fed a 50:50 F:C diet, milk yield in 1st 10-weeks was similar for the medium and high grain diets in the treatment lactation, but was reduced for cows on the low grain diet during the treatment lactation. There were no adverse effects of the low grain diets on health or reproduction

Additionally, Dhiman et al. (1991) has blood measurements showing decreased glucose and increased BHBA for cows fed the low grain diets, which could suggest potential for ketosis problems if very low grain diets are fed in early lactation

The main take home messages are:

1) In early lactation (<12 weeks) corn grain will have a very high (2 to 4) corn to milk ratio. Consequentl, the use of corn grain will likely be justified.

2) In medium and late lactation (>12 weeks) this ratio decreases substantially and it is between ~1 and ~0.1. Consequently, depending on the ratio milk price to corn grain price, the use of extra corn or the decrease in the actual amount would be justified. 

3) With potential prices of July 2008 (milk $18.20/cwt and corn grain $7.5/bu): extra amount of corn would be justified only to week 17 in lactation and if diet currently has 88% of forage on it. If the current diet has 78% of less of forage, a reduction on the amount of corn would be advisable.

I have updated the information provided in "Byproduct Feedstuffs in Dairy Cattle Diets in the Upper Midwest". This paper includes information on nutrient composition and upper feeding limits for byproduct feeds.

I have updated the Feedval, Feedval4 and Pricer spreadsheets to more closely reflect the current price situation for the referee feeds. These spreadsheets are located in the "Spreadsheets" section of my website. The Feedval spreadsheets give breakeven prices for byproduct feeds based on the prices entered for referee feeds. These calculated breakeven prices for individual byproduct feeds then need to be compared to their actual market prices to determine their opportunity value. In the "Links" section of my website I have included links to the Missouri Extension Byproduct Feed List and Feedstuffs Magazine where current market prices for byproduct feeds can be located; remember though that prices listed at these sites do not include freight or local supplier margins.