Fermentation is a biochemical reaction accomplished by bacteria as they consume the plant sugars and oxygen. They then convert those nutrients into acids, and once an anaerobic environment has been achieved...

Silage production is a competition. While the crop stands, its native microorganisms, or epiphytes, live in a low-growth, maintenance-only state of starvation...

There are different paths to optimal forage quality and animal performance for hay and haylage crops versus corn silage. With hay and haylage crops, cutting the crop at the correct plant maturity is a major decision that will substantially influence resulting quality...

Labor Day is in the rearview mirror. It’s no longer possible to change the hybrid, plant density, pest management, fertilizer strategies, or the summer weather...

The death of a Wisconsin dairy farmer this past week is a grim reminder that farms provide for a dangerous work environment. Sometimes one with unsuspecting hazards.The young dairy farmer was ov...

Through the years, farmers have devised any number of methods to estimate the moisture of cut forage in an attempt to hit the optimum harvest mark...

A truckload of hay is 48,000 pounds, a “small” 250-ton silo bag and a 1,000-ton pile or bunker are 500,000 and 2,000,000 pounds, respectively...

With lower milk and beef prices coupled with increasing corn seed prices, there is good reason to contemplate the optimum planting rate for silage corn. Recently, researchers in both Virginia and Wisconsin weighed in on the topic. Gonzalo Ferreira, extension dairy scientist at Virginia Tech, reported on the second year of planting rate study in the Dairy Pipeline newsletter. In 2015, silage corn was planted in four southern Virginia plots at rates of 22,000 to...

Adequately processed kernels separated from the stover and leaves using the float test. The title might fool you into thinking we’re discussing NFL stats, but the focus is actually a topic with...

Forage is an indispensable part of dairy cow diets. However, due to its bulkiness and the inherently low levels of fiber digestibility, cows are limited in how much forage they can consume...