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| The cows enjoying a meal |
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| Feed is stored in this commodity barn |
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| These are the feed ingredients we currently use |
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| The feed is mixed in this wagon then delivered to the cows |
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Dairy Diet – What do Cows Eat?
Cows must eat nutritious feed to produce quality milk. Our cows are given a combination of ingredients that provide the nutrients they need to be healthy, content and productive. We work with a dairy cattle nutritionist who creates a feed ration (recipe) for our cows. This recipe is modified as the cow’s needs change based on age, stage of lactation (where they are in their milk cycle), gestation (pregnancy status), feed availability and other factors.
Currently, our feed ingredients include haylage (chopped up hay), corn silage (the entire corn plant from ear to stalk), soybean meal, wet distillers grain, fruit, ground corn and a mineral & vitamin mix.
Some of these ingredients are byproducts considered as waste but they provide a good source of nutrients. For example, we recently started feeding fruit products sourced from Giant Eagle grocery store. This fruit mixture primarily consists of pineapple, watermelon and cantaloupe rinds that people don’t eat but cows love. Cows are able to thrive on a variety of ingredients. Dairy producers in other regions of the country might feed different ingredients depending on what’s available near their farm. Some dairy producers feed citrus, cottonseed, or even bakery products.
Each cow consumes about 100 lbs of feed every day. We grow corn silage and hay which represents about 50% of our feed needs. The rest is purchased. We use a computer program called TMR Tracker, to track feed recipes, the quantity cows consume and ingredient costs. Feed costs have a huge impact on our business because they represent approximately half of our monthly expenses.
We do our best to make sure the cows have feed in front of them all the time. It’s a priority to provide a consistent diet of quality feed so our cows produce high quality milk.
11 comments:
Thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to comment! I’m opening the doors of our farm to share with you and enjoy engaging in discussion. Please be respectful in your comments. I reserve the right to remove posts that include name calling, slander, and vulgar language or contain links to websites that assault animal agriculture.
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Very interesting! I never knew that about the fruit!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I really enjoyed sharing the pictures with my kids.
ReplyDeletePlease correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't organic dairies required to feed only organic products to their cows? I have always imagined this to be a very burdensome requirement (after all I balk at the price of organic feed for a 2oz. cockatiel, I can't imagine what it is for a 2000 lb. cow :-).
Is organic feed significantly more expensive and more challenging to procure or is it reasonably priced and easily accessible.
I understand if you don't know the answer since this isn't the focus of your farm, I was just curious.
Thank you,
Meredith
Thanks for the question Meredith. The cost of purchasing all livestock feed is high right now due to the extremely inflated price of corn and other feed ingredients. It’s my understanding that organic dairies are required to feed only organic feed. I don’t know the difference in cost, but imagine organic feed would be significantly more expensive than traditionally grown feed and much more difficult to source.
ReplyDeleteThere are some differences in organic and traditional dairy production practices, but the end product is the same; nutrient-rich, quality milk.
Awesome Post.
ReplyDeletePardon my ignorance but is it possible for a dairy cow to live on 100% pasteur based diet? i.e grass and clover....or do they need different nutrients during different seasons and ages etc.
Also if they can it must be almost impossible to milk them without some kind of high energy food to entice them in.
Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks Steve
Thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to comment. We’ve never had our cows on an exclusive pasture based diet, so I’m not sure how dairy cows would perform if they ate 100% grass with no supplemental feed. My guess is they would have some nutrient deficiencies and excesses throughout any given cow’s lactation.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if there are any dairy farms that graze exclusively due to seasons and weather conditions. Here in Northeast Ohio, it would be impossible to graze cattle year-around since we experience 5 to 6 months of cold and snow.
Regarding your question about “enticing cows in”, I believe you are referring to getting cows into the milking parlor. At our farm, all feed is given to cows in the barn where they live; we don’t provide any feed in the milking parlor.
We manage our cows diet based on the needs of the animals. Cows that recently calved have higher energy needs while cows later in their lactation have less need for a high-energy diet therefore would consume more forage. For more details, see the blog I’ll post on 6/14/11 which will outline the rations we feed and why.
Hi, my name is Violet and I am 9 years old. I am a Girl Scout in Nassau County, New York. I am also on a Robotics Lego Team. This year the challenge is to pick 1food and research how it can become contaminated. My team has chosen whipped cream and we are going to research how what a cow eats can contaminate its milk. Would it be possible for my team to speak with you? We could either Skype with you, or call you on the phone? We meet every Sunday afternoon. My mom is the Coach, so she's always here with us. Thank you for reading this! Violet
ReplyDeleteViolet - I appreciate you contacting me. I would be happy to talk with you and your Girl Scout group. It would be helpful if you sent me a list of questions prior to our discussion. Please send them to me via email at hastings97@gmail.com. After I receive your email, we can set up a date and time to talk. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHI,
ReplyDeleteI just recently purchased a milk cow and I am trying to find a feed recipe to have ground at the mill so I can save money on buying bagged feed? Do you have a feed recipe for a lactating cow?
Good question. Cattle feed is expensive. This blog lists the feed ingredients we use, but we depend on our nutritionist to prepare a recipe based on our cow's specific needs. Each herd is a little different. I recommend you work with someone at the store where you purchase feed to create the best ration for the needs of your cow.
ReplyDeleteI thought cows are designed to have grass based diets. The use of corn and hay/grains can influence the nutrition content and possibly cause bacteria formations...
ReplyDeleteWe work with a nutritionist to design a diet the meets the needs of our animals. This diet includes a variety of ingredients, including grains, forages, etc. I know there are some movies and books written by people who are not experts in animal nutrition who advocate that cows only eat grass. This is not accurate. We feed our cows based on their needs so they are healthy and productive.
ReplyDelete