Silage quality has a major impact on feed cost in winter-milk producing herds, which is why testing silage is so important.
Unlike spring-calving herds, silage plays a major role in the production of milk from autumn-calving herds.
Because of this, having high-quality forage for milking cows is extremely important.
Poorer quality forage requires higher levels of concentrate feeding to achieve the same level of production that a high-quality silage could achieve.
So, if you haven’t already done so, a test of the silage you are planning on feeding milking cows this winter is warranted.
Silage quality
The majority of herds milking cows in the winter will offer cows a total mixed ration (TMR), with grass silage being the largest component.
To ensure that the TMR is formulated correctly, silage should be tested. Based on the results, the other ingredients can be determined.
While underestimating forage quality will have little impact on cow performance, it will have an impact on the cost of production.
Overestimating forage quality will impact on cow performance and may cost a significant amount of money due to reduced production.
Silage is a fairly low-cost feed compared to the alternatives, but the quality of silage has a significant impact on the other ingredients required to meet the production levels required.
Winter milk
The target for a winter/liquid milk production system should be to feed 74%+ dry matter digestibility (DMD) silage.
Typically, every five-unit drop in DMD will need 1.0 – 1.5kg extra concentrates to compensate for the lower energy level.
Feeding cows poorer quality silage will require an increase in the amount of concentrates in the cows’ diet.
Although it may increase costs on the farm, it is better to discover this issue and develop a plan alongside a nutritionist to solve it.