Feed and Nutrition

Exploring the key factors that influence feed efficiency in dairy cows.

This article provides a basic overview of feed efficiency as a metric.

Getting protein feeding right is critical to boost both animal productivity and farm profitability.

Managing feed inventory and waste is a critical nutrition practice. Hear from dairy farmers Grant Grinstead, Jake Peissig and Ryan Shultz talk about how their farms built a feed center to reduce waste and save them money. The UW-Madison Extension Dairy Team will also give a walkthrough of a free tool you can use to calculate forages needs and track inventory.

Research shows that maintaining target BCS levels at specific stages of lactation supports optimal energy balance, which improves milk yield, reproductive performance, and disease resistance.

Learn the factors that influence forage quality, such as maturity at harvest, genetics—including the use of BMR varieties and other forages modified to improve digestibility—and the differences in management between grasses and legumes

Understanding and optimizing the factors influencing milk fat and protein is important for improving income as well as cow performance and overall efficiency.

Learn what fiber is, the different types that exist, how it is measured, and what happens in the cow’s body when she consumes it.

Roasted soybeans have increased protein digestibility, higher rumen undegradable protein (RUP) content, and reduced presence of anti-nutrients like trypsin-inhibitors.

he Extension Dairy team created a spreadsheet to help approximate harvested forage inventory and the forage needs for a dairy operation.