Forage Shortfalls
David Balbian, Area Dairy Specialist
Central New York Dairy and Field Crops
Last Modified: May 1, 2014
Forage Shortfalls: What to Do?
Don't harvest your corn silage (CS) too soon. Yields are maximized near 65% moisture, and losses during feeding, storage, and harvesting are minimized. If there is a year to maximize yields, this is it.
Harvesting at 34 to 35% dry matter will also increase the energy concentration in your CS because starch levels will have increased. With sky high corn grain prices it's a benefit you can't afford to give up. Use a Koster tester to check dry matters on field samples that you chop up. Work done at Miner Institute has shown that these sample dry matters consistently run about 2 points higher than what your feed out dry matter is. In other words, a dry matter reading you get from your Koster tester that says 34% dry matter will come back 32% dry matter at feed out. You should take that into account when making your harvest decisions.
Kernel Processing should be a real benefit this year. If you are not kernel processing and you suspect that kernels will be hard, consult with your nutritionist prior to harvest. This is not the year to be sending corn kernels out the back of the cow into the manure. If you ration has enough effective fiber from other sources (other than CS) you may be able to chop finer (to break kernels) without any health risks to your herd. BUT, be sure to double check with your nutritionist first.
Preserve your CS (and any hay crop you may still harvest) well. With tight forage supplies you can't afford to incur excessive storage losses. I'd recommend lining your bunker silo walls with plastic. It really does reduces spoilage. This may also be a year when the oxygen barrier silage covers will really help you. Give them a look. Inoculants will have a greater change of payback this year as well.
Might you have some 3rd, 4th, or even 5th cutting to harvest late this year? This may be the year to take all you can get off your fields. There certainly is risk (especially with alfalfa), but you may have little choice.
If you find that you will be short of forage you need to act NOW to rectify the situation. What can you buy and at what price? The longer you wait the more difficult it will be to find forage to buy. Info on making decisions on buying standing corn silage is on a Cornell website listed below.
Line up supplies of forage extenders now. Feedstuffs such as wet brewers (if you can get it), soy hulls, citrus pulp, beet pulp, wheat midds, cottonseed, and others are ingredients often used to extend forage supplies. This year will be a different story. The drought is so widespread that many of these supplies are spoken for. You need to act immediately to have a chance to secure these feeds. They will not be cheap (if you can get them).
Determine the inventory you have. You may want to estimate it now and then recheck it after CS harvest. All indications are that corn silage, although it looks so much better since we have received rain, will not yield as well as it looks. Worksheets are available for you to use to: determine your forage needs, to estimate your corn silage and corn grain yields, to estimate your forage inventory, to reconcile your needs and inventory., and to determine how to price standing corn for silage. You can access this information at: http://ansci.cornell.edu/dm/factsheets.html
Consider heavier culling. This may include some youngstock. BUT, be careful! You'll need youngstock to maintain cow numbers and to rebuild the herd. You need to be selective. Those heifers that had respiratory problems as calves are prime candidates. Again, on the Cornell website listed above you can find decision aids to help you with culling decisions. Look for the material titled "Ten Key Herd Management Opportunities" and find "Identify and Potentially Cull Low Value and Low Profit Cows."
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Mother nature has really been difficult over the last few days. Significant damage has been seen throughout NYS. Please let us know what types of damage your farm may have sustained during this time. This could be in the form of property damage, lost power, milk dump due to lost power, loss of livestock, loss of stored feed or growing crops.Farms are encouraged to DOCUMENT AND SHARE any impacts the weather may have had on their home or business. This could include structure damage, crop loss, inventory loss due to power outages, damage to equipment or fencing, and more.
If your farm experienced any sort of damage, please reach out to any of the folks listed below (or all of them). The more impact information that is collected, the greater the likelihood of a disaster declaration which can bring vital emergency support and awareness. The CNYDLFC Team will continue to collect detail and submit to NYSDAM and the EDEN network.
Reporting Weather Related Impacts (For your home or farm business)
- First, ensure that all the people and animals on your farm are safe, and that there aren't any unsafe working conditions created because of the weather (check your structures!). If there's an emergency, call 911 - don't try to manage it all on your own.
- Second, document all negative weather impacts for your farm and their estimated financial cost. Take photos, make estimates, and put it all in a safe place.
- Reach out to your insurance providers - farm, vehicle, crop, etc. to initiate the claim process as needed.
- Then, share your farm's damage with any (or all) of the ag support agencies listed below. We all work together to collect storm damage information and funnel it up to Ag and Markets which can initiate a natural disaster declaration.
Your local Cornell Cooperative Extension Association Office.
- Chenango: 607-334-5841
- Fulton/Montgomery: 518-853-2135
- Herkimer: 315-866-7920
- Madison: 315-684-3001
- Otsego: 607-547-2536
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Any of our CNYDLFC Team members (calls/emails/texts/site visit requests all ok)
Your county USDA/FSA service center.
Your county farm bureau manager
Please let us know how we can help you.
- Erik Smith: 315-219-7786
- Daniela Gonzalez: 315-749-3486
- Ashley McFarland- 315-604-2156
Your county USDA/FSA service center.
- Chenango: 607-334-3231
- Fulton/Montgomery: 518-853-4015
- Herkimer: 315-866-2520
- Madison:315-824-9076
- Otsego: 607-547-8131
- Schoharie: 518-295-8600
- Saratoga: 518-692-9940
Your county farm bureau manager
- Region 3: Bailey Coon: 518-937-0566
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To date, there is limited information available about rental rates and fees for crop harvesting. Farms can use this valuable information for their farm business planning to help improve decision making and profitability.The data that is collected, and the subsequent reports/findings/resources will be helpful for all of us to answer that call of "What's the average rental rate in my area?" and "How much do people charge to combine oats?"
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2. Connect with more local customers. In the past year the MeatSuite.com farm directory had 8,300 visits from New York consumers. Farm profiles get as many as 25 views per month from potential local customers. We also spotlight MeatSuite farms on social media and bring attention and purchases to farms through highlights and giveaways.
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