Dave Gneisers wrote:
Well, there's small and then there's too small. Calving ease issues
arise. There has to be room to hold all that pasture intake in order to
make a
respectable amount of milk. Nope, I don't like black and white
elephants
either. I like mid-sized cows.
Dave,
Our New Zealand Friesian/ Holstein cross mature cows weigh in at around
1050 pounds. Certainly not big but not excessively small. Calving ease
has not been a problem, in fact we rarely assist a cow. We feel that our
winter feeding program helps that more than anything else. The cows eat
only a balanced ration of dry hay during the winter and they walk at
least 1/2 mile a day to water. The herd produces a respectable amount of
very profitable milk.
Dave Gneisers wrote:
Well Dave, I've been thinking about this. You feed very high levels of
molasass with your grain. Just thinking out loud, is this the cheapest
bang for the buck to get energy into the cows? 8 out of 10 years, grain
is pretty cheap, corn silage is cheaper yet.
What do you say?
Dave G.
Dave,
Molasses is a rapidly digestible form of energy where corn is slower.
Molasses at about 6 cents a pound isn't that much more expensive than
corm at 4.5 to 5 cents a pound and works well in combination with it.
Dave Forgey
Dave and Helen Forgey
Forgey's River-View Farm, Inc.
6032 W Georgetown Road
Logansport, IN 46947
574-652-2461
forgraze@carrollnet.org
www.carrollnet.org/~forgraze
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