Unfortunately, our suspicions of increased winterkill of the alfalfa crop in many parts of Minnesota came true. Throughout much of central Minnesota, old alfalfa stands died from winterkill and need to be replaced. What do I do? The first step is to determine your current forage inventory and forage requirements. Typically, cows will consume between 25-30 pounds of forage dry matter daily. On an average, evenly spaced youngstock will consume 12-15 pounds of forage dry matter daily. If you anticipate you will be short of alfalfa during this year and into next year, changes must be made. The easiest solution is to increase corn silage and decrease hay in the diet. If you have high-quality hay you might consider saving it for the cows and young calves and acquire lower-quality feed for older youngstock. Typically, calves larger than 500 pounds do very well on lower quality hay – providing they are properly supplemented. Another excellent option is to purchase hay for the cows. During the harvest season hay is reasonably priced. If purchasing hay directly out of the field, don’t forget to adjust for the higher moisture. Below are some specific scenarios and how to approach them. I lost all my alfalfa. I’m direct-seeding alfalfa and will have half my normal hay supply. I have the ability to make up the difference in corn silage. If properly balanced, cows can perform well on corn silage diets in excess of 60 pounds per cow per day. However, there is an increased risk of metabolic disorders if not properly managed. With high-quality corn silage approaching 50 percent, corn on a dry matter basis you will need to feed a much higher forage diet. It takes excellent feed management, but cows can do well with diets containing six -eight pounds of dry matter from hay. This approach is much more feasible if the corn silage was harvested with a processor because of the increased particle length. I lost most of my alfalfa hay. I cannot direct seed more alfalfa, but will be planting alternative forage. I still have corn silage. Once again the easiest alternative would be to feed high corn silage diets. Even though alfalfa is considered the queen of forages, other forage crops can be very good quality – if harvested at the correct stage of maturity. Many folks have fields of “meadow” hay that is usually harvested for calves and dry cows. Consider harvesting this grass hay very early to maximize quality. Harvest any alternative forages early to maximize quality. Dairy producers often think of grass as low-quality forage, but that is mostly because we usually harvest it too late. I lost most of my hay and have limited corn silage. With hay currently reasonably priced, the best alternative is purchasing hay out of the field and supplementing appropriately. Very few TMR mixers could handle this amount of hay so it would need to be processed before mixing. Consider adding wet co-products to help bind feed ingredients together in the mixer. These might include wet distillers, grains, wet corn gluten feed or brewers grains. Another alternative would be to feed a low-forage diet. This involves considerable risk and should only be considered after consultation with an excellent nutritionist. Some forage needs to be included to maintain rumen function. This could be a challenging year for producers with extensive winterkill. The key is to carefully plan your forage inventory and management for the next year. Work with your nutrition consultant or give me a call at (320) 255-6169 or (800)-450-6171 and I’ll be glad to discuss your specific situation.
