Coping With Alfalfa Winterkill Professor Randy Shaver Department

Coping With Alfalfa Winterkill Professor Randy Shaver Department of Dairy Science University of Wisconsin - Madison University of Wisconsin - Extension

Coping With Alfalfa Winterkill Ø Nutrition & Crop Advisor & Supplier relationships Ø Feed Inventory Current & Projected (rolling) q Projected Needs q Ø Minimize Shrink

Coping With Alfalfa Winterkill Ø Alternative Forages Winter Wheat or Rye q Oats or Oats & Peas q Ø Reduced Forage Diets Minimum Forage Guidelines q Forage Replacers q Ø High Corn Silage Diets

Alternative Forages

Average forage quality values for oats harvested at different maturity stages (Rankin, UWEX-FDL, 2003) Harvest Stage CP% NDF% Boot 16 - 18 52 - 54 Heading 14 - 16 56 - 58 Milk 12 - 14 59 - 61 Dough 10 - 12 59 - 61

Impact of Small-Grain Silage Maturity Arieli & Adin, JDS, 1994 Item Early Cut Late Cut Milk Yield, lb/d 79 72 11 days between early and late cut

Reduced Forage Diets

Min NDF Forage Min NDF Diet Max NFC Diet 19% 27% 42% 18% 27% 42% 17% 29% 40% 16% 31% 38% 15% 33% 36% NRC-01

%Diet forage to meet minimum NDF from forage Min. NDF-F 40% NDF 45% NDF 50% NDF 19% 48% 42% 38% 17% 43% 38% 34% 15% 38% 33% 30%

Silage Replacement

Ingredient Replaced Haylage Medium Chop Length Replacement Feeds Chopped Straw Chopped Hay Beet Pulp Brewers Grains Corn Gluten Feed Cottonseed Hulls Distillers Grains Malt Sprouts Soybean Hulls Wheat Middlings NDF % of DM pef % NDF pe. NDF % of DM 45 85 38. 3 -- -- 73. 0 55 45. 8 47. 4 35. 5 85. 0 38. 8 47. 0 60. 3 36. 7 110 95 30 40 40 90 40 40 30 40 80. 3 52. 3 13. 7 19. 0 14. 2 76. 5 15. 5 18. 8 18. 1 14. 7 2. 1 1. 4 0. 5 0. 4 2. 0 0. 4 0. 5 0. 4 10. 5 7. 0 2. 5 2. 0 10. 0 2. 5 2. 0 Replaced per lb. DM by 5 lb. DM

By-Product Break-Evens

How much to feed? Ø Feeding limits § i. e. DDG at 10 to 20% of diet DM a reasonable target depending upon diet formulation constraints • i. e. High Fat & P and Low Lysine impediments to higher inclusion rates Ø Least cost ration formulation for specified nutrients § i. e. CP, RUP, NDF, Starch, Fat, NEL, etc.

Ingredient Beet Pulp Brewers Grains Corn Gluten Feed Cottonseed Hulls Distillers Grains Malt Sprouts Soybean Hulls Wheat Middlings Whole Cottonseed Suggested Limits lb. DM per cow per day 8 - 12 5 - 10 10 - 15 5 - 10 8 - 12 5 - 8

High Corn Silage Diets

Adapted from Joe Lauer, UW Madison Agronomy Dept .

Kernel Processing Score ∆Worth 2 lb. Milk or 2 lb. Corn

Corn Silage Fermentation Increases Starch Digestibility

Visit UW Extension Dairy Cattle Nutrition Website http: //www. uwex. edu/ces/dairynutrition/