Feed and Forage [DA.FF]
Feeding the Milking Herd at Grass – What to Consider?
With many cows now turned out to grass, the science of balancing buffer feeding is tricky when often grass intake and quality is unknown. If you want to know if…
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MMN March 2025 – Fodder Beet in Milking Rations
Fodder beet has surged in popularity for outwintering livestock, providing one of the highest yielding energy crops (65-90T of bulb and leaf yield/ha). While the crop may only be around…
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MMN March 2025 – The Multiple Roles of Methionine
Methionine is an essential amino acid for dairy cows and is the first limiting amino acid for milk production, followed by lysine. Typically miking rations are deficient in methionine, with…
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MMN January 2025 – What to Use if Draff is Unavailable
Draff has become an important feed source within the dairy industry over the years, providing a good source of digestible energy and protein. The typical crude protein content of draff…
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MMN January 2025 – The Importance of Sugar in a Dairy Ration
The sugar content of dairy diets is often not given much consideration, with more focus usually given to energy, protein and starch levels. While the sugar content of the ration…
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Maximising Milk from Forage
Ensuring that your dairy rations maximise the feed value available in your silage and other conserved forages can make significant savings in purchased feed costs. On grazing farms, the quality…
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Vitamin E for Dry Cows – Are You Feeding Enough?
Vitamin E supplementation is absolutely critical for dry dairy cows for immunological function. It also greatly impacts on calf health as well. As vitamin E does not cross the placenta…
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Practical Assessment of Nutrition in the Milking Herd
Nutrition of the milking herd is usually seen as the responsibility of the farm’s nutritionist. However, there are many ways a herd manager or stockperson can assess whether nutrition is…
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Nutritional Guidance for the Milking Herd
Nutrition in dairy cattle is a complex area, and many farmers rely on their nutritionist to ensure that the ration for the milking herd is correctly formulated to optimise herd…
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Cow Grazing Strategies in Wet Conditions
When large amounts of rainfall leave grazing fields saturated, how do we deal with wet conditions to manage the grazing platform and minimise damage to fields and gateways from poaching?…
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