Scissor Cuts 5/3/11

We just finished our first week of Scissor Cut samples for 2011.

For as cold and wet as it has been, hay was taller and more advanced than we thought it might be. Fields were 2-4 inches shorter than the multi-year average, and very nearly the same in NDF.

Click Here for the full report.

Dale Dewing

EPA Exempts Milk from Oil Spill Regulations

New York Farm Bureau Released This 4/12/2011

NYFB has just received word that the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to exempt dairy from the Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Program, which would have treated dairy products like oil because of the fat content and forced farmers to develop expensive and unnecessary oil spill plans for their milk.

“This is a huge victory for dairy farmers all throughout Upstate New York, one which has been a long time coming,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, who strongly advocated against these regulations on behalf of dairy farmers. “Everyone knows that when Congress enacted these laws it was targeting massive oil spills and toxic substances, not an accident involving milk at one of our state’s small dairy farms. With this exemption, I can now ensure New York dairy farmers that they will no longer have to cry over spilled milk, let alone the costly preparation for it.”

Senator Gillibrand and Congressmen Gibson, Owens and Reed also supported farmers by asking EPA to exempt milk from the oil spill regulations and were co-sponsors of bills to do so.

While milk tanks and piping will now be exempt from the regulations, other oil and fuel tanks on a dairy may still be regulated under SPCC and farms should make sure they are in compliance. For more information, please see the October issue of Grassroots (page 4) or contact NYFB’s Kelly Young at kyoung@nyfb.org.

2011 Delaware County No Till School Presentations Available

The 2011 No till school was extremely well attended. The following videos are the presentations made that day by speakers Drs Quirine Ketterings and Russ Hahn of Cornell University; Paul Cerosaletti and Dale Dewing of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County and Kevin Ganoe, regional crop specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension Central NY Dairy and Crop Crop Team. Topics for the day included:

Precision Nitrogen Management for Corn

Use of Aerators to Incorporate Manure in Minimum Till Systems


Weed Control updates for Corn and Small Grains


The Nitrogen Cycle


Why Soil pH Still Matters

Presentations on Grazing

At the 2011 Catskill Regional Dairy, Livestock and Grazing Conference there were a couple good presentations on grazing. One, by Dale Dewing of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County and Dan Flaherty of the Watershed Agricultural Council, touched on ways to extend the grazing season using stockpiled forage. Another, by Karen Hoffman of the New York Natural Resources Conservation Service, detailed the do's and don'ts of grazing dairy heifers. If either of these presentations are of interest to you - click below to hear the talk and see the slides!

New DairyTie Stall Design Results in Improved Comfort and Animal Production

The 2011 Catskill Regional Dairy Livestock and Grazing Conference featured a panel discussion with New York State farmers that have installed the Canadian tie stall system designed by Dr. Neil Anderson of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This stall system was designed by researching how cows get up and down on pasture and is composed of several key components working together - and not any one feature. The components are:

• Tailed stall length and width
• Elevated tie rail
• Forward tie rail palcement
• Neck chain length
• Elevated manger (relative to stall bed)
• Stall mattress/mat
• Cow trainer and trainer placement
• Headroom above water bucket

The New York State farmers that participated in this panel discussion included Rob and Darlene Howland of Candor NY, Frank and Mark Albano of Stamford NY and Jim Keator of Davenport NY. A paired observational study conducted by John Conway of the NY Pro Dairy Program on the Albano farm capitalized on a unique circumstance over the last 12 months where cows received the same treatment except what stall they received after calving. Cows in the new stalls have average nearly 6 lbs more milk per day than cows in the old stalls. Recently, Jim Keator reports that since he has implemented the new stall system in December 2010, he had the lowest somatic cell count in over 30 years of dairy farming - 46,000 cells/ml. Economic analysis on the Howland farm, again conducted by John Conway, shows a payback of less than one year. The Howlands have seen a dramatic lowering of involuntary culls and now routinely sell several cows each year for dairy purposes.

The original papers written by Dr Anderson on assessing cow comfort and implementing the new tie stall (and free stall) system can be accessed via the links below:

Assessing cow comfort and behavior
Canadian tie stall system design
Canadian free stall design

Free Choice Feeding Of Phosphorus Containing Minerals

Environmental concerns with phosphorus (P) have forced the animal industry to re-evaluate the levels formulated in diets. It has been demonstrated in numerous research trials that excess P intake equates to excess P out in the manure. The ideal way of controlling P intake is developing diets that closely match the animal’s requirement and implementing feeding management practices to ensure those levels are being consumed. In today’s industry since most dairy cattle are fed balanced amounts of forages, concentrates, and mineral-vitamin mixtures, free choice mineral feeding is unwarranted.

The purpose of this fact sheet is to illustrate the problems producers can face with feeding minerals free choice. Conclusions from research and field trial results will be presented to demonstrate the limitations associated with this management practice.

The misconception that animals have an innate sense for a particular mineral began with reports published by South African researchers. In the early 1920s researchers described P-deficient cattle with depraved appetites chewing on bones. Bones contain significant levels of P, and the association was made that animals were able to select feeds to compensate for mineral deficiencies in the diet.

This was followed by additional research in the 1930s that indicated cows and lambs fed P-deficient diets may consume sufficient free choice P to meet their requirements. It was further demonstrated that when intake of P from feed sources increased, less free choice P-sources were consumed.

In the early 1950s, a paper appearing in the British Journal of Animal Behavior measured the preference of P-deficient cattle and sheep for supple mental calcium carbonate alone or combined with an equal part of dicalcium phosphate. Animals did not consume adequate levels of mineral to prevent P deficiency.

The 2001 NRC presents 2 studies conducted in the 1970s that demonstrate no benefit of feeding P free choice. The first study was with dairy heifers fed low or marginally deficient calcium or P. There was little relationship between the animals’ requirement for the mineral elements and free choice consumption of dicalcium phosphate or defluorinated phosphate. In the second study lactating cows were fed calcium and phosphorus below requirements for 9 and 12 weeks. There was no evidence that animals consumed free choice minerals to correct the deficiency. Researchers concluded there was no association between appetite for P or calcium supplements and the animals’ nutrient requirement.

The studies from the early 1900s dealt with extreme deficiencies, and it is likely that P was not the only nutrient lacking in the diet. In contrast, the ingredients and diets fed to the modern dairy cow provide little chance of a P deficiency. In addition, it has been theorized that domestication has produced an animal that is more responsive to sensory qualities of feed than to its nutritive value.

Offering minerals free choice is appropriate when grazing livestock are not receiving any concentrates or supplemental feeds. However, this is not a typical scenario for the modern dairy operation.

The greatest limitation of feeding minerals free choice is the variation in consumption. The individual consumption of dicalcium phosphate by lactating dairy cattle was measured in a 1972 study. The variation was huge and mineral consumption ranged from zero to two pounds per day.

This same trend was demonstrated with beef cattle in Alberta, Canada. Not only was there a substantial range of intake (minimal to 1.7 pounds per day), but also the number of visits to the mineral feeders varied greatly. The days between visits to the mineral feeder ranged from 1.5 to 4.5 days. The researchers concluded that free choice feeding via a mineral feeder is not an acceptable method of providing minerals on a daily basis.

The approach of a cafeteria-style mineral feeder has been used for dairy cattle, especially animals being intensively grazed. These systems offer a range of 2 to 10 mineral choices. The primary disadvantage of this system is high feeding loss and increased expense. Cows typically do not consume sufficient amounts of minerals to meet their requirements. Animals are more likely to be influenced by taste or acceptability versus a craving for a particular element.

Controlling the level of P consumed is very important in light of the nutrient regulations being executed. A field trial conducted in Okeechobee, Florida during 1986-87 examined the effect of feeding free choice minerals on P excretion. Rations were formulated so cows would receive 0.52% P. In addition to dietary P, a free choice mineral mix with a minimum of 8.0% P was offered. Cows allowed access to the free choice mineral had a greater concentration of P in the feces. This field trial agrees with the numerous research studies cited in the 2001 NRC, which state that once the cow’s requirement for P is met, the excess will be excreted in the feces.

There have not been an overwhelming number of studies addressing free choice feeding of minerals. However, there is enough evidence with various ruminant trials (sheep, beef and dairy) to conclude that free choice feeding has many limitations and in today’s environment, there is little to no benefit to this practice for dairy producers.

Source: Virginia Ishler, Penn State Ag Extension

Think $5 Corn Is Expensive? Some Are Betting On $10 Next Year

The corn market’s rally above $5 a bushel this fall has stirred growing consternation among livestock producers and others dependent on the largest U.S. crop. As the global grain supply outlook tightens, some traders in Chicago are placing bets that prices may double next year
For the whole article click Here