Livestock Nutrition | Page 6 of 6

Measuring Forage Quality

By: Christopher.kniffen@midwesternbioag.com · Livestock Nutrition, Forages, Alfalfa

Forage test components and benchmarks have changed considerably over the years. In this Q&A, we sat down with Midwestern BioAg’s Director of Nutrition Dave Meidl to gain a deeper understanding of forage test components and how test results can be used to inform management decisions on dairy farms.
Q: How can I use trace mineral data from my forage test to improve results on my farm?
Plants have the unique ability to transform inorganic minerals from the soil or fertilizer into organic, highly available …

Growing Farm Margins with High-Quality Forages

By: Mary Pohlman · Alfalfa, Fertilizer, Livestock Nutrition, Organic, Newsletters, Forages, L-CBF, High-Production Organic Agriculture, Calcium, Weed Control, OrganiCal™, WinterKing, TerraFed

Ten years ago, Plaetz Dairy came to Midwestern BioAg looking to improve their conventional dairy farm. Farmers Bruce and Sherry were struggling with feed quality, a problem they hoped Midwestern BioAg’s forage program could help them solve.
“Everything we grow is fed to the cows,” Bruce said. “Before switching to BioAg, we spent a lot of money on feed, protein and minerals trying to keep cows healthy. A big problem was that our cows didn’t like their hay.

Midwestern BioAg Expands South and East

By: Mary Pohlman · Livestock Nutrition, Sustainability, Economics, Crop Yields, Fertilizer

Two new regional Midwestern BioAg facilities, one in Ohio and the other in Illinois, will improve customer service and make more product locally available as Midwestern BioAg continues to grow and expand.
At Bellefontaine, Ohio, approximately 60 miles northwest of Columbus, the new BioAg facility includes 5,000 square feet of warehouse space and 2,500 square feet of office space. The warehouse provides on-site storage, improving product availability as well as serving as a clearinghouse for organizing small loads.

Are You Ready for Corn Silage?

By: Midwestern BioAg Staff · Livestock Nutrition, Silage

Summer is moving right along and it isn’t too early to start thinking about corn silage harvest. It sounds pretty obvious but you only get one opportunity to get your corn silage harvest right each year. According to University of Illinois Dairy Extension specialist Mike Hutjens , ”Only about one-third of farms chop silage at the right particle length with the kernels sufficiently processed. “Some labs would say that number might even be a bit generous at a third.

From the Farm of Gary Zimmer

By: Gary Zimmer, Founder · High-Production Organic Agriculture, Livestock Nutrition, Soil, Field Day

Dear Farmer/Agribusiness person,
Field Day is coming up soon; the third Tuesday in August this year is the 19th. Also this year we are back to doing a one day, all day event. Field Day is a celebration of biological agriculture and also a time to show you our farm and farming practices. Otter Creek Organic Farm, my family’s farm, has been in operation since the early 90’s or about 20 years ago. When the farm first started (it was a dairy farm), we began experimenting …

TomBeth Farms: A Winner With BioAg

By: Mary Pohlman · Silage, Livestock Nutrition, Soil, Cover Crops

Quality matters to the Tom and Beth Kearns family of TomBeth Farms of Seneca, WI. Their homegrown feeds support a herd of 125-head of high quality cattle (seven newly scored Excellents among their registered Holstein cows raised the herd total to over twenty; one-third of their cattle are descended from Tom-Beth Jolt Erin, a 14 year old cow scored EX-94 with a 95-scored udder and over 300,000 lbs of lifetime production). And the quality of their crops was recently recognized when the TomBeth Farms entry was …