Want to know more about producing better forage for higher quality milk production? Visit the Hay and Forage seminars at World Ag Expo.
Hay and forage seminar schedule
10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Economic trends with hay and forage markets
It has been the best of times and the worst of times in the hay and dairy business the past two years. In order to know where hay and milk prices are going, the seminar will look at where the industry has been and the dynamics that will drive markets in California and the West in 2010.
If there was any question about how much impact poor financial health of the dairy industry could have on hay markets in the West, 2009 answered those questions. Alfalfa hay markets could have been worse had it not been for hay exports overseas, particularly to the Middle East.
Speaker: Seth Hoyt, The Hoyt Report
10:30 a.m. – Noon: Producing, sampling and measuring high-quality hay for milk production
It is well-known that high-quality alfalfa hay results in high milk production. What is quality in hay and forage crops? What are the key factors to produce the highest-quality alfalfa hay in the field? What are the proper sampling methods, and what are the key lab measurements for hay and what do they mean?
Dan Putnam, statewide Forage Specialist at UC – Davis, and UCCE Farm Adviser Shannon Mueller, will share their knowledge of methods of producing and testing the highest-quality alfalfa hay, including varieties, harvesting, cutting schedules, and hay sampling and testing.
Speakers: Dan Putnam, Forage Specialist, UC – Davis and Shannon Mueller, UCCE Farm Adviser, Fresno County
1 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Principles of producing high-quality silage
Producing high-quality silage is both an art and a science. The principles of proper silage-making will be discussed by University of Delaware Nutrition Professor Limin Kung, including what goes on during forage fermentation, the value of inoculants, differences between forage type (corn silage, greenchop and haylage), influence of different hybrids, the potential for dry matter losses, and the lab measurement of quality and the economics of dairy production from silages of different quality.
Speaker: Limin Kung, Jr., Professor of Ruminant Nutrition and Microbiology, University of Delaware
2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Silage management: What can go wrong? What can you do about it?
Silages have been of increasing importance in Western dairies. UC Extension Advisers Noelia Silva del Rio and Jennifer Heguy will discuss how to avoid the most frequent errors that are made during silage-making, including harvesting and packing techniques, coverings, chopping techniques, face management, inoculants, and feeding methods. Avoiding errors will help to produce the highest-quality forage for maximum milk production.
Speaker: Noelia Silva del Rio, UCCE, Tulare, and Jennifer Heguy, Stanislaus/San Joaquin counties. FG
February 9-11, 2010
Tulare - California
Worldagexpo.com
