Nobody likes to walk through a freestall pen and see manure laden with flecks of yellow corn pericarp. To any dairy manager, herd manager or nutritionist, “pretty poo” is all the rage – and pretty means consistently fleckless. This pretty manure is not only important to the diet but also a key part of every dairy’s bottom line.

The growing season has a large impact on our corn silage, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have options to manage the variables.

Producers who utilize HMC have a substantial economic investment in their pile or silo full of corn and, ideally, they’d like to get a return on that investment. There are several important factors to consider when preserving HMC.

For the first time, we welcome Progressive Forage’s Joy Hendrix to the podcast studio as she visits with Katie Raver from Rock River Laboratory for a regional analysis of forage quality and what to keep in mind for the 2024 growing season. Then Tyrell and Elanco’s Frank White discuss the results of a recent study analyzing the benefits of monensin products in a cow-calf setting. Finally, don’t miss out on an absolutely riveting conversation on the perils of importing exotic wildlife testicles from overseas.

We’ve all heard the proverb “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” implying that once we become accustomed to doing something one way we are hesitant to change. However, when evaluating corn silage processing score (CSPS) or kernel processing score (KPS), this may not apply. 

As spring progresses to summer, the percentage of haylage and small grains in TMR often increases to stretch corn-silage inventories or to dilute corn silage if the quality isn’t as good as we had hoped.

Properly ensiled forages can be stored for extended periods of time and support the performance and health of your herd. Alternatively, you could be dealing with spoilage, plummeting palatability and a rising feed bill.