Dairy: The pros and cons of late forage harvesting

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Some farmers believe that it is advantageous to do their first cuts of hay as late as June 10. But dairy nutritionists and operators aiming to maximize production are not so sure

by DON STONEMAN

Bill French used to cut his first hay on the first day of June at the latest. Now, he leaves the flail harvester in the shed for another week.

He says that cutting later pays off in terms of fewer vet bills for sick cows and the elimination of sore feet. And he says that his milk test comes out better. On three tests in December, his butterfat test was 4.69, 4.62 and 4.5 per cent. His protein tests were 3.55, 3.57 and 3.54 on 30 cows.

Gord Coukell, a former chair of Dairy Farmers of Ontario, also cuts his hay late. But the concept of delaying harvest is controversial and goes against the grain of conventional thinking in dairy circles. Tom Wright, a Fergus-based dairy specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, says fibre levels go up, but protein and digestibility are being lost.

"From an energy point of view, you are giving up quite a bit," says provincial forage specialist Joel Bagg of Peterborough. High-producing dairy cows put out more energy than they take in during early lactation. They need lots of energy to maintain weight and move towards a positive energy balance as soon as possible.

Some independent dairy nutritionists, such as Larry Kupecz of Stirling, feel the same way. He thinks that anyone who is cutting hay 10 days later on purpose to increase fibre was likely underfeeding forage previously.

French, now 64, says that he came upon late harvesting "by accident five years ago," after he had a heart attack and related complications that prevented him from getting around to harvesting the first hay crop as early as normal.

Feet problems, including strawberry foot, went away and French says that his bill for veterinary treatment for sick cows became minimal. He decided to continue with delayed hay cutting.

Coukell takes the first couple of rounds as balage so that it can be removed from the field quickly, and then takes off the rest as dry hay. He farms at Stayner, near Georgian Bay, and says that hay doesn't get off to as good a growing start as it does further south, and the weather isn't good for drying. He is feeding and milking 85-90 cows in a joint venture. Cows get corn silage and dry hay that was stored inside.

This preference for late harvesting isn't shared by some private dairy nutritionists or by producers aiming to maximize production.

Howard Cornwell of Norwich is a principal in London Dairy. He says that the benefit from early cutting lies in putting more digestible energy into the ration without adding grain. Cows will eat more early cut forage than later cut. He allows that frequency of cuttings "can be overdone" and fibre content may be too low. "Some people cut too often," he says. Making good haylage involves "a delicate balance."

Kupecz, who has many years of experience as a dairy consultant, finds that it is hard to make an argument for later cutting. Using early cut alfalfa should increase the amount of forage in the ration because the total digestible nutrients should replace grain and supplements. Moreover, he thinks that delaying the first cut may not be good for their farm in the sense that it may not be as profitable as it could, and needs, to be.

Forage isn't cheaper than feeding grain, he says. The machinery to harvest forage is costly and so is running over the field to take off a crop many times in a season.

Coukell told Better Farming that one reason for delaying cutting is that weather in early June is unpredictable. But Kupecz says that early June rain is a reason to cut early. Rain on a freshly cut field starts growth for a good second cut. Delaying the first cut wouldn't have helped many producers in 2007's dry summer, he says. He thinks that farmers should be managing for four cuts, even if they only take off three.

Cornwell points out that many farmers are now taking off that fourth cut anyway. With recent mild falls, the old rule about not cutting alfalfa between Sept.1 and a killing frost seems to be irrelevant for many producers in southern counties.

French's "retro" thinking about the dairy industry goes beyond feeding cows. About 10 years ago, he bred a cow with semen drawn in 1960 from a bull that had been a champion at a dairy show in Chicago. French says that the cow resulting from that mating stayed in his herd for eight lactations and several of her daughters are now cows in his herd. He thinks they are a match for currently popular "modern" cows.

French believes that most production increases in the last 30 years are due to "cow comfort" feeding and management rather than genetics. BF