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August 4, 2005 Drought Relief Doesn't Guarantee Forage Quality Heavy June rainfall may have increased forage yields in North Dakota, but it compromised the quality of the crops in many cases, according to a North Dakota State University dairy expert. “The key to dairy-quality forage is a timely harvest,” says J.W. Schroeder, an NDSU Extension Service dairy cattle specialist. “Unfortunately, Mother Nature's rains were not timed for ideal hay making.” Delayed cutting results in mature forage and a loss of digestible dry matter. So, even though more bales went into the stack, the nutrient supply did not increase. Testing the forages is important for hay producers because forage nutrient analysis still is their best marketing tool, Schroeder says. “Shrewd buyers will demand to know the product they are purchasing, so don't guess, forage test,” he advises. Even if producers feed their hay to their own livestock, they need to know the quality of their hay to make sure that each class of livestock receives forage with the correct feed value, he says. The following is a quick guide to the approximate relative feed value (RFV) the forage should have for each cattle class:
These RFV guidelines specifically are for dairy cattle:
For more details on quality forage basics, see NDSU Extension Service publications AS-1250 through 1256. For storage space requirements, see AS-1282, “Weights and Measures of Common Feed.” It is a collection of handy references to help calculate storage requirements and feed inventory. Contact your local Extension Service office for these publications. ### Source:
J.W. Schroeder, (701) 231-7663, jschroed@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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