On our pastured herd in Texas we are feeding 51# of dry matter, and with the cooler temps setting in we will probably be needing to add another 3-4# of dry matter to meet the cows needs. We can’t grow good corn silage in our area so we feed all rye, and coastal grass forages. We feed about 35% forages and 9# of DM beet pulp that helps eliminate a good bit of forage needed, and condense down our diet to get the cows to shade sooner, and help the cows generate less microbial heat during rumination as 2 keys to help us battle heat stress with our cows being outside in Texas. Cows are currently at 80# ECM, 73# 4%F 3.3%P. We also figure the cows also eat about 5-8# of DM per day grazing.
We are around 70% forage. Half haylage, half corn silage. Our stands are around 10% red clover 90% alfalfa . The theory behind that is more tonnage and different amino acids plus soil health benefits from more diversity.
i like all your vids, but this one prob has the best video sequences. I always assumed the mixer scale counted up and wondered how you kept up with over/under for each ingredient. So the scale counts down and the loader has a button to sequence step thru preprog steps and counts down ? If you are looking for content, maybe a couple mins on how that works ? regards.
Yes, it counts down for each ingredient and a clicker advances the program to the next ingredient. Keeps it easy for the operator and also allows us to track how accurate we are and usage of each ingredient.
Hey Piet, ik ben altijd onder de indruk van de productie van de koeien. Bij mij gaat het zo: 26 kg maïs, 12 kg bieten, 9 kg gras, 2.4 kg krachtvoer, 1.5 kg gerstestro, 1.1 kg gerst, 1.1 kg draf, 0.15 kg mineralen en 8 liter water.... dit resulteert in 29 liter met 5.1 vet en 3.97 eiwit.... overal is het verschillend maar hier is de accommodatie niet zo goed voor het dierwelzijn zoals bij jouw. Sterk bezig!
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 Tot mei voeren we gesnipperde voederbiet en dan schakelen we over naar aangekochte bietenpulp. Onze koeien zijn 100% holstein zowel rood als zwartbont. Bij de stierkeuze letten we wel goed op de gehaltes... groetjes
Awesome video say hello from Utah. I really enjoy your Dairy I learned something new every time thanks for taking me along I really enjoy watching your channel cuz I want to work in a Dairy there's none around here well there's two great big ones looking forward to seeing more of your Dairy you should have a contest where one of the winners gets to come and hang out with you for a couple days on your Dairy think about that one you always want to thank a farmer thank you thank you for all your hard work take care God bless
Hi Piet. We got a little snow in Montreal last week, but it is mostly gone now. I wonder if the ladies ever think, when the feed truck runs through: Gee, I'd really like a steak, medium rare, and a baked potato !!" he he he Hopefully we may have a White Christmas, but no snow through the 19th as of yet.
Greetings from Portugal, we are feeding the milk cows with 32 kg of corn silage, 38% dri matter, 12,5 kg mix, 1,2 kg of barley straw. For a production of 36 liters a day, 2 milkings
Nice vedio, Piet. In China, cuz the poor forage quality ,we feed mostly 40-50% forage. For high group , we feed even 40% forage and starch may hit 29 or 30%. Since you feed more forage , it is reasonable for you to put forage first . Supreme is good mix , we use 900T for more than 10 years. How is your shaker boxes looks like, i guess the upper two layer for your high ration could be higher than 50%. One big difference for mixing is the farm I work have specfic batch for premix. The premix includes minerals , protein, beet pult, corn and molasses. Then we only need put hay -premix-silage - flaked corn and water . Save time and fuel.
What's the main reason for poor quality forage? Weather, harvest/ storage challenges? I've thought about making a complete premix, but we need the mix time to cut the alfalfa balage to the right size.
cuz dairy farm in china don't won land, so we actually buy all kind of forage from distributors . For example, corn silage need be hauled from even 300 kilometers away from the farm. That cause a lot variation in quality . Recent years, we rent some field mainly to deal with waste water , and we are learning how to grow crops. @@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047
That's a lot of forage! Would that be mainly corn silage and alfalfa or include a grass also? Milk check has not been great in the midwest either the last 6 months.
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 cornsilage, soughum Sudan grass, ryelage, haylage (clover, tall fescue, oarchard grass, festoilium, Timothy). We aren't setting world on fire production wise, 5.0, 3.4 test.
I'm in New Zealand, the vast majority of our feed is grazed grass so I'm not much help I'm afraid. Low cost of production is key here, we don't have the yields you do of course.
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 Mostly just silage and baleage when grass growth cant keep up, perhaps PKE or corn silage too, fed out onto the paddock or maybe a feed pad. Some feed rolled barley or wheat in the parlour some nothing. Definitely a low input low out but high milk solids kind of operations really. Most are also block calving in early spring so the whole herd can be dry for a couple of months in winter which reduces the need for complicated rations.
I think you can get easily to up 70 % dm forage in your ration with the milk production you mentioned in this video. You can try to make a high production ration without sorghum because that is a lot of fibre going into the cows without much feed value. Instead of that push a bit harder on haylage an adjust the amount of corn silage and earlage. And also try to mix in some clover as mentioned in another comment to keep you amino acid levels in the right spot. I don't know exactly what kind of feed you are you using in your protein mix but make sure you know which amino acids you are feeding and more important keep an eye on the first limiting ones for milk production. It is also an idea to give your high productive cows always the same high energy ration instead of two types. There wil be a lot of cows with less feed intake because they know they have a choice in what they can eat through the day.
I agree on the sorghum, the sorghum were currently feeding is not as high in quality/ digestibility as I'd like. Next year I'm planning to grow sorghum again and be more aggressive on cutting intervals. Our high production cows are getting one ration delivered in 2 times, morning and afternoon.
I'm curious too; How long, once you put all the materials in the mixer, do you let it sit and mix before you feed it? I live in Decatur County, Indiana... that's Southeast Indiana. There is the large arm close to where I live in a town called Lett's... he's from Belgium... and he makes chopped straw in with his mixture. I went there a few years and he took me on a guided tour. Eas very interesting. I have a history of dairy farming, but it's been decades ago... and it was a very small farm. Last I heard he milked over a thousand cows, anyway that kind of stuff just interests me.
Once all the ingredients are added, it will mix for another 10 minutes or so, during that time the person feeding cleans out the feed left over from the day before.
Hey piet.... i want to know the ingredients and the percentage of each ingredients you are adding. And also how much feed you are providing for each cow.... can you please give the details
This is our current high production ration in as fed pounds: Alfalfa baleage 14.2lbs Sorghum silage 5lbs Canola meal 5.4lbs Mineral protein mix 4.8lbs Wheat midds 2.1 lbs Earlage 11lbs Durum Flour 1.2lbs Corn Silage 70lbs Molasses 0.6lbs
Feed supervisor is the name of the software, they supply the tablet. The scale is a digistar 3610 I believe. We use a clicker in the payloader, but it's possible to have a tablet in the payloader linked up to the scale also I think.
We have a spare mixer, a smaller twin scew supreme. The one in the video has only missed 2 loads of feed in the last 3 years because of a breakdown! I'm looking at feed cost per hundred weight several times per month but over cost of production not as often.
Point 1 - You are in the added value business... Converting low value commodities into high value end products. Point 2 - Determining how effective the cows diet is, check the manure...observe them passing manure for consistency and undigested particles... Fat and Protein numbers coupled with bodyweight changes are other good indicators...Foot health.. rebreeding.. Retained afterbirths.. Abomasum problems with fresh calved cows... Finally Piet I will tell you that just when you think you have all the answers..They go and change the questions. A point perfect diet for a dairy cow is just the most fascinating thing you will ever attempt to be good at.
This is what keeps it fun and interesting! There are so many variables and things we still don't fully understand about the way cows process feed that the perfect ration is always a moving target.
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 K.I.S.S Don't try to re-invent the wheel ...Milk yield, components , cow breeding cycles and body weights are all you need to watch.. You are right to focus on home grown forage, do what you are doing... but do it better...
would make a good click bait title.... " Drone receives bird strike". It would have sucked if drone hit ground and run over by backing up feed trailer. Why does driver drop feed so far from cows ? To avoid hitting cows sticking necks out too far ? You have small automated feed pushers ?
It's hard to see from above, but we don't want feed coming up and over the curb. The cows can reach the feed no problem and it's pushed up every 2 hours, 24 hours/ day by a skidsteer.
We feed 55-60% forage. I would like to be higher than that. Good job on the videos, you have a very well run operation.
I appreciate that, thank you! Both my 2 and 4 year old know you by your first name from watching your videos with me, we always enjoy them!
Beautiful barns Piet
Thank you!
It's really a science dairy farming nowadays great videos thanks
Great video Piet
Thanks for the content my friend
Again.sending positive vibes 2 u from me in the uk.thanks.
Thanks for watching!
Good vid, Piet. Very informative.
Thank you!
In Germany we are feeding the HL cows 60%forage the LL cows little bit over 70%. Most of the guys here are between 50 to 60% forage
Thanks for sharing!
Great video Piet 😊
On our pastured herd in Texas we are feeding 51# of dry matter, and with the cooler temps setting in we will probably be needing to add another 3-4# of dry matter to meet the cows needs. We can’t grow good corn silage in our area so we feed all rye, and coastal grass forages. We feed about 35% forages and 9# of DM beet pulp that helps eliminate a good bit of forage needed, and condense down our diet to get the cows to shade sooner, and help the cows generate less microbial heat during rumination as 2 keys to help us battle heat stress with our cows being outside in Texas. Cows are currently at 80# ECM, 73# 4%F 3.3%P. We also figure the cows also eat about 5-8# of DM per day grazing.
Thanks for sharing! Very different system compared to us. It's interesting to hear how you're using your ration to try and manage heat stress.
Great Video Piet, Very curious about TMR feeding in NZ most cows still graze grass for the majority of their diet, thanks for sharing
Please tell me you use GPS in barn. If not, the driver’s backup driving skills are impressive. Always informative videos about your operation.
No GPS, all experience!
we are doing 75% or better on forages. cut a lot of grain back on the diet by using whey
That's a lot of forage, thanks for sharing!
We are around 70% forage. Half haylage, half corn silage. Our stands are around 10% red clover 90% alfalfa . The theory behind that is more tonnage and different amino acids plus soil health benefits from more diversity.
Thanks for sharing! That's a lot of forage! Interesting theory on the red clover.
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 yeah idk I figured try it out and see.
i like all your vids, but this one prob has the best video sequences. I always assumed the mixer scale counted up and wondered how you kept up with over/under for each ingredient. So the scale counts down and the loader has a button to sequence step thru preprog steps and counts down ? If you are looking for content, maybe a couple mins on how that works ? regards.
Yes, it counts down for each ingredient and a clicker advances the program to the next ingredient. Keeps it easy for the operator and also allows us to track how accurate we are and usage of each ingredient.
Hey Piet, ik ben altijd onder de indruk van de productie van de koeien. Bij mij gaat het zo: 26 kg maïs, 12 kg bieten, 9 kg gras, 2.4 kg krachtvoer, 1.5 kg gerstestro, 1.1 kg gerst, 1.1 kg draf, 0.15 kg mineralen en 8 liter water.... dit resulteert in 29 liter met 5.1 vet en 3.97 eiwit.... overal is het verschillend maar hier is de accommodatie niet zo goed voor het dierwelzijn zoals bij jouw. Sterk bezig!
Thanks for sharing! Are the beets whole beets or beet pulp? Nice fat and protein numbers, is that with holsteins?
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 Tot mei voeren we gesnipperde voederbiet en dan schakelen we over naar aangekochte bietenpulp. Onze koeien zijn 100% holstein zowel rood als zwartbont. Bij de stierkeuze letten we wel goed op de gehaltes... groetjes
Awesome video say hello from Utah. I really enjoy your Dairy I learned something new every time thanks for taking me along I really enjoy watching your channel cuz I want to work in a Dairy there's none around here well there's two great big ones looking forward to seeing more of your Dairy you should have a contest where one of the winners gets to come and hang out with you for a couple days on your Dairy think about that one you always want to thank a farmer thank you thank you for all your hard work take care God bless
Thanks for watching!
Hi Piet. We got a little snow in Montreal last week, but it is mostly gone now. I wonder if the ladies ever think, when the feed truck runs through:
Gee, I'd really like a steak, medium rare, and a baked potato !!" he he he Hopefully we may have a White Christmas, but no snow through the 19th as of yet.
Greetings from Portugal, we are feeding the milk cows with 32 kg of corn silage, 38% dri matter, 12,5 kg mix, 1,2 kg of barley straw. For a production of 36 liters a day, 2 milkings
Thanks for sharing!
Feeding 78.2% forage here. Protein supp and hammermilled dry corn make up the rest. 35kg milk avg
That's a lot of forage! Thanks for sharing.
Nice vedio, Piet. In China, cuz the poor forage quality ,we feed mostly 40-50% forage. For high group , we feed even 40% forage and starch may hit 29 or 30%.
Since you feed more forage , it is reasonable for you to put forage first . Supreme is good mix , we use 900T for more than 10 years. How is your shaker boxes looks like, i guess the upper two layer for your high ration could be higher than 50%.
One big difference for mixing is the farm I work have specfic batch for premix. The premix includes minerals , protein, beet pult, corn and molasses.
Then we only need put hay -premix-silage - flaked corn and water . Save time and fuel.
What's the main reason for poor quality forage? Weather, harvest/ storage challenges?
I've thought about making a complete premix, but we need the mix time to cut the alfalfa balage to the right size.
cuz dairy farm in china don't won land, so we actually buy all kind of forage from distributors . For example, corn silage need be hauled from even 300 kilometers away from the farm. That cause a lot variation in quality .
Recent years, we rent some field mainly to deal with waste water , and we are learning how to grow crops.
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047
looks neat feeding cows
Feed looks good,long leght size feed 👍awesome components
Here 58 % DM forage, corn silage
Components 4,18 fat 3,5 protein
Thanks for sharing!
This feed mixer can provide how many pounds of feed to cows in one mixing session.
The mixer will hold about 44,000 lbs of feed fully loaded.
on our farm we feed 6kg tm gras, 6kg tm corn silage and 10kg of concentrated feed
Thanks for sharing!
interesting video. No doubt you consult with ruminant experts & dairy friends, all the time.
Yes, our nutritionist is on the farm every 2 weeks.
About 80% here. Very stale feeding 1 lb of grain to 4 lbs of milk. Fighting some steep deductions on the milk check. Twin tiers pa/ny
That's a lot of forage! Would that be mainly corn silage and alfalfa or include a grass also? Milk check has not been great in the midwest either the last 6 months.
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 cornsilage, soughum Sudan grass, ryelage, haylage (clover, tall fescue, oarchard grass, festoilium, Timothy). We aren't setting world on fire production wise, 5.0, 3.4 test.
Complimenten hoe schoon en netjes je bedrijf is. 👌
Dankjewel!
Typically 65-70% forage in the lactating rations. 4.25 fat and 3.33 protein.
Thanks for sharing!
I'm in New Zealand, the vast majority of our feed is grazed grass so I'm not much help I'm afraid. Low cost of production is key here, we don't have the yields you do of course.
Are you doing much supplementation of feed along with grazing? Do the cows get feed in the parlor?
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 Mostly just silage and baleage when grass growth cant keep up, perhaps PKE or corn silage too, fed out onto the paddock or maybe a feed pad.
Some feed rolled barley or wheat in the parlour some nothing. Definitely a low input low out but high milk solids kind of operations really. Most are also block calving in early spring so the whole herd can be dry for a couple of months in winter which reduces the need for complicated rations.
55% forage in Sask, Canada. But no earlage fed here yet.
Are you feeding any corn silage or mainly barley and alfalfa for forage?
Of the 55% forage, basically 40% corn silage, 40% barley silage, 20% alfalfa silage/hay. I'm surprised that some guys are over 70% forage!
75% forages in milk cow group
That's what I'd like to work towards, thanks for sharing!
I think you can get easily to up 70 % dm forage in your ration with the milk production you mentioned in this video.
You can try to make a high production ration without sorghum because that is a lot of fibre going into the cows without much feed value. Instead of that push a bit harder on haylage an adjust the amount of corn silage and earlage. And also try to mix in some clover as mentioned in another comment to keep you amino acid levels in the right spot. I don't know exactly what kind of feed you are you using in your protein mix but make sure you know which amino acids you are feeding and more important keep an eye on the first limiting ones for milk production.
It is also an idea to give your high productive cows always the same high energy ration instead of two types. There wil be a lot of cows with less feed intake because they know they have a choice in what they can eat through the day.
I agree on the sorghum, the sorghum were currently feeding is not as high in quality/ digestibility as I'd like. Next year I'm planning to grow sorghum again and be more aggressive on cutting intervals.
Our high production cows are getting one ration delivered in 2 times, morning and afternoon.
I'm curious too; How long, once you put all the materials in the mixer, do you let it sit and mix before you feed it? I live in Decatur County, Indiana... that's Southeast Indiana. There is the large arm close to where I live in a town called Lett's... he's from Belgium... and he makes chopped straw in with his mixture. I went there a few years and he took me on a guided tour. Eas very interesting. I have a history of dairy farming, but it's been decades ago... and it was a very small farm. Last I heard he milked over a thousand cows, anyway that kind of stuff just interests me.
Once all the ingredients are added, it will mix for another 10 minutes or so, during that time the person feeding cleans out the feed left over from the day before.
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 I see
Hey piet.... i want to know the ingredients and the percentage of each ingredients you are adding. And also how much feed you are providing for each cow.... can you please give the details
This is our current high production ration in as fed pounds:
Alfalfa baleage 14.2lbs
Sorghum silage 5lbs
Canola meal 5.4lbs
Mineral protein mix 4.8lbs
Wheat midds 2.1 lbs
Earlage 11lbs
Durum Flour 1.2lbs
Corn Silage 70lbs
Molasses 0.6lbs
What feeding software are you using? Scale model? Tablet?are you able to have multiple tablets/phones hooked up at the same time to your scale?
Feed supervisor is the name of the software, they supply the tablet. The scale is a digistar 3610 I believe. We use a clicker in the payloader, but it's possible to have a tablet in the payloader linked up to the scale also I think.
Feed voederbieten! Now on it for 4 year and we will not go back without! 4,68 fat with a steady 36 liters 2 x .plus healthy cows
Thanks for sharing! I've looked into voederbieten a little but the specialized equipment needed has prevented us from trying them.
How do you feed if your mixer wagon breaks down? Also how often do you evaluate your cost of production per hundredweight ?
if the mixer breaks they will either make sure that it gets fixed that day or get a rental or borrow from a farmer
We have a spare mixer, a smaller twin scew supreme. The one in the video has only missed 2 loads of feed in the last 3 years because of a breakdown! I'm looking at feed cost per hundred weight several times per month but over cost of production not as often.
I need dairy farming job now am living in Edmonton Alberta Canada
Do you guys feed milk cows twice a day or once a day
The high production cows get a second drop of feed in the afternoon.
What equipment are you running for feeding?
Fendt 930 tractor, supreme 1700 feed wagon and a cat 930 payloader.
Point 1 - You are in the added value business... Converting low value commodities into high value end products.
Point 2 - Determining how effective the cows diet is, check the manure...observe them passing manure for consistency and undigested particles... Fat and Protein numbers coupled with bodyweight changes are other good indicators...Foot health.. rebreeding.. Retained afterbirths.. Abomasum problems with fresh calved cows...
Finally Piet I will tell you that just when you think you have all the answers..They go and change the questions.
A point perfect diet for a dairy cow is just the most fascinating thing you will ever attempt to be good at.
This is what keeps it fun and interesting! There are so many variables and things we still don't fully understand about the way cows process feed that the perfect ration is always a moving target.
@@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047
K.I.S.S
Don't try to re-invent the wheel ...Milk yield, components , cow breeding cycles and body weights are all you need to watch.. You are right to focus on home grown forage, do what you are doing... but do it better...
Beste voertrekker
zie je niet vaak zon dure grote trekker voor zon mixer
70.1 percent dry matter from forges, dont like to pay so much chrome
Thanks for sharing!
Why do you put tires on top of the silage
The tires keep the plastic tight to the silage and prevents air from getting under the plastic.
Probably right around the same as you, 60-65% is forages
Thanks for sharing!
44% forage in high cows but im in southeast and no alfalfa
Are you feeding any grass along with corn silage?
@pietvanbedaf-nddairyfarmer9047 yeah feed 5lbs dm of triticale silage and 27 lbs corn silage
would make a good click bait title.... " Drone receives bird strike". It would have sucked if drone hit ground and run over by backing up feed trailer.
Why does driver drop feed so far from cows ? To avoid hitting cows sticking necks out too far ? You have small automated feed pushers ?
It's hard to see from above, but we don't want feed coming up and over the curb. The cows can reach the feed no problem and it's pushed up every 2 hours, 24 hours/ day by a skidsteer.
Это 🐄1 корова сколько молока дают за день
Current production is 92lbs per cow per day.