Enhanced Forage Evaluation: NDF Digestibility by Scott Reuss, UW-Extension, Marinette County Introduction Nearly all dairy producers have encountered a situation where the animal performance they are achieving is not matching the theoretical performance indicated by their forage quality analysis. Oftentimes, grassy hay/haylage that tests at a lower quality will give comparable performance to a higher-testing legume, or […]
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In vitro NDF Digestibility of Forages: The 30 vs. 48 hour debate by P.C. Hoffman, K.M. Lundberg, L.M. Bauman and Randy D. Shaver Introduction Recently, forage testing laboratories have begun to evaluate forages for neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility. Evaluation of forages for NDF digestibility is being conducted to aid prediction of total forage digestibility. There are several […]
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A Quick Guide to Understanding Forage Test Results by Patrick Hoffman and Randy Shaver Introduction Laboratory testing of forages for nutrient content and digestion characteristics is an important management step in the process of formulating dairy rations. In recent years, there have been numerous changes in forage analysis by commercial testing laboratories. These changes are sometimes […]
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Using NDF Digestibility in Ration Formulation by Patrick Hoffman and David Combs Introduction This Focus on Forage article will attempt to address issues of NDF digestibility (NDFD) in forages and total mixed rations (TMRs). The utility of NDFD in dairy cattle nutrition programs will also be discussed. How is NDFD measured? Forage NDFD is expressed as a percentage […]
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Comparison of Relative Forage Quality (RFQ) to Relative Feed Value (RFV) by Dr. Dan Undersander, University of Wisconsin We introduced Relative Forage Quality as an improvement to RFV in 2002. We released the term to better estimate energy and intake and to do it in accordance with NRC Nutrition Requirements for Dairy Animals released in 2001. The […]
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Ash Content of Forages by Patrick C. Hoffman Introduction Dairy producers and their nutrition consultants seldom discuss nutritional aspects and possible ramifications of feeding high ash content forages and diets to dairy cows. It is a subject that generally falls off the radar screen because there are numerous and more important nutrients to attend to in […]
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Heat Damaged Forages: Effects on Forage Energy Content by Wayne Coblentz, Patrick Hoffman, and Dan Undersander Introduction Traditionally, the effect of heat damage within forages has focused on reduced bioavailability of crude protein (CP) to ruminant animals as a result of Maillard reactions. The products of these reactions are the result of complex, multi-step pathways. Typically, the initial […]
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Sampling and Analytical Variation Associated with Evaluating Phosphorus in Forages and Total Mixed Rations by John Peters and Pat Hoffman Introduction Nutrient management has become an integral component of managing a commercial dairy and livestock operation. Specifically, reducing phosphorus content of livestock diets, manure and soil is a common goal of nutrient management programs. As a result, there […]
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Influence of Ensiling on the Digestibility of Whole-Plant Corn Silage by Luiz Ferraretto1, Randy Shaver1, and Joe Lauer2 1Department of Dairy Science, UW-Madison 2Department of Agronomy, UW-Madison Introduction Increasing starch or neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility in whole-plant corn silage (WPCS) may increase lactation performance by dairy cows or reduce purchased feed costs for dairy farmers. The digestibility […]
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Trends in Feed and Manure Phosphorus by John Peters Introduction In the past, the formulation of the mineral levels in dairy total mixed rations (TMR’s) has often been based on book values or NIR estimates of feed and forage quality parameters. To help get a better measure of what was actually being fed to many of […]
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