Farmerese: The Cow Diet

In case you missed our first ‘Farmerese’ post, ‘Farmerese is a dialect used by farmers to describe situations (animals, equipment, procedures, etc.) specific to the farm.  These posts are elaborations on the original list from ‘Our Ohio’ to help decode farmer phrases that may sound like a different language!

While it may seem like a cow’s diet is straight forward enough (cows eat grass, right?), dairy cows actually have a very diverse diet and nutritional needs that require a lot of input from the farmer.  For the peak growing season our cows only get a little supplemental feed (grain in the parlor and hay to munch on while they wait to be milked).  During fall and winter months however these supplements are much more important.  

Mineral/ Salt Blocks – Cows get most of their nutritional needs from their feed, but just like us there are some things they don’t get enough of.  Instead of giving the cows multi-vitamins, we leave out salt and mineral blocks for the to lick on.  Cows are very good at ‘self-diagnosing’, if they need a particular nutrient, they usually crave it and seek it out.  Salt and mineral blocks contain the nutrients cows most often need extra of or that they don’t usually get from their feed (often micronutrients like zinc).  We have these in every pasture and the girls take advantage of them as needed.  

Seaweed – Dried seaweed is actually very high in mineral content and we supply this to our cows as an alternative to the mineral blocks.  It is loose and resembles dried herbs.  The cows find it particularly tasty in the summer!

Dry hay – Dry hay is very important to our cows diet during the fall and winter months when grass is dwindling or non-existent.  We mow fields that have specific mixes of grass and legumes which we know make high quality hay.  Once mowed this hay air dries, is raked into windrows and then baled (usually into large round bales).  Our girls eat this in the winter as a replacement for grass.

Baleage – Very similar to silage expect using hay bales!  We cut and rake the hay as usual, but we don’t let it dry out all the way like we would for dry hay.  The remaining moisture allows the hay to ferment.  Once baled into big bales we wrap the bales in plastic, sealing in the moisture and sealing out the air.  After a month or so this is ready for cow consumption.  The only difference between baleage and haylage is that baleage is made from hay that has been baled while haylage is loose hay.  The cows love this stuff!

Silage – Silage is fermented corn.  Unlike shell corn (which just uses the grain of corn taken off the cob), silage uses the whole stalk, leaves, cob and all.  All of this is coarsely ground and then fermented in tall, round buildings called silos.  This process helps to break down the fibrous content of the corn stalks so they are easily digested by the cow, it also adds more roughage to her diet than just plain corn would.  The cows love the high moisture content, especially during the hot summer months. 

Shell corn – Field corn is allowed to dry on the stalk.  We then take a machine called a combine through the field that strips the corn cobs off the stalk.  Once off the stalk the corn is shelled, which means the dry kernels are separated from the cob.

Ground feed – This is simply grain (from any source but most often corn) ground into a coarse powder similar to the texture of whole wheat flour or corn meal.  If using corn it can be left on the cob or shelled before grinding.  Sometimes corn and soybeans are combined during the grinding process.  Our girls get individual portions of ground feed while in the milking parlor.

TMR – TMR stands for Total Mixed Ration.  While we don’t have the equipment for this here at Brickhouse, many dairies use this to mix grain with hay or silage so the cows get all their feed in one place.  This helps when you are feeding lots of cows at one time in long bunks.  If you put out the plain grain some cows would get more than their share.  It helps slow the cows down as they eat and ensures they get enough roughage to balance the concentrated nutrients in the corn.

Beans - Typically farmers are referring to soybeans when they talk about beans.  Beans add protein and energy to feed rations, soybean hulls are a great source of fiber!

Watch out for the next post about the making of baleage!

Wordless Wednesday

Buzzy Work...

Bees love it here at the farm!  Because many of the forages cows like are the same things bees like we have no shortage of pollinators around here!

White clover is a natural favorite of our striped friends, but they can be found on alfalfa, hairy vetch, red clover and a myriad of other seasonal, blooming forages.  

Since we have moved to organic pasture based practices we have seen a sharp increase in pollinators that are particularly sensitive to pesticides, bees included.  Many people think this increase in population is solely due to the lack of pesticides sprayed on the crops, but just as damaging are the pesticides applied to the cattle.  When we were conventional, we used a pour-on pesticide (meaning it was poured on the cow’s back and absorbed through her skin, much like Advantage for pets) to keep lice, ticks, flies and other pests off the cows.  While the pesticide didn’t seem to bother her much, she would be shedding them wherever she defecated, on and off the barn lot.  This, in effect meant that all of our pastures and fields were having low doses of pesticide applied to them daily via the cows.

In the organic system we use alternative methods to control these pests, including (but not limited to) dung beetles to carry away nesting places for fly larvae, predator wasps who lay their eggs in fly larvae and essential oil sprays on the cows.  While it took time for the ground to recover and for these natural methods to take effect, we now have efficient pest control without sacrificing our ‘bee’autiful pollinators!

Wordless Wednesday

Llama Watch

Ahh, sunset on the farm, a breeze blowing through the grass, heifers grazing on clover, llamas drinking at the pond – wait!  Llamas?!?!  Yep llamas!

Predators can be a serious issue for our dry cows and yearling heifers who stay in some of the remote pastures and don’t get as much attention as our milking cows.  Neighborhood dogs like to see the cows run, coyotes want a meal and panthers stalk about for snacks, what’s a bovine to do?  Join up with a llama of course!

Roger and Lisa brought home our first llamas (Bandito and Cantessa) after we had issues with neighbor’s dogs chasing our dairy cows.  The dogs had fun, the cows did not, and some of them even ended up injured.  We had considered guard dogs but they required more training and input than we had time for.  At the recommendation of one of our friends we decided to try a pair of llamas. 

 

While they don’t want to be right with the cows at all times they are tolerant of their pasture mates and fiercely protective of their territory.  They despise predators and will chase, kick, bite and spit any intruders out of the pasture as soon as their alert ears and eyes spot them.  Needles to say, since Bandito and Cantessa came home, the neighborhood dogs avoid our pastures.

The heifers are forever curious about the llamas and impromptu games of follow the leader often ensue.

 

Bandito doesn’t mind so much, but Cantessa prefers to have her personal space!

  

While striking a strange profile in contrast to the petite heifers, our llamas have become an important part of the Brickhouse farm.  Their watchful eyes and alert ears protect our girls from harm, even when we can’t be near.

Wordless Wednesday

Maintaining Pasture

It sounds odd to many that pasture requires management.  Its just grass, right?  Well, yes and no.  Pasture doen't need constant cultivation, management of insects or harvesting like corn, but since it composes such a staple of our cows' diets we strive to keep it the best quality possible.  There are more varieties of grass, legumes and herbs than I care to count and they all have different nutritional quality, preferred growing seasons and life-spans.  Some that you want to grow side-by-side often compete with one another for nutrients, cows have preferred species and many become tough and undesireable to the cow after setting seed.  Often the best varieties don't occur naturally in a pasture without encouagement and weeds can quickly overcome a field without management. 

So that's where we come in!  We are continually seeking to improve the condition of our pastures through soil testing, fertilization, planting custom blends of forage, intensive rotation (breaking each pasture up into smaller paddocks and only allowing the cows to graze each paddock for a day or two at a time), and mowing.  This Spring we were returning a couple of corn fields to pasture.  Mom and Dad spent several weeks deciding what forages would be best for that field's terrain, handle cow traffic and give us the most longevity and nutrition for the cows.  Blends of grass and legumes are most often preferred because they complement each other with one having high carbs and the other higher protein.  Additionally, the legumes work to fix atmospheric nitrogen, feeding themselves, the grass around them and enriching the soil at the same time.  Once chosen and planted the routine management kicks in - grazing rotation and mowing!

While its not something we need to do on a weekly basis, we do keep an eye on the pastures and try to mow them when the grasses begin to head (make flowers and seeds).  We choose to mow at this time because the grass becomes much tougher and less desireable for the cows.  Also, when the grass begins getting this big it is competeing with the surrounding plants for more than its share of light and nutrients.



Before.............After!

As you can see here the grass is getting unruly (on the left) and gets a severe hair cut (on the right) to reign it back in.  After a week it will recover nicely and be producing new tender leaf blades that the cows will gobble up!

At the same time we are checking the growth of the grass we are giving the legumes a chance to take off.  You can see here how nicely the red and white clover have been uncovered after the grass is cut back.  Leaving the clippings on the field helps increase organic matter content and continue improvement of the soil.

As with most things in life, clean pastures involve a lot of work - but it is totally worth it to see the cows hurrying to the field, udders swinging to find her favorite spot!