Forages are non-grain crops that are fed to dairy cows. Common dairy farm forages include legumes like alfalfa and clover, grasses such as ryegrass and orchardgrass, and grain crops like corn grown for silage or small grains and sorghums harvested for forage. Forages play multiple critical roles on a dairy farm, providing not only the primary feed for dairy animals but also contributing to the overall sustainability and profitability of the farm.

Roles of Forages on Dairy Farms

1. Providing High-Quality, Healthy Feed: Forages should be free from mold, manure, soil, or pesticide residues. Proper management of fields and machinery can help ensure this. High-quality forages with high energy and protein levels can significantly reduce the need for supplemental feeds, leading to cost savings.
2. Minimizing Purchased Feed Costs: Forages can reduce the need for supplemental feeds, such as soybean meal, which are significant costs for dairy farms. By producing high-quality homegrown forages, farmers can improve their income over feed costs, enhancing profitability.
3. Reducing Farm-Grown Feed Costs: By achieving high yields or maintaining low production costs, dairy farms can lower their overall feed costs. Producers should select crops and varieties adapted to their farms and carefully manage production inputs to keep costs low. Sometimes, purchasing forages might be more cost-effective than growing them, depending on the production cost.
4. Meeting the Needs of Different Animal Groups: Dairy farms have various animal groups, such as lactating cows, dry cows, heifers, and calves, each with specific feed requirements. The forage system should be versatile enough to provide appropriate feed for each group. For example, lactating cows require forages with high fiber digestibility, while dry cows need forages lower in potassium.
5. Ensuring Seasonal Availability of Forages: A well-designed forage system provides seasonal availability through grazing, multiple harvests, or year-round storage. In regions where year-round grazing isn’t possible, feed storage becomes crucial, adding to the farm’s costs and affecting forage quality. Properly managed storage systems, like bunker silos for corn silage, can provide consistent, cost-effective feed year-round.
6. Managing Nutrients and Environmental Impact: Forages help manage the nutrients in manure applied to fields, preventing nutrient runoff into groundwater and surface water supplies. Certain crops, like grass hay fields or small grain cover crops, can absorb high levels of nitrogen and potassium, reducing nutrient leaching and runoff.
7. Sustainable Soil and Pest Management: Sustainable forage production involves monitoring soil nutrient levels to avoid depletion or excessive buildup, maintaining soil organic matter, and employing practices like crop rotation, reduced tillage, or strip cropping. For instance, growing corn for silage using no-till methods and rotating it with a small grain cover crop can help reduce soil erosion and enhance soil organic matter levels.

Planning and Evaluation Tools

Successfully managing forage systems requires careful planning and evaluation. Dairy producers can use several tools to address forage management challenges:

1. Forage Inventory Plan: This plan outlines the amount of forage needed for the year, including estimated feeding and storage losses, which can range from 15-20%.
2. Crop Production Plan: Identifies all fields and projects forage production from each, helping match crops with the best soils and plan crop rotation.
3. Nutrient Management Plan: Allocates manure to fields based on crop needs and soil test levels to optimize nutrient use.
4. Cropping Budget: Estimates the cost of producing forages on the farm, helping decide whether to grow or purchase forages.
5. Execution and Evaluation: Once a plan is developed, it needs to be executed properly, requiring skilled labor and the right equipment for planting, harvesting, and storing forages. Ongoing evaluation involves analyzing yields, forage quality, soil fertility, and profitability using tools like forage analyses, soil test reports, and financial metrics like income over feed costs.

By combining effective planning, execution, and continual evaluation, dairy farms can develop forage systems that meet their production and sustainability goals, ensuring long-term farm profitability and environmental stewardship.