Author: dairy-cattle

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Corn silage supplies energy and physically effective fiber to high-producing dairy cows. Production of high quality corn silage reduces purchased feed costs from grain and byproduct supplements, and thus can increase profitability for dairy producers. Several harvesting practices influence fermentation and digestibility of corn silage. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review selected corn …

This article is part of our series of original articles on emerging featured topics. Please check here to see other articles in this series.

Take Home Messages

• Fermentable carbohydrates, such as starch, sugar, and fiber provide energy for dairy cows.
• Dairy cows do not have a starch requirement. Thus, dietary starch can be reduced successfully when economic conditions or inventories justify it.
• A common strategy to reduce dietary starch while maintaining lactation performance is to replace starch sources (e.g. corn)

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This article is part of our series of original articles on emerging featured topics. Please check here to see other articles in this series.

Introduction

Short-season forages provide dairy producers an excellent opportunity to supplement forage supplies when needed during specific seasons, while adding flexibility to forage production systems. The yield and nutritive value from these forages is highly dependent on management. Warm-season or cool-season annual species can fit into a double-cropping or triple cropping system, or integrated into cropping …