Volume 17: Issue 4 June 2015
BOTTOM LINE Sharing ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
Are you missing out on forage yield? AMBER RADATZ University of Wisconsin-Extension Discovery Farms
Beware silage danger – see Page 8
Tell your farm’s story – see Page 11
Prevent electrical hazards – see Page 12
Two-part series — see Pages 1 and 14
As a dairy farmer, you don’t want to leave anything on the table. As margins tighten, you might be looking for ways to increase forage production without increasing acreage. Do cover crops have the potential to help solve this problem? There are cropping and farming systems in Amber Radatz Wisconsin w h e r e establishment of cover crops is tough for a variety of reasons. However, there are scenarios where implementation of cover crops becomes functional, economical and truly worthwhile. An obvious fit for cover crops is in a dairy rotation where the extra forage can be useful and needed. SARE — Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education — conducted a national survey in 2014 of more than 1,900 farmers. It showed that both c ove r- c ro p u s e rs a n d non-users ranked reducing erosion and compaction, and
Farmers talk crops and production during a Discovery Farms field day. UW Discovery Farms, part of UW Extension, is a farmer-led program that works with the U.S. Geological Survey to gather credible and unbiased water-quality information from different types of farming systems, in landscapes throughout Wisconsin. The program’s mission is to develop on-farm and related research to determine the economic and environmental effects of agricultural practices on a diverse group of Wisconsin farms; and to educate and improve communications among the agricultural community, consumers, researchers and policy makers to better identify and implement effective environmental-management practices that are compatible with profitable agriculture.
increasing organic matter, as the most important benefits of cover crops. But though soil management is critically important, it is often difficult to justify intensifying management if the only perceived benefit is to the soil. Instead, think about it as intensifying the dairy-cropping rotation to improve soil, produce more
feed on the same number of acres and reduce nitrogen loss. 1. Improved soil. April, May and June are a vulnerable time for Wisconsin soils. Even in a good spring, crop canopy is usually not enough until late June to protect the soil from erosion. See YIELD, on page 2
Professional Dairy Producers® I 1-800-947-7379 I www.pdpw.org