Although it is hard to write this without including a pun, silo gases should not be taken lightly. Even brief exposure to silo gases can be fatal, making them one of the greatest health risks on-farm. There are two main silo gases to be aware of: carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The considerable drought conditions across the northeastern US and Canada have increased the risk for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) production from ensiling, and it has already been observed

William Miner’s Heart’s Delight Farm began making maple syrup from the sugar maple trees in its forests over 100 years ago. In those days the sap was collected in metal buckets, with the sap then transferred into a larger container and taken by a team of horses to the sugar house where a wood-fired evaporator was used to produce maple syrup.

Cover cropping is something we would like to do more of at Miner Institute. There are excellent incentive programs available for this practice, and the long-term benefits to yield, soil health, and edge of field losses have been well documented. The challenge is often just getting the seed out there at a time when bunks need to be covered, manure needs to be spread, and 5th cut is ready to come off.

In my last Farm Report article, I mentioned having a strong interest in forage quality, mainly due to a research project that I completed last summer with Alltech Inc. and Poulin Grain Inc. This project was presented this past June at the American Dairy Science Association annual conference. I know it is late in the year now to be discussing managing grass silage, as everyone is in the midst of another busy season of corn harvest,

Traditionally we have promoted, myself included, a set volume and quality of first feeding colostrum to calves. Often we recommend 4 L or one gallon of high quality colostrum within the first two hours after birth to our large breed calves. However, this blanket approach might not be what’s best for each individual calf and maybe we should be incorporating a precision feeding mindset when implementing our colostrum feeding recommendations.

Have you noticed your milk fat numbers creeping up over the years? You’re not alone. Data from the Federal Milk Market Orders, including Order 1 (see figure) show a steady rise in both milk fat and true protein concentrations. While we still see seasonal ups and downs (peaking in winter and dipping in summer), the overall trend is clear: milk components are increasing.

As a forage agronomist I usually find myself preaching about how short the optimal harvest window is for hay crop forages. This is because, for most of the season, the optimal window for maximizing haylage yield and quality only lasts for a week or two.

Over the past six years I’ve written extensively in these pages about the agronomic and environmental impacts of tile drainage, as did Eric Young before me, and Ev Thomas before him. With so much ink spilled on the topic, I hope you’ll permit me a quick trip back into the past to help explain its importance to the region, and why it was adopted locally long before it achieved the widespread popularity it now boasts throughout our farming communities.

This past summer was a busy one for all of us. With students on the farm there was a lot of activity and learning taking place each day. Now that the season has ended and our students have returned to school, we’re taking the opportunity to step back and look for areas of improvement. It’s important to identify areas where small changes can make a big impact.

Knowing what’s really in your feed is the first step to making good rations that meet the cows’ needs. That’s why taking and testing feed samples regularly is such an important tool — it helps to avoid nutrient shortages or waste. But the more tests we run, the more we see that feed values can vary a lot, especially in forages and by-products.