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1236
Feeding Management Strategies on Large and Smaller Freestall Dairy Herds in Minnesota
The objectives of this study were to evaluate feeding management practices on freestall dairy farms in Minnesota and compare practices between two dairy farm sizes. Eighty-two farms were randomly selected from a list provided by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture that included all dairies in the state. Farms were visited once between May and November to collect on farm measurements and observations and to inquire about management practices. Farms were blocked by size: large farms (≥400 cows; n=45) and smaller farms (>150 and <400 cows; n=37). Data were analyzed using the MEANS, TTEST and FREQ procedures of SAS. Mean farm size for the large and smaller farms was 886 and 278 cows, respectively. Large farms had more separate lactating rations (mean ± SE, 2.98 ± 0.20) and non-lactating rations (1.71 ± 0.07) than smaller farms (1.81 ± 0.15 and 1.35 ± 0.08, respectively). Large farms had more frequent feed pushups (8.91 ± 0.63) and milkings (2.95 ± 0.05) per day than smaller farms (4.94 ± 0.45 and 2.36 ± 0.08, respectively). Bovine somatotropin was used on 75.6% of large farms vs. 43.2% of smaller farms (P = 0.004). The use of a feeding management software (57.8% vs. 2.7%, P<0.001) and the use of other technologies (84.4% vs. 62.2%, P = 0.03) was greater on large farms compared to smaller farms. Large farms were more likely to use an on farm master mix (37.8% vs. 16.2%, P = 0.047) and less likely to use uprights silos (20.0% vs. 43.2%, P = 0.03) and Ag bags (17.8% vs. 43.2%, P = 0.02) than smaller farms. There were no differences in the usage of bulk bins, commodity bays, bunker silos, and forage piles between each farm size. There were no differences in the type of plastic used to cover forages. Other management practices where no differences were observed included number of feedings per day, target percent refusals, processing method of corn silage, own or hired chopping, corn silage hybrids, TMR mixer type, and an estimate of feed shrink. Results of the study indicate that some feeding management practices are influenced by farm size.
Keywords:
Feeding, Herd size, Management Practices