Eliminating operator error in a ration

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Are dairy cows actually eating the total mixed ration that their caretakers think they are?

Travis Bischof, nutrition and production specialist at Form-A-Feed, wants that answer to be yes.

“There are three different rations (on a dairy farm),” Bischof said. “There’s the one you get on your paper, there’s the one that is mixed by the feeder, and then there’s the one the cows eat.”

Bischof presented “Deliver the Ration You Want, Every Day” Jan. 12 at the Destination Innovation 2024 Form-A-Feed Dairy Conference at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.

Bischof’s presentation included tips on mixing, good feed storage setups, mixer maintenance, the cost of dry matter shrink and refusals, and a discussion of stabilizers.

Mix time on a TMR is important, Bischof said. 

He worked with one dairy farm that switched feeders. Before the switch, the farm had a 1% variation in the TMR shaker box across the length of the feed delivery area. However, this farm saw a 15% difference out of a shaker box across their delivered feed area when the new mixer was over mixing the TMR.

“That mixing time after that last ingredient can be critical as to how accurate your mix is staying when you deliver it,” Bischof said.

Another thing to consider for a consistently delivered TMR is mixer size. 

Some dairy farmers have purchased larger mixers to speed up feeding time. However, these large mixers sometimes are too big to properly mix smaller batches for groups such as heifers or dry cows. If the feed does not reach high enough on the screw, it will be difficult to get it mixed.

Bischof said some dairies have seen success by giving their fresh cows the same ration as their first-lactation animals. This increases the amount of mix, allowing it to blend better.

Conversely, overloading the mixer can also cause problems. Bischof said most mixers can get the feed fully mixed in about four minutes after the final ingredient.

Bischof said it is also important to make sure that the mixer is equipped with the manufacturer’s recommendation on knives.

“There’s a certain number of knives that they want in the mixer to properly mix feed,” Bischof said. “These aren’t just for cutting. They’re to help make sure you get the right rotation as you’re mixing feed.”

Bischof said it is important to keep knives sharp as well as making sure the right number of knives are in the correct places.

Other mixer maintenance includes the kicker plates, screws, doors that close completely and accurate weigh bars.

Mixers should be loaded using the same rotation per minute across all operators. Bischof said most mixers are designed to be loaded at about 1,800 tractor RPMs. He said failure to have consistent RPMs can affect the mixing and consistency.

Feed variation across bunkers can affect rations. For example, Bischof had a farm that had a 17.4% moisture variation across their haylage bunker face and a 5.3% protein variation. Bischof said this farm had small fields along wood lines with a mix of grass and alfalfa, which contributed to the variation.

With moisture variation in the teens, the ration could vary greatly. For every amount of feed with supposedly 10 pounds of dry matter, the wettest section had 7 pounds of dry matter while the driest section had 12.23 pounds of dry matter for the same amount of as-fed feed, Bischof said.

Bischof said this farm would face their pile, push the feed to the center and mix it on top of the pile to counteract the variation.

In the storage shed for non-forage commodities, Bischof said feed tucked all the way into bays out of the weather is good. He said to remember to switch the feed forward and rotate it. He also said dairy producers should place the mixer on concrete to create a flat area for mixing and reduce the possibility of dirt going into the bays.

Bischof spoke on how shrinkage can be costly for dairy farms. For example, if a 250-cow dairy loses 1 pound of dry matter per cow per day for approximately 500 pounds of as-fed feed, this could cost between $11,000-$12,000 a year.

To help reduce shrinkage in bins, Bischof said lengthening the tubes coming off bin conveyors can help to prevent wind from blowing the feed into the yard instead of the mixer.

Tightening feed refusals can also save money. For example, Bischof had a dairy which had about 5% refusals. Bischof said he figured that if they could tighten this by 1%, the farmer would save around $150,000 per year.

TMR stabilizers were another topic of discussion. Bischof said in the summer, he pays attention to whether the TMR is heating. Water from sprinklers can affect stability. Bischof said using stabilizers can be good when not a lot of feed is being pulled off the pile in warm weather.

He said for dairies using earlage and high-moisture corn, they might want to put stabilizers in earlier in the season. He also said some dairies use it in the winter to preserve two-day mixes.

“We’re targeting not only keeping a TMR fresh and stable throughout the day for the cows but then keeping it a little more stable the next day when heifer groups are being fed the leftover TMR in their rations,” Bischof said.