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| I would suspect the forage ration that is being fed to your dairymans herd is not in balance. He needs a new nutrionist.
As a major grower of Alfalfa here in Southern Idaho, selling about 20,000 tons of alfalfa, I know what these dairyman want and need. Looking over my test results for this year, 1st , 2nd & 3rd crop had an average protien of 21-23%, ADF 27-28, RFV 168-179. This hay all sold for $160 ton at my scale.
These numbers are not far off what you have. My Dairymen and happy with the feed and the results they get.
4th crop is testing 23-26 protien, ADF 24-26 and RFV of175-220. This hay is used as a blend, meaning they take less quality hay and blend this with it to bring it all up to the standard that they want to feed.
I know of no dairyman who would feed this straight to his herd.
You should be selling by Quality and if you look at the weekly hay report that is put out each Friday, you can see what hay is selling for in your area. http://www.ams.usda.gov/LSMNpubs/HayW.htm
Testing is a big problem and like Dave in Nevada, don't get me started on all the flaws in the testing process. We test exclusively with Dairy One. My customers are satisfied with the results and so am I. | |
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Protien vs RFV
