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Kettle River, MN | Might have worked for him and it might work for you but you still need to figure out something that works for your operation.
"It's not all necessarily the one shot," Glenn says. "It's more that we were feeding the cows properly." I think that says it all right there. I would not worry about grinding the alfalfa and just concentrating on getting a balanced healthy home ground feed mix. When your grazing you won't need to worry about the protein source as much because in good pasture you might have problems getting the MUN low enough.
That article is from seven years ago. Try to contact the guy and see if he is doing the same thing or changed some the feeding plan.
Note: Cove Mountain has access to rent-free acres for hay and heifer grazing, but these items are booked as costs at general market rates.
^All this little stuff makes it so its hard to tell how profitable the dairy was just from the feeding program. There are definitly other factors to consider why it sounded like he was doing a good job.
Looks like good reasons not to go to a TMR right now. Keep in mind that very few farms quit using a TMR once they start even if used to put feed out or making a ration for a pasture supplement.
When you start having to process the hay twice and handle it more it kills efficiency and it might be easier just to feed it right to the calves or cows.
We purchase all our corn and raise small grains when we can to cut feed costs. Dad started grinding his own in the mid-sixties.
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Grinding hay with a feed mill
