Feed
Seed & Feed
Dairymen are looking forward to 2008, according to Dr. Dan Undersander. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Agronomy Professor and Extension Forage Specialist says although there is a lot of concern over high input costs, the high prices for all of the commodities, the grains and the hays and the milk, are causing a level of optimism that we haven't seen in a long time. The high price of hay means it's crucial for producers to maintain their forage stands - and that means turning over alfalfa after no more than three years.
Surviving High Feed Cost
The current economic downturn has presented serious challenges for many Americans. Dairymen have certainly not been exempt. Rising grain prices have inflated the cost of many traditional feeds and spurred the conversion of grasslands to row crop farming. Competition with recreational users for “marginal” land has further reduced pasture availability. More recently, high feed costs have been coupled with lower milk prices, further squeezing producers.
