Some Udder Thoughts
Short stature corn silage?
Introduction.
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What’s new in dairy science?
Being a nutritionist, I love talking and reading about forages – especially corn silage! Today, I am excited to share some research done at my alma mater – Michigan State University. Dr. Sarmikasoglou explored the effects of feeding short stature corn silage to dairy cattle on milk production and digestibility. Short stature corn silage has shorter internodes which reduces plant height. Reducing their height increases resistance to wind damage and improves standability of the plant. What about feeding it to cows?
In general, the silage varieties, except for “Short 1”, had similar nutrient concentrations. In each dairy cow ration, the silage was included as 55-60% of diet DM. The rest of the diet was composed of alfalfa silage, soybean meal, soybean hulls, corn, and other concentrates. The final rations had similar nutrient compositions for each diet. The short varieties had similar dry matter intake and similar feed digestibility to the tall varieties. Contrary to that, short silages had increased milk yield and increased milk protein yield compared to tall silages. One interesting note is that these diets resulted in low MUN (5.3-5.6 mg/dL) – not different by treatment, but low and indicative of deficient rumen degradable protein even though the reported CP and RDP was 18.1 % and 12% of diet DM, respectively.
Short stature silages may be another tool and in the toolbox in the right situation. I can envision the farm I grew up on in Eastern SD as having benefited from short stature silage as SD is no stranger to constant wind!
Read the entire article here: https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2025-0800
Leadership, growth, and development.
Have you ever felt like you need a reset button? Perhaps, if you’re like me, you find yourself feeling short on energy or feeling a bit stale. Maybe a hobby isn’t bringing you the same joy and excitement or your work is especially taxing and lacking contentment. How do you reset when times like this hit? It is normal to experience these feelings for some stretch of time and learning to navigate them is critical to being content and happy over the long run.
The first step in dealing with stretches where you’re in a bit of a daze is to recognize the feeling. For me, I notice it when I lean on my vices more than I’d like. I have a huge sweet tooth and love a good bottle of wine or glass of whiskey. If I feel stuck or a bit stale, I seem to imbibe far more than I should. I also feel groggy and tired for much longer stretches of the day. After a week or two, I am able notice that I slid into this funk – now, what to do to fix it?
I resort to 1 of 2 strategies to get myself back on track – both are related to communication. Before I met my wife, I relied a lot on journaling. Putting my feelings and streams of consciousness on paper for a few minutes, literally just 3 or 4 minutes each day, usually identified what was bothering me or stressing me out. With that frustration clarified, it became much easier to deal with. Now that I am married, instead of journaling, my wife and I take time to sit together and talk it out. She sits and listens, asks questions, and helps me sift and sort my feelings. By the end of this, I always feel energized. Its like resetting the GPS in a car – I am back on track and know right where to go.
My goal isn’t to tell you to use these two approaches – my goal is to get you to notice when you’re not feeling right and to address it. Avoiding it never serves you well. Once you’ve noticed you’re not yourself, try different ways of sorting through your thoughts. Whether it be journaling, meditation, long walks, or talks with a trusted friend, it will always be time well spent.
Final Thoughts.
I’m happy to say I had a good reset this weekend and I am feeling ready to enjoy another week! I hope all of you feel the same. Cheers!