Show WISE DA DAIRYMEN IR A ADJUST DJUS T A AMOUNT MO OF GRAIN RATION RA TION TO TAKE EVERY EVER Y POSSIBLE A ADVANTAGE D VA NTA GE OF PA PASTURE S TURE FULL GRAIN 40 FULL GRAIN RATION RATION 4 DURING SEASON WHEN PASTURES APLE ABE GRADUALLY BADLY BURNED INCREASE RAIN supplement GRAIN RATION WHEN RATION WITH ONE GALLON BULKY LAS CUT GRAIN MILK PLOW FLOW STARTS TO EACH COW NIGHT SS RAT RATION ION IN HA HALF F FALLING OFF AND MORNING k r y w ua ES K inzian 1 2 asni WINTER EARLY EARLY DRIED ROUGHAGE SPRING PASTURE SUMMER PASTURE SUMMER PASTURE when dairy cows were still more or less in their original state and gave only enough milk to feed their calves pasture met their entire needs not much was expected of them so little feed or care was required while not considered sufficient feed for the modern cow grasses and good pasture still play and important part in our present day plan of dairy feeding says W R arends of the dairy I 1 department of purina mills in giving his recommendations for handling cows on pasture nature has put important vitamins and health giving materials into grasses and no dairyman can afford to overlook the advantages and benefits of good pasture modern cows highly bred the cow has come a long way since the time she gave only enough milk to raise her own calf man has taken the original dairy cow and through breeding management and feeding has developed her natural instinct to produce milk to a level where grasses alone cannot give her all the nourishment she needs for making milk and keeping up body condition if forced to exist on a ration of various grasses such as her ancestors did the modern dairy cow with a pound milk record bred into her would break down completely ely arends says loss of weight costly at the purina experimental farm every advantage is taken of grass in season green grass as every dairyman knows stimulates a heavy flow of milk but the bulk palatability and juicy freshness of green grass causes the heavy milking cow to overwork over work this invariably leads to a falling off in flesh and milk flow later in the season arends points out loss of weight means the dairyman must spend extra money in the fall to build her back to normal weight for winter production loss of weight on a gi glass ass diet is easy enough to understand arends explains because over stimulation takes take s more out of the cow than it puts back in additional feed along with pasture Is an absolute necessity if cows are to come through the summer in healthy condition and give a full flow of milk through the cold months pasture must be supplemented our experiments at the purina E experimental peri mental faalai show the necessity of supplementing pasture to keep cows in good condition it seems that little attention need be paid to milk production when cows are first turned out on grass the chief concern is keeping up the herds body weight feeds for supplementing plem enting pasture should be high ill body buelting buil building Ting materials very palatable and bulky on flush pasture the regular winter grain ration should be cut in half arends recommends Holst holsteins elms and AS Ayr shires should get about one pound of grain ration for every seven pounds of milk when pasture is good and jerseys should be fed one pound of grain ration for every six pounds of milk grasses become like hay chemical analysis of pasture grasses shows that early season samples contain more moisture and nearly twice as much protein as those cut later in the season crude fiber content increases as the season advances and there is more calcium present these are the chemical causes of the milk stimulating properties of early spring pastures says the purina dairyman and explains why milking cows do well on half the usual amount of winter grain ration when first turned out As the pasture season advances grasses become more like hay gradually the amount of grain ration should be increased until the herd is back on the regular winter feeding schedule grain increase necessary start working back on to the winter feeding schedule as soon as milk begins to fall off arends advises when pastures become burned and dried up ae the regular winter gram grain ration should be supplemented by one gallon of bulky las to each cow morning and evening this feed Is palatable laxative and supplies the nutrients that dried up pastures lack planning pasture programs to get increased grazing yields Is a problem to which state experiment stations and county agents have given a great deal of attention dairymen should contact these dalry dairy specialists and secure their help in building profitable pasture improvement pro programs |