Forage Profile: Mark and Linda Wright

Describe your farm and facilities. Mar-Linda-K Registered Holsteins is home to a herd of registered black and white and Red & White Holsteins. We milk 75 cows and farm about 300 acres. Our cows are housed in three buildings that feature sand-bedded free stalls and tunnel ventilation. We milk in a 10-stall step-up parlor that was retrofitted into our tiestall barn. The barn also includes six box stalls if we need to give any cows extra attention. We have a BAA of 109.4% and a cow family containing seven generations of homebred Excellents. This was Linda’s family’s farm, and she is third generation here. We have two adult daughters, Kayla and Nicole, who are the fourth generation. Kayla continues to help on the farm on weekends.

What forages do you harvest? Alfalfa, triticale, rye, corn silage and high-moisture corn. We tried triticale for the first time last year.

How many acres of crops do you raise? We farm about 300 acres.

Describe the rations for your livestock. The milk cow ration includes 6,000 pounds of corn silage, 3,000 pounds of haylage, 1,200 pounds of high-moisture corn, and 760 pounds of protein. The cows eat at outdoor bunks, and we feed about 1.5 times a day. Dry cows are on pasture in the summer and also receive a mineral pellet. In the winter, they are fed corn silage and haylage. The heifer ration consists of haylage, corn silage and some mineral.

What quality and quantity do you harvest of each crop? I strive to make really good feed. In the early 2000s, I won the haylage division in the World Forage Analysis Superbowl at World Dairy Expo. Last year, I took fifth place for cereal grass. On haylage, I aim for 20% protein, 30% acid detergent fiber, 40% neutral detergent fiber and 150 relative feed value. Digestibility is what I’m after, and I’m getting that with the grasses I plant.

When I seed in spring, I use oats as a nurse crop with alfalfa. I seed about 17 pounds of alfalfa per acre and 5-6 pounds of grass seed per acre. I plant orchard grass, tall fescue and medium fescue.

I plant rye in the fall and use triticale as a nurse crop. I placed it in fifth-crop hay last year. When we feed rye or triticale, the cows are always at the feed bunk eating no matter how hot it is. When making haylage, I hope for 7 tons per acre. I also make a little baled hay if the weather is decent. With this year’s first crop, we made 109 bales.

I plant 50-80 acres of 112-day Beck’s corn silage corn. I had rye in the field prior to planting corn, which I took off extremely early this year in April. Double cropping gives us acres to cash crop, which helps us cash flow. We have a lot of 3-year-plus corn on corn, which is why I use quad-stacked corn seed and started using dry insecticide again. This type of seed protects against rootworm and different diseases. I cut by plant moisture; it never lies. I like to be under 70% moisture for storing in ag bags and around 60% for storing in silos. I shoot for 30% starch in the corn silage and hope to run close to 25 tons per acre. 

Describe your harvesting techniques for alfalfa and corn silage. I cut my alfalfa by the ruler. When it reaches 19 inches, we cut. That gives me a consistent feed, although I’ve probably given up some tonnage. We try to put fertilizer on hay after the first and third cuttings. After the first crop, we use potash and boron sulfur, and after the third crop we just use potash.

I custom hire my corn planting, which is done with a 12-row planter. He plants 200 acres in two days. He also plants my new seeding alfalfa with a John Deere no-till drill. We did 35 acres this year.
He also chops my corn silage with an older John Deere 4-row chopper and combines my corn for high-moisture and grain corn. We use a kernel processor because we store corn in old stave silos that are not strong enough for whole-shell corn.

What techniques do you use to store, manage and feed your forages. Our feed is stored in bags and silos. I fill a 20-foot by 70-foot silo with haylage for the milk cows, and I fill a 20-foot by 80-foot silo and a 14-foot by 50-foot silo with corn silage. I fill another 14-foot by 50-foot silo with high-moisture shell corn. Last year, we put up six 8-foot by 200-foot ag bags of corn silage.

How do quality forages play in the production goals for your herd? Linda breeds for type but also watches bulls’ pedigrees for production. We feed for milk, and you need quality feed to balance that out. You have to try to make the best feed you can. We feed a lot more forage and a lot less purchased feed.

What are management or harvesting techniques you have changed that have made a notable difference in forage quality? Cutting hay by the ruler. I used to cut according to the calendar or by number of days, but not anymore, and I get better results. For corn silage, I started looking for varieties that are more digestible.

Also, harvest time for corn silage is now based on plant moisture, so I’m not guessing about the quality. We also started using inoculants, which helps keep feed cool, especially if hay gets rained on.

Describe a challenge you overcame in reaching your forage quality goals. We can’t chop corn fast enough, so I hired that out, and he gets it done in less than a week. It used to take six weeks to chop ourselves. Also, seeds have really changed, and now we’re getting big crops with no moisture; they’re hardy. Furthermore, we’re corn on corn on corn, so in order to get the best corn we can, we use an insecticide even though it’s expensive. I also use fungicide on at least half of my corn silage.