A SPECIAL PRODUCERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ® CALIFORNIA Dairy & Livestock ®
Milking cows at Lima Ranch Dairy in Lodi receive a blend of alfalfa and oat hay and corn silage. The dairy also feeds byproducts including distillers grains, whole cotton seed and ground-up bakery items.
Farm byproducts add to feed options for dairy cows By Nancy Vigran
weeks. He spends time observing the cows and analyzing their needs by age, time in their milk cycles, weather conditions and feed ingredients. He takes samples of the feed to analyze after each farm or dairy visit and makes recommendations on adjusting nutritional content as needed. The value of California milk and dairy products totaled $7.57 billion in 2021, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The Golden State remains the nation’s leading milk producer, and dairies represent California’s larg- est agricultural sector. These days, more California dairy farmers turn to agricultural byproducts for a share of their feed. In the San Joaquin Valley, home to roughly 90% of the state’s dairy cattle, byproducts became increasingly important during recent drought years, DeGroff said. “It isn’t like we had a lot of alternatives,” the dairy nutritionist said. While this year’s atmospheric storms replenished water supplies and nourished pastures, there appears to be no slowdown in the use of byproducts in feed. “Byproducts are essential,” said Rollin. Recently, he said, his cows seemed to appear bewildered when they were first See FEED, Page 12
With feed costs rising in recent years and drought conditions impacting state hay acreage, California dairies are working to provide diverse diets for their cows, including relying on agricultural byproducts for feed. At Rollin Valley Farms in Riverdale, dairy farmer Donny Rollin provides rolled corn and alfalfa hay as main staples for his cows. He also may offer almond hulls, canola, cotton seed, dried distillers grains, molasses, garlic and, this year, onions. Rollin said byproducts these days provide about 65% of the feed for his 2,150 milking cows. “We are the biggest recyclers in the whole world,” Rollin said. “There is nobody that does more than we do.” While some byproducts, such as those from corn and beans, are often used as feed in the Midwest, Fresno County offers far more abundant selections of crops from which many byproducts can be used to feed dairy cattle. Rollin said all commodities used must be approved by his dairy nutrition consultant. Rollin Valley Farms is one of nearly 20 dairies that works with Doug DeGroff, founder and owner of Diversified Dairy Solutions in Tulare. DeGroff meets with the owners or herd managers of each dairy every two to three
May 24, 2023 Ag Alert 11
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