The Cows.Feeding and Nutrition.The farm owns a large amount of land which we use to grow all of our crops. With the exception of grains, which we purchase from Cargill we grow all the feed for our animals. Corn and alfalfa are the main crops grown for both silage and hay. A large portion of our land is just grass which is used for hay, hay silage (haylage) or grazing. By having all this land available we are able to control the amount and quality of the feed that our cows consume. How much do they eat? One cow can eat over 80lbs of grass and corn per day in addition to their ration of grains. Younger animals will eat 30 to 50lbs per day, depending on size. With over 400 animals on the farm, we need to harvest at least 2,500 tons of corn silage, 2,000 tons of haylage and 7,000 bales of hay per year. In order to keep up with our needs we try to have at least 200 acres of corn, 200 acres of alfalfa and about 50 acres of grass for hay. Our fields need fertilizer to help the plants grow. The best fertilizer is all natural cow's manure. The manure is rich in the nutrient which helps the plants to grow, and the cows make a lot of it. We do use some chemical fertilizers – the same kind as many people use on their own yard and gardens. Pesticides are not used but we do need to use herbicides once after planting to control weeds in the corn fields. We are busy plowing, planting, and harvesting in the fields from early May to late October. High Lawn Farm strives to keep everything that we do simple and natural. Animal byproducts of any kind are not used in our feeds. And we do not use any rBST or artificial growth hormones to increase milk production. All this work goes into feeding our prized Jerseys. They are fed a total mixed ration twice a day, balanced nutritionally for their milk production, stage of lactation (either milking or dry), and age. High Lawn Farm uses 6 different feed rations for our animals. |
