Electronic feed monitoring: Improving feeder performance and feed investment 
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Don Martell, PAS Diamond V
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Tracking software in a feed monitoring system can improve communication and lower the potential for human error. The dairy manager also can use the system to monitor, communicate, manage, and educate the feeder, who really is one of the most important members of the dairy team.
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Producer Spotlight
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Who: Johan Koke
What: Blue Jay and Bluebonnet Dairies
Where: Dublin, Texas Back in the 1990s, many central Texas dairy farmers were pulling up stakes due to low milk prices, uncertainties about environmental regulations, and the lure of more friendly business environments further west. Many headed for West Texas and neighboring New Mexico.
The migration was part of a dairy industry contraction in Texas and corresponding boom in New Mexico. In 2000, milk production in New Mexico edged past Texas. Then the "Bluebonnet Dairyland" bloomed again.
By 2012, Texas had risen to sixth in milk production among U.S. states, with New Mexico settling back into ninth place. The Texan resurgence owed a lot to Erath County dairy producers, including Holland-born Johan Koke who started his Texas dairy operation in 1993.
Today Johan milks Holsteins on two dairies -- Blue Jay (1,000 cows) and Bluebonnet (800 first lactation heifers) -- near the central Texas town of Dublin. He and his spouse Sonya also have a Texas-size family of 6 with the oldest 14 and the youngest 2 years of age.
Sonya runs the feeder calf operation. The Kokes raise their own heifers and use Angus bull semen to breed back cows that miss four breedings. The Angus Cross calves enable the Kokes to take advantage of the current outstanding beef prices.
For the Kokes, dairying in central Texas has meant coping with extremes such as "blue norther" cold fronts, extreme summer heat, and recent record droughts.
This winter tossed the family a new extreme -- extreme ice, up to 5 inches on the feedlot shade structures. Many cratered under the load and now Johan is considering whether to rebuild shade or build new free stalls.
"The free stalls," Johan says, "would give us four to five more pounds of milk per cow and reduce feed wastage."
Feed efficiency is a critical concern. Johan and other Erath County dairy producers "import" almost all feedstuffs going into their total mixed ration (TMR). Primary ingredients include ground corn, cottonseed, alfalfa, corn gluten, baled haylage, corn silage, and canola meal.
During the drought 2 years ago, Johan was buying hay out of North Dakota. Many Erath County producers were using baled corn stalks.
Today, Erath County once again boasts the highest dairy production in Texas, accounting for 27% of the state's total milk output, according to the most recent reports. Dairying currently accounts for about 36% of Erath County's economy and 31% of local employment.
Johan and Sonya Koke are doing their part, with good prospects that the Koke kids are going to keep milk production growing in Bluebonnet Dairyland.
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Advisor Access
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By Clayton Gill
Editor/Strategic Communications
Diamond V
Welcome to DairyAdvisor -- where Diamond V's experts share their science-based knowledge and practical field experience. Our goal is to keep you up to speed on proven nutrition and health solutions that help you improve your dairy business.
It's my pleasure to keep you up to speed on our experts, too. Curtis Harms, DVM and Darin Henry, DVM, MBA, our North American dairy business directors, now have four new district sales managers.
John Miller, MS, PAS, now leads the sales effort of the California Dairy Team. John joined Diamond V in 2008 as a regional sales manager with more than 20 years of experience in the dairy and poultry industries including work with Monsanto, Cargill, Cal-Maine Foods. He earned his BS in Animal Science from the University of California-Davis and his MS in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University. Shortly after joining Diamond V, he became the president of the California Chapter of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists.
Mitch Deimund now leads sales for the Midwestern Dairy Team. Mitch joined Diamond V in 2001 as a regional sales manager following a 15-year career in sales and management with Furst McNess Company. He earned his BS in Agriculture with a minor in Business Administration from Southeast Missouri State University.
Ken Sanderson, DVM now leads sales for the Eastern Dairy Team. Ken joined Diamond V in 2012 as a dairy field technical specialist for the Northeast Region and Canada. Previously, he directed global technical services for Balchem Animal Nutrition and provided veterinary technical services for Monsanto. He was a private dairy veterinary practitioner for 15 years and principal partner in three clinics in Ottawa. He received his DVM from the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph and an advanced Certificate in Dairy Health Management from the University of Guelph.
Chad Davis now leads sales for the Pacific Northwest and Southwest Dairy Teams. Chad joined Diamond V in 2011 as a regional sales manager in California. His background includes more than 15 years in animal health sales and marketing working with AgriLabs and Allflex USA. He received his BS in Marketing from California Polytechnic University-San Luis Obispo, having grown up on his family's cow-calf operation near Paso Robles.
When you have questions, the North American Dairy Team can help. Contact the team members above or through DiamondV.com (www.DiamondV.com).
Or, if you'd like to share the question and see the answer in
DairyAdvisor, let me know -- Clayton.
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Tip of the Month
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Don Martell, PAS Diamond V
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A good feeding protocol is to feed the TMR within 15 minutes of the scheduled feeding time. It is important to maintain a consistent TMR feeding time for a fresh cow in order to establish a normal eating pattern. A consistent TMR feeding time also helps track the pen's DMI more accurately.
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March 12-13 Madison, WI March 17-19Des Moines, IA |
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