Blog Action Day: Food for Dairy Cows

There is no doubt that food is important for everyone, including dairy cows.  Blog Action Day is today and the focus is on food.  Milk and dairy products are my favorite foods so I thought I would write about what our cows eat to produce them.

To make milk our cows need to eat well.  The cows on our farm have access to feed all day long.  (Animals eat feed and people eat food.)  They are fed hay in a long manger that they walk past several times a day.  They get to eat silage before and after being milked.  The silage is corn, wheat, or other long grasses that we harvest in the fall or spring.  We store the silage in silos so it will stay fresh year round.  And they really like it, too!

Eating Silage

Our cows are fed  free choice which basically means they can decide when and how much they want to eat.  They also have access to fresh water all day long.  We have water available all over the barn lots and in the pasture field they graze in.  To make sure they get all the nutrients they need we feed a grain mix and a mineral supplement for them to eat.

By providing good feed for our cows we help ensure they will stay healthy.  Healthy cows are productive cows and they will provide lots of nutritious milk.