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Managing Dairy Grazing for More Milk and Profit

Troy Downing, David Hannaway, Brianna Randow and, Xiumei Yang (December, 2014)

Summary

Well-managed grazing is the foundation of a successful and profitable pasture-based system. To improve your farm’s profitability, you must emphasize reducing costs and/or improving efficiency. Increased reliance on grazed forages offers considerable opportunity to reduce costs: The estimated cost of pasture is about one-half the cost of ensiled legume or grass forages on a dry matter basis. The dairy cow’s intake and the efficiency with which pasture is utilized are the most important factors determining profitability.