MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON VIRGINIA DAIRY FARMS

Overall, Intensive Grazer farmers substantially reduced total harvested and/or purchased forage
requirements for 1996.

Ration Adjustments during the Grazing Season

Actively growing pasture provides a excellent source of highly digestible nutrients. Adjusting rations
during the grazing season to compensate for nutrients supplied by pastures can substantially reduce total
feed costs (Table 9).

Adjustments to energy

Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of all grazing farms made no change to feed ration energy content. Close
to three-quarters (72 percent), of the Moderate Grazer farmers and nearly one-half ( 44 percent) of the
Intensive Grazer farmers made no change to energy content of the feed ration. Intensive Grazer farmers
were almost evenly split between increasing (26 percent) and decreasing (30 percent) energy content.

Adjustments to protein

Well managed and actively growing pastures are recognized as a very good source of high digestible
protein. If farmers made a ration adjustment to the protein content, it was to reduce protein. Only 2
percent of the respondents reported increasing ration protein content. Thirty-eight percent of all grazing
farmers and 52 percent of Intensive Grazer farmers recognized pastures as a high quality source of
protein and hence reduced ration protein levels.

Adjustments to stored forages

Farmers grazing the milking herd recognize the need to reduce the level of stored forages fed during the
grazing season, with 59 percent reporting a reduction. An overwhelming majority, (84 percent) of
Intensive Grazer farmers reported reducing the amount of stored forages fed during the grazing season
and only 16 percent made no change. Only 1 percent of grazing farmers reported an increase in feeding
stored forages.

Experiences with Current Grazing System

Farmers grazing their dairy herd in 1996 were asked to report how many years they had been using their
current grazing system. Overall, farmers have either adopted their current grazing system within the last
5 years or have been using their system for more than 15 years. More than twice as many Intensive
Grazer (65 percent) farmers have adopted their current grazing system within the last 5 years as
compared to Moderate Grazer farmers (31 percent).

Table 9: Characteristics of grazing-only farms.

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